It may just be one of the most expensive dinner and concert packages I've seen on the island.
But nothing will top the symphony of the senses that will strike a chord with wine lovers and music and culinary connoisseurs than the Red Violin Opus One Dinner on Saturday, Dec. 7 at the Four Seasons Resort Maui in Wailea.
And, it includes an overnight stay.
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“I created the menu for the Red Violin Opus One Dinner with the foods from countries where the violin has traveled over the decades,” says Four Seasons Resort Maui’s Executive Chef Roger Stettler. “Our guests at the dinner will savor cuisines of Italy, Canada, China, England and more.”
Four Seasons Resort Maui photo
Basically, attendees will be treated to a private concert on the Oceanfront Lawn by American violin virtuoso Elizabeth Pitcairn, who will perform on the legendary "Red Mendelssohn" Stradivarius.
The concert will be paired with vintages of the award-winning Opus One wine and a gourmet dinner by the hotel's Executive Chef Roger Stettler.
It will be creative work, in which music will flow with exceptional gourmet tastes - both hitting a crescendo when combined with the high caliber wine.
Fact Box
Opus dinner at a glance:
* When: Reception starts at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 7.
* Where: The resort's aptly named Oceanfront Lawn.
* What: Listen to music by star musician Elizabeth Pitcairn, who will perform on the "Red Mendelssohn" Stradivarius; sip from back vintages of Opus One wine; and savor a feast of international proportions; and then stay over in an oceanview room.
* Price: $795 per person includes Opus One wines, dinner, concert and overnight stay. Subsequent room nights may be booked for a special rate of $295 plus tax.
* To book: Call the concierge at 874-2201 or visit the website at maui.fourseasons.com/red.violin.
* What else: Four Seasons is part of the Wailea Wine & Food Festival Dec. 6 to 9. For more details, visit waileawineandfoodfestival.com
Topping off the artistic masterpiece will be an epic arrangement, the grand finale of an oceanview room.
"Typically, we don't offer an inclusive package with a wine dinner," says FSRM's public relations coordinator Crissa Hiranaga. "But since this Opus One dinner is part of the Wailea Wine & Food Festival Dec. 6 to 9, we'll offer the added value and you may book more nights at the special rate and stay for the whole festival."
As the story goes, Stradivarius crafted the Red Violin in 1720 in Italy and then it went missing for 200 years.
"It popped up in the Mendelsohn family and the path it has taken has spawned all of these stories, including the movie, 'The Red Violin,' " says Chef Stettler.
"Now, Elizabeth Pitcairn has the $1.7 million instrument and it never leaves her hands," says Hiranaga. "When she visited here to plan the dinner concert, she carried it around the property with her and she had an iron grip on it."
Stettler thought it would be interesting to create the menu out of the cuisines from the various countries the violin traveled. As an example, since the violin was made in Italy, he'll serve guests lobster ravioli with lobster cream and Tamimi Farm of Haiku's cherry tomatoes with butternut squash and fresh basil oil drizzle.
"Chef Stettler is just the perfect person to create this menu as he's lived and worked in so many countries," says Hiranaga. "He is so worldly in his tastes."
The reception will be passed appetizers of traditional Canadian Poutine, as the famous Red Violin spent time in Montreal. Poutine are basically hand-cut steak fries with cheese curd and gravy.
Other reception appetizers will include hand-passed ahi crudo cones, savory smoked salmon scones and melt-in-your-mouth shrimp and pork pot stickers.
"Montreal also has a lot of rabbit, so we'll do wild-rabbit terrine with pickled winter vegetables, sage mustard and aged port-wine gelee," says Stettler.
Representing Shanghai, China, will be Xiao Long Bao, or steamed soup dumpling with duck broth chilled and made gelatinous, cut in cubes and placed inside with blue crab and black fungus, then steamed so the hot liquid is inside.
From England will be braised oxtail, barrel cut veal tenderloin, fried quail egg and parsnip puree with black winter truffle, fun and seasonal for this time of year.
Guests may get up and stretch their legs at the dessert-and-cheese buffet with coffee granita, panna cotta, chocolate Montreal pudding, lavender custard, roasted chestnut trifle, pear-vanilla gelee and imported and domestic cheeses.
"As for the wines, Opus is an excellent choice and we've done special Opus wine dinners here in the past," Stettler says. "It's one of the best wines out there, created by the partnership of Robert Mondavi and Baron Philippe Rothschild."
Vintages will include 1995, 2000, 2004 and 2009.
In addition, Four Seasons will also host two seminars as part of the Wailea Wine & Food Festival. Both will be held in the hotel on Saturday, Dec. 8.
The first will be Escape to Italy in Eight Glasses from 10:30 a.m. to noon, with sips from this country's famous wine regions; and Three Decades of Cabernet in a vertical tasting from 1:30 to 3 p.m.
Wineries will include Duckhorn, Charles Krug and Freemark Abbey.
"We'll also participate in the VIP Opening Reception for the Wailea Wine & Food Festival Dec. 6 at the Fairmont Kea Lani, Maui," says Stettler.
