Culinary Delights Add Up at Wine Cask Chef’s Counter

If you’ve ever wondered what the best seat in the Wine Cask’s (813 Anacapa St., winecask.com) magnificent Gold Room might be (short of near the fireplace on a chill evening), that question is easily answered now—at the new Chef’s Counter where the bar used to be. You get a bit of elevation to scan the room, but even better, you get to indulge in Chef Brandon Hughes’s weekly market-driven three-course menus paired with regional wines. A recent tasting kicked off with a spectacular baked corvina in papillote—the perfectly cooked fish, aswim in some butter and diatom chardonnay—alongside sweetly wee-sized baby vegetables. And then there was a slab of pork belly that was almost overindulgent, sitting upon a split-pea puree that was everything you might dream of spring.

Hughes comes out of the kitchen to chat, too, so you might pick up a procuring or cooking tip. The meal ends with something scrumptious from Pastry Chef Rosie Gerard, who likes a bit of savory with her sweets and never fails to please. The counter menus are rewritten each week, and available only Monday through Thursday. Three courses and three wines are $65. Reservations are required, so call 966-9463.