d.k Steak House to Host Edmeades Winemaker Dinner with Van Williamson

“The ZIN-meister”

VAN WILLIAMSON

of

EDMEADES VINEYARDS

Friday, July 25, 2008

Van Williamson, one of California’s most colorful and down-to-earth winemakers will be on hand to chat with guests during what is sure to be a very comfortably informal evening of great food and wine.

Affectionately known to those in the wine community as “The Zin-meister,” Williamson produces some of the tastiest, most provocative, interesting and unique Old Vine California Zinfandel today. According to his biography, Van is a confirmed minimalist and each wine tells the story of the

remote Mendocino vineyards where it grows. Van believes that the winemaker can only build on those natural treasures, “I let the vineyard tell me how to make the wine”.

The four-course menu (please see below) was created by d.k Steak House Executive Chef Jason Miyasaki. Hours are 5:30 to 10:00 p.m. and reservations are strongly suggested.... 931-6280.

Please note: The restaurant’s regular dinner menu will also be available.

Appetizer

SPICED BABY BACK RIBS

With Granny Smith Apple Coleslaw, served with a charred Maui Onion barbecue sauce

2006 Edmeades Zinfandel “Shamrock Vineyard”

2nd Course:

“NICOISE STYLE”SEARED AHI SALAD

Spicy Waimanalo Greens with marinated Red Potatoes, Haricot Verts, Black Olives, Hau’ula tomatoes & hard boil quail eggs  tossed in a creamy Tarragon & Anchovy dressing

2006 Edmeades Zinfandel “Mendocino”

Main Entrée:

ZINFANDEL BRAISED KOBE SHORT RIBS

With roasted Vegetable Napoleon, Crispy Maui Onions, Zinfandel Reduction & Natural Jus

2006 Edmeades Zinfandel “Ciapusci Vineyard”

Dessert:

DUO OF CHOCOLATE CHEESE CAKES

Bittersweet Chocolate Cheesecake with Praline Crumbles & Hot Fudge

White Chocolate Cheesecake with fresh Raspberries & a Passion Fruit Coulis

Coffee or Tea

 $85 per person

Four Course Menu Created by

d.k Steak House Executive Chef- Jason Miyasaki

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Frommer's Review

"Attention carnivores, especially beef eaters, this new steakhouse opened in 2004 to rave reviews,

giving the national steakhouse chains and the top local steakhouses a run for their money.  Locally known

Chef DK Kodama along with Hawaii's top sommelier Chuck Furuya have created the ultimate steakhouse for the 21st century at reasonable prices (especially for Waikiki).  Purists will love the prime-grade and dry-aged (in house for 10 days) New York strip & filet mignon, served unadorned (but well seasoned).  Or try it served with blue cheese butter (absolutely no calorie counting allowed), three types of peppercorns, and capped with blue crab and bearnaise sauce, or DK's own island-fusion touch with home-made gomadare sesame seed-miso sauce or shiitake mushroom demi-glace. You might want to get there early and book a table outside on the lanai to watch the sunset on Waikiki Beach.The decor inside is romantic with dim lighting, intimate wooden booths, and tiny bar lights.  For nonsteak lovers, the menu also includes a fresh catch, T-bone lamb chops, broiled herb chicken, and osso bucco".

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Managing Partner, Ivy Nagayama
d.k Steakhouse General Manager, Ivy Nagayama was recently promoted to Managing Partner by Chef/owner

DK Kodama. “Ivy joined our restaurant group in 2000 and helped us open Sansei Honolulu, Sansei Kihei, VINO Honolulu, as well as d.k Steakhouse.   She has worked very hard to make us better, and we are proud to have her as a partner, she certainly deserves it”.  Previous to joining us, she opened Hoku’s Restaurant-Kahala Mondarin Hotel, Prince Court Restaurant-Hawaii Prince Hotel and Orchid Restaurant-Halekulani Hotel.  In addition to her depth of knowledge & experience, Ivy has a real passion for wines and her award winning wine list certainly reflects that.

