Underground dinner update: 5.2.10

Well folks. This underground dinner wasn't meant to be...at least not in this springtime. So Matt and I just found out today that we have a very important function to be at on May 22 that we cannot miss (like one of those rare life moment events). We can't tell you right now, unfortunately, but I promise it's a good reason and we will try again very soon. Thanks for your patience & understanding!

Underground Dinner: 5.22.10 7:00 pm

I cannot believe that the last underground dinner was all the way back in December! After that, it was traveling to Australia and wrestling season which put my bartender out of commission...until now! As a tribute to our wonderful Australian honeymoon and 2 lovely meals at Tetsuya's and Guru, we are going to do an Australian / Asian theme for this next dinner. All the recipes are actually from Tetsuya Wakudo or Opel Khan (and one throw-in from Nobu Matsuhisa (from New York's famous Nobu). And since I have been neglecting all of you, my culinary friends, fear not, I will make it up to you with our 1st ever 5-course meal. So yay! Let's get started...

Tetsuya's was our fantastic New Year's Eve meal in Darling Harbour, Sydney. Matt made reservations in July 2009 for dinner on December 31, 2009. Ridiculous! Tetsuya's was voted the #1 restaurant in Australia/Asia and #17 in the world in 2009. To put this in perspective, Alinea was Chicago's highest ranked restaurant on the list (and #2 in the U.S.) and it was #10.* 2 of the courses that we will have were very similar to what we experienced as part of our meal, including the oysters and tuna tartare (although they had a ocean perch tartare with a frozen and subsequently thawed egg yolk on top with a goat cheese puree).

Tetsuya's

Guru was a random find that we stumbled across during an afternoon stroll in Surry Hills, Sydney. It was actually an Indian French restaurant but we had the pleasure of meeting the chef/owner Opel Khan and his lovely wife Julie. We got to chatting at the end of our evening with them, and he gave us an autographed copy of his award-winning book Sex in the Kitchen cookbook which has won several awards for the photography as well as best cookbook cover (which is actually of his wife). He could not stop talking about Table 52 in Chicago. He and his wife are friends with Art Smith (Oprah's former? personal chef). We will be utilizing 3 recipes from his cookbook which highlights the sensuality of food. It draws the parallel between sex and food - both rely heavily on our ability to see, smell, touch, taste, and who knows, these days, sometimes even hear...thank you molecular gastonomy! Hope the recipes are as inviting as the photos!

Opel Khan

Lastly, the black cod has nothing to do with Australia however I've been wanting to try this Nobu recipe forever. If any of you have had the pleasure to go to Nobu (I've only been to the one in Las Vegas), it is amazing! The miso-marinated black cod made it famous. The black cod has to marinate in the miso sauce for 3 days! And opefully I can get the black code, otherwise, I will find an equally lovely substitute for you all, never fear!

Nobu

Anyway, hope you are are excited about this 5-course treat as we are. And as always, we all pray for the best as the whole purpose for underground dinner is to try new recipes each time!

Menu:

oysters with rice wine vinegar, mirin, & grapeseed oil with chives
-
marinated tuna tartare with asian-spiced goat cheese
-
vanilla mango coconut milk & rum puree (palate cleanser)
-
miso-marinated black cod
garlic baby bok choy
-
vanilla rice pudding with caramlized lychees

Room for: 6
Cost: $50 (cash or paypal)
Wine pairings: TBD

* According to S. Pellegrino's World's 50 Best Restaurants 2009:

Event: 2.13.10

Last Saturday, my friend hosted a very swank bachelorette party for her sister at her condo. She hired a sommelier to come in and host wine tastings and education. She also hired a personal chef (me) to match the food with the wine. Overall, I prepared 6 items to complement a welcome champagne, 2 whites, 4 reds, a sparkling dessert white (which was our palate cleanser), and sparkling dessert red. Here was the menu as well as some photos. It was a lot of work but a lot of fun!!!

Assorted Cheeses

Pommery "Brut Royale" Champagne, NV Brut, Champagne, France

Starters

Spicy Tuna Tartare with Avocado & Cucumber
2008 Bodegas La Cana Albariño, Rias Baixas, Spain

Celery, Toasted Almond, & Tarragon Chicken Bibb Lettuce Cups
2006 Zantho Muskat, Burgenland, Austria

Salad

Belgian Endive, Pomegranate, & Blue Cheese Salad
2008 Sherwood Pinot Noir, Marlborough, New Zealand

Mains

Baked Mozzarella Ziti
Savory Butternut Squash & Parmesan Bread Pudding

2007 Costanti "Massarossa", Lazio, Italy
2007 Niepoort "Twisted", Douro, Portugal
2007 Ridge "Geyserville" Zinfandel blend, Sonoma County, California

Dessert

2008 Gianni Doglia Moscato d'Asti, Piedmont, Italy

Chocolate Mousse Torte
2005 de Jean Paul Brun Terres Dorées FRV 100 Sparkling Gamay

Underground dinner for 2.20.10

For those of you have been asking, underground dinner for 2.20.10 is off. :( Unfortunately something came up for Matt. We have a lot of booked up Saturdays in next couple of months so we're brainstorming other options. Perhaps a gourmet savory and sweet Sunday brunch? Let me know your ideas!!!

