By Claudia Taller
If you live in Ohio, you’ve noticed the increase in farm-to-table restaurants and local wineries. The long-awaited Pairings Wine and Culinary Center celebrates and shows off Ohio’s bounty. Visit Pairings, which just recently opened in downtown Geneva, and discover another source of Ohio pride. A late 1800s carriage house was converted into a venue for hands-on educational and experimental classes and lectures, wine tastings and cooking demonstrations in a relaxed setting.
Wind up the drive amongst new vineyards, relax in Dave’s room (with furniture made by a local metalworker with recycled wood) or on the patio, flow into the retail space showing off Ohio-made products, and witness beautifully prepared food in the KeyBank kitchen. Pairings is another super spot to visit while in Geneva for a weekend, or make it a destination because it’s worthwhile to see what nonprofit dollars can produce.
During the media opening, personal chef Lisa Delgado created small bites of sweet watermelon with feta, mint, and aged balsamic glaze and chipotle-grilled churasco skirt steak on a grilled flour tortilla with avocado cilantro cream, which was paired with Valley Vineyard’s Cabernet Franc. This is the kind of experience you can expect at Pairings.
Wine tastings, a farmer’s market, outdoor and indoor tapas dining, elegant locavore dinners, tented festivals, and a demonstration vineyard are planned. Classes will enhance cooking skills, increase wine appreciation, develop wine industry professional development, and stage home winemaking classes. For example, on Sat 6/28, Lisa Delgado will present a Food to Table Dinner; on Sat 7/5, Nancy Gottron will introduce us to lost kitchen arts; and on Fri 7/18, Joe Petros will take us through a sensory tasting.
This is just the beginning. “Pairings and the success of its first event is proof that the culinary scene in Ashtabula County (and the region) is getting hot,” Luke Harman, Jr., president of Great Lakes Publishing Company, said. “Pairings in the right place at the right time.”
The establishment of Pairings will increase foot traffic in downtown Geneva, become an incubator for start-up wineries, bed and breakfasts, and other business start-ups. The City of Geneva, Kent State University, the Viticulture Ecology Science and Technology Alliance, the Ohio Wine Producers Association, the Ashtabula County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Great Lakes Publishing, Ohio Grape Industries and Ashtabula County Growth Partnership, as strategic partners, hope for abundance success. Part of the mission of Pairings to create a “collaborative understanding between the farmer, the consumer and the retailer to positively impact and sustain the local and regional economy.”
Think about a weekend in Geneva. Stay at the Geneva State Park Lodge, visit the area wineries, take in a class, learn how to taste wine–a total wine and culinary experience.
Claudia Taller is the author of Ohio’s Lake Erie Wineries and is working on a second book about Ohio’s wineries. A Cool Cleveland contributor for many years, she helps writers and other creative people discover possibilities for their lives through Igniting Possibilities events. Find her at http:// claudiajtaller.com.
Geneva, OH 44041