Celebrity Chef George Mendes & Castle Hill’s Executive Chef Karsten Hart Join Forces to Create Indulgent Culinary Experience Inspired by the Flavors of Portugal
Castle Hill Inn, the iconic oceanside Inn in Newport, RI, is excited to announce its first-ever “NewPortugal” Wine & Food Week, taking place March 7-14, 2014. Honoring the heritage and flavors of Portuguese cuisine, the unique week-long celebration will kick-off with an indulgent four-couse culinary experience at Castle Hill Inn on the evening of Friday, March 7, featuring a menu created by Executive Chef Karsten Hart and renowned Chef George Mendes of Aldea, a Michelin-starred restaurant in New York City, whose menu is inspired by the Iberian Peninsula and Mendes’ Portuguese heritage. Wines will be expertly paired and curated by Bartholomew Broadbent of Broadbent Selections. Broadbent is widely recognized as one of the most influential figures in the wine industry today. Following the dinner, Castle Hill Inn will offer the exclusive pairing menu to guests for the entire week, along with a unique travel package for those looking to dine and stay at the historic Relais & Chateaux property.
The special, four-course culinary experience, An Evening in “NewPortugal,” will take place on Friday, March 7 at 6:30 pm in Castle Hill Inn’s stunning Dining Room overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Chef George Mendes and Karsten Hart will join forces in the kitchen to create a unique pairing menu, combining both traditional and innovative Portuguese cuisine.The indulgent menu includes a variety of bold-flavored dishes including Croquettes de Bacalhau, or salted cod fritters; Shrimp “Alhinho” with smoked baby beets, vanilla, pressed jus; Pork & Clams – littleneck stuffies, ArcherAngus pork tenderloin, smoked seaweed vinho verde broth; Almond Sweet Bread and more. Wine pairings have also been handpicked by the experts at Broadbent Selections. View full dinner menu. The four-course dinner costs $130 per person, plus tax & gratuity. The Portuguese-inspired prix-fixe menu will be available until the following Saturday in the Dining Room at Castle Hill.
For those looking to dine and stay, the Inn is offering guests the opportunity to embrace the bold flavors of Portuguese-inspired cuisine while taking in the last of the crisp winter air at Castle Hill Inn. Guests are encouraged to book a one-night stay at Castle Hill Inn during Newportugal Wine & Food Week (March 7 –14). Starting at $590, the travel experience includes the “NewPortugal” dinner experience and wine pairings by Broadbent Selections, a one-night stay at the Inn, gourmet breakfast and afternoon tea and a luxurious amenity kit upon arrival. For more details about the experience, please visit HERE.
About Chef Karsten Hart
Chef Karsten Hart leads Castle Hill’s award-winning culinary team. A former Relais & Chateaux Grand Chef from The Estate by the Elderberries in Oakhurst, California, Chef Hart was one of only 20 chefs in the United States with the ‘Grand Chef’ designation. Inspired at an early age by his mother’s cooking, Karsten grew up in Louisiana in a melting pot of cultural influences, with German and Italian parents who loved to cook. Karsten’s first cooking jobs were in small, Cajun-style and Italian restaurants, but he learned the most working in a Chinese eatery where time on the wok station really instilled a passion for learning different cooking techniques. Chef Hart went on to further his formal culinary education at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. Upon graduation, he headed back to Louisiana and joined the Windsor Court Hotel in New Orleans, a five-star, five-diamond property as its Sous Chef. Later, he became Executive Chef at the Estate by the Elderberries.
About Chef George Mendes
At ALDEA, Chef George Mendes serves Mediterranean cuisine with influences of Portugal, the country of his heritage, as well as Spain and France. Food & Wine magazine named Mendes one of 2011’s “Best New Chefs” and ALDEA has been awarded a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide every year since 2010. The chef’s rustic, yet refined cuisine has also received glowing two-star reviews from both New York magazine and The New York Times, as well as three-star reviews from the Daily News and Bloomberg and an impressive four-star review from Time Out New York. Mendes spent 17 years honing his culinary knowledge, technique and style under the guidance of some of the world’s greatest culinary masters. As a young graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Mendes trained under his mentor, David Bouley at his namesake restaurant for three years. He has studied abroad under such legends as Alain Passard, Roger Vergé, Alain Ducasse and Basque chef Martin Berasategui, and has spent time in the kitchens of New York City’s Wallsé and Tocqueville.
About Bartholomew Broadbent
Bartholomew Broadbent moved to America in 1985 to start a Port importing company for some of the leading Port brands, spending the next ten years teaching Americans about Port. In 1988, after Prohibition wiped Madeira off the face of America, he was responsible for reintroducing Madeira to the United States and building back the market. In June 1997, Decanter magazine named Bartholomew Broadbent one of the “fifty most influential in the wine world…the faces to watch in the new millennium” and Wine&Spirits magazine [2008] polled leaders throughout the industry who named him one of ten in the world to be “driving the most revolutionary changes in wine”. In 2013 IntoWine.com ranked him 48th in “Top 100 Most Influential People in the U.S. Wine Industry”. Today, he has expanded from his pivotal role in the breathtaking growth of Port and Madeira to “exert a profound influence on the US wine market” says Decanter. He’s been profiled in Wine Spectator [1986], Market Watch as “The Pioneer of Port” [2008], American Fine Wine Magazine [2008] and Forbes.com [2009]. Bartholomew, son of legendary Michael Broadbent MW, is now one of America’s leading wine importers. Broadbent Selections, Inc., established in 1996, was initially established to promote Port, Madeira and Portuguese wines, represents such famous brands as Ferreira, Spy Valley, Quinta do Crasto and Chateau Musar. Bartholomew’s been a wine speaker for major cruise lines, most wine festivals, including the Food&Wine Classic in Aspen for which he was the Director of Reserve Tastings for 25 years. He owns Broadbent Port, Madeira and Vinho Verde in Portugal, Broadbent Malbec in Argentina, Broadbent Gruner Veltliner in Austria and The Curator in South Africa. He lives in Virginia where he is pioneering the distribution of Virginia wines, so far present in over 30 States. For more information visit www.broadbent.com
About Castle Hill Inn
For more than a century, Castle Hill Inn has captured the imagination of guests from around the world with its enchanting coastal setting, relaxed elegance and authentic Newport spirit. Honored with the designation as a Relais & Chateaux property, an association of the world’s finest hotels, Castle Hill Inn exemplifies the warmth and quiet luxury of 19th-century seacoast life nestled on a 40-acre peninsula overlooking Narragansett Bay. Combining the elegance of a boutique hotel with the inviting comforts of a coastal inn, the Inn offers resplendent lodging options to suit the needs and preferences of all guests. Accommodations include nine guest rooms and suites in the original 19th-century Agassiz Mansion, and 24 private, waterfront accommodations in the Harbor House, Chalet, Beach Houses and Beach Cottages. Within the mansion, indulgent meals are prepared by renowned Executive Chef Karsten Hart, and the recently renovated Lawn at Castle Hill is the epitome of classic New England al fresco dining. On property activities include stargazing, clambakes, bonfires, games on the lawn, kayaking, paddle boarding, yoga, surfing, sailing and much more. Voted by readers of Conde Nast Traveler and Travel & Leisure as one of the top hotels in the world, and lauded by the New York Times as ‘the best spot in town,’ Castle Hill Inn is the epitome of Newport elegance.
Castle Hill Inn is operated by Newport Harbor Corporation, an employee-owned (ESOP) hospitality corporation based in Newport, RI. For more information on Newport Harbor Corporation, please visit the website at www.newportharbor.com. For more information about Castle Hill Inn please visit www.castlehillinn.com.
