Last week we got a phone call from the folks who run the Sierra Railroad, which operates vintage trains year-round out of Oakdale, CA. They asked us if we wanted to be the featured winery on their Dinner Train on Saturday, and that the dinner would be taped as part of a new series on the Food Network.
We said we'd think about it...
After about one nanosecond of thought we said yes!
We talked to Robert Pinoli (VP of Sierra Railroad) and learned more about the gig. The Food Network has just started filming a new show called Dinner Impossible, which features Marc Summers (Unwrapped etc etc) as the Host and Executive Producer. It turns out that Mr. Summers is a very wine savvy guy. Even though the premise of the show does not really require a winery to participate, he asked the train people to recommend a local winery to be on the train.
(First picture: Host Marc Summers and Rubber Chicken comparing dental work.)
Each week Master Chef Robert Irvine is dumped someplace on Saturday morning with a budget and an "impossible" task to create dinner for a group of people. Chef Irvine is a native of England and has cooked for Kings, Queens, Emirs, Presidents, and other such rabble. He's also one heck of a nice guy! Anyway, in an earlier taping, they dumped him on an island in Maine, handed him some cash, and told him to cook dinner for everyone on the island. In our episode, "all" he had to do was cook for 150 people on the train.
(Second picture: Chef Robert Irvine and Rubber Chicken discussing yoga.)
Pimp Daddy and I showed up at the train station in Oakdale Saturday afternoon with six cases of wine. We were directed to the bar car (a place we would have found anyway) to stash the wine and get the whites cooled down.
(Third picture: Crack Dinner Train Bar Staff)
All we had to do was pour wine and have a good time. Which we know how to do. And which we did. I think PD and I set a record for uncorking six cases of wine, and managed to get at least some white and red into glasses without too much delay.
(Fourth picture: Pimp Daddy slamming open those bottles.)
That night we poured:
- 2005 Sierra Foothills %@#$!
- 2005 Calaveras County Viognier
- 2004 Calaveras County Tempranillo
- 2004 Calaveras County Syrah
PD and I had such a good time pouring wine, talking about the wine, talking about Rubber Chickens, talking about the food, and generally having a good time - we never got to try the food! It looks like Chef Irvine served up a seafood salad with a light vinaigrette, some sort of stuffed mushrooms, a garlic soup (that one smelled pretty yummy!), a main course of chicken or lamb, and some sort of apple raisin crisp with a banana sauce. There was at least one big drama on that dessert where the sugar and salt got swapped and it all had to be remade...
(Fifth picture: Crack TV Production Crew)
After it was all over and most everyone had left, we hung out with the TV crew and with the train crew. One cool part was where the Chef talked with the train staff about how they might improve their dinner train operation. He took the time to answer their questions and bounce ideas. We also got a chance to talk wine with Marc Summers. Dude definitely knows his wine, and knows good wines!
(Sixth picture: Guy in Charge of the Train and Excellent Dancer Chris Hart)
I'll show you some pictures of the diners in the next post!
El Jefe,
Thanks for commenting over at TVFoodFan.com. The photos are great and I thank you for sharing them with us.
I think I'd like to link to the site in a full post, so keep an eye out for that.
If you have any questions or additional info to add, drop me a note at tvfoodfan@gmail.com.
Mike
TVFF.com
Posted by: Mike | November 17, 2006 at 08:17 PM
Acouple of ol cowboys and my self worked with Robert and we were blown away with his knowledge, stamina and true grit!! I won't miss a single "Dinner Impossible"
Posted by: Charlie | December 15, 2006 at 05:26 PM