Last night we hosted Leonardo LoCasio, the Founder and CEO of Winebow at Varano’s. We feature two wine dinners a year at Varano’s, these are the only times I cook personally in the restaurant. I write a special menu for the evening and spend three days preparing the menu with our Chef. It’s alot of pressure featuring Leonardo LoCascio as your guest speaker, especially when he is up for man of the year in the wine industry. We featured the wines of Allegrini and Poggio al Tesoro, ( a joint venture between Marilisa Allegrini and Leonardo LoCascio). The wines were all outstanding, paired well with the meal and explained in great detail by Leonardo. There were several highlights of the dinner, one being the entree. We served a filet mignon on a pool of fresh pumpkin puree, with a slice of frois grois mousse with truffles, with a red wine and porcini salsa. The finishing touch was shavings of fresh Burgundy Truffles. We paired this dish with the “La Poja” wine from Allegrini, a single vineyard one hundred percent Corvina. (the predominent grape in Amarone) The wine paired perfectly with the grilled filet and fresh truffles. The flavor explosion in your mouth was exotic. The room was eerily quiet each time food was served. Everyone enjoyed the pairings, especially after Leonardo explained the wines in intimate and passionate detail. We finished the evening with an Italian version of death by chocolate. Homemade chocolate ladyfingers with chocolate zabaglione, crumbled chocolate torte with a white chocolate whip cream and shaved chocolate. The dessert was fabulous, what made it incredible was the Allegrini Recioto we served with it. Leonardo pointed out that there were only 500 bottles produced annually and there were 12 at the dinner. What a fantastic night. The guests were all so interested and appreciative of the event and the fact we were able to pull Leonardo into our little corner of the wine world. This was a great score for Maine. I think everyone who attended will remember this night as something unique and special. I know I will.