Caroline Styne Pairs Small Production Wines by Amy Christine, Peter Hunken, Jeff Fischer and Jim Knight with a Summer Menu by Suzanne Goin
July 19th – A.O.C. by Chef Suzanne Goin and Business Partner / Wine Director Caroline Styne, 3rd Street, Los Angeles, California, and Winemakers Amy Christine & Peter Hunken of Blacksheep Finds/Holus Bolus/Joy Fantastic; Jeff Fischer of Habit Winery; and Jim Knight of Jellyroll Wines
A.O.C., Los Angeles’ ground-breaking small plates restaurant at the forefront of the city’s best dining since 2002, presents an extraordinary evening celebrating the wines of four independent Central Coast winemakers on Tuesday, August 1, 2023. The wines are curated by Caroline Styne and paired with Suzanne’s summer menu which is inspired by these very special wines. All four winemakers – Amy Christine, Peter Hunken, Jeff Fischer and Jim Knight – will be in attendance to meet and greet guests.
The winemakers are small producers making wines from the Central Coast, an area that Caroline is passionate about, and that pair well with Suzanne Goin’s seasonal menus. Caroline states, “I’m particularly excited about this dinner because all of the winemakers for this night are my good friends, and they were all my friends before I had even tasted any of their wines. And I can honestly say that their wines are fantastic and would be on my lists even if I didn’t know them personally. I can’t wait to share this night with our guests.”
Pricing for the four-course dinner with paired wines is $150 per guest, excluding tax and gratuity. Guests dining à la carte can experience a flight of wines to pair with their dinner selections. Prepaid reservations can be secured via OpenTable Experience; limited availability for this exclusive event.
Caroline & Friends – An Evening with the Winemakers at A.O.C.
Special Guests Jim Knight, Peter Hunken, Amy Christine and Jeff Fischer
August 1, 2023
- summer fruit, speck, saba, dandelion & crushed hazelnuts
- heirloom tomato, avocado, green harissa, buttermilk & pepitas
- 2022 Habit, Sauvignon Blanc, McGinley Vineyard, Happy Canyon
- halibut, charred peppers, eggplant, cumin yogurt, preserved lemon & anchovy
- farro & black rice, currants & pine nuts
- 2022 Habit, Grüner Veltliner, Rancho Arroyo Perdido, Santa Ynez Valley
- grilled duck breast, corn pudding, nectarine salsa & santa barbara pistachios
- italian broccoli, cilantro & douro almond dukkah
- 2021 Jelly Roll Syrah, Vecino Vineyard, Mendocino County
- braised lamb cheeks, harissa butter, black olive salsa & sourdough breadcrumbs
- cauliflower, curry & red wine vinegar
- 2021 Joy Fantastic, Syrah, Sta. Rita Hills
- ricotta cheesecake – cherry-port compote, pistachio praline & vanilla whipped cream
- $150 per person, including wine pairing
WHEN:
- Caroline & Friends – An Evening with the Winemakers at A.O.C.
- Tuesday, August 1, 2023
- 5:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Pricing for the four-course dinner with paired wines is $150 per guest, excluding tax and gratuity. Guests dining à la carte can experience a flight of wines to pair with their dinner selections. Prepaid reservations can be secured via OpenTable Experience; limited availability for this exclusive event.
WHERE
- A.O.C. 3rd Street
- 8700 W. 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90048 – 310.859.9859
ABOUT JIM KNIGHT
Jim Knight has many passions and wine and music are right at the top of the list. In naming his Syrah, he decided to pay homage to one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time, Jelly Roll Morton. Like Morton’s jazz recordings, no serious wine collection is complete without Jim’s Syrahs, but with under 200 cases produced, they will only be enjoyed by a few lucky people who do their homework and search out one of the best kept secrets on the Central Coast. Jim also happens to be a wine connoisseur in his own right, as he and his family run the retail powerhouse The Wine House in West Los Angeles.
ABOUT PETER HUNKEN AND AMY CHRISTINE
Husband and wife winemaking partners Peter Hunken and Amy Christine aren’t afraid to be out of step with fads in the wine business. “We aren’t trendy,” said Amy, who holds an MW (Master of Wine) designation from The Institute of Master of Wine in the UK. “We only work with time-honored noble varieties.” All of the grapes under the Holus Bolus label all come from single vineyards and are not blended, allowing them to showcase the unique microclimates and soils in Santa Barbara County. Amy and Peter have chosen the famed St. Rita Hills AVA to plant their flag — and their vines — for good reason. Known for cool morning temperatures and warm afternoons, their hillside Sweeney Canyon vineyard exemplifies the lively and sophisticated spirit of Sta. Rita Hills. They don’t just love the land; the work to protect it. Holus Bolus and the Joy Fantastic wines are produced from organically farmed vineyards. The Joy Fantastic is CCOF certified organic. TJF is farmed without the use of synthetic fungicides, herbicides or pesticides, instead relying on naturally based products such as cinnamon and citrus oils, clay, and geranium-based sprays, plus mechanical weeding.“In our climate, it’s not all that much more difficult to farm organically,” said Peter. “It is a touch more expensive, but it’s the right thing to do. Does it make better wine? I think so, but I leave that up to our customers.”
ABOUT JEFF FISCHER
Founded in 2008 in Santa Barbara County, HABIT, is a truly artisanal wine high on both style and substance. After seven years of making wine in his own basement, voiceover actor Jeff Fischer (who plays the character based on him in the animated series “American Dad”) knew he had reached his potential as a garage vintner. Striking up an old-school apprenticeship at a winery, Fischer became a cellar rat, providing manual labor in exchange to make three barrels (75 cases) of a Bordeaux blend in 2008. Production in a good year is 3000 cases between eight wines. Habit is sold mostly to restaurants and small wine shops and online, direct to consumer across the country. The wines are from organic, biodynamic and sustainably farmed vineyards in Santa Barbara County and are all minimal intervention with low sulfur and no residual sugar. Fischer’s wines can be found online at www.habitwine.com.
ABOUT THE LUCQUES GROUP
With the opening of Lucques, their flagship restaurant, in 1998, James Beard Foundation award-winning Chef/Author Suzanne Goin and award-winning Restaurateur Caroline Styne planted the seeds for The Lucques Group, a Los Angeles hospitality company that comprises two fine dining restaurants – A.O.C. in both Los Angeles and Brentwood. Along with these culinary enterprises, the company also owns the Larder Baking Company and oversees Hollywood Bowl Food + Wine, which curates all the food and beverage outlets at L.A.’s iconic music venue. The duo also operates two new restaurants – Caldo Verde and Cara Cara, and the new Dahlia cocktail bar at the Downtown L.A. Proper Hotel. The Lucques Group is dedicated to seasonally influenced cooking and focuses on sourcing local, organic produce from which Goin creates soulful dishes that are bold in flavor, vibrant, layered and complex.
