Dining at THE PATIO

“An amazing night with beautiful, intelligent, magical people & delicious food. My heart & mouth thank you.”

Hannah

“The meal was fabulous and the conversation even better.”

Nadia

“Sooooo delicious! Thank you for opening your home and feeding me so very well.”

Aysu

“YUM cannot describe this delicious feast! … Great meeting all these wonderful new people.”

Melanie

“OM NOM. Sooo great! Thanks for serving up a great night of nosh & conversation. Your friends rock!”

Kim C.

Back in November, at our second dinner in the series, we asked our guests to write down their dream menus and vote on them… well, it wasn’t quite that simple.  I read through all the menus and picked 5 that I thought I could execute.  But wait.  There’s more. 

Apparently I did some editing as I read the menus out loud when it came time to vote.  Katja reminded me of this when she sent me a draft menu, which was Diana’s actual menu, and I had no recollection of some of the items. In particular, I was mildly shocked that blackberry ice cream was paired with a pear tart and was quite sure that the reason I didn’t remember it was because I didn’t actually read the words, “blackberry ice cream.” Or at least, it didn’t register if I did. It’s not that I have anything against blackberry ice cream, I just would never think of it on a winter menu. 

I’m very opinionated about blackberries, you see, because my mom used to be one of the biggest local suppliers of wild blackberries in the Northwest.  My house was filled with them every summer.  My mother would go out into the forest at the crack of dawn, come back in the afternoon with a truckload, and dedicate every square inch of kitchen floor space to sorting, cleaning, and packaging blackberries. Her hands were perpetually stained with the juices and her arms scratched from the thorns. People who conducted business with her called her “the blackberry lady.” I don’t know what the world record is for blackberry consumption, but I’ve probably eaten more blackberries than anyone I know except the blackberry lady herself.  If a single flavor could represent ones childhood, mine would be blackberry. And I know that winter would not do it justice.

So Diana, I don’t know if you’ll be reading this, but I’m sorry that the dinner that was billed as “Diana’s Dream Menu” is not exactly what you dreamed of.  I took some creative license with the dishes, and as always, I enlisted my panel of tasters (which usually consists of whoever can come over when I’m testing recipes). I’m putting forward the versions that got the best feedback.

I took your idea of butternut squash and cider soup and incorporated fresh apples.  I also added jerusalem artichokes and marcona almonds for a little nuttiness.  The spicy collards became lemony chard.  And finally, I tried 4 different interpretations of a pear ginger tart and although the winner was not my personal favorite, I bet it will surprise you (think gingerbread meets pear tart).

Happy Eating,

Grace

The first Dining at THE PATIO event of the year 2011 is just around the corner! — We wish you a very happy & tasty new year.

At one of our last dinners, we asked our guests to share their dream menus.
We chose a winner and will feature Diana’s winning three courses. It’s a “Drizzly Winter Comfort Food” menu featuring the following courses:

  * Appetizer: Butternut squash & apple soup with  crème fraîche and almonds

  * Entreé: Crabcakes with braised winter greens & roasted sweet potatoes

  * Dessert: Pear & gingersnap frangipane tart with ginger cream

  * Cocktail: Winter Comfort (bourbon, orange extract, blood orange juice & soda)

Bon appetit!

about December Decadence, our 3rd Dining at THE PATIO event.

“Amazing food” — Thank you so much or inviting us into your home and entertaining and feeding us in such a warming way. Really loved it!”

—Eirene & Sacha

“Seriously, this is fantastic. Thank you so much for inviting me to partake in such a lovely evening.”

—Zack

“Thank you for increasing my levels of FANCY!”

—Kelly Irene

“Yet again this is the best food ever and such a beautiful warm setting. I am loving it.”

—Jean

“The cooks, courses, and conversations are amazing.”

—Brent

“If I cannot make it to one of these truly special events, I will throw a temper tantrum.”

—Hannah

“So delicious. Very happy to be here with good company and great food”

—Lucy & Ian

At Dining at THE PATIO, you have to be invited. Either by Katja, the host, Grace, the chef, or by our invited guests.

It works marvelously.

Take last night’s December Decadence edition:

A guest who dined with us at our very first dinner in October, brought six (yes, six) friends to last night’s shindig.

Another guest who had attended the last dinner in November, brought two of her friends for their annual birthday dinner.

We take this as a huge compliment and thank you for adding your lovely energy to our dinners!

Another month, another Dining at THE PATIO adventure! Thought we’d share tomorrow’s 5-course tasting menu with you:

Welcome snacks: root vegetable chips baked in truffle oil

1st course: truffled wild mushrooms and leeks in fillo

2nd course: salad of shaved fennel, grapefruit and parsley

3rd course: Alsation bacon and onion tart (just onion for the vegetarians), served with arugula and hazelnut salad

4th course: goat cheese cake with membrillo & pistachios

5th course: pomegranate sorbet

After dinner delicacies: a selection of dark chocolate truffles 

YUMMIE!

Everything on our menu is homemade with love. This time, we are featuring products from Brown Butter Brooklyn, a joint venture between our chef, Grace, and her friend Sabrina Ramos. Both ladies will work the kitchen while I’ll be serving you and be topping off your drinks.