Cooking
Tonight's dinner featured top local chefs Ron Siegel of the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco, David Kinch of Manresa, Roland Passot of La Folie, and Hubert Keller of Fleur de Lys. As good as the "Las Vegas" dinner was, I would say the Grand Cru dinner was even better. This was the least "inside the kitchen" of any of the events, but the staging area outside the dining room was a sight to behold.
Sitting at my intimate table for six were the lovely Sara Deseran of 7x7 magazine and Liam Mayclem of Eye on the Bay and his partner and two of the wonderful event organizers from the Ritz-Carlton. Lively discussions of food, restaurants and our first concerts ensued, punctuated by chats with the sommeliers and chefs and frequent jumps up from the table to check out what was going on in the plating area.
All of the dishes were winners and really demonstrated the talent of each chef. The wines too managed to go from wonderful to out-of-this-world. Personally I could have crawled into the bottle of 2002 Chateau Haut Brion and stayed there. But there was also an outstanding Montrachet, and Chateau Haut Brion D'Yquem to name but a few. This truly was a wonderful opportunity to not just to try, but enjoy fabulous wines and food. It was also a night to discover the amazing talents of the Ritz-Carlton's pastry chef, William Werner who stunned us with chocolate and eucalyptus, mango cream ice cream bonbons, smoked and salted chocolate, and mini ice cream cones to name but a few treats.
FOOD + INSIDE THE KITCHEN
- Pepper Plantation
Think "tropical island" and you probably conjure up sandy beaches, swaying palm trees and glistening sunsets. Phu Quoc, just off the coast of Cambodia has all of that. It also has fishing villages, fish sauce and pepper plantations. So guess where my...
- Puffed Rice Candy
Remember rice crispy treats? On the river in the Mekong delta we stop to visit a small workshop where they are puffing the rice, mixing it with sugar and peanuts and rolling out the candy. Sorry the photos go backwards! /* Images are wrapped in divs...
- Inside The Kitchen--gerald Hirigoyen
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- Inside The Kitchen--elizabeth Falkner
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- Inside The Kitchen--opening Night Dinner
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Cooking
Inside the Kitchen--Grand Cru Dinner
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Tonight's dinner featured top local chefs Ron Siegel of the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco, David Kinch of Manresa, Roland Passot of La Folie, and Hubert Keller of Fleur de Lys. As good as the "Las Vegas" dinner was, I would say the Grand Cru dinner was even better. This was the least "inside the kitchen" of any of the events, but the staging area outside the dining room was a sight to behold.
Sitting at my intimate table for six were the lovely Sara Deseran of 7x7 magazine and Liam Mayclem of Eye on the Bay and his partner and two of the wonderful event organizers from the Ritz-Carlton. Lively discussions of food, restaurants and our first concerts ensued, punctuated by chats with the sommeliers and chefs and frequent jumps up from the table to check out what was going on in the plating area.
All of the dishes were winners and really demonstrated the talent of each chef. The wines too managed to go from wonderful to out-of-this-world. Personally I could have crawled into the bottle of 2002 Chateau Haut Brion and stayed there. But there was also an outstanding Montrachet, and Chateau Haut Brion D'Yquem to name but a few. This truly was a wonderful opportunity to not just to try, but enjoy fabulous wines and food. It was also a night to discover the amazing talents of the Ritz-Carlton's pastry chef, William Werner who stunned us with chocolate and eucalyptus, mango cream ice cream bonbons, smoked and salted chocolate, and mini ice cream cones to name but a few treats.
FOOD + INSIDE THE KITCHEN
- Pepper Plantation
Think "tropical island" and you probably conjure up sandy beaches, swaying palm trees and glistening sunsets. Phu Quoc, just off the coast of Cambodia has all of that. It also has fishing villages, fish sauce and pepper plantations. So guess where my...
- Puffed Rice Candy
Remember rice crispy treats? On the river in the Mekong delta we stop to visit a small workshop where they are puffing the rice, mixing it with sugar and peanuts and rolling out the candy. Sorry the photos go backwards! /* Images are wrapped in divs...
- Inside The Kitchen--gerald Hirigoyen
#flickr_badge_source_txt {padding:0; font: 11px Arial, Helvetica, Sans serif; color:#666666;} #flickr_badge_icon {display:block !important; margin:0 !important; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;} #flickr_icon_td {padding:0 5px 0 0 !important;}...
- Inside The Kitchen--elizabeth Falkner
#flickr_badge_source_txt {padding:0; font: 11px Arial, Helvetica, Sans serif; color:#666666;} #flickr_badge_icon {display:block !important; margin:0 !important; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;} #flickr_icon_td {padding:0 5px 0 0 !important;}...
- Inside The Kitchen--opening Night Dinner
#flickr_badge_source_txt {padding:0; font: 11px Arial, Helvetica, Sans serif; color:#666666;} #flickr_badge_icon {display:block !important; margin:0 !important; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;} #flickr_icon_td {padding:0 5px 0 0 !important;}...