The Dishes & The Wines

Fish in a Jar
2011 BioKult Grüner Veltliner
Austria, 100% Grüner Veltliner

Filetto in a Jar
2010 Buenas Ondas Syrah Rosé
Argentina,  100% Syrah

Sausage in a Jar
2010 Nuova Cappelletta Barbera del Monferrato
Italy,  100% Barbera

The Chefs

Antonio & Fiorella Cagnolo

What’s the best thing about cooking?
Antonio: Oh, it’s like making love.
Fiorella: I was going to say the same things [everyone laughs]. You keep taking my words! Sometimes it’s better than making love.
A: Look, sometimes you can have a quickie or you could have a wonderful experience, love.
F: I think you use all your sense when you eat. Your eyes, the palate…
A: The nose, the ears, you hear the pans and the everything!
F: It’s a love, you know? It’s a second love for us.
A: You’ve got to use all of your senses and instincts.

How important is it to connect with your local farms?  
Antonio: That’s how the restaurant was built 33 years ago. My father was here with me and we had about 4 or 5 gardens around the area. My father was growing everything when we started this restaurant… we had the lettuce, we had tomatoes, we had green beans, we had potatoes, garlic and even the parsley!  It was very important because when we came here there was no parsley, it was just the curly parsley. It was parsley but it had no flavor. So my father used to plant the parsley and it would give everything the true… the really fragrant flavor.

*See all of Antonio and Florella’s photos, interview, and recipe at  Chef’s Insight.

The Wine Expert

Meg Houston Maker

Fish in a Jar.  The spritely 2011 BioKult Grüner Veltliner offers a lovely mineral aspect that balances the delicate flavors of the fish and vegetables, plus a lemony zip and lively herbal notes that marry beautifully with the mint and citrus.

Filetto in a Jar.  Juicy beef tenderloin, Mediterranean herbs, fresh cherry tomatoes?—I say rosé! The 2010 Buenas Ondas Syrah Rosé hits all the right notes here, the meatiness of Syrah balanced by zesty berry flavors and lively, refreshing acidity that keeps the pairing light.

Sausage in a Jar.  Sausage loves Barbera, its richness and bold flavor calling for a vibrant wine that also refreshes between bites. The 2010 Nuova Cappelletta Barbera del Monferrato offers refreshing acidity plus notes of spice, pepper, and cherry that blend seamlessly with the seasonings.

Meg Houston Maker, CSW, is a writer curious about nature, culture, food, wine, and place. Her freelance writing focuses on traditional foodways, artisanal food and wine production, sustainable agriculture, and the human connection to landscape. Meg contributes regularly to many food and wine publications and is a columnist for wine magazine Palate Press. Find her creative writing at Megmaker.com and her essays on food and wine at Maker’s Table. Follow her on Twitter @megmaker.

Chef’s Insight is a raw, behind-the-scenes look at the culinary process and the people behind it. Photographer Bob Hodson shadows the chef—in his or her restaurant, home kitchen, backyard, favorite farmers market, wherever—shooting editorial style and capturing the details and the process… action on the line, scribbled recipes and plating notes, flashes of knife work, the flip of a pan, the beautiful symmetry of the finished mise en place