Niner Wine Estates + Edible SLO ‘Use My Kitchen, Tell Your Story’ Dinner Series | Paso Robles Event Planner

Check out the full feature on Edible SLO!

Chef’s Story: Chef Byron was born in Costa Rica, but spent his childhood growing up in New York. He is the current Executive Chef of the supper club 7809 in Aspen, Colorado and competed on season 18 of Bravo’s “Top Chef,” where he was the first DACA recipient to compete! Chef Byron is self taught and advanced his way through the kitchens of Michelin star restaurants! He was delighted to be able to bring his upbringing and Costa Rican gastronomy to a wine country like Paso Robles.

“To have had the opportunity to tell my story and educate guests with ingredients not found in Paso Robles was one of the best cooking experiences I’ve had. Education through wine and food is deeply impactful. No one can deny this.” – Chef Byron Gomez, Edible SLO

Our Inspiration: For the dinner we were inspired by the colors and ambience of the Costa Rican beaches! We used bright colored mismatched napkins and small table-top floral arrangements to add a pop of color to the tablescape and to give guests the feeling they were sitting down at a beach-side restaurant in Costa Rica!

The Kitchen: The dinner took place at Niner Wine Estates, a family owned estate winery in Paso Robles. Richard Niner spent his childhood working on a farm in rural West Virginia. When he was introduced to the central coast of California through his work he fell in love with the area and saw the potential for the wine industry to grow and compete with premier wine countries like Napa. Dinner was served on the patio where guests enjoyed their Costa Rican dinner experience watching the sun set on the surrounding vineyards!

Special Thanks to These Amazing Vendors:
Photography: fusillofoto
Chef: Byron Gomez
Sous Chef: Rachel Ponce
Tablescape Design: LouLou Cheese Girl
Graphic Design: Honey Jo Creative Co. + Anna Eats Colors
Parting Gifts: Harvestly.co
Venue: Niner Wine Estates
Event Host: Niner Wine Estates + Edible SLO
Event Design & Management: Amanda Holder Events

Love Letter “I have no idea how you do event after event; I’m still tired from Tuesday’s dinner! People have been asking me how Tuesday went and I’ve been saying repeatedly that almost always, post-event is never a celebration for me. All I think about is what I could have done better, who I should have spoken to but didn’t have a chance to, and all of the little details that should have, but weren’t, tended to. And that was so not the case with the dinner. I loved every moment of it, had a chance to speak to everyone, and didn’t spend the entire time preoccupied with the schedule and all of the little details, and that’s all because of you. Having you on this was such a highlight of this experience for me. Not only were you so on top of it all, but you did it without any obvious stress and even better, you brought a light to the event that set the mood for us all. We are so lucky to have you a part of this dinner series, and as a partner to the magazine. I appreciate you – probably more than you realize. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”- Gail Cayetano Classick, Edible SLO Magazine