Tickets for Meddle go on sale tomorrow. !!!
Tim has outlined the process on his Tumblr, http://timbereika.tumblr.com/ . Please reference there before purchasing to make it a smooth process with no confusion!
Stay tuned on Monday for the release of the menu !
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
And so was born: Meddle
With the strong desire to cook creative food, cook once more with my friend and mentor Chef Tim Bereika from Secco, and the thought of bringing Richmond a popup that was exciting and new, Meddle was born.
We began to throw the idea around quite a few months ago, and solidified both of our desires to see our dream become reality. The difficult part from the beginning was figuring out where to start..where it would be, how we could do it, when, what we would cook, how we would create the menu.
Through back and forth emails, tweets, meetings, Facetimes(21st century cooks!), ongoing google documents, we finally released information and the confirmation of our endeavor.
Thus far it has been an incredible growth and beautiful thing to watch, and the excitement both Tim and myself feel is overwhelming. Perhaps we should film our next creative session-it is truly remarkable our relationship and ping-ing of ideas. The collaboration is brilliant-ideas, techniques, and ingredients that we will display momentous. The realization that it will all be coming to fruition in a few weeks is mind blowing.
And I can't wait to show you all what Tim and I can do in the kitchen.
I hope to see you there!
We began to throw the idea around quite a few months ago, and solidified both of our desires to see our dream become reality. The difficult part from the beginning was figuring out where to start..where it would be, how we could do it, when, what we would cook, how we would create the menu.
Through back and forth emails, tweets, meetings, Facetimes(21st century cooks!), ongoing google documents, we finally released information and the confirmation of our endeavor.
Thus far it has been an incredible growth and beautiful thing to watch, and the excitement both Tim and myself feel is overwhelming. Perhaps we should film our next creative session-it is truly remarkable our relationship and ping-ing of ideas. The collaboration is brilliant-ideas, techniques, and ingredients that we will display momentous. The realization that it will all be coming to fruition in a few weeks is mind blowing.
And I can't wait to show you all what Tim and I can do in the kitchen.
I hope to see you there!
Friday, January 6, 2012
Meddle
This should be fun. Be prepared for creative food set in a lovely environment. Tim and I are very excited about this and have been planning for months. Be there on Sunday or Monday, or miss out! Stay tuned to Tim and I's blogs and twitters for more information, and I hope to see you there!
Meddle, a Richmond pop-up restaurant from chef Tim Bereika of Secco and Collin Wagner, runs 2 days only February 19-20, 6:30-9:30PM in the Roosevelt space on 25th Street.
Meddle will be a limited-run, two-day restaurant that will “pop-up” in the Roosevelt while that restaurant is closed on Sunday and Monday night.
* 45 seats are available each night
* Four courses for $65, tax and tip for food included
* Beverages are available a la cart for an additional cost
* Menu available by 1/16
* Tickets can be purchased at Secco Wine Bar
* Seating times are staggered and available by request on a first come, first serve basis
* Cash only
* All ticket sales are final
* Please no special dietary requests.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Hope
I hope that you, too, in these days of the holiday will have your thoughts and prayers with those protecting our daily freedoms abroad. I cannot imagine spending the day apart from family and friends, in a less than ideal "home" in the middle of the dessert. A day marked so much with tradition, family, and friends, my heart goes to those abroad.
Below I have included a video from my brother Nathan's platoon, Cold Steel, that they made to wish their family and friends Happy Holidays from.
Happy Holidays to you, Cold Steel, and thank you for service. Thank you does not do justice to what you all do daily, and I hope to show my admiration and respect for your work in the future.
Below I have included a video from my brother Nathan's platoon, Cold Steel, that they made to wish their family and friends Happy Holidays from.
Happy Holidays to you, Cold Steel, and thank you for service. Thank you does not do justice to what you all do daily, and I hope to show my admiration and respect for your work in the future.
When I asked my brother today if they will be having any sort of special meal for Christmas, he said yes they will, and he hoped it would be something a bit better than what they normally had.
Thanks for your support,
-Collin
Monday, December 5, 2011
The Process
Today my writing drifts away from food and into the realm of wine, and the process thereof.
As many of you know, I spent two weeks in the south of France close to Avignon at the end of September and into October working on the harvest team at Domaine Rouge Bleu. A long time dream of my own to work a harvest and learn the process of wine, the importance of terroir, work needed to produce a bottle or vintage of wine, and generally be surrounded by vineyards for a few weeks. With the networking help of Julia Battaglini, my former boss at Secco Wine Bar, and now mentor-friend, and the contact of Nicolas Mestre at Williams Corner wine distributors, my dream was made reality.
