Rosé y Sofrito: A Puerto Rican Cuisine and Winemaker Dinner with Von Diaz and Laura Brennan Bissell

When: 
Tuesday, October 2, 2018 6:30pm to 9:00pm
Add to Calendar
Where: 
3674 18th St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
United States
Price: 
$95.00
Member Price: 
$85.00

SOLD OUT

A four-course dinner with wine pairings. Books are not included in the ticket price, but will be available for sale on site. 

When writer Von Diaz and winemaker Laura Brennan Bissell met over a decade ago in the South, they were both scrappy young food service workers with blossoming interests in food and drink. Today, Von is a food writer and cookbook author, and Laura is a winemaker and the owner of INCONNU. They’re coming together at 18 Reasons for a night of great food, wine, and storytelling. Chef Mike will prepare recipes from Von’s debut cookbook, Coconuts and Collards, that highlight her Puerto Rican and Southern roots—fried plantain soup, slow-cooked pork ribs with guava barbecue sauce, and coconut braised collards.  Laura will showcase her wines alongside these eclectic dishes, with pairings such as Cabernet Franc, Lalalu Rosé, and library wines from the Inconnu collection. They’ll share stories with dinner guests, bridging their pasts over rosé and sofrito.

 

MENU

Sopa de Platanos Fritos—Fried Plantain Soup with Heirloom Tomato Garnish

Pescado en Escabeche—Cold Marinated Fish Salad

Costillas de Cerde con Salsa BBQ de Guayaba—Guava Glazed Pork Ribs

with Coconut Braised Collard Greens and Funche de Coco—Coconut grits

Bombi’s Bizcocho de Ron—Von's version of Rum Cake

 

Von Diaz is a writer and radio producer based in New York City. She is a self-taught cook who explores Puerto Rican food, culture, and identity through memoir and multimedia. Her debut cookbook, Coconuts & Collards, has been featured in the New York TimesThe Washington Post,  Bon AppétitNPRFood & Wine MagazineEater, and Epicurious. She has also been a reporter for NPR,  StoryCorps, The Splendid Table, American Public Media, WNYC, PRI’s The World, The Southern Foodways Alliance’s Gravy, Colorlines, and Feet in 2 Worlds. Von holds a dual M.A. in Journalism and Latin American and Caribbean Studies from New York University, and a B.A. in Women’s Studies from Agnes Scott College. She was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico and grew up in Atlanta, GA. You can read more coverage about Coconuts & Collards here.

Laura Brennan Bissell is the winemaker and owner of INCONNU Wine. Though originally a native of the Washington DC area, she moved to the Bay Area at 22 to become a tattoo artist, but instead spent the majority of her time on bicycles, collecting records, reading books, drinking beer, and touring around the US with bands. In her mid 20s, she moved to Barcelona where she developed her love for beautifully simple food and low intervention wine. She moved back to California in 2011 to work a winemaking internship at Unti in the Dry Creek Valley. Despite much skepticism from peers, she made her first vintage the following year, figuring the only way she'd ever been good at learning things was by doing them herself, and learning from her own mistakes and successes. In 2013, in hopes of learning more about vineyards, she began an internship with Matthiasson. Today at INCONNU, her wines are made with spontaneous ferments, low sulfur, low intervention, and ethically farmed grapes. These wines are meant to be enjoyed every day — not just on special occasions. I believe that wine does not always have to be a complicated labyrinth, and that it should generally be enjoyed and not fussed over. INNCONNU's wines are pleasurable and light, but still express great care and devotion to craft.

Born in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, Mike Weller grew up in suburbs of San Jose, where he discovered cooking as his first profession and lifetime passion. After wandering through typical teenage jobs at pizza joints and ice cream parlors, Mike’s first “restaurant” job was with Sambo’s Coffee Shops, slinging hash and cooking eggs for the bar rush and Sunday breakfast crowds.  He moved on to help open several restaurants, attend the California Culinary Academy, and study under European chefs with Michelin backgrounds. Later, Mike served as an executive chef for catering companies, wineries and country clubs.  When his son was born, Mike transitioned his career into teaching, returning to the CCA where he eventually became the Executive Chef and Director of Academics.  Having taught for Le Cordon Bleu North America in both online and brick and mortar schools, Mike is thrilled to return to teaching in a neighborhood-based community.  When he is not teaching he tends to his backyard garden, helps his wife to can and preserve food, and loves to cook for his friends and family.