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Introducing "Classically" Aged Steaks
d.k Steakhouse specializes in the finest, corn fed Midwestern beef, which is classically aged for 28 days. Wonderfully tender, juicy & seared to order, using our 1800 degree broiler, all of our steaks are served with our "house" made jus.

-22 oz. Bone-In Rib-Eye
-24 oz Porterhouse
-14 oz T-Bone
-8 oz Filet Mignon
-14 oz New York Strip

We also periodically offer a well marbled, rich & tender 8 oz "Kobe Style" Filet Mignon, which is a hybrid
of Japanese Wagyu & American Black Angus.

If you are craving a terrific, tender, juicy steak……think d.k Steakhouse.

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Our Pride & Joy

22 ounce, 30 day “dry aged” Rib-eye “on the bone”
We love the nutty, complex, almost cheesy character of this steak….AND….how remarkably tender it really is.  How did we get to this point?  First and foremost is our commitment to offer really good food in each of our restaurants.   In this case, we felt featuring dry aged steaks was the direction to take in order to fulfill that commitment.  It just had to be.  Yes, we dry age our own steaks…..in house.  (Please refer to our note on the dry ageing process & the intended results).  It is way to have better control on the quality.  Then we cook our steaks using a “double broiler system”, which heats up to 1800 degrees. This extreme heat sears the outside of the steak quickly, minimizes the juices all dripping out.  This system also cooks the steaks evenly on both sides.  Yes, this is our house specialty and something well worth a visit with us to taste.

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Winemaker Dinner with Christian Tietje of Four Vines Winery

Four Vines is a very hot, new winery, based out of Paso Robles, California, specializing in SENSATIONAL, contemporary styled rustic red wines, produced from grapes such as Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Syrah, Mourvedre & Grenache. In fact, they are so hot, they were highlighted in a centerfold article in one of the 2007 issues of The Wine Spectator and the accolades & high ratings just keep rolling in.

The winery's superstar winemaker, Christian Tietje, came to d.k Steakhouse to unveil some of his sensational, newly bottled 2006's, which he had flown in for the event. With the wine savvy guidance of Managing Partner Ivy Nagayama, d.k Steahouse Executive Chef Jason Miyasaki created a very special menu for the Four Vines dinner.

Chris has such a fiery passion for his wines and all of us instantly felt it. It was actually quite infectuous. He is certainly such a rare combination of being creative and a terrific people person. This all made for quite a night! Thank you Chris.

Appetizer
BEEF CARPACCIO ROLL
With Baby Arugula, Truffle Oil, Roasted Garlic Aioli & a Balsamic Vinegar

wine:  2006 Anarchy (Mourvèdre, Zinfandel, Syrah)

2nd Course:
BABY WAIMANALO SPINACH SALAD WITH DUCK CONFIT
Marinated Beets, Hau’ula Vine Ripened Tomatoes, Sweet Maui Onions, Blue Cheese with a light Zin-Soy Vinaigrette

wine:  2005 Zinfandel“The Biker”

Main Entrée:
OUR “IN HOUSE” 28-DAY CLASSICALLY AGED BONE IN RIB EYE
With Haricot Verts & Truffle Mac & Cheese

wine:  2006 Petite Sirah “Heretic”

Dessert:
THE CHOCOLATE BOMB
Bittersweet Chocolate Cake, Semi-Sweet Ganache,
& Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.

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Dry Aged Steaks & Red Wine
We love our tasty, ultra-tender, in house “dry aged” steaks.  Managing Partner, Ivy Nagayama & Master Sommelier Chuck Furuya have selected a few of their favorite red wines to savor with our more complex, flavorful steaks.

2005 TSCHARKE Tempranillo
BY The Glass Owner/winemaker Damien Tscharke is one of our hottest, new winemaker discoveries out Australia’s Barossa Valley. Interestingly & rather uniquely, Tscharke grows & produces a fabulous, delicious, suave, wonderfully textured Tempranillo (normally a Spanish grape) based red wine.  The ‘05 is not only a terrific drink by itself, but does amazing things when sipped between bites with our steaks.