I don't know that I could have landed at a better vineyard, with such a hospitable and great group of people. Two weeks of hard work, but an incredible time was had with much learned about wine and the processing required. I hadn't any idea when arriving what to expect. How do we pick the grapes? Are there bad grapes? What does a vine look like? What will they taste like? What happens after picking? Millions of thoughts racing through my brain, I arrived and learned bushels upon bushels of knowledge, furthering my deep passion for fine wine.
Jean-Marc Espinasse, Vigneron of Rouge Bleu, produces wines that are made in the fields and not in the cave. What does that mean? He produces wines with the littlest human interaction possible. No herbicides sprayed in the fields, little to no sulfur in the tanks, and with wild herbs and weeds growing amongst the 80+ year old vines. Perhaps one of the most incredible experiences of the weeks was tasting his top wine, Lunatique 2009, and in the aroma finding layer upon layer of eucalyptus, mint, thyme, and wild arugula. Then whilst picking the 13 rows of vines in the old river bed in one afternoon to produce the whole production of 120 cases of the wine, in the mistral or breeze of the Rhone valley comes distinct aromas identical to that found in the wine earlier the in the week. Time and place, the truest expression of the land, is omnipresent in his wines. Brilliant, remarkable, mind blowing, beautiful.
So picking from the vines, what do we take? Everything. From the snails found on the clusters in Chateaunuef-du-Pape, to the Botrytis-ridden raisins aka gold as Jean Marc calls them. Even the raisins on the ground, and if someone were to miss them and Chief Grape saw, he would become very irritated. The raisins don't bring any juice to the wine, but bring great concentrated sugars and aromas. Not wanted in coop wines, but gold to a small all natural producer. Perhaps what sets him apart? The only grapes that were left behind were the clusters that were reminiscent of vinegar, indicating spoilage(found in tiny minuscule amounts in my experience).
How do we pick? Simple, really, with our Secateurs, or clippers. Clipping as close to the cluster as possible, and putting into our handy buckets that need to be dumped often to the tractor. With smaller clusters or the Carignan grapes, we could forgo the Secateurs and easily pick with our hands, pulling directly from the vine with little harm to the clusters or vines.
The day is done, the grapes have been picked and transported back to the Cuvée. At the cave, with the help of multiple people, the grapes are gently transported from the trailer to the cement fermentation tank via a rotating screw and hose connecting the trailer to tank. The screw in the bottom of the hopper is powered by the tractor. No de-stemming, no washing, minimal crushing, au natural. Chief Grape believes deeply in the stems providing body and tannins that help the wine age and provide structure at years later. A belief that newer generation Bordeaux wines lack in age-ability due to the de-stemming and desire from producer for their wines to be drinkable at a young age. The cement tanks being also unique, provide pores and a bit more aeration occurring during primary and secondary fermentations. (This process of transferring the grapes is viewable in the below video.)
Before pumping the grapes into the tank, an all-natural "filter" is put just in front of the valve that is used to release the juice from the tanks. What did we use? Rocks, and bundles of asparagus ferns found all around the vineyard.
From that point juice is pumped over the must daily in order to have fermentation happen throughout. The juice is tasted daily, with the *Brix or percent of sugar content in the juice is taken. From the percent sugar of the juice, the likely final alcohol content can be calculated. Primary fermentation before filtering and pressing is decided by taste and *Brix, but normally is between two and three weeks.
When Mr. Espinasse decides he is happy with primary fermentation, the juice is filtered and immediately pumped into a second tank. Then, the marc, or remaining grape solids are pumped to a press. Not an easy task in the least, with the eventual person being in the fermentation tank shoveling alcohol fuming marc into the pump to be pumped the press. Grape stained clothes, hands, and legs occur here! The press could be described as a cylinder with closing sides on each end, with trough, hose, and pump connecting it to the tank with the already filtered juices. A majority of the tannin, flavor, and colour comes from these pressings. If I am not mistaken, Chief Grape presses the marc twice before refusing of the now dry stems and skins.
Depending on the wine, but most likely six more months in the cement fermentation tanks, and the wine is then transferred to oak barrels to undergo six more months of aging and fermentation. A process known as racking is undergone during both transfers, leaving the bottom portion of the tank behind undisturbed as it contains sediment that has dropped off from the liquid over time.
