Teamwork Makes the Meal
by Ed Williams
August 2010
Hours before his next Wine Dinner, Ben Roberts — owner of Greensboro’s iconic Undercurrent Restaurant — reminds me: "We’re not in the restaurant business. We’re in the hospitality industry."
And what Ben Roberts has learned about hospitality and practices is soon evident at an elegant three-course dinner built around Neyers Vineyards wines, an artisanal winery in Napa Valley. But long before this wine dinner, Undercurrent’s philosophy of upscale dining, service, and value has been evident. "Our job is to take care of people. My wife is a nurse and she takes care of people in a medical way. Here, we take care of them in a hospitable way. We make them happy. That’s our job."
Ben and Susie Roberts have owned Undercurrent Restaurant since 1998, first in quaint quarters in downtown Greensboro’s antique district. In 2006, they relocated to slightly larger digs, nestled in the shadow of the Marriott, NewBridge Bank Baseball Stadium and downtown's business district.
Undercurrent Restaurant is, figuratively and literally, a Mom & Pop business — one of the rare family-owned restaurants to survive and thrive through two recessions and an incursion of franchise chains with predictable fare. All the while, Undercurrent has offered five-star dining at reasonable pricing, including special themed nights. Like tonight's Neyers Wine Dinner (and prior to that, dinners featuring Bouchaine, Luis Felipe Edwards, Jed Steele, ArborBrook, and Torii Mor to name a few).
The 2008 Neyers Carneros Chardonnay is paired with skillet-seared grouper, presented with macadamia-chickpea hummus, pineapple-fig tapenade, white peach puree and grilled crostini.
White wine with fish? Generally, a no-brainer. But what makes this work is accompanying textures and flavors that complement and contrast. An earthy hummus alongside the tropics of the tapenade — a playful twist on classic French fare — marries well with a layered Chardonnay balancing pucker-y acid, tropical fruit and sweet vanilla oak.
Red wine with red meat? The 2006 Neyers Cabernet Sauvignon alongside pink peppercorn-crusted beef tenderloin feels traditional enough. But a goat-cheese potato croquette further tames tannins, and a raspberry-Cabernet reduction sauce to bathe the beef seduces the eyes and palate.
The third course is anise-rubbed, rare seared tuna served with the 2008 Neyers Zinfandel, a fruit-forward red grown in the Contra Costa Valley outside of Oakland. The third course gives me pause: 1) Neither my wife nor I are fans of "rare" anything. Say rare, and some chefs hear "raw." 2) Red wine and fish? What's up with that?
There have been encyclopedia-sized writings on do's and do not's of food and wine, one of which is a classic wave-of-the-finger directed at red wine and fish. Before me is rare tuna, which I'm convinced I will not like. It's paired with a bold red, which I'm convinced I should never attempt.
But this works magnificently. Thinking about the profile of Zinfandel, I flash on how Zin has long been a favorite, conjuring childhood days of black licorice twists, picking blackberries and wading into exotic-erotic aromas of coastal Florida.
Does full-flavored, fleshy fish work with a full-flavored, fleshy red wine? You bet, particularly when you kick in some anise, accentuate with fennel-radish salad and serve with orange-coriander black rice and sweet soy reduction sauce. That the tuna melts in the mouth is bonus heaven, too.
Those details — texture, flavor, aroma — call to the wine. And the wine answers, ramping up the savory of the dish. This could well have been dessert. And maybe the chef — Michael Harkenreader has been with Undercurrent for five years now — had that in mind for the final course.
Undercurrent is serious about food and wine, and its award-winning wine list is clearly aimed at wine enthusiasts looking for top quality and good value.
Ben Roberts worked as chef in restaurants in South Carolina, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Charlotte and Raleigh before opening his own in Greensboro. Managing one of the Triad's most revered establishments is "grueling work," he admits, "but it's so nice to be able to taste as all the components come together."
Check out Undercurrent's menu and extensive wine list at undercurrentrestaurant.com, and learn more about Neyers Vineyards at neyersvineyards.com.
Ed Williams, a freelance wine writer and columnist for the News & Record in Greensboro, publishes a twice-monthly e-mail newsletter about wine events, food-wine pairings and recommended wines. Subscribe free at news-record.com by typing williamsonwine into the search bar.