World Famous French Wine Region Welcomes
the girl & the fig
Sonoma
County Restaurateur Invited to Cook for
Wine Producers
in the Châteuneuf du Pape Region
(Sonoma, CA) --the girl
& the fig heads to the source of her
inspiration this month, the Côte
du Rhône in France, to prepare a
feast for wine producers in one of the
world's most famous wine regions, Châteuneuf
du Pape. This is the second time the owner
of the girl & the fig, Sondra
Bernstein and executive chef
John Toulze have been
invited to the Rhône Découvertes,
one of the region's premier wine events.
On Monday, March 12,
just before the weeklong Rhône Découvertes
event kicks off, Bernstein and Toulze
will create a multi-course lunch paired
with California Rhône wines for
60 wine producers from the Rhône
Valley in France. The event will take
place at the Université du Vin
in Suze de la Rousse near Châteuneuf
du Pape.
The
Rhône Découvertes
is held every other year in the Rhône
Valley. This is the fourth year for the
event, which strives to put more than
900 wine producers and professionals in
contact with each other. In a series of
19 tasting exhibitions over the course
of seven days, participants will have
an opportunity to taste wines from the
many terroirs of the Rhône Valley.
For more information on the event please
visit www.inter-rhone.com.
"Two
years ago, we went sight unseen, menu
unplanned and just created as we went,"
says Bernstein. "It turned out great.
This year, we are planning a bit more
but there are always challenges. The kitchen
we'll be using has limited equipment and
we may not be able to get some of the
menu items we'd ideally like to have.
Part of the fun of this event for us is
to go with the flow to keep us flexible
and creative."
Bernstein
and Toulze will be accompanied by California's
Hospice du Rhône founders, John
Alban, Mat Garretson & Vicki Carroll.
The group will travel to the Rhône
Valley to show their appreciation of the
French producers who have supported and
participated in Hospice du Rhône,
www.hospicedurhone.org
and other California Rhône events.
Bernstein
and Toulze have always been supporters
of winemakers in California and beyond,
who focus on varietals from the Rhône
region. Since the Sonoma County restaurant
opened in 1997, the girl & the fig
has been known for its award winning "Rhône-Alone"
wine list. The company regularly attends
the annual Hospice du Rhône event
in Paso Robles and events for the Rhône
Rangers, a group of California winemakers
who bucked the Cabernet Sauvignon-Chardonnay
trend back in the early 1980s and began
experimenting with Rhône-style wines.
Bernstein
currently owns two restaurants: the
girl & the fig at 110 W.
Spain Street in Sonoma, and the fig
café & wine bar at
13690 Arnold Drive in Glen Ellen. Last
spring she opened the fig pantry, a gourmet
market in Sonoma and four guest cottages
called Les Petites Maisons. Bernstein
just launched Fig CATERS! dedicated to
providing off-site catering services for
weddings, corporate events and private
parties. In addition, she has written
the girl & the fig Cookbook
published by Simon & Schuster in 2004.
All of the dishes created by the girl
& the fig feature country food with
a French passion. For more information
please visit www.thegirlandthefig.com.
the
girl & the fig
110 Spain Street
Sonoma, CA, 95476
Contact: Tyffani Peters
707-318-2726
email: tyffanip@comcast.net
web: http://www.thegirlandthefig.com
