CleverRoot

4 6 | t h e c l e v e r r o o t "What I like about Provence rosé is the high acid and fresh fruit . . . plus the fact that the wines are bone dry. Acid needs food and food needs acid," explains Chef Alex Seidel, who made Food and Wine maga- zine's list of Best New Chefs back in 2010. "These things work well together." His restaurant, Mercantile Dining & Provision in Denver, Colorado, does indeed have a long list of bold ingredients on its menu—many with a nice, tangy bite, like pickled chiles and lemon preserve. And seven years after being recognized as a bright new toque, Chef Seidel is now seasoned as well. "We have a lot of acid in our foods. This has been a longtime hallmark of ours, but more importantly, we like to highlight our ingredients and their flavors," he says. "Rosé would work with just about anything . . . even our short ribs because of the piquancy of the barbecue." Mercantile, both a restaurant and artisanal market, capitalizes on the delicacies homegrown and hand- raised at their other gourmet enterprise, Fruition Farms. In fact, Fruition Farms' ricotta and feta cheeses just placed first and second in their respec- tive categories at this year's American Cheese Society competition—and paired especially well with the rosé selection. "The Provence rosés we tried were all bright and clean. The AIX rosé from Maison Saint Aix, Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence, was vibrant and fruity, so we decided to pair it with a tomato and peach salad with award-winning Fruition Farms ricotta," Chef Seidel says. "Château Minuty M rosé, a Côtes de Provence from Presqu'ile de Saint-Tropez, has a nice salinity to it, so we wanted to complement that touch of brine with homemade spaghetti with garlicy clams swim- ming in their own broth. The Château Routas rosé from Coteaux Varois en Provence had a nice textural component in addition to the fruit, so we opted to capitalize on that fruit and texture by creating an heirloom melon gazpacho with mission fig and Frui- tion Farms feta." "As a tasting menu or sampler, we wanted to open with the salad, move to the pasta and finish with the gazpacho," he continues with a grin. "This way you get dessert without doing dessert!" Ale Seide, CHEF/OWNER AT MERCANTILE DINING & PROVISION, DENVER, CO photos by Adam Larkey The Château Minuty M rosé's salinity made it a good match for Mercantile's homemade spaghetti with garlicy clams swimming in their own broth. Chef Seidel pours heirloom melon gazpacho over mission figs and Fruition Farms feta, paired with the Château Routas rosé from Coteaux Varois en Provence. The vibrant and fruity AIX rosé from Maison Saint Aix, Coteaux d'Aix- en-Provence, was paired with a tomato and peach salad with award-winning Fruition Farms ricotta.

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