I received a comment which reminded me of a recent dining experience, and decided that I had to write a post on it. If you’re a foodie and looking for a truly unique dining experience in the Bay Area, I HIGHLY recommend visiting The Chef’s Table, in Lafayette. The concept: renowned chef couple cooks for you and seven of your closest friends, in their personal gourmet kitchen. The experience is fun, educational (for the food-hearted), and entertaining, especially if you come with a lively group of people, which of course, is how I roll.
First, Chef Howard Karp has an amazing resume. He’s taught at several culinary institutions, and has held esteemed positions such as the director of food and beverage operations for the famed Waldorf-Astoria and consultant to the famous Balducci’s Food Operations. However, what really caught my attention was that he’s cooked for FOUR U.S. presidents (including Nixon and Clinton). So of course, my expectations hit the roof before we even walked in the door. Howard runs the home kitchen with his wife, Chef Jamie Imhoff, who is a former student of his and amazing dessert chef herself.
I was accompanied by seven former colleagues, AKA: a rowdy group of self-acclaimed food and wine connoisseurs. We were greeted by Howard and Jaime as they welcomed us into their cozy home and brought us to their gourmet kitchen – with an oversized island surrounding the range: plates and stemware set for eight. The seasonal menu was set a week in advance, and guests are required to supply the wine. The wine was my duty so I “took one for the team” and went wine tasting through the Carneros appellation the weekend prior so that we would have a professionally paired bottle for each of the five courses. I know, life’s hard.
Our dinner was phenomenal. Honestly, one of the best, and definitely THE most gourmet meal I have ever tasted. The first course was baked cream of onion and apple soup with gruyere cheese and calvados, followed by roasted foie gras and port, figs and frisee. The Chefs then gave us a bit of home-made sorbet to cleanse our palate before we proceeded to the main course, which was a white fish dish with a lobster-reduction sauce (from the looks of their Web site they have since removed the dish from the menu, and I don’t remember exactly what it was, however, it was probably the weakest link in the meal so any of the current options would probably be better anyhow). Our fourth course was a refreshing artesian salad. We ended our three-hour meal with a pear tart and homemade cinnamon ice cream.
The best part of the dinner: as the Chefs are preparing these amazing dishes they are explaining the preparation and cooking process; it’s like your personal Food Network show! They discuss favorite local markets as well as answered our (many) questions from ingredients to the latest kitchen tools. Needless to say, Chef’s Table met my expectations.
One tip: Guests select their menu in advance, but I recommend not missing the onion apple soup – the couple is known for it, and for good reason. Pair it with a good “oaky” chard, and you can officially die happy.
Archives for August 2007
Midweek Morsels
By Melinda McRae
Check out Kira O’Donnell and the Real Pie Company in today’s Sacramento Bee food page:http://www.sacbee.com/107/story/313154.html
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Today on “Good Day Sacramento” Chef David Katz and David Mirassou shared wine and food pairing tips with Julissa Ortiz. Chef Katz demonstrated his Cabernet Marinated Flank Steak with Italian Salsa Verde along with Marinated Shrimp and Citrus Salad while David discussed cooking with wine.
David Mirassou and Chef Katz prep for Good Day segment with Julissa Ortiz
David Mirassou with Good Day Spanish translator Flavio Soria
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
We saw Shack owner and chef Gary Seppy last night at a “National Night Out” block party in East Sac and he shared that he’s going to build a pit, bury the food and slow cook it. Here’s the menu for this Thursday’s theme ~
It’s ‘Kiwi’ Night at The Shack – New Zealand Pit BBQ (yes, Gary is building a pit!)
“Buried” Chicken, Pork, Red Potato, Cabbage Meat Pies
Shrimp & Mango Salad
Mixed Fruit Pavlova
Section R will be playing on the patio.
The Shack – 5201 Folsom Blvd
Open at 6:00, dinner at 7:00
Breaking Bread
Can you judge a restaurant by its bread? Maybe not, but I haven’t dined at a good restaurant that didn’t serve good bread. However, I have had good bread but not enjoyed the rest of the meal. I’ve also had bad bread, bad dinner. Whatever the correlation, bread starts so many of our dining experiences and can make or “break” a meal.
Last month while I was in New York visiting the Food Network test kitchens among a number of other activities on behalf of my U.S. Potato Board client, two of my colleagues and I popped into an Italian restaurant near our hotel on our way to a Broadway show. You can’t go wrong with Italian in New York, right? Wrong. The first sign of the pending bad meal was the reheated rolls. Don’t let “warm” fool you. These chewy – on the outside and inside – weirdly “peaked” rolls were far from freshly baked. I was immediately disappointed and thought “what a waste of a New York meal.” I’ve learned this lesson before: Never trust a hotel concierge for restaurant recommendations. Thankfully, the evening was far from ruined; (good company makes up for bad meals!) but I do wish the bread was better.
My most memorable bread-dining experience is Bouchon in Las Vegas. It was the first time I’d ever had epi, a delightfully crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside twist-like loaf. You tear the pieces off into individual mini-loaves. I was fascinated when they placed it on the table and more fascinated to find out it had a name. They actually sell epi at Trader Joe’s now. It’s not nearly as good as the Thomas Keller treat, but it’s a satisfying accompaniment for a home-cooked meal.
My local favorite is the cheese loaf at Rio City Café: indulgent and delicious. The bread I usually love isn’t served in a bed of balsamic vinegar or loaded with cheese, but this is heaven sent. I’d recommend a cheese loaf and a glass of wine on the river-side deck this summer any night of the week.