Chef Will Salute Sonoma County

Kevin Sherry, executive chef at Ventura’s Pierpont Inn, will pay tribute to the culinary contributions of Sonoma County on Saturday with a multi-course meal featuring wines from the region’s Iron Horse Vineyards.

Sherry will open with a Napoleon of rabbit with blueberry and sage chutney. (The rabbit, he said, will be coming from Sonoma County’s Cloverdale Farms.) For the second course, he will prepare a Sonoma duck foie gras with arugula and watercress in roasted beef vinaigrette.

Following a palate-cleansing iced potage of casaba melon, the main course will be rosemary-smoked spring lamb chops with marinated red lentils and artichoke ravioli. Dessert will be a cheesecake prepared with Napa goat cheese, served with raspberries and figs.

“What we are trying to do is not only feature some things from Sonoma County, but also the Sonoma County style of cooking,” Sherry said. “Utilizing fresh ingredients from local farms rather than getting things from all over the country is the style of the Napa and Sonoma valleys.”

Sherry said the tribute to Northern California is well-deserved.

“They really put California on the map as far as food and wine go,” he said. “It began very quietly in the early 1970s. Then all of a sudden people were saying, ‘Wow, here’s this wonderful cuisine from California.’ ”

The winemaker dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m. The cost is $65 per person. The Pierpont is at 550 Sanjon Road. For reservations, call 643-6144.

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The first day of the April 20-21 Santa Barbara County Vintners Festival is already sold out, but tickets are available for the closing day. Thirty-four Santa Barbara County wineries will offer tastings of their products, with food provided by area restaurants and caterers, with musical accompaniment by Leslie Lembo & Raw Silk. Wine-related exhibits and a silent wine auction are also scheduled.

The festival will be held at Firestone Meadow near Los Olivos, beginning at 1 p.m. Cost is $60, with advance reservations required. Call the Santa Barbara County Vintner’s Assn. at (800) 218-0881.

In association with the annual festival, many Santa Barbara County wineries will host wine dinners, seminars and free or low-cost open houses, beginning April 19 and running through the weekend. Call the Vintner’s Assn. for a calendar of events.

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Noah’s New York Bagels, a fast-growing Bay Area-based chain, announced around the beginning of the year that it would open two Ventura County outlets--one on Moorpark Road in Thousand Oaks, the other on South Victoria Avenue in Ventura. The former was to open by the end of this month, the latter in mid-May.

Here’s the latest: The east county store is now scheduled to open April 10, the west county store remains scheduled for mid-May. And guess what? A third store, this one at 608 Las Posas Road in Camarillo, has an opening scheduled for early June.

Of course, some uncertainty with opening dates might be expected, considering Noah’s has been busy of late. The business recently merged with Einstein’s Bagels, an eastern U.S. subsidiary of Boston Market of Colorado.

Noah’s Bagels will continue to operate west of the Rockies while Einstein’s will remain east of the Rockies. And no major operational changes are planned for either bagel maker.

Leo Smith is a regular contributor to Ventura County Weekend. Write to him at 93 S. Chestnut St., Ventura 93001, or send faxes to 653-7576.