Showing posts with label guest chefs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label guest chefs. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Summer Guest Chef Series at Melisse

There's no word on 5x5 dinners this year, but Chef Josiah Citrin of Melisse won't leave you hanging. This summer he has invited his fellow Michelin-starred chefs around the country for one-night stints at Melisse, where they will prepare a special 5-course menu.

Here's the chef line-up:

Sunday, June 27th
Chef Christopher Kostow of The Restaurant at Meadowood in Napa Valley


Monday, July 26th
Chef April Bloomfield of The Spotted Pig in New York


Monday, August 23rd
Chef David Kinch of Manresa in Los Gatos


Local Chef Ray Garcia of Fig in Santa Monica will be preparing an amuse bouche for each of the dinners

Each menu will be priced at $150 per person (tax and gratuity not included)
A portion of the proceeds will be donated to The Special Olympics

For reservation please call 310-395-0881 or visit OpenTable.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Great Guest Chefs Liven Up the Athenaeum

As a Caltech grad student, I've been paying $8/month (reduced grad-student rate) to be a member of The Athenaeum, Caltech's private club. While I dined there somewhat frequently in my first year - for easter buffet, dinner, quick lunches, etc - I haven't gone in quite some time recently. I decided to go to the Guest Chefs Night featuring 5 chefs, 4 of whom are guest chefs from the LA/Pasadena area and beyond. I invited LA&OC Foodie and his friends to enjoy this night with me and keep me company!

The night started off with a reception in one of the halls at the Athenaeum, with raspberry champagnes and hors d'oeuvres such as this cajun shrimp in a sweet-and-sour cocktail sauce.

When the time came, we walked to our assigned tables which were all set up out in the patio - it was a nice night and the outdoor seating was a beautiful idea. As we walked to our tables though, immediately our eyes were drawn to ... the centerpiece!
The entire centerpiece was made from chocolate! Made by Bruno Marcy from C... Is for Chocolate.
We all had to restrain ourselves from devouring them throughout the night ...

Each table sat about ten people, so since there were only five of us, we were joined by other Athenaeum members and some of us seemed to have struck exciting conversations with the other party (which included a patent lawyer and his family).

The dinner started with Scallop with Chicken Skin Crust -- Chef Craig Strong, The Dining Room at the Langham
Wine pairing: Kabinett Riesling, Gunderloch, Jean-Baptiste, Rheinhessen 2007
The scallops were okay but the chicken skin crust was definitely interesting. It apparently was too strange for some people on our table, but I liked the novelty and fried chicken skin is always pretty yummy.

The next course is from chef Christopher Eme of Ortolan:
Lobster Spaghetti, herbed caviar and sea urchin sauce
Wine pairing: Chardonnay, Flowers, Sonoma 2006.
This was definitely the most interesting dish of the night and probably our favorite also. It must've been painfully delicate work to wrap the thin spaghetti strings around the soft lobster mousse. It definitely looked beautiful and was delightful to eat as well. The sea urchin sauce had a subtle but nice sea urchin flavor - it was there but definitely approachable by first time uni eaters.

Salad of Fall Beets with a Confit of Fennel, spiced walnut crusted chevre with vanilla bean vinaigrette.
Wine pairing: Rose, Les Domaniers de Puits Mouret, Cotes de Provence 2007
I loved the spiced walnut chevre here! Not only did it have a nice texture but also a nice flavor with a nutty touch due to the walnuts. The beets were pretty good. I'm not sure about the confit of fennel - I would've been happy with just the beets and the chevre.

Our main entree was from the executive chef of the Athenaeum, Kevin Isacsson:
Pumpkin Seed Crusted Suckling Veal Rack, wild mushroom marrow stuffing, truffled cognac sauce.
Wine pairing: Cabernet Sauvignon, White Rock, Laureate, Napa 2004 - the only red wine of the night. The veal was slightly cold but definitely very tender. Slightly pink, definitely not overcooked, but again, do wish it was warmer. I loved the marrow stuffing, nice flavors from the mushrooms and nice texture combination with the marrow.

For dessert we had Honey and Light Chocolate Mousse by chef Bruno Marcy from Sara J. Pastries & Cakes and C ... Is for Chocolate.
Wine pairing: Black Muscat, Quady, Elysium, California 2006.
I really liked the mousse and especially the combination with honey. The wine was interesting to me as it was the first Black Muscat I've had. It was a little sweet of the mousse cake, but I like the Muscat by itself nonetheless.

After 5 glasses of wine, everyone was merry, to say the least. The entire meal, with wine pairing, was $110 - which I think is a pretty good deal.
Although I've eaten at the Ath several times, this is my first time attending a special event there and I thoroughly enjoyed it, from the ambiance, food, and of course the company!
I'm definitely looking out for more special events like this there and utilize my membership (finally).

The Athenaeum at Caltech
551 S. Hill Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91106
(626)395-8200
http://athenaeum.caltech.edu/

The Athenaeum on Urbanspoon

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Guest Chefs at The Exclusive Athenaeum!

We were just talking about the Athenaeum at the FoodDigger's hosted dinner last night ...
The Athenaeum is a private club at Caltech exclusive to Caltech/JPL/Huntington Library/Palomar Observatory affiliated people. So, as it happens, I'm a starving (yeah, right ...) grad student at Caltech and I've been paying my dues so I can stay a member!

Good food on campus - seems strange right?

So why am I suddenly posting about this? Because ... annually the Ath hosts a Guest Chefs Night, and the next one is coming up! Similar to the 5x5, each one of these chefs will be preparing a dish for the night:

  • Chef Nigel Patrick Didcock (Granite Club, Ontario, Canada)
  • Chef Christopher Eme (Ortolan, Los Angeles) (!!!!) -- there were rumors that he was joining the 5x5 but true or not, he is definitely joining the Ath Guest Chefs Night
  • Chef Bruno Marcy (C...Is for Chocolate, Burbank and Sara J. Pastries & Cake, Canoga Park)
  • Chef Craig Strong (The Dining Room at the Langham, Pasadena)
  • Chef Kevin Isacsson (The Athenaeum, Pasadena)
The menu is not yet up, but this is all happening on Tuesday October 28, 2008.
The dinner is $100 per person, which includes wine!

The Ath is a private club so unfortunately only members can go ... but if you foodies want to go, let me know! I'll see what I can do (i.e. how many I can bring).

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