March 07 - Cooking Class: Tuscan Meats including La Fiorentina – Sold Out

In this hands-on cooking class in the Solare Kitchen, we focus on the meats of Tuscany. Executive Chef Filippo Piccini was born and raised in Tuscany, so this is a topic he knows very (very) well. You will learn the important approaches to cooking meat (beef, pork, and lamb) and also the techniques that Chef Filippo has learned during his career.   You will experience first-hand how to cook La Fiorentina (the Queen of Tuscan Meats), Tonno del Chianti, Agnello Scottadito, and more.   The fun starts at 10:30am at Solare with an Italian-style coffee of your choice and a pastry. Italian wine is served for students interested in “cooking with wine”.   Limit 10 — $85/student that includes the class, wine, and lunch. Reserve today via email or call 619-270-9670 – Sold Out

March 05 - Italian Wine Dinner ~ An evening in Piemonte with Daniele Conterno

We love doing Wine Dinners here at Solare – and especially Italian Wine Dinners. You want to join this one. Here’s why:

We have owner and winemaker, Daniele Conterno, of Daniel Conterno Estate leading “An Evening in Piemonte”. Daniele is a Fourth Generation Barolo Master — of the historic Conterno Family from the Monforte d’Alba village of Barolo in Piedmont.

Daniele Conterno (yes, THAT Conterno) comes from one of the most historic family winemaking lineages of all time – he is a scion of legendaries Giacomo Conterno and Aldo Conterno, whose Baroli are some of the most coveted bottles of wine in the world. Barolo connoisseurs consider the Bussia vineyard, produced by the Conterno family since 1961, one of the most unique, iconic vineyards in the world. We are pouring the Daniele Conterno 2012 Bussia Cru Riserva at the dinner. Yay!

The dinner starts at 6:45pm and there is a reception with Daniele at 6:15pm. The dinner is $94 and it includes 5 Daniele Conterno wines and the 4-course dinner designed by Executive Chef Filippo Piccini.

Reserve today via email or call 619-270-9670

These are special wines with a special dinner and you will meet the winemaker himself as he describes his style and how he creates such delicious wines and the Conterno Family.

Read this: In the heart of the Langhe, in the hamlet of Bussia di Monforte d’Alba, is Cascina Sciulun, a historic farmhouse, constructed according to Piedmont architectural traditions. Built in the mid-nineteenth century and extended in the 1940s, the house has been the lifelong home to Daniele and has always belonged to the Conterno family.

Daniele represents the fourth generation of the family. Starting with Great Grandfather Pietro Conterno and 18 hectares of land. The established estate then passed to his legendary Grandfather Giacomo Conterno who played the major role of pushing Barolo as a wine and region in to the elevated and esteemed class that it holds today. Daniele’s father Franco then took the reins and they still work together every day.

Join us!

March 04 - Tuscan Wine Dinner with Elisabetta – Support her Foundation!

We are having a special Wine Dinner!

It is with the Montenidoli Estate winery in Tuscany — and the founder, owner, and winemaker, Elisabetta Fagiuoli, will be here at Solare.

Elisabetta is a true friend of 6+ years – she started her winery in 1965 – she is 83 years young — and her estate in San Gimignano. You need to meet her: imagine starting a winery from scratch in Italy as a women in 1965. Incredible challenges – but nothing stops Elisabetta – as you will see. She travels yet over 225 days a year. Unstoppable.

Please join me for two reasons: first, 1) she is incredible and her wines delicious. You have likely had her famous Vernaccia with me at Solare – and her Sangiovese. And 2) she started a wonderful foundation to bring troubled youth and the elderly together – it’s been a huge success.

This dinner is a fund-raiser and all of the profits go to her Foundation. I am donating all the food costs and labor. Would you please join and help too?

The price per person is $160 and it is a donation to her Foundation. It really is for a good cause. I am really hoping we can raise at least $4500 for Elisabetta – if we get 30 persons to join, we can. No guilt, of course.

Here are the links for Montenidoli and the Foundation:

Reserve today via email or call 619-270-9670

March 01 - Margarite’s Amazing BYOM Event!

Margarite says: Friends, Food, Fun, Frivolity…Together served with magnums of great wine. Keeping the tradition alive in 2020 in grand style with the fourteenth (14th) annual Bring Your Own Magnum (BYOM) of your yummiest wine Party, Sunday, March 1, from 2:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M. at Solare Ristorante at Liberty Station. Red, white, rosé, or sparkling, it’s all good. We’ll sip and sample each magnum, while nibbling on light appetizers and sharing our resolutions for the New Year. And we are featuring special guests: Wine Columnist Frank Mangio, of Taste of Wine TV.

You may want to dine at Solare Ristorante when magnums go dry. For anyone interested in dinner reservations following the event, should make a Reservation asap here – click here; the full Solare menu is available, and there will be no corkage fee for anyone staying for dinner.

In addition, to enhance our celebration at BYOM, we thought it would be nice share with those less fortunate, especially as these have been challenging economic times for many. If you would like to contribute a non-perishable food item to St. Vincent De Paul Village of “Father’s Joe’s, http://my.neighbor.org, they would greatly appreciate the donation and a bin will be set up to collect them at the party. Thank you, and best wishes!

Your donation may be tax deductible please review with your accountant for guidelines. (Here is the Tax ID for Farther Joe’s: 33-0492302). Or if you prefer please make a donation to the Moores Cancer center at UCSD by clicking here. ~~ Any questions … click here.

See you on March 1.

February 22 - Cooking Class: Fish and Shellfish + Fish Market

Meet at Solare and drive together to a local fish market (less than 3 miles) to learn about fish and buying fresh fish with confidence. Then we all head back to Solare to prepare and cook some great seafood dishes. Chef Filippo Piccini will teach you how to cook fish and seafood … Tuscan-style! Seafood lovers will not want to miss this opportunity. NOTE that for this class, the fun starts at 10am instead of the normal 10:30am as we are visiting the fish market. Please bring a jacket and wear closed toe shoes. We meet at Solare with an Italian-style coffee of your choice and a pastry. Italian wine is served for students interested in “cooking with wine”. – Limit 10 — $85/student that includes the class, wine, and lunch. Reserve today via email or call 619-270-9670.

February 14 - Valentine’s Day Dinner at Solare

You will love this — Valentine’s Day dinner at Solare! Come enjoy an awesome experience. Make your reservations now as we will sell out for our special dinner this evening. An awesome 4-course dinner with a special menu designed by Exec Chef Filippo Piccini for $69/person. A rose for each couple! Click here to make your reservation or call 619-270-9670