Oct 12, 2010

A weekend like no other (part iii)

I know I left my last post on a rather ominous note. Now the great suspense is over, hah. So you see, I wish I had had six stomachs to prepare me for Saturday night. I had the immense privilege of attending a dinner in Staten Island at the welcoming home of a Mouthfuls forum member who enjoys entertaining guests. While we were warned in advance to come hungry, very hungry, we did not quite comprehend the gravity of that statement until we saw for ourselves.

Six people, five hours, six bottles of wine (two older than me :P), courses so numerous (and LARGE) I could no longer keep a count straight in my head, and two kickass desserts that I demolished anyway.

Things I do remember (in order of pictures): chicken meatballs & spoonful of soba noodles with sesame oil, red lentil soup with a kick & crab in a fried dough & some white soup, sophisticated buttermilk chicken fingers & potato wedges, avocado mousse stacked with smoked salmon & papaya & mashed potato chips, softshell crab & corn tamale & jumbo shrimp, foie gras dumplings & a 90-minute poached egg (possibly the richest dish I have ever experienced), grilled pork loin with apples & bacon & sauerkraut on a bed of potato pancake, chocolate mousse two ways, sweet corn ice cream with dried strawberries and a blackberry jello cube. :-O I know, right?!

Is this not mind-boggling and an insane amount of food? Still, it was such a pleasure to be served like this and I won't forget what a rare and unique opportunity this was. It was a real, intimate chef's counter experience, and the crazy thing is that this guy isn't a professional chef. Rich, you can definitely quit your day job! :P

And yes, that is an Emmy! It is a beaut and I held it and grinned like an idiot.

There are way too many exclamations in this post, but it is fitting for how I remember this night in my mind.

8 comments :

  1. I can't even imagine the circumstances that would let you dine on such amazing food AND hold an Emmy! :) Glad you're photographing it along the way. I can live vicariously through your pictures!

    Btw, thanks for your reply about the collages. I tried to do it in Photoshop, just eyeballing the placement of images onto a canvas, but I can tell it will take some work; I can't seem to align the pictures as straight and evenly as you. Ah well, I'll keep practicing. :) Thanks again!

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  2. Okay, not the violent ending I had envisioned; whew!

    But yeah, that is a hellacious amount of nomage...Ow! And not a "pro." Wow.

    Hope your recovery is going well. Maybe you should take a weekend off. To prepare for the holidays, I mean.

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  3. um how did you get invited to this dinner? and how can i finagle an invitation for myself in the future?

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  4. WOW! That was amazing! All the food looked beautiful and sound interesting! I'm glad that you had a great time! =D
    --Ciara<3

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  5. Wow that sounds (and looks) like ALOT of food you ate!! The food looks delicious however and I don't think I could turn it down either ;)
    I'm glad you're okay! After reading the last post I was a little worried but all's well that ends well :D

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  6. Wow I love the intimacy you had with the food!! Everything looks delicious :)

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  7. I LOVE the presentation of the food!

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  8. Very cool weekend! Love those little wire baskets - too cute!

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