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Ep 17: Paso’s Food & Wine Connection – Il Cortile | La Cosecha | Villa Creek Cellars

March 4, 2021

Just as the wine scene has absolutely taken off here in Paso Robles, the cuisine has not been far behind, and now both work just as hard in successfully making Paso a worthy destination to celebrate, in our own way, that ever special connection between food and wine.

On today’s episode of WWTY, we will meet one of the most popular restaurateurs in Paso, Carole MacDonal of Il Cortile Ristorante and La Cosecha Bar + Restaurant. Carole and her husband, Chef Santos MacDonal, are no strangers to local and national acclaim and have been written up for their cuisine, as well as their wine list.

Carole will offer an inside look into how this brand became the benchmark of high-end cuisine in Paso, how a T-shirt from a Hong Kong flea market sealed the deal to call Paso home, and even a secret menu item at Il Cortile that I guarantee you never knew about that will be a game-changer on your next visit.

Also with Carole and Adam is Cris Cherry of Villa Creek Cellars and MAHA Estate. Cris is no stranger to the restaurant game himself, as he and his wife Joanne owned the legendary Villa Creek Restaurant for almost 20 years in Paso, leaving only to devote all their heart and soul to the organic and bio-dynamic farming and wines of Villa Creek on their 60 acre MAHA Estate.

Cris is always the perfect combo of smart and irreverent, which makes for great conversation, but also he makes just stupid good wine, and farms in a way we can all be proud of. MAHA is off Peachy Canyon Road, on easily one of the best wine country drives anywhere, easily rivaling even the prettiest of drives in places that share names with popular auto parts stores.

Do not miss out on these wines on your next visit and for that matter the cuisine of both Il Cortile and La Cosecha, both on 12th Street downtown Paso.

Before your next trip to Paso, make sure you visit pasowine.com.

Follow Paso Wine on Instagram.

‘Where Wine Takes You’ is Executive Produced by Joel Peterson and the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance.

The Associate Producer is Jennnifer Bravo.

Original music performed by Moonshiner Collective.

WWTY is recorded, edited, produced, and hosted by Adam Montiel.

Follow Adam on Instagram for pics and more behind the scenes from the show.

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