Most Fabulous Dinner Ever!
Posted: May 26th, 2009 | Author: Ed | Filed under: Uncategorized, dvd | 4 Comments »This past Saturday, our family and friends were treated to what may have been the most amazing dinner I have ever experienced–and while I’m not the ultimate foodie, I’ve had some pretty amazing meals. When your dad is a caterer, you tend to get a bit of food exposure 
This one, however, was over the top.
The dinner was held at The Studio at Ridgewell’s, a small demo dining room and kitchen that is used for tastings, experimental menus, and testing decorations. My dad had set it up for several reasons, but mainly to sample some Spanish wines that are looking for markets in this country and to celebrate the arrival of Ari’s parent’s who had come to visit her during her stay here in DC. On top of that, we’re all into food, and this provided the perfect opportunity for all of us to get together, feast, and hang out–something we do almost every weekend anyway, but this time we did it in style! (Sorry about the picture quality, which does not do justice to the food or the venue. I only had my phone cam, and we drank so much wine that I kept forgetting to take pics of the food before eating it)
Our table in The Studio at Ridgewell's, an intimate venue which we had to ourselves.
The dinner was a 12 course tasting menu prepared by CIA graduate and long time Coporate Chef of Ridgewell’s, David Keener. When you’re in the hands of a master like Chef Keener, you’re in for something special. Cooking, like any other vocation or art, has levels. There’s homecooking, there’s standard restaurants, there’s high end restaurants and an entire continuum of levels in between. When you’re being fed by someone like Chef Keener, the meal almost transcends eating as sustenance and shoots straight to artistry. The balance and subtleties of flavors, the plating design and presentation, aromas. All of it blends seamlessly to create an interactive masterpiece that is akin to a visit to the National Gallery of Art (defintiely the East wing). The attention to detail and pride that Chef Keener puts into his medium is obvious, and I think we all felt honored to be the recipients of his latest masterpieces. Seriously, this man is da Vinci and we ate the Mona Lisa. Ahem.
The Menu (annotated with my reactions)
“Sandwich”
Foie Gras, Membrillo and Shaved Banana Bread
Passion Fruit Balsamic Glaze
A high end take on a PB & J, this little morsel was a wonderful little kick off to an extraordinary meal. The sweetness of the membrillo, with the tanginess of the glaze and the mellow flavor of the foie gras made for a perfectly balanced nibble.
“Pave”
Roasted Beet, Honey and Cilantro Pearls and Cabrales Fondant
Normally, I’m not a beet fan, but this layered dish of roasted yellow and red beets might convert me. Accented with a Cabrales cheese fondant and little pearls of honey and salty cilantro (made with some Molecular Gastronomy techniques so that they resembled multicolored caviar) the explosion of flavor with each bite was unlike anything I’d ever had. The earthy sweetness of the beets and the sharp cheese and the pearls was something you wouldn’t think would work, but when they’re all dancing a rumba on your pallette, you quickly change your mind.
“Consomme”
Smoked Sable, Salt Cod and Saffron
with Cream Cheese and Brie Noodles, Scallions and Bagel Croutons
This dish was like a science kit when it arrived at our table. Each bowl, filled with little bites of fish, was accompanied by a small squeeze bottle and a red capsule on a little fork. Chef Keener visited each guest and added a clear broth to each bowl, instructing us to put the capsule (a saffron concoction) into the bowl. The gel coating quickly melted away turning the broth into a distinctive yellowish/orange saffron color. The aroma rising from the bowl was like the sea with a slight spiciness. We were then instructed to squeeze the bottles of Brie into the bowl. The ribbons of cheese solidified with the heat of the broth, creating very flavorful cheesy noodles with the texture of soft linguine. Amazing!
“Salad”
Watermelon, Jicama and Cara Cara Orange
With Fried Capers, Radish, Feta, Mint and Pickled Red Onions
This “simple” salad was an explosive study in contrasts. The sweet, the salty and the spicy all blended together into an incredibly flavorful and refreshing interlude.
“Flan”
Cauliflower and Marcona Almond
With Candied Fennel and Manchego Crisp
This little beauty, served in an eggshell balanced on a small plate of brown rice was incredibly subtle. I think most of us are familiar with flan, but the only thing this had in common with it was the texture. It was smooth and creamy and melted in your mouth, almost like a fine mousse. The candied fennel created little notes of sweet and “fennelness” that accentuated the flan perfectly. Looks like I’m forced to invent words to describe this meal! This is one of the few dishes that I got a picture of, though its pretty poor quality.
Cauliflower and Marcona Almond Flan with Candied Fennel and Manchego Crisp
“Assiette of Seafood”
White Anchovy with Grilled Piquillo Peppers and Charred Leeks
Salmon Tartare with Crisp Rice Crackers
Yellowfin Tuna with Idiazabal and Lemon Sherry Pipette
Jumbo Lump Crab Cucumber Block with Smoked Tomato Aioli
Littleneck Clam on Pine Nut-Celeriac Puree with Chorizo Vinaigrette
WiAnno Oyster in Chervil Cucumber Gelee with Trout Roe
I can’t even describe the different tasty combos on this plate, so I won’t even try, however, there was a new (to me) presentation of one them, the Yellowfin Tuna. The tuna was encrusted with the Idiazabal cheese and skewered with a pipette. As you pulled the bite-sized tuna chunk off the pipette, you give it a squeeze and it fills your mouth with the lemon sherry sauce. Incredibly simple yet shockingly flavorful, this not only had a very cool presentation, but was super tasty! Here’s a pic of the plate:
An assortment of seafood bites
Black Cod, Squid, Mussels, Shrimp and Scallops
Topped with Puffed Saffron Rice and Black Salt
This dish came out in small decorative bags in a bowl. We weren’t sure what to expect (or do) but the wait staff quickly came back with scissors and cut open the top. Immediately, the air was suffused with the most seductive seafood aroma I’ve ever experienced. Despite its simplicity (or maybe because of it), this was probably my favorite dish. The flavors were so distinct and fresh that I just wanted more and more of it! I practically licked the bowl! My only regret was not having any bread on hand to sop up all the tasty juices that I couldn’t reach with my spoon!
