The Brigantine family of restaurants is taking diners on a tour of California’s wine country with its special “Flavors of Sonoma” menu, a culinary event running through March 25.
The third-annual Brigantine promotion pairs wines from Kenwood Vineyards, a 22-acre estate in the heart of the Sonoma Valley, with an eclectic variety of appetizers and entrees.
The whole focus on wine country cooking “is just what’s there, what’s local, what’s growing in the same earth as the grapes,” said Steve Floyd, executive training chef for the Brigantine family of restaurants. “It’s a natural, very symbiotic relationship between the food and the wine.”
Each year, the general managers, senior chefs and select operations staff of the Brigantine go on a “wine education trip.” The idea for Flavors of Sonoma, according to Mike Morton Jr., vice president of operations for the Brigantine, was to let the chefs create a menu around the wines they discovered from these excursions.
Normally we would pick wines to pair with the foods,” said Morton Jr., but in this case we picked recipes to complement the Kenwood wines.”
Brigantine chefs created more than 30 dishes for the menu. Each restaurant will choose four or five of these recipes to highlight each week.
In addition to Kenwood Vineyard’s Merlot, “Reserve” Sauvignon Blanc and “Reserve” Zinfandel, the Brigantine will feature the vineyard’s “Yulupa” series of wines, which are available exclusively in restaurants. These include the “Yulupa” Cuvee Brut sparkling wine, Chardonnay and Shiraz.
Locally, Kenwood wines are available at Young’s Market.
Food and wine from the Taste of Sonoma menu is paired to be either “like-like” or “like-opposite,” explained Tyler Martin, general manager for the Del Mar Brigantine.
“Opposites attract,” said Martin, referring to the pairing of rich foods with higher acidity wines. “Each time you take a new bite, you can experience those flavors all over.”
The Flavors of Sonoma is one of the regular promotions that the Brigantine runs annually. In late spring or early summer, its “Flavors of the Wild” menu pairs fresh wild Alaskan salmon with La Crema Winery pinot noirs and chardonnays. In the fall, it hosts the “Taste of the Northwest,” pairing recipes with Chateau Ste. Michelle wines from Washington state.
There are six Brigantine locations throughout San Diego County: Point Loma, Del Mar, Coronado, Escondido, La Mesa and The Brig in Poway. In addition, there are three Miguel’s Cocina Mexican-themed restaurants in Point Loma, Coronado and Eastlake. Azul La Jolla, the California coastal cuisine restaurant, and Zocalo, the Nuevo Latino eatery in Old Town, round out the group.
The Flavors of Sonoma promotion is at all of the Brigantine family of restaurants’ locations except Miguel’s Cocina, which runs tequila and beer promotions throughout the year.
The Brigantine family of restaurants has a long, rich San Diego history. What is now an operation of 11 locations, nearly 1000 team members and 1.2 million meals served each year began as a single, struggling Brigantine restaurant in Point Loma.
According to Morton Jr., the first Brigantine was opened in 1969 at Shelter Island by his parents, Barbara and Mike Morton Sr. The Mortons struggled during their first years, barely keeping the new seafood restaurant afloat, while working every role in the restaurant from cooking to janitorial, hostessing and serving.
“Like my dad always says, the only thing that kept him going is that he had a second on his mom’s house and he didn’t want to give her house to the bank,” said Morton Jr.
Eventually the restaurant started doing well and the Mortons opened the second Brigantine on Coronado in 1973. This was closely followed by the Brigantines in Del Mar, Escondido, Miguel’s Cocina in Coronado, Miguel’s Cocina Point Loma (in the original building of first Brigantine), the Old Town and La Mesa Brigantines, and The Brig in Poway.
In 1999, they opened Azul La Jolla. In 2002, they closed the Old Town Brigantine and re-opened it as Zocalo Grill. Their most recent addition was a Miguel’s Cocina in Eastlake.
The Brigantine family of restaurants has always been about family. Not only did the four Morton children hold jobs at the restaurants growing up, two have returned to help their parents run the business as it has expanded.
Morton Jr., who says that his parents ” like him ” have “grown up together in the business,” said that it is fun to watch the next generation of Brigantine customers come into the restaurants.
“We don’t want it to be your parents’ Brigantine ” we want it to be your folks’ place, and your Brigantine,” Morton Jr. said. “We always want to evolve, listen to our customers, and adapt to consumer preferences,” which includes promotions such as the Taste of Sonoma.
For more information about locations and hours, visit www.brigantine.com.