March 09 - 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. 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 24 - Margarite’s Amazing BYOM Event!

Margarite says: Friends, Food, Fun, Frivolity…Together served with magnums of great wine. Keeping the tradition alive in 2019 in grand style with the twelth (12th) annual Bring Your Own Magnum (BYOM) of your yummiest wine Party, Sunday, February 24 2:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M. at Solare Ristorante in Point Loma 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; 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.

February 23 - Cooking Class: Lasagna from scratch … with Chef Filippo & Maria!

Baked pasta … Lasagna! A whole lesson dedicated to traditional Italian baked pasta – with a focus on the best Lasagna. The incredible one-of-a kind, Maria, and Executive Chef Filippo Piccini will teach you how to master the technique of baking pasta, and everything you want to know about lasagna. The lesson will be held in our kitchen with Maria and Chef Filippo!! Don’t forget to bring your baking glove! 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. Contact us for details. Reserve now!

Lasagna, one of the most celebrated of the Italian food staples, has a long and luxurious history. The term “lasagna” comes from the Greek word, “lasagnum,” meaning dish or bowl. The ancient Greeks used baking dishes of that name, which they eventually transferred to the Romans. The Romans, who ended up using the same style of dish, also developed a type of food which they used the term “lasagnum” for: it was served in said dish, with layers of a pasta-like food with other fillings in-between. With the extent of the Roman empire, this new “lasagnum” dish spread all across Europe, eventually reaching Britain, where it was published in the very first cookbook.

After remaining dormant for many decades, the early form of lasagna once again surfaced. The early Italians changed the name from “lasagnum,” to “lasagna,” which is the current form. Over the years, the word “lasagna” began to change definitions; the word previously referred to the serving dish it was baked in, but began to simply mean the delicious pasta meal in the dish itself. In modern cooking terms, it now means layers of thin pasta, with meat, cheese, and tomato sauce squeezed in between. Lasagna sure has come a long way.

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”. – Class size limited — $85/student that includes the class, wine, and lunch. Reserve today via email or call 619-270-9670

February 19 - Meet Alessandro from Borgoluce Winery

Learn about Prosecco from the best! Here’s why …

If you’re available … my friend, Alessandro Samogin, from Borgoluce Winery in Italy will be in town … and he will be at Solare from 5pm to 7pm Tues Feb 19 with a selection of his amazing boutique Prosecco’s.

I highly recommend you join if you can because:

+ The winery is amazing. Borgoluce is located in Veneto between Verona and Venice – and it has been continuously owned by the same family since 958 AD. Yes, 958 AD … over a thousand years.

+ Alessandro is a super cool charismatic guy that live on the property and has been their “face of Borgoluce” for a long time.

+ This is a GREAT opportunity to really learn about Prosecco.

+ And … you want to meet Alessando if you are considering a trip to Italy. You want to stay at the Borgoluce Estate! The Borgoluce Estate is huge (3,200 acres!) and they have an incredible agriturismo wonderland. Everything from vineyards to cheese production to honey to livestock and a great bed & breakfast. Click here and just look at all the categories of photos they have: http://www.borgoluce.it/en/photogallery

Let me know if you’d like to join me – it’s an Open House style – come any time between 5pm and 7pm. $25 includes the Borgoluce Prosecco’s and appetizers by Chef Filippo – and fun times with Alessandro.

Here is a cool video too of Borgoluce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=22&v=Dna34Mt-4Jo

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

February 12 - A Dinner & Evening with Madeira at Solare

This is a very exclusive and special Wine Dinner and Evening at Solare. Madeira! Limited to 16 guests ~ the dinner is in our Private Room around one community table.

Are you ready to go on a guided tour of the mythic but oft misunderstood wines of Madeira? We have teamed up with Jake Parrott of Haus Alpenz to put on a palate exploding tasting experience. Jake has an engrossing and captivating passion for the history and modern development of all things liquid and delicious, and Madeira is one of his favorites.

Combining the rooted Italian flavors of Chef Filippo Piccini and the extraordinary Madeira wines of Henriques & Henriques, this bacchanal will open your eyes to the versatility of this storied elixir as a true accompaniment to the foods of the world. H&H is the only grower/producer in the denomination. This is a great opportunity to experience the full depth of madeira, from a company with a history dating to mid 1800’s.

Dinner at 6:45pm and Reception with Jake Parrott at 6:15pm. $96/person includes 5 Madeira wines and the 4-course dinner designed by Chef Filippo Piccini. Reserve today via email or call 619-270-9670