VINIA Wine & Kitchen’s new multicourse concept begins Dec. 10
The husband and wife behind one of Winter Park’s date night favorites are changing things up.
Come Dec. 10, Paula Gamba and Fabio Perricelli of VINIA Wine & Kitchen will be introducing two new multicourse concepts on select nights. The prix fixe wine dinner experiences — “Fabio’s Table” and “VINIA Favorites” — will feature both traditional and entirely plantbased dishes, each paired with a wine from the hosts’ ample collection.
Available on select Fridays and Saturdays, “Fabio’s Table” is a fivecourse pairing dinner ($125 per person, excluding tax and gratuity) during which guests will be seated privately with a choice of set seating times. Fans of VINIA will note that Perricelli — a famously present host — plans to spend time engaging with guests to discuss dishes, pairings and more.
December’s menu, inspired by European holiday traditions, will feature dishes including foie gras a la grenade (poached foie gras torchon, pomegranate gastrique, dried fruits and seasoned nuts with fresh pomegranate arlis and baby greens) and specialty Zampone sausage imported from Modena, Italy, with lentil flan and potato and mascarpone crema.
Christmas and New Year’s Eve will see an “extra” version, featuring additional courses and treats ($150 per person, excluding tax and gratuity).
“I wanted to bring traditional holiday food to the table, dishes that are not present in the holidays in the United States,” Fabio Perricelli told the Orlando Sentinel. “For example in Italy, and perhaps more in the south, where I am from, if you don’t have Zampone [sausage] you don’t have New Year’s! You have Zampone with lentils and potatoes.”
In Italy, lentils are a traditional good-luck dish for the new year. So is pork.
“We only eat animals that move forward at New Year,” Perricelli, who hails from Calabria, explains. “Pigs always root forward in the mud when they eat. In the dish we’ll be serving, we have pork in the Zampone — which we import from Italy.”
For smaller appetites, the “VINIA Favorites” offering (available on select Thursdays) will feature three courses that honor the Gamba-Perricelli household’s Brazilian-Italian heritage with popular dishes in which the eatery’s regulars will continue to delight — and newcomers will delight in discovering. Twenty-four hour-braised oxtail, pan-roasted cod and pão de queijo (Brazilian cheese bread) among them. ($58 per person for traditional, $44 for plant-based; pairings included.) Dessert flight trios are available in both varieties, as well.
Are you a long-standing fan of VINIA like me? No need to worry. The a la carte option will remain as is Tuesday through Thursday (live music Tuesdays and Thursdays only).
The new offerings will continue on select nights through the new year and Perricelli has some suitable menu changes planned.
“Everyone always wants to be healthy after the holidays,” he said, “so I researched on what the healthiest cuisine in the world is. I settled on Greek and Mediterranean.”
Look for dishes from this compendium come 2022. And what about wine?
“Some people do Dry January,” the jovial Perricelli notes. “I do that, too, but I only drink dry wines!”
Reservations for all VINIA experiences are available through Tock (exploretock.com/viniawinebar).
More info: 444 W. New England Ave. in Winter Park, 407-925-7485; viniawinebar.com/
Reservations: exploretock.com/ viniawinebar
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