Their collaboration was inspired by farmers' market fresh ingredients.The innovative food and bold drinks as well as the Old Hollywood Glamour cocktail attire made for an unforgettable evening.
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| Moveable Feast - crudites |
Upon walking in the bar was set up with carafes of citrus infused filtered water, gorgeous vegetable crudites with a light dip and a punchbowl of Matt's special punch.
Among other things it contains pomegranate juice, possibly some rum and is garnished with beautiful dehydrated blood oranges. It was an elegant welcome to the event.
So now, let the pairings begin!
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| Pairing #1 |
Bacon Seafood Chowder with Vicchysoisse Foam
The One and Only - Bols Genever Gin, curry leaves, lime, agave, fresh celery juice, black Hawaiian sea salt
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| between-course dish |
Depending on where attendees were located during the mobile event, in some cases the timing of the food with drinks were not totally in sync. However, both Matt and the servers were doing a great job in getting items in our hands as soon as possible. One example is these off-menu sweet potato fries with 2nd pairing drink....
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| Pairing #2 |
Deep Fried Burrata Corn Dog. Sir Kensingtons Ketchup & Turmeric Crème Fraiche Mustard
Italian Waltz - Champagne, Aperol & fresh blood orange juice
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| Breeder's Cup |
The third drink was one of Matt's classics, served in a new way. The edible, furry flower garnish was a Mediterranean herb, borage. Matt pointed out that it had a slightly sweet, oyster scent.
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| Pairing #3 |
Popcorn Crust Shrimp, Sweet Chili Sauce & Wasabi Mustard
Breeder's Cup - Hendrick's Gin, beet horseradish, cucumber, lime, agave and Cyprus salt
You can see bits of popcorn on the shrimp's breading. The horseradish in the drink played well with the wasabi in the paired dish, evoking a cocktail sauce vibe.
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| Pairing #4 |
Rhubarb infused St. Germain with myer lemon air
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| Pairing #4 |
Double Scoop St. Agur Ice Cream, White Chocolate Stilton Ice Cream. Topped with White Truffle Honey in a Squid Ink Mini Cone
The highlight of the food was this incredible savory-sweet ice cream and cone, paired wonderfully with the St. Germain drink.
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| Pairing #5 |
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| Pairing #5 |
Ultimate Hamburger. Gruyere, Bacon and Caramelized Onion Burger in a Chive Crepe Purse
Milkshake - ice cream, eggs, bourbon
The originally planned pairing cocktail for this course was the Cascading Hopshead, with hops infused gin, avocado honey, oro blanco grapefruit juice, lemon juice and Double IPA. Matt said the gin tasted too "hoppy", and since it did not meet his high expectations, he swapped out the drink. The milkshake worked very nicely with the burger, so I doubt there were any complaints.
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| Pairing #6 |
Dessert, served in a very imaginative plating, even though my "tree" was slightly wilted. And it tasted as good as it looks.
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| Pairing #6 |
Salted Nutella Budino with Fleur de Sel Caramel and Ground Dark Chocolate Espresso Beans
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| Pairing #6 |
Un Cafe Va Bene - Cynar, Cassis & chicory
The earthy flavors of this pairing also worked very well together, especially with the slightly bitter Cynar (an Italian bitter liqueur made from various herbs and plants, including artichoke) and chicory flavors taming the rich, sweet dessert. Because the portions of the dessert were so generous, a couple of us took it "to go" in their built-in, portable containers.
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| Bonus Pairing - Gotta Have S'more Smuffin |
Homemade Pumelocello - made from three different types of pumelos
A table out in the lobby was stacked with this additional dessert. Just saying Smuffin makes the dessert more fun. If you like s'mores, you will love this s'more formed into a cupcake.
The pumelocello was a brilliant riff on the popular Italian digestif, Limoncello. The jar with the rinds from various types of pumelos was gorgeous. The citrus drink also paired well with a sweet dessert, and I asked and happily received a second pour.
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| Chef Meg Hall - photo by John D Russell Photography |
Chef Meg came out and cordially greeted the guests multiple times, and served some of the food personally. She graciously posed for a couple of photos for me, and while she's very photogenic, I did not use flash in the dimly lit room so they were unusable.
This photo is from her online album of
John D Russell Photography photos, taken when she was chatting with my lovely friends Blaine and Sally (with me on the backstool).
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| Mixologist Matt Biancaniello - doing what he does best |
As far as Matt, he was also on top of his game. Although I don't make it to Library Bar as frequently as I'd like, I am somewhat of a regular there and definitely a fan.
On this evening his ability to expedite the complex drinks while also connecting with and gathering feedback from his loyal clientele was impressive. Out of the more than a dozen photos I took of him that night, this one really captures his attentive service and enthusiasm during the event.
With all the attention to detail and creativity, and a couple of surprises, Moveable Feast 2 was a delicious feast for the senses.
That looks like a fun event and the S'Muffin would definitely make me smile. :-D
Thanks,Pleasurepalate. It was a tasty smuffin. No skewers needed!
My partner and I really enjoyed reading this blog post, I was just itching to know do you trade featured posts? I am always trying to find someone to make trades with and merely thought I would ask.
I'm so happy you enjoyed reading the post. I'm not sure what you mean by trading posts, but please feel free to email me at: tiffinunboxed@gmail.com to discuss further. Have a great day!