Out of the Fire Monthly Connection

June 2024

Wine Artisans

We have always focused on supporting small, mostly local and like minded businesses such as ourselves. It is important to us, for many reasons, but the relationship piece is the most gratifying. We recently started supporting a small, family owned Italian wine importer called Doria Wines. A brother and sister team who work tirelessly to seek out and develop relationships with micro wineries in many of Italy's unique and distinct growing regions. All produce small quantities of wine. The wines we purchase from Doria are unique and have an interesting backstory. Cristina and Marco recently introduced La Vela winery to us. La Vela is located in Sicily on 10 acres of organic-certified vineyards. The owners are Gaspare and Monica La Vela. La Vela’s attention to detail strongly resonates with us. They define themselves as wine artisans and pride themselves for not using chemistry to make their wines which are organic and not filtered, stabilized or clarified. They use corks derived from sustainable and renewable raw materials based on sugar cane and apply naturally biodegradable cotton labels to their bottles. They make 790 cases of Grillo, Zibibbo, a Perricone/Syrah blend and Marsala Vergine which are hand numbered and manually sealed with wax. When Colleen was tasting these wines with Cristina she had a question about the Marsala. Cristina was unsure about how to answer Colleen’s question so she called Gaspare in Italy (9:00 pm their time) and he promptly answered the phone. He happily and passionately answered all of Colleen’s questions. That kind of access doesn’t happen with large producers.

La Vela means sail in Italian. Driven by their love of the sea and sailing they named their wines after sailboat parts: Stalla (forestay), Randa (mainsail), Boma (boom) and Sartre (shroud). We will be featuring their wines for a limited time. We hope you venture in and indulge. 

“How you do the little things is how you do everything.” Sharon Pearson

La Vela ‘Sartie’Marsala Vergine

In Sicily there is a town named Marsala which is the birthplace of the same named fortified wine.There are 3 types of Marsala: Fine: 17%, Superiore: 18% and Vergine: 19%. Marsala can be both sweet and dry. It can be used in cooking and baking, but you should reserve the Vergine for long slow sips after dinner preferably with a nice dessert that complements the elixir. Instead of taking a ferry Jed has you traveling between Naples and Sicily by adding the Migliaccio (Naples) cake to the dessert menu and pairing it with the La Vella Sartie Vergine Marsala (Sicily).

And….. Marsala

One of our current ice cream flavors is Marsala Ricotta Chocolate Chip. We offer it by the scoop while dining or you can take a pint home with you or order it online!

Our Garden

Eric Wittman is the steward, creator and inspiration of the Out of the Fire garden. If you see him tending to the garden he will passionately and enthusiastically share his vast botanical knowledge. We asked him to share his favorite plant that is currently growing in the garden. It is Leonotis Leonoris. Eric planted 3 different types: Traditional (which is an annual with an orange bloom), Snow Tiger (white blossom, annual plant) and Savannah Sunset (perennial with an orange blossom). He likes these plants because they are drought resistant, fall blooming, and reach a height of 4-7 feet. Kaitlyn Waldrip and Peter Schroeder are also instrumental in creating the perfect vision of what we wanted the new location to embody, a womb of beauty. We pictured people walking up to the restaurant to pause as they took in the garden. We imagined blood pressure dropping and moods softening. The sensual experience from the garden would be carried into the restaurant as the experience of the art and warm palette of the walls continue as customers settle into their seats before they experience the final artistic expression of what is experienced on their palettes.

Spice it Up 

Chris recently added a new creation to the dinner menu. It is swordfish with chimol, an El Salvadoran radish condiment, and cucumbers tossed in a light feta cream. The cucumbers are finished with Urfa Biber or Urfa pepper, a Turkish chili pepper grown in the town of Urfa in southern Turkey. You can imagine the surprise and joy this brought to Sedat, a server who many of you have met. Sedat is from Antioch, Turkey.

Chris is drawn to the pepper because it encompasses an earthy, smoky, sweet-sour dimension. It is an accent to the dishes he creates that benefit from its simple complexity. We are often asked what “type” of food we serve at Out of the Fire. The simple answer is: we attempt to support and utilize as many local producers as we can while creating globally influenced food which reflect a simple complexity akin to Urfa Biber. The latest swordfish creation is a perfect representation of the food Chris and Jed create. Swordfish from the eastern seaboard, Chimol which is an El Salvadoran radish salad (Willawaw Farms). Chris thanks Jonathan (line cook), whose family hails from El Salvador for the inspiration. The dish also includes local cucumbers (Green View Hydroponics) tossed in feta cream (Greek influence) finished with Urfa Biber (Turkish). The marriage of these flavors, textures and ingredients is a fresh and unique culinary inspiration that can’t be described as anything but eclectic, inspired and delicious!

About Us:

What We Listen To, Read, and Watch in our free time

Alan-Listening to: Kendrick Lamar-Good Kid, Maad City on Vinyl

Amy-Reading: Table for Two-Amor Towles

Anna-Listening to: Rumors by Fleetwood Mac on Spotify

Blake-Listening to: Stick Figure on Spotify

Chris- Listening to: The voices in his head-/Reading: Between the Lines- Watching: The World Burn

Caleb- Listening to: Squid- Bright Green Field on Spotify

Colleen- Listening to: Sault- Nine on Vinyl

Devin- Listening to: Flying Microtonal Banana by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard on Vinyl

Heather-Reading: The People You Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

Hudson-Watching: Peaky Blinders on Netflix

Jed- Listening to: Pucksoup on Spotify

Jonathan- Watching: Dinner Time Live with David Chang on Netflix

Jose-Reading: Adrift by Steven Callahan

Justin-Listening to: Be Here Now Podcast featuring Ram Dass on Spotify

Katherine-Listening to: Hit Me Hard and Soft by Billie Eilish on Spotify

Katie-Reading:Meet Me at the Lake-Carley Fortune

Matt-Reading: The Path Between the Seas-David Mcullough

Marianne-Reading: Wolfish by Erica Berry

Mitchell-Listening to: Deaf Radio on Spotify

Peyton- Listening to: Tupac-Better Days on Spotify

Sedat-Listening to: The Shell Collector by Anthony Doer on Audible

Taylor-Listening to: The Morning Brew Daily on Spotify

Trey- Listening to: Jamiroquai on Apple Music

Looking for a thoughtfully curated gift?

In addition to our in-house made breads, ice cream, and pantry items, we also feature goods and artwork with local connections. Check out our online market.

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