Review: TRU (2.6.10)

Matt and I went to Tru to celebrate my new job and promotion. The food was amazing!!! Savory portions were all wonderful however I thought the dessert was a little weak (especially after having an amazing mid-afternoon treat at Hot Chocolate). Service is incredible. Even to minute details such as putting both of our plates down at the exact same time and taking them away. They called us a cab when we were done and have us a little cherry muffin to eat with our morning coffee. It is a little stuffy and sterile however so the atmosphere might not be for all. Jackets are required for men, conversation is almost TOO quiet (I think I had to laugh out loud twice too), and with the all white walls and black furniture, it's a little cold. One other thing that I would improve is to have a wine pairing option with the degustation menus. There must be some reason why they don't? We got the 9-course (which is really more like 15) so it's hard to pick a bottle or 2. We ended up just opting for glasses but it would have been nice, however, to have had the option to have coursed pairings.

Menu (pictures flow opposite though...don't feel like redoing them. Deal :)
Cornte cheese gougere - no picture

Beef consomme: wagyu beef ravioli, espelette pepper, parsley - no picture

White sturgeon "caviar", avocado, hazelnut (one of my favorites)

Red ace, candystripe, & golden beet collage, horseradish

Celeriac veloute, celeriac profiterole, olive oil - no picture

Maine lobster, romanesco, madras curry, espelette tempura (another favorite)

La ratte potato gnocchi, white veal glaze, fragile lace tuile

Miso-marinated sablefish, kale, radish, banyuls brown butter sauce (Matt's favorite)

Prime beef ribeye (I upgraded to the Kobe beef option), grilled foie gras, hedgehogs, parsley - no picture

Selection of 3 cheeses (another favorite. They wheel out a chart with 10 cheese options and you get to pick 3. It was unreal!)

Meyer lemon puff, tapioca, mint yogurt

Tahitian vanilla cremeux, hazelnuts, manjari chocolate ice cream (weak!)

Mignardises & lollipops


Overall rating: 3 stars / 4

TRU
River East
Jacket requred for menu
Cost: $$$$$

http://www.trurestaurant.com/

Recipe: Mexican Lasagna

This was a good easy weekday recipe. You might need to cook the lasagna a little longer than the recipe calls for to make sure the cheese is nice and bubbly and slightly browned. It needs some additional toppings in my opinion; I served it with with sour cream, sliced avocados, finely sliced iceberg lettuce, and chopped tomatoes. Serve with Spanish rice on the side and enjoy within 30 minutes!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/mexican-lasagna-recipe/index.html

Dining in Dublin

If anyone of you are reading this, let me know what you think about posting restaurant recommendations in other cities. My favorite thing on this planet is food but my second favorite is traveling, and what better activity to do than to check out food WHILE traveling?!

I was in Ireland the early part of December and randomly discovered this quaint restaurant called The Winding Stair. It is a twist on traditional Irish food and specializes in seasonal and local produce and purveyors. It was a gem and definite recommendation, especially in a place that might not be known for its food.

I had a tasty smoked fish platter of eel, 2 kinds of salmon, and trout served with soda bread and caperberries. Entree was duck two ways: confit and breast with a berry sauce. Irish bread pudding in whiskey is a must for dessert!

Reservations are also a must. The place is tiny.

http://www.winding-stair.com/

Underground Dinner 2 complete!

I've been traveling the world eating some great culinary delights in Scottsdale, Ireland, and Australia. After taking almost a month off, the docent is back!

Our 2nd dinner was a great evening of fun with Trisha, Justin, Natalia, and Brett. The wine pairings were a little off this time but the pear cider was stellar: a wonderful compliment to the smoked fish, peppery arugula, and sinus-clearing horseradish. Main and dessert were fantastic. I was very pleased with the results.

I only remembered to take 1 picture again...next time I will have to remember better (or drink less) :)

Underground dinner will take a break for January due to crazy full-time job and traveling but we will be back on track for our February dinner on 2/20...menu pending.