Food
Food Rush

Donatella Diaries: Dinner and Wine at Anthos with Kyle MacLachlan

This weekend I had dinner with Kyle MacLachlan, a.k.a. Charlotte's ex, a.k.a. Bree's soon-to-be ex, a.k.a. dinner with Kyle and his real life beautiful wife (who is far more fascinating then any fictional character) and Kyle's latest passion, his wine, called Pursued by Bear.

Last year, I attended Bon Appetit magazine's Food and Wine Festival in Beaver Creek, CO and asked to be a guest judge in their version of Iron Chef. Cat Cora was the host, and Kyle was a fellow judge, along with editor-in-chief of Bon Appetit, Barbara Fairchild. Kyle brought his wine, Pursued by Bear, and it was sooooo good I told him to be sure to contact me when we got back to New York so he could bring it to my restaurants. In addition to being a fan of his wine I'm a big fan of Kyle's. Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives are my guilty pleasures. I tried to get some gossip about next season (Nicolette's untimely death and who the bride in the final episode is) but he was pretty tight-lipped. He was more interested in talking about his wine, and frankly I don't blame him. Along with Washington vintner Eric Dunham, Kyle produces a wine with grapes from Walla Walla in Columbia Valley. His first vintage, 2005, is a blend of Cabernet, Syrah and a bit of Merlot with a "blackberry jam and a cherry cola component."

As I suspected, Kyle is also a big foodie, so of course he had to have dinner at my midtown restaurant, Anthos. He loved everything I sent out for him. He started with the raw meze, a five-bite tasting of "Greek sushi," then he had our sheep's milk ricotta dumplings followed by our Atlantic salmon. It's so refreshing to see an actor that eats everything with no substitutions! Of course, I asked him about how he named the wine. Where did Pursued by Bear come from? He recounted the following story:

"We were having dinner one night with Steve Martin, my wife and some friends. I asked his opinion for a name and he suggested "Maybe it should be something to do with acting." Something popped into my head. There's this wonderful Shakespearean stage direction that I've always loved: "Exit, pursued by a bear," from The Winter's Tale. It's whimsical and comes from a place you don't expect, kind of like how I got involved in wine. I blurted it out and Steve said, "That's it!"

Kyle also told me how fun it was to "be a salesman," going around and getting restaurateurs like me interested in his product. Well, it worked! Anthos has a new wine on the list.