For The Love Of Food & Wine Forconi Winemaker Dinner
On January 12, 2017, The Seafood Shack was honored to host Riccardo and Silvia Forconi, of Tuscany’s Tenuta Forconi winery, in our Hunter’s Point room for a very special producer dinner…
Riccardo and Silvia were joined by an intimate group of 40 guests, as well as our very own Chef Gerard Jesse, who prepared an exquisite 4 course menu that spoke fluent Italian (with a Florida accent, of course).
The newly-renovated Hunter’s Point provided the perfect backdrop for the sold out event where strings of white lights had been hung to criss-cross the ceiling. Candles of all sizes lit the room while traditional Italian music filled the space with the voices of Andrea Bocelli, Lou Monte and the Gypsy Queens, to name a few.
Upon arrival, guests were treated to a sparkling wine reception and the opportunity to meet their hosts and mix and mingle with other food and wine enthusiasts while sipping on a glass of refreshing Prosecco Doc Brut. Shortly after, dinner was served the Italian way – family style on one long farmhouse table! Menu items were paired with different 5 wines straight from the Forconi Estate, making the dinner extra savory. Guests also had the option to purchase a bottle of their most enjoyed wine to take home with them.
Hats off to Chef Gerard for his unique and innovative menu, which featured mouthwatering items such as robollita soup served in a freshly-baked baked bread bowl, panzanella salad with edible flowers, riccotta cheese gnocchi, pappardelle pasta with Florida wild boar ragu and more.
Just for fun, Chef Gerard served Miracle Berry with the dessert course. The proteins in these flavor-bending tablets bond to the receptors in your mouth, causing sour and bitter foods to taste sweet.
In case you were wondering how Italian wine found itself on the Intracoastal…
The Forconi Estate is 12 kilometers (7 miles) from Florence on the hills behind Chianti, immersed in a landscape of vineyards, olive groves and woods which house lovely villas and stone farmhouses. The Estate has been a property of the Forconi family since early 1900 and consists of 21 rolling hectares of vineyards and olive trees. Riccardo and Silvia Forconi have a home-away-from-home in Bradenton, Florida and have spent several months here every year for the last 15 years.
Thank you to all our special guests for joining us. Grazie mille!
View photos from this unforgettable evening:
