Meet Executive Sous Chef, Kevin Coulter

Posted on by rita

Kevin Coulter may sound like the name of a singer/songwriter lighting up the City Winery Chicago music stage, but he’s actually a talented young chef heating up the kitchen as our executive sous chef.

Born and raised in Racine, Wisc. (where he still lives!), he grew up in the hospitality business and began cooking at age 12 at his parent’s bar. He spent five years in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he developed patience and honed his management style. Following his stint in the Corps, he followed his true passion for food and began taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu Chicago.

After graduation, he worked in nearly every department for the Marriott in Racine, and worked in numerous other restaurants and bars. Then, his spark was really lit when he worked with chef John Fuente at Prix Fixe in Lincoln Square, where he developed and perfected his real passion for cooking and fine dining.

At City Winery Chicago, he brings his culinary talents and skills but also focuses on the critical role of mentoring staff and other cooks. One of his proudest achievements, he says, has been mentoring great line cooks who became successful sous chefs, and some even run their own kitchens now. As Kevin says, “teaching others is what being a chef is all about; anyone can cook a slider.”

He’s been in the kitchen at City Winery Chicago since September 2012, and is responsible for a number of creative dishes on our menu. One new dish he created for our new spring menu is root beer rubbed pork belly with savory French toast and a maple bourbon demi glace. He’s a talented chef and excellent problem solver whom we are thrilled to have performing in our kitchen nightly!

Think Pink with City Winery Chicago

Posted on by rita


City Winery has embarked upon an entire month of ‘Think Pink, Drink Pink’ throughout April. On the wine side of things, this is excellent news. Rosé season is upon us, albeit early than usual. A brilliant opportunity to crack open the extensive array of pink wines on our list and celebrate the spring. From Austria through Italy, France and Spain, to New York, Oregon and California, still and sparkling, frizzante, and even a pink beer! A ‘white’ Pinot Noir with an onion skin translucent pink. Literally, a playground of rosé. We are certain there is a wine here that you will enjoy. Swing by to sample our special PINK! menu of exclusive by the glass options, purchase our freshly released ‘Pilsen Pink’ Pinot Noir Rosé from Oregon, crafted in-house here at City Winery, nibble on rosé inspired dessert, and enjoy the brighter (pink) side of wine. We shall enjoy and hope to share the experiences with you!

Glazed and Infused donuts made with our original pinot noir rosé

Beverage Director – Rachel Driver Speckan
Current favorite rosé: Of course, asking me to choose just one wine is an excruciating decision. Each day my choice will be different, and may even vary based upon my mood or the dish I have in front of me. But, today, inspired by the culture of pink at City Winery, my favorite is the Clos Cibonne rosé from Provence. The grape is Tibouren, yes, extremely obscure and rare. And, the wine has a fleeting hint, just a slight brush, of flor. Cascades of cherry blossom and freshly picked tart strawberries, salty green olives and marcona almonds mingle with lavender and the sea breeze, toasted bread and the rind of a crumbly cheese. Fascinating, but also exceptionally delicious. Check it on our the special rosé list this month!

The Art of Food and Wine Pairing

Posted on by rita

Here at City Winery Chicago, it’s imperative that we perfectly pair food and wine. I work hand-in-hand with our sommelier, Rachel Speckan, to taste our wines and look for flavors and notes that I can pair with food. This spring, I’ve been working closely with Rachel to pair new menu items with her selection of new seasonal wines. As you may have noticed, our menu is laid out as a guide for food and wine pairing—starting with sparkling and whites working on down to reds—to make it easier for guests to make selections.

One new wine we are offering is a sparking wine called Jane Ventura, which is a Cava from Spain. After tasting the Cava, I knew what dish on our new spring menu to pair with it—fried smoked chicken served with a pickled watermelon salad. The effervescence of the sparkling wine stands up to the smokiness of the chicken while the sweetness of the wine goes nicely with watermelon.

We also tasted another new wine, Mercouri, which is a Chardonnay from Greece. It is briny like the sea, so I wanted to pair it with our new scallop dish, which is a pan-seared scallop with celery root and apple puree. The wine complements the natural sweetness of the scallops.

One new red we’re offering is The Loop, which is a Cabernet Sauvignon from California. We have a new lamb offering for spring that we’re really excited about, and I knew I had to match it with the wine’s deep red berry flavors. The homemade lamb merguez is a slightly spicy sausage served with cous cous, toasted Marcona almonds and a roasted red pepper yogurt sauce.

If you want a “sneak peak” of these dishes, we’re currently running them as specials to try them out, so come on in and let us know what you think!

- Chef Andres Barrera

April Brings the Heat to City Winery Chicago

Posted on by rita

The days are slowly getting warmer (we hope), but things inside our venue are staying at a heated pace. We’ve got music coming from classic knights, rock ‘n roll kings, and celebrated queens, that you shouldn’t miss.

This Monday, April 15th, we have two big names in Chicago music coming together to play the music of the biggest name in rock. Phil Angotti (The Idea) and Steve Dawson (Dolly Varden) are coming together to play the music of Sir Paul McCartney. As part of our Think Pink month at CWC, Angotti and Dawson will be playing McCartney’s post-Beatle hits including the 1971 release, Ram. With a full backing band made up of Chicago music friends, the duo will be pumping out your favorites from Sir Paul, while we pair the tracks with some great wines in our cozy venue. Great wines and great music are the order of the (k)night, and how could you go wrong? Live a little! Be a gypsy, and get around. Get your feet up off the ground and get your tickets!

The Verve Pipe

The Verve Pipe plays City Winery Chicago Thursday, April 18.

Thursday, April 18th, we’ve got a chart-topping, award winning rock band that you’re sure to remember: The Verve Pipe. Since their 1996 platinum album, Villians, which spawned the #1 single, “The Freshmen,” The Verve Pipe have been releasing hit albums and selling out stadiums across the U.S. and Europe. Three albums, a couple EPs, and endless touring, have set up The Verve Pipe for the works of a new record for their legion of fans. They also recently released an acclaimed album for kids called The Family Album. They’re bringing their deep back catalogue to our Randolph Street venue for a solid night of music.

The next night, April 19th, we will have the vocal force of Holly Near. Near has been a celebrated musician and activist since she made her name during multiple protests of the Vietnam War along side Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland. She’s worked with Arlo Guthrie, Jackson Browne, and Joan Baez among others on an impressive discography spanning nearly 30 albums. Her music has been honored by multiple outlets, while Near’s activism has been recognized by the ACLU, National Organization for Women, and the National Lawyers Guild. Get your tickets now to hear one of the best voices in music and activism perform on our stage. I for one am quite excited to hear the music and relive the stories of Holly Near Band.

For more information on tickets and other great shows, check out website at citywinery.com/chicago, call us at 312-RED-WINE (312-733-9463), or email us at chicagoconcierge@citywinery.com! We hope to see you at the show!

Wine-Infused Flatbread Pizza Dough

Posted on by rita

Because we are a fully functioning winery, our kitchen has access to unusual ingredients from the winemaking process. A big advantage is I have a constant supply of wine “lees” and wine at my disposal. One very unique dish we make is our flatbread pizza dough, which we infuse with “lees.”

Wine lees refers to the dead or residual yeast that settles to the bottom of the vat of wine during fermentation. We use the white lees from white wine. The result is a flavor similar to sourdough, and you can actually detect the taste of wine in the dough. In case you were wondering, red wine produces a pink wine lees that, yes, will change the color of dough to purple and more greatly affects the flavor of the dough, so we steer away from using red wine lees.

Other than the addition of lees, we make our dough as simply as possible with only yeast, water, salt and high-gluten organic flour. It is mixed at various speeds for different times and proofs overnight.

We offer three different flatbreads made with this dough, our most popular being the Wild Mushroom Flatbread. The base is a bechamel sauce made with goat cheese, and we use a nice variety of mushrooms: velvet pioppini, Hen of the Woods, Honshimeji, oyster and nameko.

For our flatbreads that feature red sauce—such as our Margherita and Salame Flatbreads—our red sauce is a no-cook sauce. We use DOC San Marzanos tomatoes and mill them through a course food mill and only add salt to taste. San Marzano tomatoes are known for their bittersweet flavor as well as being less acidic than regular plum tomatoes.

Be sure to check out our flatbreads next time you’re in!

Andres Barrera

April Rocks in the West Loop!

Posted on by rita

April is a new glorious spring month, and with it comes a new set of great shows at the City Winery Chicago! We are kicking off spring with some big shows from some musical heavy weights. Won’t you join us?

First up we have the fantastic double bill of David Bromberg and Allen Toussaint on April 6th and 7th. Two greats in the musical world, Bromberg and Toussaint have played with and written songs for an incredible number of musicians. From George Harrison and Paul McCartney to Levon Helm and Bob Dylan, to more modern artists like Widespread Panic, Bromberg and Toussaint have been all over the map. Bromberg has focused mainly on folk, bluegrass, rock, and country, while playing pretty much any stringed instrument you put in his hands. His progressive recording of “Mr. Bojangles”, which featured spoken word stories of his travels with Jerry Jeff Walker, made a big radio splash upon its release in 1972. Toussaint’s brand of New Orleans R&B has been respected for years by musicians, and he has written some of the great songs of his generation, including “Working in a Coal Mine”, “Fortune Teller”, and “Southern Nights”. Toussaint is still a fixture in the New Orleans music scene, and he has done a lot in the rebuilding process since Hurricane Katrina.

After that fantastic double bill, we have another major double bill with two major Icons, with a big capital “I”, in the bluegrass and mandolin world: David Grisman and Andy Statman playing on April 9th and 10th. Grisman is the founder of what became known as “Dawg” music (an affectionate nickname given to Grisman by Jerry Garcia) which is a combination of jazz, folk, and bluegrass. His solo mandolin work, as well as his work with the David Grisman Quintet, has been celebrated fans and musicians for years. Andy Statman is also an influential mandolin player, who is actually a protegé of David Grisman. Grisman taught Statman mandolin at an early age, and while Grisman went more toward jazz, Statman focused on bluegrass and klezmer music. With the teacher and the student playing together in our intimate venue at City Winery Chicago, you’re sure to see instrument mastery like you won’t see anywhere else. Make sure to get your tickets now if you are a bluegrass fan, mandolin fan, or just a fan of virtuosity. It’s sure to be a great night.

Rounding out our great first couple weeks, will be Ron Sexsmith, a singer/songwriter who has been recording and releasing music since his late teens. Sexsmith’s brand of poppy folk rock has been championed by Elvis Costello, Coldplay, Sir Elton John, and Rick Davies of the Kinks, and he’s been nominated for numerous award in his native Canada. He even had a documentary made about him and his life called, Love Shines, which followed him as he recorded his 2011 album, Long Player Late Bloomer. The film itself was nominated for awards as well. Sexsmith has a smooth laid back deliver, and his songs are infectiously catchy and amazingly written. He’ll be playing tunes from his newest album, Forever Endeavour, which I was able to review recently here.

For more information on tickets and other great shows, check out website at citywinery.com/chicago, call us at 312-RED-WINE (312-733-9463), or email us at chicagoconcierge@citywinery.com! We hope to see you at the show!

Nick – City Winery Chicago

Purveyor Close-Up: Rain Crow Ranch

Posted on by rita

This week, I want to take you behind the scenes into our kitchen to discuss one of our favorite purveyors—Rain Crow Ranch, a great family-owned farm in southern Missouri. Rain Crow supplies all our beef, and it is 100% grass-fed, free-range, and hormone & antibiotic-free.

The taste and quality of the beef is exceptional, but we also appreciate that all of their animals are treated humanely. It really comes through in the product. The cattle are born, raised and finished on open grass pastures, and the family is truly passionate about providing the healthiest, safest and highest quality beef possible.

I like to use the beef for our City Winery Sliders because it tastes like a real no fuss, no muss burger. An order of our sliders includes three mini all-beef burgers, served with lettuce and tomato on pretzel rolls. I don’t add a lot of fancy ingredients to the burgers and like that the natural beef flavors can stand on their own. On our new spring menu, we will be offering the sliders on a light brioche bun.

Another popular menu item made with Rain Crow beef is our Braised Short Rib. The short ribs are braised in red wine and stock at a low temperature in the oven for close to six hours. They are served over creamy rosemary scented polenta and topped with a tangy tomato chutney. It’s an elegant, delicious dish.

These are two of our most popular items, thanks to Rain Crow Ranch. The sliders are a big hit with kids, too, and are great for sharing and even hearty enough to be an entree. Even if you are a vegetarian, this meat will make you wish you weren’t! I’m exaggerating, but you are missing out if you haven’t tried these menu items!

- Chef Andres Barrera

You Can Go Home Again…and I’m Happy to Be Back!

Posted on by rita

Welcome to our weekly food column. We will be writing a new post each week with the latest on our menu, specials, food and wine pairings, our chefs and more at City Winery Chicago!

For the first installment of our weekly food column, I want to take a moment to introduce myself and tell you how thrilled I am to be here at City Winery Chicago!

I’m a Chicago boy who took a great detour working at some wonderful establishments in NYC, including City Winery New York, but now I’ve come full circle by returning to Chicago to be your executive chef at City Winery Chicago.

My passion for food and cooking started as a young boy growing up in Marquette Park on the South Side. I was inspired by the great chefs I watched on television, such as Jeff Smith, Martin Yan and Julia Child (I was also intrigued by Jack Tripper from Three’s Company and the Swedish Chef!). I learned the basics from my mother, grandmothers and aunts, cooking with them from the time I was 10 years old. My love of food and cooking continued to evolve as I attended Le Cordon Bleu here in Chicago, where I studied classical French and Italian cuisine. I then moved to NYC, where I learned precise cooking and perfect plating techniques at the renowned Capital restaurant, worked slinging pizzas at the famed Franny’s in Brooklyn, then headed up the kitchen at City Winery New York.

I’m now happy to bring all of these experiences to the menu at City Winery Chicago. I love the challenge of creating a menu inspired by the wine producing regions of the world while also making food designed around our customers, many of whom are here to enjoy music or to dine in the bar with friends. I love creating sharable plates that are delicious and delight guests. A personal favorite of mine on the menu is our seared scallops with a carrot puree and bacon chutney. Another dish I am really excited about is an item we currently are developing for our spring menu called faux marrow. Conceived by my executive sous chef Kevin Coulter, this play on bone marrow is a vegetarian dish made from a variety of hand-foraged mushrooms we source from a great local purveyor. Be sure to come in later this spring to check it out!

I look forward to serving you and hope you enjoy your dining experience at City Winery Chicago!

Coming Soon to the West Loop! – David Wilcox, Catie Curtis, Martha Wainwright, Nicholas Tremulis Orchestra

Posted on by rita

Welcome to our weekly music column straight from the West Loop and into your homes. We will be writing a new post each week to give everyone information on upcoming shows, special events, and even sneak peeks of shows not yet announced at the City Winery Chicago!

For our first post, we are highlighting some great acts coming up this week at our beautiful concert venue on Randolph St. This Friday, March 22nd, we will have the one-two folk punch of David Wilcox and Catie Curtis. David Wilcox is an incredibly creative singer/songwriter who has been playing and recording music for over 20 years. He has been lauded by artists (such as k.d. lang) and critics (such as Rolling Stone and the New York Times) for his poetic lyrics and expressive guitar work. In 2008, he and Bob Dylan both received the same songwriter award from Acoustic Guitar magazine. Pretty great company I’d say. Combine that with who the New Yorker calls a “folk-rock goddess” in Catie Curtis, and you’ve got a great night of music! Curtis has had music featured on Grey’s Anatomy, toured and recorded with country star Mary Chapin Carpenter, and has played for President Obama…TWICE! You know that President Obama has good taste in music, so anyone he would invite back has got to have something special.

Speaking of something special, we have Martha Wainwright coming Sunday March 24th. There’s no better musical family pedigree than the Wainwrights. From a Grammy Award winning father, Loudon Wainwright III, to Juno Award winning mother Kate McGarrigle, Martha and her brother Rufus have some great genes with which to work. Martha Wainwright has been recording albums since the late 90s, receiving praise from SPIN magazine, The Guardian, and the BBC. She also has star studded guest lists on her albums including Pete Townsend (The Who), Rufus Wainwright, her mother Kate, Garth Hudson (The Band), and Nels Cline (Wilco), to name a few. Wainwright’s voice will fill our intimate venue, and Sunday’s show is sure to be a fantastic experience with one of the premiere performers from one of the greatest musical families.

Rounding out our week of great music will be our dear friends, and City Winery Chicago vets, The Nicholas Tremulis Orchestra (NTO). They will be back for a second preview of their newest rockin’ album For The Baby Doll on Tuesday, March 26th. NTO have been making rock and blues music for nearly 25 years, while also playing with the likes of Billy Corgan, Keith Richards, Ronnie Spector, and Ian Hunter. Each night they come to City Winery, they blow the roof off the place. The last show they played here back in February was a packed house of dancin’ and sweatin’, and you can’t miss it this time because they’ll be joined by Springsteen favorite Willie Nile. That’s right. The Boss has hand picked Willie Nile to play with the E-Street Band, and we’ll have him on our stage. Enticed?

All information for tickets and show times can be found at www.citywinery.com/chicago, by calling our box office at 312.RED.WINE (312.733.9463), or emailing chicagoconcierge@citywinery.com.

2012 Year in Review – Top 12 Greatest Moments From Our Staff (in chronological order)

Posted on by Allison

 

#1 -Little Feat

January 2nd – 4th

What a great way start to 2012! For three nights, this American rock group brought their authentic, bluesy-horn blowing, down-home sound to the City Winery stage. City Winery has had their sights set on Little Feat for a long time, and hope that this will become a yearly event before they cross the ocean for their annual run in Jamaica.

 

 

 

 

Click here to see Joshua’s performance at City Winery.

#2 – Joshua Bell

January 6th

Joshua is one the most famed violinists in the world. Being a friend and a fan of our venue, he chose City Winery for a very special underplayed album release performance. The room was jam packed with an audience that was enjoying food and drink while remaining completely captivated by Joshua’s compositions.

 

 

 

 

#3 – The Cabinet of Wonders

February 4th, March 10th, April 28th, May 19th, September 8th, October 19th, November 16th and December 16th

City Winery is proud to have hosted and provided a home for wildly popular and NPR hit variety show by John Wesley Harding. The show has developed over the past three years into a true representation of what City Winery is all about; a coming together of leading cultural influencers in music, comedy, and literature. This year included the likes of Sam Amidon, Iris Dement, Nick Hornby, Stephin Merritt, Eugene Mirman, Aaron Neville, Steve Earle, Loudon Wainwright III, Alec Ounsworth, John Roderick, Ron Sexsmith, Stephen Kellogg and many more!

 

 

 

 

 

#4 – Wyclef Jean

February 24th, March 31st, October 18th, December 16th (Chicago)

2012 was “The Year of Wyclef” performing four incredible shows between New York and Chicago. This amazing talent showed everyone who was lucky enough to get in to the four-day residency that he is much more than a refugee; he is an amazing and talented musician who knows how to put on a remarkable performance. By the end of the show Wyclef had everyone out of their seats waving  City Winery napkins in the air. We look forward to seeing more from Wyclef in 2013 when he hosts the newly created Refugee Lounge Series at the winery.

 

 

 

 #5 – Robert Johnson 100th Birthday Celebration Rehearsal Show

March 5th

A live dress rehearsal at City Winery the night prior to the sold out show at The Apollo Theater. The show featured many soul, jazz and blues legends such as Steve Jordan’s All Star Band, Living Colour, Shemekia Copeland, Bettye LaVatte, Taj Mahal, Keb Mo, Sam Moore, Todd Rundgren and more.

Click here to see a clip from the show at City Winery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click here to see Todd’s performance at City Winery

#6 – Todd Rundgren

March 7th

One of our most beloved artists came through City Winery with five shows this past year, each one a little different from the other. These shows were advertised as ‘An Unpredictable Evening With Todd Rundgren’ not without reason. In addition, Todd also took part in our outside production at the Apollo Theater to celebrate Robert Johnson’s 100th birthday anniversary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#7 – Mother’s Day Show with Patti Smith & daughter Jesse Paris Smith plus Lucy Wainwright Roche  and daughter Suzzy Roche. 

May 13th

Click here to see a clip from the show at City Winery.

This very unlikely bill was put together specifically for City Winery and featured two mother and daughter combos and brought together the beautiful, melodic, harmonies of the Roches contrasting the strong minded delivery of the Smiths. Only in New York and only at City Winery can such a collaboration blossom from idea to reality.

 

 

 

 

 

#8- Ronnie Spector’s Beyond the Beehive

July 6th, 14th, 20th, 27th, August 18th, September 15th

This was a monumental run of 6 shows that was developed specially for City Winery and featured Ronnie Spector at her best. Ronnie took the audience on an emotional journey through her amazing life story through song, photos and video. Audience members included fellow celebrities in the music and theater community and friends that Ronnie has collected over the year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click here to see the performance of “This Land is Your Land” by Diana Jones, David Robbins, Steve Earle, Tim Robbins, Miles Guthrie Robbins, Steve Butts (original member of The Highwaymen), and John Hammond.

#9 – Woodyfest: Celebration of Woody Guthrie’s 100th Birthday

July 11th-13th

An incredible line up of musicians from all genres came out to celebrate the100th Birthday year of the man who defined Americana music in this country. The performers selected for the tribute were a perfect fit for the City Winery audience and we were lucky enough to get a little help from our friend Steve Earle who was both the co-curator and host for all three nights. Some of the highlights included Billy Bragg, Allen Toussaint, Tim Robbins and John Hammond among others.

 

 

 

 

 

 
#10 – Sam Moore

July 17th

Who knows the fate of feel good soul music? A true, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity came when   Sam Moore of Sam and Dave played two shows in one day at City Winery this past summer. First he rocked out our backyard at the Hudson Square Wine & Music Festival and then a full show in the winery that evening. Keeping the Soul Man music alive!

See Sam More on “Goody Day NY” with Bethenny Frankel and Dave Price.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



#11 – Taj Mahal

August 25-26th

The legendary blues man hit the stage for two special nights as well as joined our Rolling Stones tribute at Carnige Hall. Taj has been on our radar from day one and to see him finally play our stage was definitely  a highlight, especially when his daughter Deva joined him on the last night.

 

 

 

 

 

#12 Gad Elmaleh

November 25th-29th

Truly not knowing what to expect after booking a 4 night of comedy show performed all in French – we ended up adding two additional nights, made way for Jerry Seinfeld and started talks about an encore performance this summer!  The show was a real home run with the French community in New York! We hope that by hosting one of the most successful comedians in the world more will join the ranks.

 

 

Be sure to comment below and let us know some of your favorites, or acts you would like to see at City Winery in 2013.

 

Happy New Year!!

The Director’s Wine – Michael Dorf and Ed Burns sit down for some serious business

Posted on by Allison

 

Earlier this week actor/director Ed Burns sat down with owner Michael Dorf to make some wine pairing selections for their upcoming evening together on Monday, December 17th.  For the second year in a row Michael and Ed challenge themselves to pair scenes from Ed’s films with wine selections from Michael.

This year there will be eight scenes from five films, 3 of which will be from Ed’s latest, The Fitzgerald Family Christmas.  Others include  Brothers McMullen, She’s the One, Sidewalks of New York, and Nice Guy Johnny.

Check out the full recap of the pairing from The Wall Street Journal.

 

A Night for Freedom with Esperanza Spalding, Bobby McFerrin, Gretchen Parlato and Special Guests Paul Simon and Prince!

Posted on by Allison

Music is the greatest expression of freedom and that theme carried through in every capacity of the evening. Free the Slaves organizer Sarah Gardner started the show with a brief introduction about how the organization changes the lives of people still living in slavery in this modern-day in age.

The charm and wit of the lovely Esperanza Spalding carried the remainder of the night. She explained to the guests that she was brought up on the notion that using art and talent is the best way influence humanity for the greater good. Her voice rang with a soft chaos and moved across her bass with the grace of a ballroom dancer. Comrade and internationally recognized jazz singer Gretchen Parlato was introduced to the stage and brought another level of dimension and emotion to the performance.

The first surprise for the evening came with the introduction of the legendary Paul Simon. Esperanza did her best to respect Paul’s wishes and not to overdo the introduction, but that was quite impossible. Her introduction was a little early as Paul wasn’t quite ready to appear on stage. She joked about how now would be an appropriate time to Tweet and text your friends about not coming to the show and missing a chance to see Paul Simon! When Paul walked on stage he got right down to business and plucked out the first few chords of Sound of Silence. A truly religious experience for anyone in the room that night and a perfect instrumental duet between her bass and his guitar.

Bobby McFerrin was next up on stage and joined Paul and Esperanza for an impromptu performance of Scarborough Fair, Freedom Jazz Dance and Peace. Bobby continued to perform with Esperanza and the rest of the Chamber Music Society band. Bobby’s demeanor and presence on stage was perfectly in tandem with Esperanza and it was apparent that his seniority didn’t get in the way of working with the new girl on the block.

The second surprise of the evening was a very coy anecdote from Esperanza about her attempts to get auction items for the evening. She referenced a “very special” person who she nervously approached and graciously asked for practically anything, even a dirty sock! The morning of the show in the midst of sound checks and meetings a small box was delivered to her. The contents included a yellow, dirty sock. It was later confirmed that the one and only Prince would be sending a guitar to auction. And because he’s Prince, he took a private Jet to New York City and sat in our VIP section and enjoyed a portion of the performance. Esperanza very graciously nodded to him and she introduced the guitar.

The night was incredibly successful for the Free the Slaves organization raising somewhere in the neighborhood of $45,000 for the cause. A true night for freedom and memorable musical performance by some incredibly generous names in music.

 

Special thank you to photographer Adriana Mateo to which these photos are credited.

Jerry Seinfeld opens first of 5 sold out performances of French comedian Gad Elmaleh.

Posted on by Allison

To open a five night, sold out performance of French comedian Gad Elmaleh, City Winery received a very special surprise guest appearance from New York comedic icon Jerry Seinfeld. Gad Elmaleh and Jerry have been friends for several years and share a similar bandwidth of popularity and fan adoration in their respected countries. In fact, last year Jerry did his first-ever show in Paris and Gad made a similar opening address to the French-American audience. The two also share a connection over the voice-over work from DreamWorks Animation’s Bee Movie.

Gad Elmaleh has received a very warm welcome by his New York fans and City Winery is honored to host his first ever appearance on our stage. We look forward to last two sold out performances!

 

 Robert Parker, Jr. Gives Music a 100 Point Score

Posted on by Allison

 

Last night City Winery went out to support the TJ Martell Foundation Wine dinner.  Owner Michael Dorf had the privilege to sit next to Robert Parker, Jr, the renowned Wine Critic. Michael passed him a bottle of City Winery Bettinelli Cabernet under the table and joked that we made so little of it,  don’t rate it, just drink it.

Robert Parker in his remarks at the event had the following to say:

“The therapeutic combination of great wine with great music all shared by great friends is one of the greatest privileges of all time.”

