Refined palates of Starkville and MSU will be in for a treat Thursday night at the Veranda restaurant. The Veranda partnered with Muriel’s Jackson Square restaurant, based in the heart of the French Quarter in New Orleans and known for its contemporary Creole cuisine, will present a wine and food pairing dinner with guest chef and Muriel’s executive chef Erik Veney.
Veney, who was named No. 1 chef in New Orleans by New Orleans Magazine last year, will also be joined by wine connoisseur Richard Gratia, the co-owner, general manager and beverage director for Muriel’s Jackson Square. Veney will prepare a five-star, six-course meal, and Gratia will pair each course with a different wine that best suits that particular dish.
According to Chef Erik Veney, the menu for the meal will be most delectable. The first course, or hors d’oeuvres, will consist of fried oysters with remoulade sauce, wild mushroom tart with creme fraiche and crawfish spring rolls, all of which will be paired with a Kenwood 2003 sauvignon blanc from Sonoma county in California.
The second course will include roasted red pepper bisque with brioche crouton and boursin cheese paired with a Toad Hollow 2003 chardonnay from Mendocino County in California.
Bronzed shrimp with green tomato chutney and cornbread will make up the third course, which will be paired with a Royal Bitch 2003 reserve merlot from France.
For the main courses, alligator sausage-stuffed quail with roasted pear compote, caramelized pearl onions and pear demi-glaze will be paired with a Toad Hollow “Cacophony” 2001 zinfandel from Paso Robles in France.
Braised beef short ribs with bleu cheese mashed potatoes and fried shallots will be paired with a Kenwood Jack London 2001 cabernet sauvignon from Sonoma county in California.
Finally, for dessert, Veney will prepare bananas foster bread pudding, which Gratia will pair with a Toad Hollow risque from France.
Gratia’s daughter, Rachel Gratia, who coincidentally works for the Veranda, said these dinners occur once a month on the second Thursday of every month. However, reservations, which go for $80 a head, go quickly for this type of affair, and unfortunately, the Veranda is already booked up.
Jay Yates, chef and owner of the Veranda, said the event is a special one, and that he is honored that Veney and Gratia would take time out to prepare this dinner at his restaurant.
“I’m so glad to be able to partner up with them and do this,” Yates said. “Erik (Veney) is, like I mentioned earlier, the best chef in New Orleans and Rick (Gratia) is a famed wine expert and to have them do this is a great honor.”
Yates also says that the dinners are not just for meeting the chefs and eating the food, but for learning about the food and which foods go well with each wine.
“Gratia will pair the wine with the food and also tell the history of the wine, as in where it came from and how it is different from the other wines,” Yates said. “He’ll also tell about the popularity of each food dish he prepares, as in what makes the dish so good, aside from the obviously great ingredients.”
Yates added that he hopes for the dinner to be educational and more like a social hour than a formal dinner with people sittig about 10 to a table.
The Veranda will continue these dinners on the second Thursday of every month, with the next dinner being March 10.
Ticket prices may vary from dinner to dinner. For more information on the dinners, contact the Veranda at 323-1231. To contact Muriel’s Jackson Square restaurant in New Orleans, visit www.muriels.com or call Muriel’s at 504-568-1885.