Stephen Calen is a line cook at Morimoto, Napa.
Was there a moment this year when food and music came together in a memorable way?
I cooked a dinner with my chef and mentor Kang Kuan (The French Laundry, Morimoto) at the Chateaunuef du Pott, home of Aaron and Claire Pott (and site of the Incubo vineyard of Pott Wine), with music provided by Jennifer Kloetzel of The Cypress String Quartet. She played the 1st and 2nd Cello concertos by Bach. I had read about these concertos in a book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who refers tho the Pablo Casals recordings. I asked Jennifer about them and she gave a thumbs up and said we should do a meal around a performance of them. It ended up being quite the memorable occasion for about 20 folk. The highlight wine was a ‘61 Trotanoy and my favorite course, of the eight we prepared, was the Foie Terrine with Huckleberry glaze (served with an ‘83 Rieussec).