IFWTWA Media TripsJohn Sarich, Culinary Director at Chateau Ste. Michelle, to host IFWTWA
Saturday, February 12th, 2011 — posted by Allen Cox
John Sarich, courtesy of Chateau Ste Michelle
The International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association has organized an optional pre-trip to the Seattle area prior to our Conference at Sea on June 25, 2011. Members and their guests on this “Best of Seattle” tour are fortunate to visit the award-winning Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville, Washington and enjoy a hosted wine-pairing small-bites luncheon with the winery’s Culinary Director, John Sarich, author, celebrated chef and restaurateur, and former TV culinary and travel host. Chateau Ste. Michelle was kind enough to share the following information with us.
Few chefs enjoy access to a greater bounty of world-class wines and fresh foods than Chateau Ste. Michelle’s Culinary Director, John Sarich. “The Pacific Northwest is a chef’s paradise,” says John. “Not only do we have an outstanding variety of ingredients from the land and sea, we also have exceptional wines from Washington’s Columbia Valley, where long summer days and crisp autumn nights produce ideal conditions for well balanced wines.”
John’s innovative approach to pairing food and wine has delighted discriminating palates across the country. At Chateau Ste. Michelle, John conducts cooking classes, wine and food tastings, wine dinners, and special events, all designed to further the enjoyment and understanding of wine and food. He also presents training seminars and classes for wine and food professionals and aficionados around the world. Culinary tours have led John from Disney World in Orlando, to the Culinary Institute of America in New York, to hotels in Singapore, China, Bangkok, and Hawaii, to name a few.
John joined Chateau Ste. Michelle as a winery guide in 1976, the summer the winery first opened its doors. His incredible knowledge and enthusiasm for wine and food quickly became apparent, and before long he was teaching cooking classes in the Chateau’s historic Manor House. Soon after, he moved into Sales as a wine and food consultant for chefs along the Pacific Coast.
In 1980, John took a hiatus from the winery and founded Seattle’s highly acclaimed Adriatica Restaurant. He later opened Dalmacija Ristoran in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. While at Adriatica, John was selected by Esquire magazine as one of the country’s “Hot new Chefs,” and listed by The Seattle Times as one of the city’s “Top Five Chefs.”
After returning to Chateau Ste. Michelle as Culinary Director in 1990, John hosted the Emmy-nominated cooking show Taste of the Northwest for four years. He then hosted the nationally and internationally syndicated TV show Best of Taste: Travels With John Sarich, with episodes shot on location in Europe, Asia and across the United States.
In 2010, John released his fifth cookbook, Chef in the Vineyard. His previously published cookbooks, John Sarich’s Food and Wine of the Pacific Northwest, John Sarich at Chateau Ste. Michelle, Best of Taste: Flavors of the Pacific Northwest, and Entertaining Simply continue to inspire cooks around the world. For John, educating others about the joy of wine and food is not simply a job, it’s his driving passion. His extensive culinary program and infectious enthusiasm for matching wine and food are establishing Chateau Ste. Michelle as a dominant focus in the Northwest.
Visit Chateau Ste. Michelle’s website at http://www.ste-michelle.com.
There is still time to join IFWTWA and sign up for the “Best of Seattle” trip before March 15, 2011.
Allen Cox is a Travel & Lifestyle Journalist based in the Seattle area and Editor of HARBORS Magazine. He serves on IFWTWA’s Board of Directors and is Chair of the organization’s Excellence Awards Committee.
Allen’s website is www.allencox.org and his blog is at www.localroads.wordpress.com.