Bottling. Over a year after the grapes have been picked and processed, the now wine is ready to be bottled. Done in one or two days, a sort of mobile bottling truck as I understand comes to the cave, and it is all corked and set on its side. Officially unfiltered, drinking the wine you can expect to find
a bit of sediment in the bottom of the bottles. Bottled, but unlabeled, for if it were labeled the taxes are due at that point. Hand labeled as it is sold, and sent to the United States, all across Europe, Australia, and perhaps a future in Japan.
From vine to bottle, Jean Marc shows ingenuity, passion for natural wines, and the process thereof. I urge you to search out a shop or distributor close to you and drink something that I am certainly proud to have been a part of, and Jean Marc surely is as well. Information on his wines, vineyard, and places to purchase is all located on his website, http://www.rouge-bleu.com/. A perfect wine to pair with your holiday meals, that is for sure!
I don't know that I could have landed at a better vineyard, with such a hospitable and great group of people. Two weeks of hard work, but an incredible time was had with much learned about wine and the processing required. I hadn't any idea when arriving what to expect. How do we pick the grapes? Are there bad grapes? What does a vine look like? What will they taste like? What happens after picking? Millions of thoughts racing through my brain, I arrived and learned bushels upon bushels of knowledge, furthering my deep passion for fine wine. |
| The man himself! Picking Lunatique. |
So picking from the vines, what do we take? Everything. From the snails found on the clusters in Chateaunuef-du-Pape, to the Botrytis-ridden raisins aka gold as Jean Marc calls them. Even the raisins on the ground, and if someone were to miss them and Chief Grape saw, he would become very irritated. The raisins don't bring any juice to the wine, but bring great concentrated sugars and aromas. Not wanted in coop wines, but gold to a small all natural producer. Perhaps what sets him apart? The only grapes that were left behind were the clusters that were reminiscent of vinegar, indicating spoilage(found in tiny minuscule amounts in my experience).
 |
| Our best friends for two weeks, Secatateurs |
The day is done, the grapes have been picked and transported back to the Cuvée. At the cave, with the help of multiple people, the grapes are gently transported from the trailer to the cement fermentation tank via a rotating screw and hose connecting the trailer to tank. The screw in the bottom of the hopper is powered by the tractor. No de-stemming, no washing, minimal crushing, au natural. Chief Grape believes deeply in the stems providing body and tannins that help the wine age and provide structure at years later. A belief that newer generation Bordeaux wines lack in age-ability due to the de-stemming and desire from producer for their wines to be drinkable at a young age. The cement tanks being also unique, provide pores and a bit more aeration occurring during primary and secondary fermentations. (This process of transferring the grapes is viewable in the below video.)
Before pumping the grapes into the tank, an all-natural "filter" is put just in front of the valve that is used to release the juice from the tanks. What did we use? Rocks, and bundles of asparagus ferns found all around the vineyard.
From that point juice is pumped over the must daily in order to have fermentation happen throughout. The juice is tasted daily, with the *Brix or percent of sugar content in the juice is taken. From the percent sugar of the juice, the likely final alcohol content can be calculated. Primary fermentation before filtering and pressing is decided by taste and *Brix, but normally is between two and three weeks.
 |
| The Press |
 |
| Oak Barrels |
Bottling. Over a year after the grapes have been picked and processed, the now wine is ready to be bottled. Done in one or two days, a sort of mobile bottling truck as I understand comes to the cave, and it is all corked and set on its side. Officially unfiltered, drinking the wine you can expect to find
 |
| Storage of unlabeled bottles, Domaine du Banneret, Chateauneuf-du-Pape |
a bit of sediment in the bottom of the bottles. Bottled, but unlabeled, for if it were labeled the taxes are due at that point. Hand labeled as it is sold, and sent to the United States, all across Europe, Australia, and perhaps a future in Japan.
 |
| Domaine Rouge Bleu |
 |
| The first day, tragedy struck. |
 |
| Full buckets. |
 |
| 80 year old vines. |
 |
| Fermentation |
 |
| Hopper with screw |
 |
| Hatch on cement fermentation tanks. |
 |
| Old school press used at Domaine du Banneret. |
 |
| Morning dew covers grapes. |
 |
| The field of Lunatique, one afternoons work. |
 |
| On the final day we picked in the morning hours of 6-9, and that evening from 6-9. Here is the sunrise, with a beautiful cluster of Grenache. |
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
A Cook's Statement
I cook for the simple act of making people happy. Indeed I have an insatiable addiction to cooking, kitchens, and delicious products, but no matter the food or circumstance, the daily pursuit towards perfection is in the direction of creating as near a perfect experience for the guest who has put their self in the kitchen's will. There is nothing more rewarding to me than the smile of pleasure or invoked memory that I can produce from food on a plate. No other art can touch a person's soul as deeply as a dish that conjures childhood memories, or a memorable morsel from a meal in the past. That is where from deep inside myself I find the drive and passion to continue pushing myself through the stressful hours of a painful service, and in the early morning hours find myself researching a technique or ingredient. It is through the increasing knowledge and experience gained, while on my free time at home, or in a country abroad, that helps mold an ever evolving-and hopefully increasingly better- experience for whomever is eating my food.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Hospitality
As I've said before, service in a restaurant can only hope to be equally as good as the hospitality provided by moms around the world on a daily basis.
