Valley Fair offers Foodie Week deals at 22 restaurants, shops<\/a><\/p>\nThe event was spearheaded by entrepreneur Brenda Hammond, who opened Restaurant James Randall in Los Gatos in 2006, later selling it to her son Hanson and his wife Briana, who turned it into Oak & Rye.<\/p>\n
Over 325 guests roamed the Tuscan gardens and vineyards of Lexington Hills Estate, sampling the culinary creations of 14 chefs from local restaurants, each paired with wine, beer or cocktails. Their mission was to vote for their favorite pairing, which would determine the winner of the People\u2019s Choice Award.<\/p>\n
At the same time, a panel of pro judges tasted all the pairings and rated them to arrive at the Judge\u2019s Choice Award. The chefs also get into the action, trying each of their peers\u2019 dishes and evaluating them to determine the winner of the Chef\u2019s Choice Award.<\/p>\n
The results were overwhelmingly consistent.<\/p>\n
Secviar of Michelin swept all three awards for his Asian-themed shrimp toast canap\u00e9 paired with a mango-infused, clarified rum cocktail from Bar Underdog. He and Hanson shared the People\u2019s Choice Award, but Secviar took both Judge\u2019s Choice and Chef\u2019s Choice for his knockout pairing.<\/p>\n
Secviar has an impressive background, including posts as chef de partie and sous chef at The French Laundry, where he spent six years with Thomas Keller. Before Prot\u00e9g\u00e9, he gained culinary cred at Michelin three-star kitchens Akelare and El Bulli.<\/p>\n
\u201cWinning Judges\u2019 Choice for Best Food and Beverage Pairing two years running means a lot to us,\u201d says Secviar. \u00a0\u201cWith all the incredibly talented local chefs, the bar is high every single year. Because we\u2019re pairing across our own businesses, Prot\u00e9g\u00e9 and Bar Underdog can really dig into the collaboration and push each other, and we spend a lot of time making sure the food and the drink feel like one idea, not two.\u201d<\/p>\n
After winning Judge\u2019s Choice last year for a mushroom tart with freshly shaved black truffle, he decided to go the opposite direction and not use luxury ingredients.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been really drawn to Southeast Asian flavors lately \u2014 fresh, aromatic, balanced \u2014 so we landed on shrimp toast as a canap\u00e9,\u201d says Secviar. \u201cWe made a coconut and lime leaf shrimp mousse, topped with a green mango, mint and candied peanut salad in a lime-ginger dressing, built between slices of Japanese milk bread instead of the usual panko crust.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the pairing, Secviar wanted to stay in that same world but build contrast. \u201cOur Bar Underdog bartenders took the concept of mango sticky rice and built a mango-infused, clarified rum cocktail with fig leaf, tonka bean and toasted rice, finished with a warm coconut foam that adds texture and temperature contrast to the chilled drink,\u201d says Secviar. \u201cIt came together, and the judges felt it, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
For his part Hanson, who won Chef\u2019s Choice the last two years, loved sharing the stage with his former roomie. \u201cReceiving People\u2019s Choice alongside Prot\u00e9g\u00e9 and Chef Anthony Secviar was a great honor,\u201d says Hanson. \u201cSharing such acknowledgement with an esteemed chef and restaurant made me proud of what my team pulled off. I can\u2019t thank Brandon Vedder, Chelsea Allen, and of course our captain (my wife) Briana Hanson enough. They all donated their time for such an amazing cause. It\u2019s great to be able to support Momentum for Health; mental health is a serious issue that affects everyone, and it means a lot to know we\u2019re helping.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the dish, Hanson created a grilled lamb skewer with a red pepper and preserved Meyer lemon relish. Lucy Neely and Sarah Green of Neely Wines collaborated on the wine pairing, and landed on the 2021 Neely Hidden Block Pinot Noir, which was the perfect foil.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the dish on the dishes enjoyed by this year\u2019s attendees:<\/p>\n
Asa Los Gatos: Chefs Steven Vu & Marcelino Hernandez \u2014 Sara Scroggins and Andrew Welch served up a marinated and grilled pork shoulder with summer squash over a Brillat Saviran cheese and tomato reduction, paired with 2023 Kings Mountain Vineyards Clone 13 Pinot Noir, Woodside,.
\nBar Zola: Chef Ben Robin\u2014 Peruvian scallop crudo with fermented Fresno chili vinaigrette, serrano chiles, green onion and grilled pineapple and toasted coconut foam, paired with a slushy sour from Native Fermentations.
\nBe.Steak.A.: Chef Andrew Shito Tai\u2014 Seared wagyu skewers with pickled ramps, kimchi and black garlic, served with 2023 Bedrock Old Vine Zinfandel.
\nForbes Mill: Chef Adam Bortolussi \u2014Black and blue beef short rib with mashed potatoes, caramelized onions, Cabernet demi-glace and blue cheese paired with a 2023 Gali Wines Del Sol blend of Tempranillo and Syrah, from Watsonville.
\nIl Vigneto: Chef Abraham Torre \u2014 Pan con tomate atop chorizo and garbanzo stew with roasted pepper, garlic and rioja tomato jus, paired with 2023 Cordevalle Platinum Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast.
\nOak and Rye: Chef Ross Hanson\u2014 Grilled lamb skewer with red pepper, capers and preserved lemon radish atop celery root puree, paired with Neely Vineyards 2021 Hidden Block Pinot Noir from Portola Valley.
\nOne Fish Raw Bar: Chef Edalyn Garcia\u2014Shrimp ceviche aguachile with plantain chips paired with 2025 JMC Cellars Riesling, Tondre Grapefields, Santa Lucia Highlands.
\nOdeum: Chef Sal Calisi\u2014Shrimp saganaki with escarole and white beans paired with 2025 Joyce Albarino from Arroyo Seco,.
\nOrchard City Kitchen: Chef Michael Maydeck \u2014 Beef meatball with tomato and peach chutney, paired with a barrel-aged old fashioned cocktail.
\nRestaurant Gish: Chef Stan Kwon \u2014 Pumpkin mousse with crispy rice chicken porridge, served with sparkling Vouvray poured by Sommelier Ryan Smith of Ancora Vino.
\nTasting House: Chef Julian Silvera\u2014 Beef tartare with elk garam and housemade tabasco, accompanied by 2024 Madson Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains, poured by winegrower Ken Swegles.
\nThe Bywater: Chef Nick Mantia \u2014 Fanny Bay oysters pineapple, passionfruit and fresno chii mignonette with 2021 Mount Eden Vineyards Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains, poured by vintner Reid Patterson.<\/p>\n
Secviar and Hanson are both already looking forward to next year\u2019s Star Chefs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese events are always incredibly well run, and the turnout and generosity from the community never disappoint,\u201d Secviar says. \u201cI\u2019m proud of this win, but honestly, I\u2019m already thinking about the pressure of a third. We\u2019ve got work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hanson is ready. \u201cAnthony is an incredibly talented chef and person, so humble, so gracious, and an inspiration,\u201d he says. \u201cThat said, I\u2019m already thinking about how to beat him next year. I\u2019ll need to bring my best.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chef Ross Hanson of Oak & Rye in Los Gatos and Chef Anthony Secviar of Michelin-starred Prot\u00e9g\u00e9 in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473907,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[3415,184,7,185,584,413,421,39658,181,23,190,195,412,88,90,89,198,200,420],"class_list":["post-473906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-awards","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-campbell","tag-events","tag-food","tag-food-and-drink","tag-fundraisers","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-los-gatos","tag-palo-alto","tag-restaurants","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-south-bay","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}