Last night many of Montclair’s true blues, (or authentic locals) attended the Kunde Family Estate Wine Dinner at Halcyon Seafood Brasserie, located at 112 Walnut Street., Montclair. 

This was a very special event that also brought together two Montclair families with long histories as local business owners.  For this event, Sharon Walsh Egan, host and co-owner of Halcyon, as well as Egan & Sons in Montclair and West Orange, collaborated with fellow Montclair family, the Powers, specifically, the Egans’ butcher, Martin Powers and his sister, Jacki Powers. 

Before Halcyon Seafood Brasserie occupied the space at 112 Walnut Street, it was Oppenheimer’s Wholesale Meat Distribution Company, which was owned by Jerry Kroll.  It was also the former site of Wayne Meat Corporation, which Martin Powers operates today.

Watch the video for more with Sharon Egan, Jeff Kunde, and Jacki Martin.

But what about the food? The great thing about a wine dinner is that each course is professionally paired with a complimentary wine.  It presents a great opportunity to learn, and also enjoy.

The evening began with Kunde’s 2009 Magnolia Lane Sauvignon Blanc, and hors d’oeuvres including oyster shooters with yellow passion fruit gazpacho, smoked trout toast points, and duck liver pate with kumquat marmalade.

The first course began with Kunde’s buttery 2008 Chardonnay, which was perfectly paired with pan seared diver sea scallops over frisee with lardoons.  

The second course, (and my personal favorite), was Colorado lamb wrapped in Prosciutto with a divine grape mostarda, which was served with a 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon.  The third course featured dry aged strip steak with a “century vines” zinfandel reduction, paired with a 2007 Reserve Zinfandel. 

The last course was Cashel Blue Cheese and assorted cookies, paired with a non-vintage Zinfandel port.

This was the first wine dinner Halcyon has hosted, but Sharon Egan hopes to host many more in the future.  “I think it’s great,” Sharon said, “I think we have 55, which is a good turn out because we’re never done this before.  We’re really loving it.  We could do one every month if this all works out.  I think it’s good value as well.”

For more pictures of the evening, click here.