 

Michael Dorf and Robert Parker Jr.

Michael Dorf and Robert Parker Jr. on November 15, 2012.

 

The TJ Martell Foundation was founded by Tony Martell, to honor his son who died of leukemia at the age of nineteen.  His son’s wish was for his father was to raise a million dollars for cancer research.  Over the years, they have kept the Foundation’s roots deep in the music industry and hundreds of volunteers have worked passionately with the staff to raise more than $250 million for leukemia, cancer and AIDS research which has been successfully leveraged into several billion dollars in additional funding from larger funding sources.

500 candles, 100 glasses of wine, and 3 generators

Posted on by Allison

 

 

“Did you make it out of the Hurricane ok?!” – the most common phrase of New Yorkers these days.

City Winery lost electricity for 5 days as a result of Hurricane Sandy.  Fortunately we didn’t flood and were able to open on Tuesday, October 20th when owner Michael Dorf and his family hosted and served wine with cheese and charcuterie platters to some neighbors who saw the welcoming glow of 500 candles. After scrambling for generators and extension cords (special thanks to Carroll Music, InConcert Audio and Great Performances) we offered warm food, good wine, phone charging stations paired with a remarkable live performance by Al Stewart who agreed that the show must go on, a Comic Relief benefit and a day of free NY movies – from “When Harry Met Sally” to “Taxi Driver” – for those looking for company and something other than the inside of a powerless apartment.

We are very proud of our staff who made it in through difficult circumstances to keep the doors open and the operation going. The kitchen staff set up grills in the parking lot and made giant pots of soup and stew, the office and concierge teams coordinated everything from remote accessing of ticket lists and handling the flood of show enquiries coming in, to managing payroll and making and distributing flyers. Marc, our Tech Director ran power cables from generators and even across the courtyard from our new friends at the local Russian television station RTVi. Those who had access to the Internet at home kept the messaging going to the outside world and checked that our staff was safe.  The winery team worked hard to save the freshly pressed wine now in tanks which were unable to chill or warm as needed. Wizardry and tireless effort paid off.  We thank all our staff for the dedication and resourcefulness.

We were very aware that we weren’t alone in the dark and grateful that we had not sustained bigger losses considering the widespread damage across the area. As with everyone it’s been a very difficult week of keeping up with what’s happening all around us all while trying to bring some normalcy back to our agendas. We have stayed motivated by others who’ve suffered greater losses and continue to move forward.

In that spirit we do recognize that we are in touch with many people daily and will now use this advantage to actively help those who may not have been as lucky as us after the storm.  We’ve already raised over $2,000 for the Red Cross and are hosting a company-wide food and clothing drive, which will be donated to our neighbor City Harvest, an organization extremely active in post Sandy rescue relief.  We’ll also be hosting some California wine makers, The Rhone Rangers this Wednesday, November 7th for a trade and consumer walk-around tasting where $2 will be donated to the Red Cross for each attendee.  We’re honored to do our part so please look out for other charitable events coming in the weeks to come.

 

Let’s be the resilient New Yorkers we are and let’s take care of those who are hurting.

Dear Hurricane Sandy, The Show Must Go On!

Posted on by Allison
MICHAEL DORF SAYS, “THE SHOW MUST GO ON!”
Wednesday, October 31th
 

We have just lit about 500 candles and Al Stewart is coming downtown to play a special acoustic set here in blackout Lower Manhattan.  We have scrambled to get enough staff, a small generator for some light for the kitchen and the stage.  There will be a limited menu and the wine will be flowing.  People need a place to go and we hope we are shinning a little light at the dark time in our community.  It is amazing to see many of our staff coming from all over the tri-state by foot, by bike, carpooling, but with tremendous enthusiasm we are prepared to host a full house tonight.  Of course, without electric, we can only accept cash.

As PT Barnum said, “The Show must go on,” and we are doing our best to get this on tonight.  Please help spread the word, we really appreciate it.

Michael Dorf