{"id":2114,"date":"2015-11-05T01:42:59","date_gmt":"2015-11-05T05:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/?p=2114"},"modified":"2015-11-05T12:46:57","modified_gmt":"2015-11-05T16:46:57","slug":"visit-pino-alto-restaurant-for-great-meals-by-cooking-students-plus-friday-farm-to-table-dinner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/santacruzfoodie.com\/?p=2114","title":{"rendered":"Visit Pino Alto Restaurant for great meals by cooking students plus Friday farm to table dinner"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lemon<\/a>

Lemon buttermilk tart from a late October \u201cNew Releases\u201d dinner at Pino Alto Restaurant<\/p><\/div>\n

If you are a foodie and haven\u2019t yet discovered Pino Alto Restaurant, it\u2019s a secret worth sharing. I just had the pleasure of dining there for the first time. The Cabrillo College culinary arts department operates Pino Alto, which is located in the historic Sesnon House on campus. It\u2019s open during the fall and spring semesters, Sept.-Dec. and Feb.-May, and the Cabrillo Horticulture department grows a lot of the produce served. Students from the \u201cAdvanced Culinary\u201d class are the ones who run the restaurant (with instructors\u2019 supervision, of course). Lunch is served Mon-Thurs and dinner Wed-Fri. See the site<\/a> for specific hours and menus. There are also special events like a farm to table dinner this Friday, Nov. 6: keep reading for details.<\/p>\n

I dined at Pino Alto in late October; the menu I ordered from is available through Thursday, Nov. 5.\u00a0 Dinner menus change every 3-4 weeks and lunch menus change weekly. A tapas-themed dinner menu will debut on Nov. 11. From the moment we entered the restaurant, everything was wonderful. Staff (culinary students) were very attentive, checking often to see if we needed beverage or bread refills (the bread was warm and fresh, so it was hard to say no, but I wanted to try several food items). The meal began with a complimentary salmon cake starter that they referred to as an amuse bouche, but it was bigger than the traditional one-bite amuse. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised by the generous sizes of all the courses! The salmon was delicious and moist, and the cake had a nice crunch. Chive masarpone provided a creamy, perfect topping. I had the chance to sample my husband\u2019s crab-stuffed prawns with mango corn salsa, which was very tasty. Beet soup with ginger and coconut, garnished with a beet chip and cr\u00e8me fraiche, followed. It did not disappoint! All dinner entrees are accompanied by your choice of soup or salad.<\/p>\n

Before I get to the rest of the meal, let me talk a little more about the way Pino Alto works. As I mentioned, Advanced Culinary students act as restaurant staff each semester. They fill all the typical positions including Manager, Set\/Wait, Prep\/Wait, Pantry\/Wait, Bake, Pastry, Hot Line, and Head Chef. Our waitperson that night was Kimber Styles Ashley, who created\u2014or helped create\u2014quite a few dishes featured on the current menu, which is titled \u201cNew Releases.\u201d She explained the menu-designing process that occurs each time: \u201cThis New Releases menu, which ends Nov. 5, was very much a collaborative menu. Individually we present a complete menu to our class in a discussion format on BlackBoard,\u201d said Ashley. \u201cEach meal is posted separately and we discuss, comment and vote on everyone\u2019s dishes. We then discuss and vote on the dishes that received the most votes in class and then have a final vote. I was honored with having one of my main dishes and desserts chosen for the New Releases Menu. My main was grilled prime New York strip sirloin served with a lima bean and corn ragout and a nest of crispy string onions on top.\u201d<\/p>\n

My husband ordered the sirloin and it was divine; he pronounced it \u201cbuttery and tender.\u201d My entr\u00e9e was probably my favorite dish that night. I chose a wild mushroom cassoulet with artichoke hearts and onion confit. It was earthy and rich; the flavors and textures complemented each other beautifully. For dessert we shared a lemon buttermilk tart topped with vanilla whip cream and candied lemon rind. Let\u2019s just say, it rocked our world and we sort of fought over the last bites. This was Ashley\u2019s creation. She had the opportunity to work at Companion Bakeshop<\/a> this past summer, and was inspired to create this tart after trying Companion\u2019s Buttermilk Meyer Lemon pie, which she tasted at Pie Ranch up the coast.<\/p>\n

Eric Carter, chair of the Culinary Arts program, serves as chef at Pino Alto restaurant and co-instructor for the Advanced Culinary class. He really enjoys these roles. \u201cI love to see the growth in the students\u2019 abilities and skills,\u201d says Carter.\u00a0\u201cIt’s a challenging class, nine units, and they are asked to perform at a very high level.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s sometimes rough at the very beginning of the semester, he says, but things get much smoother very quickly as students become comfortable in both the front and back of the house.\u00a0\u201cThen I start to see them work independently and carry themselves with confidence.\u00a0 It’s rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carter likes the fact that he gets to operate a restaurant that is well regarded in the community, and also influence many students\u2019 lives in a positive way. He sometimes hears this from students years after they\u2019ve finished the program.<\/p>\n

The farm to table dinner on Nov. 6 will be a four-course menu with wine pairings, featuring lots of ingredients sourced from local purveyors like Jacobs Farm, Live Earth Farm and Stagnaro’s Seafood. The wine will be from Savannah-Channelle, Hunter Hill, Clos La Chance, Mountain Winery and Burrell School. See full menu below. The cost is $65 per person plus tax and gratuity. A reception starts at 6:30 p.m. with dinner at 7. For reservations, call (831) 479-6524.<\/p>\n

Ashley is thrilled that several of her dishes were chosen for this event: the olive oil toast hors d’oeuvre, the rock cod fritter appetizer, the main course, and the dessert. She says that locally and seasonally harvested menus are her passion and that she\u2019s been learning and growing in that direction through her Cabrillo culinary arts education. \u201cI am definitely a California Cuisine-type of cook and would like to move towards the Slow-Food Movement as well,\u201d says Ashley. \u201cI think that\u2019s why this Friday\u2019s farm-to-table event was such a successful menu for me. Cooking from what\u2019s at the farm makes me happy, excited and I feel alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carter hopes to see some new faces as customers in the near future. I can\u2019t wait to go back myself. If you\u2019re interested in getting on the list to keep informed about when Pino Alto is open and viewing current menus, Carter suggests writing to Sue Slater at suslater@cabrillo.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

November 6 menu<\/strong><\/p>\n