Eno Vino Wine Bar chef tapes TV show


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Posted by madcityradio.com on November 21, 2008 at 23:12:05:

Eno Vino Wine Bar chef tapes TV show


Kitt Fraser, chef at Eno Vino, has never been a part of a television cooking show before, and he's not really a fan of the whole celebrity chef phenomenon.

But late this week he welcomed Joe Ciminera and the crew from "Taste This T.V." into his kitchen for a taping session featuring two of Eno Vino's signature recipes.

Ciminera is a popular television chef who has appeared on the "Today" show and whose independently produced TV shows have been featured in the past on one of Wisconsin Public Television's digital channels.

Maggie Hicks Davies, assistant program and content manager for WPT, said the segment of "Taste This T.V." featuring Eno Vino likely will air locally sometime in February or March. Production and editing on the show won't be complete until mid-January.

"To tell you the truth, this is all pretty unfamiliar, and I don't know quite what to expect," Fraser said as he prepared for the television crew's arrival on Thursday.

Being chosen as the location for a traveling TV cooking show happened in a roundabout way, Fraser said.

Initially, he was contacted by a marketing team for a catalog that featured a line of chefs' clothing. They turned down sites in Milwaukee and Chicago, but liked what they saw at Eno Vino, a stylish wine bar and restaurant with a kitchen exposed to the dining room at the corner of Junction and Old Sauk roads in Middleton.

One of the models for the photo shoot was a chef who was a friend of Ciminera's.

"They liked the food, and they liked the atmosphere," Fraser explained. The next thing Fraser knew, he was contacted by 'Taste This T.V.' to do a show at Eno Vino, highlighting two of their favorite dishes.

"He said he thought Joe would like to do a show in our kitchen," Fraser explained.

The dishes Fraser suggested for Ciminera included seared scallops with savory French toast and dried black mission figs with mushroom butter and goat cheese gnocchi with butternut squash and tasso, topped with Fontina cheese and garnished with oyster mushrooms.

The gnocchi, Fraser said, is spectacular because it involves culinary pyrotechnics as the dish is briefly flamed before serving.

Eno Vino is known for its wine list and for a broad mix of small plates or dishes designed to be shared.

The restaurant, managing partner Alfredo Teuschler said, also features weekly wine tastings and occasional wine dinners that bring wine reps and producers into the restaurant to talk about the grapes they use and how to effectively pair various wines with food.

"It's very interactive," Fraser added.

Fraser, a graduate of the New England Culinary School in Vermont, has been cooking in Madison-area kitchens since 1999, including experiences at the former Opera House, Magnus, Fyfe's Corner Bistro, Morels and L'Etoile. He's been the executive chef for Eno Vino since 2006.

Although Fraser didn't know what to expect from the TV taping session, he said he was confident his staff could handle the experience with aplomb.

"You know, in the heat of battle in a kitchen it can get kind of raw. But because we always have five or six guys working behind the counter, exposed to the dining room, they've learned to work clean and they've learned to watch their language. They're very professional. I think they'll do well," he said.

Go to www.eno-vino.com for more information about the restaurant, and to www.tastethistv.com for more about Ciminera's television show.

(Susan Troller, 77 Square)


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