Planet Rooth Design Haus And Baja Wine + Food To Host Second Barrel Smoker Dinner On Thursday, June 18

June 9, 2015

On Thursday, June 18, from 6-9pm, Planet Rooth Design Haus is again opening up its gallery in Banker's Hill to showcase the breadth of culinary possibilities of the revolutionary iQ Barrel Smoker at the Barrel Smoker Dinner Series II. Joining hosts Gustav Anders Rooth and Fernando Gaxiola of Baja Wine + Food for this multi-course dinner are guest chefs Drew Deckman, Ryan Steyn and Karla Navarro - all hailing from kitchens in Baja California, Mexico.

We attended the first Barrel Smoker Dinner with guest chefs Flor Franco, Javier Plascencia and Ricardo Heredia, and can assure that it is a most memorable evening where guests are treated like family and new friends are made in a exuberant and casual setting. Upon entry, diners are ushered to grab a glass of Baja wine and then proceed to mix and mingle as appetizers are dished out. Once seated, guests are welcomed and the beautiful meal is presented by each chef, course by extravagant course.

Baja celebrity chefs Drew Deckman of Deckman's En El Mogor, Ryan Steyn of El Jardin de Adobe por Chef Ryan Steyn and Karla Navarro of Salicornia Project are the three featured chefs in the second edition of the series. Chefs will be using the iQ Oak Barrel Smoker as their main piece of equipment, which was designed by Swedish master craftsman Gustaf Anders Rooth, who is the co-host for the night. Wines from Valle de Guadalupe's Monte Xanic Winery will be featured at the meal, curated by Baja's wine diplomat Fernando Gaxiola.

Gustav Rooth came up with the idea of the iQ Oak Barrel Smoker when considering how to eliminate the waste involved with his popular Barrely Made It line of oak-barrel-made furniture. The 65-pounds, oak barrel is a vertical smoker with technology that Rooth and his crew engineered and named 'iQ' because it is 'Incredibly Quick'. Meat comes out of the IQ Smoker tasting like it has been cooking for hours, but from start to finish, most meats only take 30 minutes to finish. Rooth can frequently be found cooking at culinary events in the area. He has been a cook since the 1980s when his family’s restaurant, Christina’s Food Boutique, was open in La Mesa. Rooth is currently working on his next culinary creation - a reimagined roasting box akin to that produced by La Caja China - the first model intended for Chef Javier Plascencia's upcoming Little Italy hotspot Bracero Cocina de Raiz.

Tickets for this event are $95 per person and are very limited. Planet Rooth Design Haus is located at 3334 5th Avenue in Banker's Hill. To purchase passes, visit eventbrite.com/e/barrel-smoker-dinner-series-ii-tickets-17310938483. The Barrel Smoker Dinner Series will continue to take place on the third Thursday of every month with leading culinary stars and featured wines from Baja. For more information, visit planetrooth.com.