Every few months, Feast Bakery Cafe’s general manager John Zadlo and the chefs sit down to plan the wine selections with the seasonal food menu so that there is a wine pairing for each dish.
Feast, located on East Hillside Drive, is holding a new month-long Wines of March event, during which all wine will be sold at half price. The event is from March 1 to March 31.
“A lot of people are trying things that they wouldn’t necessarily normally try in a restaurant setting,” Zadlo said.
Half-price wine is always available at Feast Market and Cellar on W. Patterson Drive, where there are between 250 and 300 bottles of wine. Zadlo said Feast wanted to test the idea at the bakery cafe location.
“We wanted to let people try more bottles of wine and we wanted to make it accessible,” Zadlo said.
Through the Wines of March, wine sales have increased, particularly at brunch with sparkling rosé, Zadlo said.
Feast has wine from all over the world, from California to South Africa, Zadlo said.
Servers are tested every two weeks so they remain knowledgeable about the food and wine being served, he said.
Millennials in particular are drawn to Feast’s local, organic food philosophy, boutique wines and craft beers, Zadlo said. This holds true to the restaurant’s tagline, “locally influenced and globally inspired.”
“We make everything from scratch,” Zadlo said. “All the way down to something as simple as ketchup. We make our bacon in house, too.”
Executive Chef Bobb Easterbrook said though making everything from scratch is time consuming, it is worthwhile.
Feast also utilizes every ingredient to its fullest, Easterbrook said.
“Those animals basically gave their lives for us, so we need to use them to the fullest extent,” Easterbrook said. “It’s part of our cooking tradition to utilize everything.”
Feast changes menus seasonally at both locations. The spring menu will come out in a few weeks, Zadlo said.
The restaurant will be buying produce such as asparagus, spinach and other greens from local farmers, Zadlo said.
In preparation for the new spring menu, the wine menu also changes accordingly.
“We’re bringing out different types of sparkling wine and sparkling rosé,” Zadlo said.
Feast emphasizes food and wine in relation to love, Easterbrook said.
Easterbrook said he isn’t good with words, so food is the way he and many other chefs express they care about someone.
“Every dish is made as if you’re a friend or a lover,” Easterbrook said. “It’s so important to us.”