2006 TRUMPETER Malbec   
BY The Glass Malbec is a dark skinned, dense red grape and this one comes to us from 40 to 80 year old vines grown at high altitudes up in the Andes foothills of Argentina. Yes, it is dark & full of flavor & structure, but done without any sense of heaviness or gaudiness.  The wine’s innate heartiness, rustic edge & structure works, we think, wonders with dry aged meats.  

2005 CARLISLE Zinfandel “Dry Creek”
Without a doubt, this is one of our favorite Californian Zin producers & this is deeply flavored, truly superb 2005 will show you why first hand.  It is 57% Teldeschi Ranch (from the old vines planted in the 1880’s), 23% Mounts Ranch (right across from Teldeschi, planted on a steep hill in 1955), & 20% organically farmed Gold Mine Ranch (planted in 1914 among the redwood trees in the southwest corner of the Dry Creek Valley). This tasty, ripe, robust Zin has loads of fruit & all kinds of spices, which is why it would be a good choice with our meats.

2005 BOOKER “Fracture”
Eric Jensen & his Booker Vineyard is certainly one of the hottest tickets coming out the limestone hillsides of Paso Robles. This is a breathtaking vineyard, impeccably farmed, which we have been anxiously waiting for this new release for 3 years. For the record, this wine delivers…..and is everything we expected.  The 2005 is deeply & lavishly flavored, captivating, seamless & very well balanced.  We are very thankful to have gotten some to share with our guests.  Thank you Eric!

2003 OJAI Syrah “Bien Nacido Vineyard”
As many people in the know will attest, Adam Tolmach is one of California’s “tour de force” winemakers.  For us, his Bien Nacido Vineyard Syrah is perennially not only his best wine, it is also one of the very best red wines produced in California today.  The ‘03 is black & murky….and actually looks more like a French Northern Rhone in the glass, as opposed to a New World wonder. The earthy, rustic driven nose sends a similar message, though the deepness of flavor, glass staining color of the wine’s legs tearing down the sides of the wineglass & this wine’s sheer power & thickness say California.  When touring Tolmach’s hillside parcel where these grapes are grown, one can only imagine how labor intensive the farming must be and wonder how can this make any economic sense.  These vines just eke out the thick, vinous, mega-intense, black fruit needed to make a vanguard wine like this.

2004 SAXUM “James Berry Vineyard”
We think owner/winemaker Justin Smith is the winemaking whiz kid of the whole, new contemporary Californian wine scene.  His wines are equally amazing.  As he will tell you, it starts & happens in the vineyard….and as his peers will tell you, Justin is a man of the vineyard. That should explain a lot of why his wines have catapulted into an almost “cult” like following by both the public as well as the major wine media.   There is a huge waiting list of people trying to get Saxum wines.  It is a very lucky thing, we discovered Saxum wines, before the press really did. This absolutely gorgeous, delicious’04 is a blend of Grenache, Syrah & Mourvedre from his family’s vineyard and will make a perfect partner with any of dry aged steaks.

1999 LA JOTA Petite Sirah “Howell Mountain”
Petite Sirah was sadly getting pushed on the side in modern day California, in favor of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and lately Syrah. We have noticed recently, however, there is a resurgence of requests for old vine versions of this thick skin, black, ultra-hearty specialty. La Jota was a wine project founded by winemaker Bill Smith and his lovely wife Joan, high up on Napa Valley’s Howell Mountain. To the dismay of their many loyal followers, the Smiths sold La Jota to the Jacksons of Kendall-Jackson.  This 1999 is a well aged bottling from the Smith’s era. For some wine lovers, there is nothing better than the seamless-ness & harmony of a well aged red wine.  And to top it all off, this is another stellar partner to our dry aged steaks.

There you have our very first Top 7 list.   If you know Ivy, this is just the beginning.  As always, she is already out looking for the next generation.

Enjoy.