CULINARY TOUR WITH CHEF JUSTIN WANGLER

Over the past couple of days I am sure you’re picking up on a common theme – the details are everything at Kendall-Jackson. For Tucker it’s in the care and dedication to the garden, for Randy it’s the meticulous attention paid to the terroir of the vineyards, and for Kendall-Jackson’s Executive Chef Justin Wangler, it’s all about taste.

The relationship between wine & food is like nothing else. They are the best of friends & help to draw out some of the best qualities in each other. If they could have matching friendship bracelets, they absolutely would. We’ve seen how dedicated Kendall-Jackson is about creating the best wine, now can you only imagine the love and care they give to everything that comes out of their culinary kitchen? It’s unreal. The Kendall-Jackson Wine Estate & Gardens is a must-stop for foodies and wine-lovers alike & Chef Justin has helped bring it to the next level. He is an absolute magician in the kitchen. Walking outside to pick fresh ingredients, he will bend down, smell something, and start brainstorming the perfect dish. A little bit of this, a little bit of that, and boom – magic.

Chef Justin’s enthusiasm for creating a story with his dishes is evident and incredibly inspiring.

Constance and I are pescetarian, so Chef Justin was so kind to whip us up a dish that we could taste-test (read as: drool over) as well as photograph. Watching him work was such an education in itself. Normally, I traipse around the kitchen slightly frantic (and usually with flour or olive oil all over my face and hair). Chef Justin was, to say the least, the very opposite of my frenetic self.

Seeing someone in their natural element is always kind of magical, but watching Chef Justin was really remarkable. He interacted with the ingredients in a way that let them tell him what they needed. When I asked if he had made this scallop dish before, he kindly laughed and said ‘no’ and that he doesn’t know how it’s going to turn out because he hasn’t finished creating it yet. Oohokay, yea that’s how I cook too.

See the recipe for this delicious (and I mean truly divine) seared scallops with celtuce (yep, you’ll learn that that is), carrots, and fave beans, HERE. 

During our time at the Kendall-Jackson Wine Estate & Gardens, it was so impressive to me at how much care and dedication everyone puts in to their work. Great food and great wine is a lifestyle a lot of us associate with a certain income bracket, but spending time with Tucker, Randy, and Chef Justin has me thinking that’s a total lie. Great food isn’t about the price, it’s about the love and thought you put into it. The same goes for wine. If K-J embodies anything, it’s the notion that love and thoughtfulness are key ingredients to a well-live life.

This post was created in partnership with Kendall-Jackson. All opinions are my own.

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