The Art of Pairing At Justin Winery

ASTRY CHEF SAREE MUSICK, a self-described Midwest transplant from Kansas, started baking as a kid. Instead of playing pretend with an Easy-Bake Oven,she started making delicious specialty cakes at age 10. As a teen, Saree’s friends would look forward to her famous cheesecakes, assorted cakes, and even Teddy Graham cakes (with a poolside or beach theme,) the recipe for which, she discovered in Home and Garden Magazine. By high school, her one-of-a-kind cakes became ‘kind of a happening.’ “What will Saree create this time?”

In Saree’s junior year in high school, when local colleges started to recruit, she realized the traditional trajectory of attending a college close by and eventually settling down in your hometown, was uninspiring. Saree decided to follow her cooking and baking bliss and hopped a plane for the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco.

In 2015 Saree was hired as Sous Pastry Chef at Balboa Beach Resort in Newport Beach and was promoted to Pastry Chef in 2018.

Chef Rachel Haggstrom, who grew up on a sprawling citrus orchard in Temecula, CA, received a Bachelors degree from UC- Santa Barbara, and a Masters Degree in Hospitality and Tourism from the University of Gothenberg in Sweden, prior to attending culinary school, also at C.C.A.

After climbing the culinary ladder at several prestigious venues (St. Regis, The Ritz, and French Laundry), Rachel was hired as Executive Chef at Balboa Bay Resort in 2015.

From the beginning of their work together at Balboa Bay Resort it was clear that Rachel and Saree possessed a unique brand of chef-pastry chef synergy. Fortunately, when Rachel was offered theExecutive Chef position at The Restaurantat Justin, Justin Winery, in Paso Robles, CA, she was eventually able to bring Saree aboard as Pastry Chef.

Three years on, the dynamic duo is creating the kind of culinary buzz that makes a venue a food destination. The Restaurant at Justin is topping lists as one of the ‘must experience’ stops in the rolling hills and vineyards of Paso Robles with Haggstrom’s exquisite menu keenly created to pair with Justin wines,and Musick’s ingenious chocolate program(Justin Chocolate Truffles) also inspired to pair with what’s on offer from the vineyards.

A conversation with Justin Winery Executive Chef Rachel Haggstrom and Executive Pastry Chef Saree Musick:

Why do you work so well together?

RH: I’m a serious perfectionist and so is Saree.Saree is incredibly talented, but also intelligent.She pushes herself and is very helpful in allaspects of culinary, not just pastry.

SM: I’ve really grown a lot working with Racheland not just in my field but in savory aspects aswell. She’s really challenged me to push myselfoutside of my comfort zone and be a little bitmore creative.

Rachel, what is your main objective with yourmenus for The Restaurant at Justin?

RH: My goal is to create food that resonates withpeople and leaves a lasting memory that theyfeel connected to from either nostalgia or fromtheir experience.

Impressively, you are both currently studyingfor your Sommelier certificates. Please sharethe motivation for going the big extra mile interms of your wine knowledge.

SM: I didn’t have a lot of wine knowledge orbackground before I came to Justin Winery. Sofor me, it’s been really fun to learn somethingnew to put in my repertoire.

RH: Luckily, I was exposed to a lot of differentkinds of wine, verbiage, and how to tastewine during the many wine dinners we createdat Balboa Bay Resort. Coming to Justin andcontinuing to develop our wine knowledge is veryimportant to Saree and I. We’re pairing our foodspecifically to highlight Justin’s wine. One of thehindrances, particularly for Saree as Pastry Chef,is finding desserts that she wants to do withingredients that are in season but that also gowith the few wines that she has to work with.

How did the idea for the Justin ChocolateTruffles program unfold?

SM: The way people talk about chocolates isvery similar to the way people talk about wine.Like when we talk about Valrhona, which we buyfrom The Chefs’ Warehouse and use for ourchocolate program, there is comparableverbiage. It’s been a really fun challenge toexpand pairing and create bonbons and dessertsthat pair well specifically to a more vast selectionof wines. This type of pairing is somethingthat isn’t done a lot. Some wineries may sellchocolate, but it doesn’t necessarily pair withtheir wines. The chocolate program has beenreally good for the winery and it’s been really funfor a lot of people to experience not just tastingwine but also tasting the chocolate and how they’re paired together.

Why Valrhona?

SM: Valrhona has a very wide spectrum of what you can do with as far as flavor profiles. Valrhona is also an easy chocolate to work with as far as the flow and the viscosity of it.

Please share some valuable aspects of a woman-led kitchen.

SM: I’ve worked with mostly men in my career. Working with Rachel has been easier in the sense that our brains think the same way when it comes to R&D and creating and executing. Working with another woman chef has been a little bit more cohesive than working with some of my other male chefs.

RH: I don’t know if it’s age or being a mother and the way that I look at staff in terms of training or development or changing things. There’s a lot of tough love because that’s how I am but that’s also how I was raised in the kitchen. I feel like I have to over-communicate and teach every single detail and then follow up. I don’t think I talk down to people but I think, ‘How would I teach my child this?’ A stereotype is most women think like that. Whereas if you find a male chef who thinks like that you’re lucky. Our cooks appreciate that. And I think we appreciate that about each other.