Chef Budi Kazali’s Brined Kurobuta Pork Chop: A Santa Ynez Valley Recipe for the Alma Rosa Table
There is something particularly special about enjoying a bottle of wine alongside a dish created with that wine in mind.
For this season’s Alma Rosa Wine Club release, we invited Chef Budi Kazali of The Gathering Table in Solvang to create a recipe for members to prepare at home alongside 2024 Elevado Pinot Noir. His choice: a brined Snake River Farms Kurobuta pork chop served with grilled peach salad and a smoky peach-gochujang glaze.
It’s a dish that brings together smoke, sweetness, acidity, spice and the richness of grilled pork—all through the perspective of a chef whose cooking has been part of the Santa Ynez Valley culinary landscape for more than two decades.
Meet Chef Budi Kazali of The Gathering Table
“Chef Budi Kazali’s cooking has long brought together Asian influences, French technique and the ingredients of California’s Central Coast. After graduating from the California Culinary Academy, Kazali worked in acclaimed kitchens in San Francisco and helped open Blue Ginger in Boston before making his way to Santa Barbara County.
In 2004, he purchased the Ballard Inn, eventually transforming its restaurant into The Gathering Table in 2017. After selling the inn in 2021 and spending several years on other projects, Kazali returned to a full-time restaurant kitchen in 2024 with a new incarnation of The Gathering Table on Mission Drive in Solvang. The restaurant continues his signature approach to food: French technique meets Asian-inspired flavors, served in a format built around gathering and sharing.
Local sourcing remains central to that philosophy. Kazali has longstanding relationships with Santa Ynez Valley farmers and producers, and seasonal Central Coast ingredients regularly find their way into his cooking.” Calicoast Wine Country
It’s an approach that feels particularly at home alongside wine: thoughtful without being precious, rooted in this place, and ultimately intended to be shared.
A Pork Chop Made for the Wine Table
For Alma Rosa Wine Club members, Chef Budi created a Brined Snake River Farms Kurobuta Pork Chop with Grilled Peach Salad, pairing the richness of pork with layers of smoke, fruit, spice and freshness. Chef Budi's Pork Chops
The pork chops begin with an eight-hour brine seasoned with thyme, garlic and onion. Peaches take on two roles: some are smoked over applewood and combined with gochujang, mirin, brown sugar, molasses and apple cider vinegar to create the glaze, while others are grilled and tossed with watercress, basil, shallot, lemon and extra-virgin olive oil for a bright counterpoint to the pork. Chef Budi's Pork Chops
The result is decidedly Budi: generous and deeply flavorful, but with enough acidity, herbs and fresh fruit to keep the dish lively.
Pairing Chef Budi’s Pork Chop
Chef Budi created this dish to accompany the 2024 Elevado Pinot Noir, a powerful expression of Pinot Noir from the highest elevations of Alma Rosa’s El Jabali estate.
The pairing plays with contrast as much as complement. The richness of the brined Kurobuta pork gives Elevado something substantial to meet at the table, while smoke from the applewood and the savory heat of gochujang add depth alongside the wine. Peaches carry through both the glaze and salad, bringing sweetness and brightness, while watercress, basil and lemon provide a fresh counterpoint to the pork.
Bring The Gathering Table Home
Wine has always belonged at the table, and this collaboration brings together two expressions of Santa Barbara County: a chef shaped by the ingredients and culinary community of the Santa Ynez Valley and wines grown just down the road in the Sta. Rita Hills.
We hope you’ll make an evening of it. Open your bottle of 2024 Elevado Pinot Noir, fire up the grill and let Chef Budi take care of the menu.
The downloadable recipe includes the complete ingredient list, brining instructions, smoked peach-gochujang glaze, grilling directions and grilled peach salad. Chef Budi's Pork Chops
About Chef Budi Kazali
Chef Budi Kazali is the chef behind The Gathering Table in Solvang, California, where his cooking combines Asian influences, French technique and seasonal ingredients from California’s Central Coast. The current restaurant opened in 2024, continuing the original Gathering Table concept Kazali established at the Ballard Inn.