4 Italian Truffles
4 Italian Truffles
4 Italian Truffles
4 Italian Truffles

Truffles plus gourmet cuisine by star chefs plus a stunning Napa location. A magic formula? That would be the inaugural Napa Truffle Festival coming next month (Dec 10-12) to the Westin Verasa Napa.

Billed as North America’s premier truffle event, the festival will showcase the black Périgord truffle (Tuber melanosporum) and the black summer Burgundy truffle (Tuber aestivum/uncinatum) through a variety of cooking demonstration classes and truffle cultivation seminars, culminating in a 13-Michelin Star six-course Truffle Dinner, with each course created and expertly prepared by a Michelin star celebrity chef.

David Kinch, one of six star chefs for the Napa Truffle Festival
David Kinch, one of six star chefs featured at the Napa Truffle Festival

Star chefs on hand will include Josiah Citrin of Mélisse, Santa Monica, CA, Ken Frank, La Toque – Napa, CA, David Kinch, Manresa – Los Gatos, CA, Gabriel Kreuther, The Modern – New York, NY, Nancy Oakes, Boulevard – San Francisco, CA, Sylvain Portay of Le Louis XV (Monte Carlo), Mix (Las Vegas) and Adour (NY).

Truffles have been collected for nearly 4,000 years and are believed to be inducers of romance. Some would say they even achieved the pinnacle of haute cuisine when the ancients attributed them with magical powers.

Turning to science for a moment, Tuber melanosporum is the product of a symbiotic marriage between a subterranean mushroom and the roots of a tree. The truffle itself is the fruiting body of a fungal colony and usually grows beneath the drip line of the outermost branches of hazels and oaks. Because it cannot produce its own food, the fungus unites with a tree’s hair-like rootlets to develop symbiotic organs, called mycorrhizae, through which it feeds on carbohydrates and other nutrients photosynthesized in the tree canopy.

Unique to the Festival are the Michelin Star team of six chefs, who will lead culinary demonstration classes, spend quality time with Festival guests and showcase their unique skills and talents in the Michelin Star Truffle Dinner on Saturday evening.

At the Festival, the best truffle chefs in the world are complemented by the best truffle scientists in the world. Two of the most respected truffle scientists and some of the most knowledgeable experts on truffle cultivation will lead the scientific track of the festival.

The Napa Truffle Festival

December 10–12, 2010

White Peidmont and Black Perigord Truffles
White Peidmont and Black Perigord Truffles

The festival kicks off Friday evening with an opening reception at The Westin Verasa and organized dinners at select Napa restaurants.

Saturday includes cultivation and culinary seminars, cooking classes, a truffle orchard tour excursion and the Michelin Star Truffle Dinner.

Sunday concludes the Festival with a Champagne Truffle Brunch, followed by an Epicurean Marketplace.

The highlight of the Festival will be Saturday night’s Michelin Star Truffle Dinner, hosted by Michelin Star Chef Ken Frank of La Toque restaurant and featuring a multi-course truffle menu (each course prepared by a Michelin Star chef) and wine pairing.

Prices

The Epicurean Grower Scientist: $850 per person

  • Welcome Reception and Truffle Prix Fixe Dinners at Napa restaurants including
  • Bardessono, La Toque and Martini House
  • Saturday Continental Breakfast
  • Keynote
  • Truffle Lunch at La Toque
  • Truffle Seminars 1, 2, 3
  • Robert Sinskey Vineyards Truffle Orchard Tour

The Gourmet: $950 per person

  • Welcome Reception and Truffle Prix Fixe Dinner
  • Saturday Continental Breakfast
  • Keynote
  • Gourmet Lunch at Greystone
  • The Art of Wine-Truffle Pairing: Cooking Classes 1 & 2
  • Champagne Brunch
  • Epicurean Marketplace

The Truffle Gourmand: $1,325 per person

  • Three-day pass to all events including Michelin Star Truffle Dinner

Michelin Star Truffle Dinner: $475 person

Order Tickets online: www.napatrufflefestival.com

Napa Truffle FestivalTruffle Festival Schedule

Friday, December 10, 2010

  • Welcome reception at The Westin Verasa
  • Truffle Prix Fixe Dinners at select Napa restaurants

Saturday, December 11, 2010

  • Continental Breakfast
  • Truffle Seminars
    1. Science-based Truffle Cultivation – with world-renowned truffle scientists Dr. Paul Thomas and Dr. Alexander Urban
    2. The Economics of Truffle Cultivation – with ATC Robert Chang and Dr. Paul Thomas
    3. Proprietary Truffle Science – by invitation only (for existing ATC client-partners)• The Art of Wine-Truffle Pairing: Cooking Classes 1 & 2 – each session taught by a Michelin Star chef
  • Robert Sinskey Vineyards Truffle Orchard Tour in the Carneros Region – see what an
  • operating truffle orchard looks like!
  • Michelin Star Truffle Dinner

Sunday, December 12, 2010

  • Champagne Truffle Brunch
  • Epicurean Marketplace – fresh black truffles for sale along with local organic farmers and artisanal gourmet vendors on hand to show and sell their fresh produce and specialty
    food products.
Monica Turner
Contributor to Stark Insider for tech, the arts and All Things West Coast for over 10 years.