Some recipes are more than recipes. They become little time machines. This one takes us right back to the late 1990s, long before Rhythm & Taste, before James Cole Winery, and before we were husband and wife.

We were set up on a blind date by our mutual friend Deana. At the time, James was living in Vancouver working in the wine business, while Colleen was living in San Francisco. What started as one surprisingly successful first date quickly became a long-distance relationship built around weekend flights, shared meals, and a growing love of good wine, good music, and cooking together.

Most weekends followed a similar rhythm. James would fly down Thursday night, Colleen would head off to work Friday morning, and James would walk a few blocks to Cal Mart with one goal in mind: figure out something impressive to cook for dinner. After discovering a shared obsession with mushrooms, earthy, savory, rich with umami, James decided to attempt something ambitious: crispy phyllo towers filled with a medley of mushrooms, fresh herbs, Gruyère, Parmesan, and just a splash of sherry. There was only one problem.

He had never really worked with phyllo dough before. There were a few failures. A few collapsed towers. Probably a little swearing in a tiny San Francisco kitchen. But eventually, it all came together, crisp golden layers wrapped around a rich mushroom filling that somehow felt elegant and comforting at the same time. Colleen was impressed.

Not long after, we were engaged. Ironically, for years afterward, this recipe almost disappeared. Colleen would ask James to make it again, but he never wrote the recipe down and secretly worried it would never live up to that first magical version. Sometimes memories become bigger than the dish itself.

But recently, nearly 28 years later, we brought it back. And thankfully… it still works.

To go with the recipe, we also put together a playlist called When We Met, a collection of songs we listened to constantly during those years: cooking dinner together, drinking wine, navigating long-distance flights between Vancouver and San Francisco, and slowly building the life we still share today.

So pour a glass of wine, turn the music up, and enjoy one of the recipes that helped start it all.

Cheers!
James & Colleen

To go with the recipe, we also put together a playlist called When We Met, a collection of songs we listened to constantly during those years: cooking dinner together, drinking wine, navigating long-distance flights between Vancouver and San Francisco, and slowly building the life we still share today.

Listen Here