But now I plan to expand this statement, to hospitality provided by people, friends, acquaintances around the world that I have experienced throughout my travels.
The best way to see a new place, to experience the culture, eat the food that the locals are eating, is to have a friend in the location that you are traveling. In no other way can you experience a place as well as if you have someone willing to host and show you around. Luckily enough, with my travels I have mostly had wonderful people willing to give me a small view into their culture, life, and eats.
When moments after arriving somewhere and dropping your bags someone is beckoning for you to get ready to go back out, to rent a bike, to go eat, you know you are in for a good time. Renting a bike in Barcelona, having a local show you their hangout spots, where they go, what they do, and when they do it, is a remarkable experience. And the bike tour couldn't be complete without multiple stops for tortilla, a drink, or the main event stop at their favorite tapas bar.
Upon seating at the prime location of the bar, in the to-the-street-bustling restaurant, I left all the ordering to my friend Marco, and the tapas seemed to never stop coming! Gambas, Sollomillo, Queso Fresco, Tortilla Patata, Crema Catalana, Estrella, Patatas Bravas...euphoria......
To getting woken up in the morning in a small German village, with the mention of a classic German breakfast awaiting especially acquired for me: Dark Breads, White Breads, Käse, Leberwürste, Wurste, Sausages, Leberwürste, Leberwürste, did I mention the Leberwürste?
Perhaps the best thing I ate on my three and a half month voyage de Europe...smokey, fatty, unctuous, umami laden, spicy, this pork liver infused spreadable pate smeared generously on some wonderful rye bread, this my dear friends is what dreams are made of. It kept me coming again and again. The day that the opportunity arises to eat that mouth-watering, swine-lovers cured Christmas will be a day that I very much look forward to.
Having a stew made specifically by my request prepared by a German grandmother was also a very, very memorable meal. Linsensuppe, or lentil soup with potatoes and spicy German Frankfurters, was an hour event that will be remembered for as long as I can remember.
Kuchen, kuchen, it kept on flowing. Apparently when one celebrates a birthday in Germany it is expected to receive and eat multiple pieces of cake throughout the day. It flows endlessly, all served with copious amounts of coffee. A sugar and caffeine induced celebration is assuredly acquired. Birthday jitters? Or sugar-caffeine IV to the main-vein coma? Gooseberries cake made from berries in the garden, with whipped cream, almond meringue, next up dark chocolate-raspberry and alcohol soaked, there was a rum cake, and an apple cake, and perhaps one might have slipped the memory. Kuchen, would you like more cake? Here, have a piece of this. Coffee? Want a refill? Flowing with no end in sight.
"I have something very special to open tonight." Wait, so the other '89's, 91's, and never-see-again, super obscure, tiny production wines weren't special that you've opened the other nights? To say that the 2001 Reserve Chateau Rayas Chateauneuf-Du-Pape that was opened at the Harvest 2011 Dinner was special would be an understatement. The one bottle that the winemaker would sell to our humble leader after tasting in his cave, and in Jean Marc's "Top 10" wines of his cellar, it was a very special wine indeed. Complex, perfectly balanced, rounded from the age, it was an incredible wine that will never be forgotten.
A tour of Cannes from a local violinist who I had started talking to a mere week before. But through the kindness of her heart, a mere day before I was leaving the area, she wanted to show me the city she called home. First stop on the tour was her favorite macaroon shoppe, one that will forever live in infamy in my head due to their creation of Foie Gras Macaroons with Apple filling. Out of this world. I have reached the mountain top with that, how can I live on knowing that that is existing and I am not indulging? A tour through the main streets on Cannes, continuing through the old part of the city, through the bustling, fig laden market and the consumption of numerous fresh fruits and indulgences, a dive into the beautiful blue salty sea, an incredible day, all thanks to a warm, hospitable, passionate lady who wanted to show me her culture, what she knew, what she grew up with.
