Thursday, October 31, 7:00 P.M.
Members $95, guests $120

Christophe's chef, Geoffrey Blythe, grew up in a log cabin in Maryland and was raised on a strict macrobiotic diet. "The first five years of my life, that's all I ate," he says, "brown rice and seaweed." Given this, his aptitude for creating fine French cuisine—menu items at Christophe's include escargots, saumon fumé, and côte d'agneau Provençal—seems a surprise. Or maybe it was just an act of rebellion.

Blythe is a graduate of the Baltimore Culinary Institute and Johnson & Wales. He worked the kitchens at The Morrison House Hotel in Alexandria, Virginia, and at Dixie Grill in Washington, D.C., then moved to San Francisco to serve as executive chef at MacArthur Park. Later, as executive chef at Jack's Restaurant, he earned the historic spot a four-star review. From Jack's, he moved on to Perlot, to sustained acclaim. Ultimately, the economic downturn in San Francisco forced the highly regarded Perlot to sacrifice him—they could no longer afford their exceptional executive chef. But as food editor Mike Dunne gloated in The Bee, "San Francisco's loss is Folsom's gain at Christophe's." He continued: "Blythe's combinations are soundly artistic, emphasizing powerful, balanced flavors as well as inviting arrangements."

For some time, Christophe's has been a consistent Sacramento Magazine award winner. But since Blythe started working his magic there, it has added a 2001 Wine Spectator Award of Excellence to its list of honors. Blythe, once a sommelier, knows from wine. Indeed, while he was at Perlot, Tracie Broom of SFStation.com noted that his "wine pairings were sharpshooter caliber." He is, in short, the perfect chef to host a Wine Lovers' Dinner, and we're thrilled that he'll be collaborating with the family-owned Chappellet Vineyard. The second new winery built in the Napa Valley since Prohibition, Chappellet consistently turns out wines that garner exceptional ratings. Cyril Chappellet himself will be on hand to give us a first glance of the 1999 vintage and to share the as-yet-unreleased winemaker notes!