Chef Matthew Roberts’s first wine dinner at Alder & Sage shows new approach to such events

Chef Matthew Roberts—the newly minted head chef overseeing Alder & Sage in Long Beach’s treasured Retro Row neighborhood—is doing the hard part quietly.

In his short tenure at Alder & Sage, he has impressed owner Kerstin Kansteiner to the extent that she doesn’t even pre-approve menus; she lets Chef Matt run freely. The kitchen staff has altered, both professionally and mentally. Employees want to come in earlier. They want to truly learn the ropes. And they even freely work the grueling brunch shifts with pride.

That kitchen has become tidily and steadily focused larder space, where a chef’s kitchen layout becomes a modern pantry program. Fermenting. Pickling. Curing. Confiting. Dehydrating. Infusing oils, vinegars, syrups… Making pastes and powders to capture peak-season flavor. It’s zero-waste: stocks, garums, citrus preserves from trim… It’s shelf-stable mise that speeds service and cross-season consistency.

And most recently, flexed (but not remotely loudly) the expanse of his connections and process with his most recent wine dinner.

Chef Matthew Roberts of Alder & Sage works backwards with wine dinners—slightly irritating sommeliers, according to the chef, but bringing a whole new experience.

Bringing underrated Paso Robles winery gem MAHA—a space he was closely connected to for four years—Chef Matthew showcased his love of wine. And its potential in pairing by doing something few if any chefs do. (I know for me, this is the first time I’ve seen any chef work this way for a wine dinner.) He asked the winery to choose the wines they wanted to showcase first.

In this case, a genuinely gorgeous array of biodynamic whites and red. (And biodynamics that don’t taste like vinegar or kombucha.) And then, after tasting them himself, he creates his menu. Wine first, plates second.

“In my eyes, it’s easier to shift the food than it is to alter the wines—which you obviously can’t do,” Chef Matthew said. And after hearing it, it is much like a Duh Moment.

The food at Alder & Sage’s first wine dinner was distinctly food made for wine, thanks to Chef Matthew’s wine-first approach.

The result was a Grassy Bar oyster topped with a dollop of perserved calamansi and Serrano peppers, persimmon, and Peruvian black mint—a perfect fit for a robust, damn-near-perfect Rousanne white. An uni custard topped with surprisingly succulent abolone and crunchy, red Hawaiian seaweed—set to a Clairette Blanche.

There was a beet root-and-house-made-cheese-stuffed pasta layered with sous vide-d fennel, citrus beurre blanc, cumin, coriander, and Aleppo pepper—paired with a Grenache, Carignan, and Mourvèdre blend. A Mt. Lassen trout—the same trout used in one of my favorite dishes from Chef Philip Pretty over at Heritage—layered with pumpking and pomegranate, mustard frill, and a hibiscus powder dusting—lovingly paired with a Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvèdre blend. A braised lamb neck—broken down, compressed into a cylinder, and crisped on its edges—salthered in a ramp conserva and sitting atop mayocoba beans….

And then, one of the stars: a chanterelle mushroom panna cotta topped with a house-made cajeta layered with rosemary sea salt. It is one of the most gorgeously layered, savory-on-the-front desserts I’ve experienced—and a masterclass in melding Californian, Mexican, and Italian sensibilities seamlessly.

The dinner reflects what owner Kerstin Kansteiner has always wanted for Alder & Sage…

It was a genuinely welcoming moment to, with a glass of sparkling winer from MAHA in hand, sit amid the fireplaces at Alder & Sage’s back patio on a late autumn evening. This has been a rare experience as Kerstin has tried to balance what many perceive as a breakfast/coffee space and host special events. And surely, there have been some here and there.

But this dinner reflected what Alder & Sage was always supposed to be: A malleable space that interweaves its morning reputation with dinners, wine tastings, and night events dotted throughout the season. If anything, this proved that Kerstin’s vision was one that we should have had consistently throughout Alder & Sage’s tenure.

“We’re planning on making this, in the least, a monthly thing while Chef continues to get his footing with the space,” Kerstin said. “Seeing this space full, lit up at night… It was a genuine pleasure to witness. We even had some staff sit down to enjoy it so they could see what the customers are experiencing in order to prep for this as a more regular occurrance.”

Bring it.

Alder & Sage is located at 366 Cherry Ave.