Happy WIAW!
In lieu of telling you what I ate this week, I’m going share my dinner from last Wednesday night. (You’ll understand when you see this deliciousness.)
My foodie friend, Corinne, and I attended another installment of the Summer Chef Series @ ONE Midtown Kitchen. (Remember the 1st one with Chef Hugh Acheson and the 2nd with Chef Bruce Logue?)
This was a special edition, as it was Corinne’s birthday! Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you…
This night we brought along friends to help celebrate. Including my hard-core friend Kathleen who miss my b-day due to breaking her writst via rollerblades. Hi Kathleen! 🙂
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Chef Ford Fry from JCT Kitchen was the guest tonight.
Sadly, he did not bring his guitar.
The night began with a crisp Chenin Blanc. Actually, it began with a couple of glasses and bread basket since the kitchen was running behind. We didn’t complain.
They print out the menus – one of my favorite parts of the night is the menu reveal.
My inner fat kid spends the day dreaming about what might be on the night’s menu.
Amuse:
Crispy Pork Trotter with fois gras and beatrice eggplant caponata
It was heavy for an amuse, but good. Trotter still creeps me out though.
1st Course:
Heirloom Tomato Ceviche with lemon verbena, white chocolate, & horseradish granita
Love, loved the ceviche. The granita wasn’t bad, but there was a lot of it and chef Drew has done that granita a lot lately.
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2nd Course:
Maine Lobster with Carolina gold rice “risotto” and buttered pullman toast
…or if you are allergic to shellfish (or think the alternative sounds good), you were presented with a mushroom risotto.
Really, really good; however, my bad because it didn’t get as well with the Pinot Gris pairing. The lobster risotto was amazing (Corinne gave me a taste).
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3rd Course:
Roast Black Bass with tiny tomatoes, tomato water, and herb salad
This was probably my favorite course of the night. The fish was perfectly cooked – meaty rather than fishy. The tomato water was a little much but that herb salad was fantastic with the fish.
The red wine pairing was surprising. It was a nice Merlot, but didn’t wow.
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4th Course:
Housemade Heritage Pork Sausage with crisp belly, Benton’s bacon-wrapped fig, and brown butter jus
The pork belly was some of the best I’ve ever had. The texture was melt-in-your-mouth good. The bacon wrapped fig was also delicious. Perfectly crisped bacon!
The only thing keeping this from being my favorite was the sausage – it was so salty I couldn’t eat more than a small bite!
A South African wine paired with this was our favorite of the evening – it was a bigger, more complex red, my palate’s sweet-spot.
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5th Course:
Warm 70% Chocolate with almond crisp, raspberry pate, and vanilla lime sorbet
Wellll… chef’s aren’t bakers. That warm 70% chocolate hardened before it made it out of the kitchen and the almond crisp was more rocky that crispy. I could have taken a bowl of that sorbet though!
The sherry pairing was too thick and rich for the dessert. On it’s own I really enjoyed it. It would have been a great one to serve between 4 and 5 courses or in lieu of the dessert.
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Overall, we left sated and happy. Most importantly, Corinne had a happy birthday!
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Of course, I have another supper club-like even this Friday. It should be epic!
Are you sick of hearing about these things yet?
What’s the best thing you’ve eaten as of late?