Tender Rioja Braised Beef with Warm Truffle Potato Foam,
Wild Mushroom, and Crispy Potato Lace
This was a classic beef course, refined to amazing goodness. The flatiron cut, though not normally as tender as other cuts, was braised to perfection and melted in your mouth, blending perfectly with the puree and the crispy texture of the potato lace. I was fortunate enough to be sitting next to the only vegetarian at the table (who broke her veggie vows and sampled it anyway) so I got to eat two of them, though she kept the puree and lacy potatoes. Can you believe how selfish she was?
“Grape Surprise”
Green Grape skewer Dipped in Chocolate Pop Rocks
This simple beginning to the dessert course was a wonderful trip down memory lane, thanks to the pop rocks. As simple as it was, it was a perfect bite of old school confection mixed with modern cooking techniques.
“Cherry Tasting”
Cherry-Rhubarb Palette
Spiced, Freeze Dried and Brandied Cherries
Cherry Milk Bubbles and Baba al Maraschino
This dessert, while tasty, was probably my least favorite, but that’s mostly because I’m a diabetic and my palate has a low tolerance for sweets. Though very yummy, it was more than I could handle so I limited myself to small tasting bites, which were enough to make me wish I could eat more. The presentation was really cool, too. The assorted bites were served on a plate on top of a cherry flavored gel with a small glass in the center. The chef went around to each and poured a liquid into the glass that caused a chemical reaction making a mini-cherry-flavored volcano erupt on all our plates. The lava flowed across all the morsels, tying them together with a delightful flavor.
Cherry Tasting
“Chocolate”
Crunch Bar
Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, they bring out these little beauties. About the size of one of those mini-Snicker’s bars that people give out for Halloween, these things were a combo of chocolate mousse, some kind of crunchiness and a hazelnut flavor that was perfect. By this point in the meal, I was so far in my cups that I can’t really describe it; all i know is, it was amazing!
“Dragon’s Breath Popcorn”
With Spiced Peanut Butter and White Chocolate Powder
This was a very cool way to cap off an amazing meal, though I’m not sure how the chemistry worked. Basically, Chef Keener came around the table with one of the servers. He had a metal bowl filled with deeply frozen popcorn (dry ice maybe?) and the server had two containers, one with the Peanut Butter powder and the other with the White Chocolate powder. The server would spoon some of the powder into your palm and then Chef Keener would add some popcorn to it. You toss the whole thing in your mouth and WHAM! Delicious popcorn and chocolate or peanut butter flavor, depending on your powder choice. To add an awesome level of playfulness, once the stuff hit your mouth, smoke would come billowing out of your nose and mouth, hence the “Dragon’s Breath” It was really tasty, and very cool, and most of us went a couple of rounds with it, blowing smoke rings and being silly. Here’s a pic of Roberto blowing smoke, though you can barely see the smoke thanks to my photography skills, or lack thereof. Chef Keener is behind him.
Roberto and the Dragon's Breath Popcorn
That’s pretty much it for the one of the coolest meals ever My only regret is not having had a few other people I know join us that are serious foodies. I think the creativity and mastery on display here would have really been appreciated by them, but they live out west, so their presence wasn’t really possible.
I was supposed to talk about the wine in this post–after all, it was the one of the major reasons behind this meal, but honestly, it was totally secondary to the food. Don’t get me wrong-it was excellent wine and well paired with the food, but a meal like this deserves its own blog post. Maybe I’ll write about the wine in a future post; there’s some bottles of it still kicking around here somewhere.
Huge thanks go to Dad for setting this up and to everyone that was there for making it so fun. It was quite the raucous international group: Ari and her parent’s from Spain, Tesa, who was visiting us from Canada and didn’t know what to expect when we told her that we had a dinner with my family planned during her visit (I think she was pleasantly surprised ), my brother Tony who came down from Long Island and everyone else. In fact, we had so much fun that had the venue been a public one, we would have been cut off from the wine and kicked out by the 8th course, I’m guessing.
Many thanks to Diane Robertson, Ridgewell’s uber Event Designer (and the lady that made my wedding the easiest, most stress-free and beautiful wedding ever–though my siblings might debate that!) who put the whole thing together with her usual style and panache. And Jennifer Dolan from Exquisite Deisgn Studio who put together the beautiful room decor. Jennifer, were you aware that those little white and orange gel balls make excellent projectiles? I hope the clean up crew didn’t have to much trouble picking them up. Unfortunately, when you give my brother-in-law Roberto a little bit of wine, he starts throwing stuff. Fortunately, they weren’t sharp, pointy things or else we would have all left the table with major lacerations! You can take the boy out of Verea, but you can’t take Verea out of the boy, I guess. (I’ll be paying for that comment, guaranteed!)
A special thanks to Chef David Keener and Chef Stephan Carter: the stuff you prepared for us might have been no big deal compared to the class of cooking you guys do on a regular basis, but for me, it was special, and wonderful and an absolute blast. Thank you for blowing my mind and my taste buds. They’ll never be the same again.
