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For the third annual Napa Truffle Festival in 2012, we were honored to have the legendary Silver Oak Cellars host a Winery Truffle Lunch. One of the highlights was the opportunity to work with Winery Estate Chef Dominic Orsini – a virtuoso in the kitchen! He prepared truffle pizzas for appetizers and, as a first course, this elegant Frisée Salad of Black Truffles that combines the fun decadence of fried eggs and smashed potatoes with the fresh and bitter delicacy of a frisée salad – perfectly finished with black truffle shavings!
Since taking the helm as winery chef in 2008, Chef Dominic Orsini, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and a Level I Sommelier, has transformed the kitchen at Silver Oak. Inspired by fresh regional and seasonal ingredients, and the winery’s own vineyards, cellars and gardens, Dominic uses vine cuttings to smoke meats, cover crops to make pesto, leftover grape lees to make vincotto, Cabernet to make pâte de fruit and barrel staves to fuel his wood-burning oven. Almost all of the produce he uses, including olives, herbs, fruits and vegetables, is grown in Silver Oak’s organic gardens. With endless curiosity and enthusiasm, Dominic continually pushes the boundaries of wine country cooking. His journey at Silver Oak is chronicled in his book, The Silver Oak Cookbook: Life in a Cabernet Kitchen, published by Rizzoli and due out in the fall of 2016.
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