Wining and Dining

At most winemaker dinners, wines show up in full force to accompany the meal. But the winemaker generally is nowhere to be found.

That doesn’t make much sense to restaurateur Didier Poirier.

“Every chef can do a dinner, but when you have someone talking about his winery and the way he makes his own wine, that is the ambience that goes with the dinner,” said Poirier, owner and chef of Ventura’s 71 Palm Restaurant. “When you bring the winemaker and the chef together, it’s an event.”

Poirier will do just that in his debut winemaker dinner Wednesday, pairing his cuisine with wines from the Foley Winery in Santa Ynez. Foley winemaker Alan Philips will be on hand to discuss his winery and what goes into making the product.

The meal will open with cured baby salmon with a shredded carrot, apple and relish salad served with a 1997 Sauvignon Blanc. Next will be crispy sauteed whitefish with garlic mashed potatoes and horseradish sauce served with a 1997 Chardonnay.

For the main course, Poirier will prepare a New Zealand lamb chop Dijonaise with fava beans and pearl onions and pour a 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon, along with stuffed red potatoes with raclette cheese and baby mixed salad served with a 1996 Merlot.

Dessert will be a warm pear tart with butterscotch sauce and a dessert wine.

“Foley wine is so delicious, each one is so specific, like every [winery] should be,” Poirier said. “The Sauvignon is so defined; the Chardonnay is so defined.”

Poirier said the first winemaker dinner was planned well in advance to accommodate Philips’ attendance. He said future dinners also will depend on the availability of a winemaker.

“It’s so difficult to get a winemaker to come in,” Poirier said. “If we can get the winemaker, I’ll do maybe two or three a year--but only if I get the winemaker.”

Dinner will be served at 7 p.m. Cost is $65. The restaurant is at 71 Palm St. For reservations, call 653-7222.

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Chef Gael Lecolley’s culinary resume includes the Wheeler Hot Springs restaurant in Ojai, Gael’s Bistro in Ojai and Saddlepeak Lodge in Calabasas. Now he can add Stella Mare’s in Montecito.

Lecolley was named executive chef at the highly regarded restaurant in mid-April and has already launched new lunch, Sunday brunch and dessert menus. A new dinner menu is expected to be unveiled Thursday.

Although the menu items may be changing, Lecolley said, the established restaurant concept will remain the same.

“The theme of the restaurant is very provincial--a little French and a little bit of California--a very country-style kind of restaurant,” he said. “I want to keep it the same.”

Among the dishes on the new Sunday brunch menu are eggs Benedict with Canadian bacon and red roasted potatoes ($8.50), poached eggs in puff pastry shells with julienne vegetables in a light whole grain mustard sauce ($9.75), filet mignon stuffed with wild mushrooms, onion and ricotta cheese on a celery root-potato pancake ($13.75) and grilled portabello mushroom on focaccia with aioli, tomato and baby lettuce served with red roasted potatoes ($8.95).

Stella Mare is at 50 Los Patos Way. Call 969-6705.

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Are you a man? Can you cook?

If you answered yes to both questions, you are probably qualified to enter the the fourth annual “Men Can Cook, Too!” Festival sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Thousand Oaks.

The June 27 event, in Westlake Village, is a fund-raiser that supports the community while trying to dispel the myth that men are lost in the kitchen.

Upward of 55 male chefs--about half of them professionals and half amateurs--will prepare hors d’oeuvres, entrees, salads and desserts. Judges will determine category winners based on the taste, presentation and content. The public will have an opportunity to sample each entry.

“Traditionally, men, unless they are professional chefs, don’t spend any time in the kitchen,” said festival Chairman Anthony Antonelli. “I think they’re not given enough credit. There’s an awful lot of amateurs who enjoy cooking.”

Of course men cannot live by food alone. The festival also includes wine and beer tasting, music and a 100-plus car show.

The deadline to register and submit a recipe for the cooking contest is June 13.

The festival will be held at the park next to the Hyatt Westlake Plaza in Westlake Village. The car show will run from noon to 4 p.m. with the cooking festival from 4 to 7 p.m. Tickets are $25. Information: 376-0219.