Throughout the year, we have the pleasure of inviting some of our favorite chefs to our kitchen for a special meal. This series of dinners, the Star Chefs Series, brings together our award-winning service, with the talents of some of the best chefs in the country.
We consider all of these chefs our friends. But on Monday, June 8, we are thrilled to invite one of our oldest friends into our kitchen: Chef Maria Helm Sinskey.
Chef Maria Helm Sinskey – photo courtesy of Robert Sinskey Vineyards
Chef Sinskey is a culinary force to be reckoned with. Her resume includes attending pastry school in Denmark, working in Michelin starred restaurants in France, and being named a 1996 Food and Wine Best New Chef while working at Plumpjack Cafe, in San Francisco.
She has appeared on The Food Network, and has published two cookbooks. The Vineyard Kitchen: Meals Inspired By the Seasons was published in 2003, and Family Meals: Creating Traditions in the Kitchen was published in 2009.
Since 1999, Chef Sinskey has served as the culinary director of Robert Sinskey Vineyards, in Napa, CA. In this role, she is able to share the freshest food and wine directly from the grounds of the vineyard.
Gracie’s Executive Chef Matt Varga and Chef Sinskey are hard at work finalizing the menu for the Star Chefs Dinner, but we did manage to ask her a few short questions.
Do you have a favorite cookbook?
Richard Olnay – Lulu’s Provencal Table
Who or what do you look to for inspiration in the kitchen?
The garden
What is your favorite kitchen tool?
My Japanese knives
What is your guilty pleasure food?
Iceberg Lettuce
What can we expect when you come to Gracie’s in June?
All hell to break loose
Is there anything else you want the world to know?
Happiness is found at the bottom of the pot.
All of our Star Chef Dinners include a cocktail reception with passed canapes, a five-course seated tasting menu, and wine pairings. Reservations are required, as seating is limited. Tickets for this very special dinner are $125 per person, exclusive of tax and gratuity. Contact tenneal@graciesprov.com or call 401.272.7811 to reserve your seat at the table.