There is no better feeling than having someone say they have a special something prepared for you to eat, an agenda for the day that they are excited about, a person that they insist upon you meeting. Furthermore, the mere arrangements that they have made for you to be able to stay with them. It is a feeling of warmth, one created by hospitality and service for others.
I urge you all to one day travel somewhere and have a local show you around, take you to their favorite places, ask them where they hang out. You won't be disappointed.
The best travel is only achievable with a willingness to let go of all pre-notions and leadership, to place your agenda, meals, with someone who is passionate and excited to show you and let you into their daily lives and culture.
And if I am in the situation to host you, feel free to ask and come on over! I hope I can return the hospitality that has been shown to me throughout the world.
 |
| Marco and Chef-Friend Stanley, in his wine bar, Barcelona |
The best way to see a new place, to experience the culture, eat the food that the locals are eating, is to have a friend in the location that you are traveling. In no other way can you experience a place as well as if you have someone willing to host and show you around. Luckily enough, with my travels I have mostly had wonderful people willing to give me a small view into their culture, life, and eats.
 |
| Tapas, Barcelona |
Upon seating at the prime location of the bar, in the to-the-street-bustling restaurant, I left all the ordering to my friend Marco, and the tapas seemed to never stop coming! Gambas, Sollomillo, Queso Fresco, Tortilla Patata, Crema Catalana, Estrella, Patatas Bravas...euphoria......
To getting woken up in the morning in a small German village, with the mention of a classic German breakfast awaiting especially acquired for me: Dark Breads, White Breads, Käse, Leberwürste, Wurste, Sausages, Leberwürste, Leberwürste, did I mention the Leberwürste?
Perhaps the best thing I ate on my three and a half month voyage de Europe...smokey, fatty, unctuous, umami laden, spicy, this pork liver infused spreadable pate smeared generously on some wonderful rye bread, this my dear friends is what dreams are made of. It kept me coming again and again. The day that the opportunity arises to eat that mouth-watering, swine-lovers cured Christmas will be a day that I very much look forward to.
 |
| Linsensuppe |
Having a stew made specifically by my request prepared by a German grandmother was also a very, very memorable meal. Linsensuppe, or lentil soup with potatoes and spicy German Frankfurters, was an hour event that will be remembered for as long as I can remember.
Kuchen, kuchen, it kept on flowing. Apparently when one celebrates a birthday in Germany it is expected to receive and eat multiple pieces of cake throughout the day. It flows endlessly, all served with copious amounts of coffee. A sugar and caffeine induced celebration is assuredly acquired. Birthday jitters? Or sugar-caffeine IV to the main-vein coma? Gooseberries cake made from berries in the garden, with whipped cream, almond meringue, next up dark chocolate-raspberry and alcohol soaked, there was a rum cake, and an apple cake, and perhaps one might have slipped the memory. Kuchen, would you like more cake? Here, have a piece of this. Coffee? Want a refill? Flowing with no end in sight.
 |
| Gooseberry Kuchen, Großmutter |
 |
| Chateau Rayas 2001 |
"I have something very special to open tonight." Wait, so the other '89's, 91's, and never-see-again, super obscure, tiny production wines weren't special that you've opened the other nights? To say that the 2001 Reserve Chateau Rayas Chateauneuf-Du-Pape that was opened at the Harvest 2011 Dinner was special would be an understatement. The one bottle that the winemaker would sell to our humble leader after tasting in his cave, and in Jean Marc's "Top 10" wines of his cellar, it was a very special wine indeed. Complex, perfectly balanced, rounded from the age, it was an incredible wine that will never be forgotten.
 |
| Macaroons! |
 |
| After a morning of picking in Chateauneuf-Du Pape, a Quiche was prepared |
There is no better feeling than having someone say they have a special something prepared for you to eat, an agenda for the day that they are excited about, a person that they insist upon you meeting. Furthermore, the mere arrangements that they have made for you to be able to stay with them. It is a feeling of warmth, one created by hospitality and service for others.
I urge you all to one day travel somewhere and have a local show you around, take you to their favorite places, ask them where they hang out. You won't be disappointed.
The best travel is only achievable with a willingness to let go of all pre-notions and leadership, to place your agenda, meals, with someone who is passionate and excited to show you and let you into their daily lives and culture.
And if I am in the situation to host you, feel free to ask and come on over! I hope I can return the hospitality that has been shown to me throughout the world.
 |
| Mid-Harvest dinner, Jean Marc let us each pick a bottle from his cave, mine, a '91 Margaux |
More to come.
Now Playing: Ingrid Michaelson- "You and I"
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