Supper Club at 'Kesh

Tonight I had the amazing pleasure of dining at 'Kesh's new supper club event. It was unreal. I have not had a dining experience at that level, food-wise, since Victoria & Albert's and, unlike V&A's, it was comfortable, unpretentious and relaxed.

Bailey and I went, and we were greeted by the waitstaff with a glass of champagne (me) and a glass of sparkling cherry-cranberry (Bailey). The restaurant looked lovely, definitely a change from the usual casualness.

As we mingled with the other diners, nine of us total, we were served canapes. (You can click to enlarge any of the photos.)

Roast whole fig with Gorgonzola, candied bacon and dehydrated honey crumbles.

We also had a hand-made pork shumai which was killer, and prosciutto-wrapped chorizo with jalapeno. 

When we were seated, the waitstaff exchanged mine and Bailey's white napkins for black, as we were wearing black pants and this would ensure no white lint got on them (so classy). It was time for first course.

·         Chinese Red Rice Crusted Sea Scallop

·         Truffled edamame broth

This was paired with a white wine. The scallop was medium-rare and the garnish was organic Thai basil. Absolutely delicious. The broth was my favorite, though. The bit of red is a touch of chili. So good.

Second course:

·         Pan Grilled Farmers Cheese with Crispy Pork Belly

·         Baby greens salad with cured olive vinaigrette

Jerry said, "Believe it or not, this IS your salad course. There's some greens on the plate." The pork was fantastic. Our pairing for this course was a small glass of Indian coriander ale. I've never had beer like that before and, honestly, it was the first time I felt a true 'pairing' with the food and alcohol. Taking a sip of the ale after a bite of the port was transcendental. The coriander was perfect. 

Third course:

·         Fire & Ice 

·         Watermelon and Ahi tuna ice cubes, white Balsamic-jalapeno syrup

This was the fun course! The plate was set down in front of me and I could immediately hear something that sounded like sizzling, like water on a hot stone. See those little specks on the plate? Those are watermelon Pop Rocks. It made the whole dish come alive and really turned it into Fire & Ice. The tuna was ice-cold and fresh and delicious. 

Fourth course:

·         Moroccan Lollipop Lamb Chops

·         Inside-out couscous roll, spiced tomato chutney

You can't go wrong with lamb chops. These were done to perfection, medium-rare, and marinated in this unbelievable blend of Moroccan spices. The couscous' texture was spot on. Normally I hate the grittiness of couscous, but this was delicious. The chutney's sweetness actually went beautifully with the lamb. We had a nice red with this course.

Dessert:

·         Goat Cheese Fritters

·         Jicama-pear shot and raspberry coulis

This was...there are no words. Every single one of us let out a noise of utter ecstasy when we had the first bite, then cracked up at each other. Jerry told us that the word 'jicama' literally translated means 'vendor's choice'. The markets (souqs) in Morocco have spice vendors and you can ask them for their choice, and they'll put together a blend for you with anywhere from 20 to 30 different herbs and spices. The blend added to this pear shot had 22, I believe, and he got it on his last trip to Morocco. The fritters were like nothing I have ever eaten. The cheese was mild and not salty, almost like a thicker, chewier blintz. Holy mother. It was insane.

What a wonderful, wonderful night. I am absolutely going to the next one I can. Jerry is running them every other Saturday. If you are local, you MUST DO THIS. Book fast, word is already spreading and seats are limited.

I Will Never Be On Facebook

Skipping about from passiveaggressivenotes.com, I found a site called STFUParents, showcasing all the annoying shit parents foist on people via (I assume at least majorly) social media. There was an excerpt:

Over the years, and especially since Unbaby.me came along, more parents have tried to limit the number of pictures they post of their kids on Facebook. I’ve had friends post baby pictures with captions like “Last one!” or with disclaimers like “Warning: Huge family vacation album!” that sound almost apologetic.

This makes me sad. First, there's an actual website that replaces photos of your FB friends' babies with pictures of bacon. It has 107,000 likes on Facebook. Do you know why over a hundred-thousand folks support the idea of changing your family photos to pictures of bacon? Because your Facebook friends are not really friends of yours.

I hate Facebook for so many reasons, not the least of which is this nonsense. Why on Earth would you keep in contact with someone whose life you don't give a crap about, to the point where you'll willfully download an install a program to change the pictures they post into something you find more interesting (like bacon)? Why be 'friends' with someone whose child you don't want to look at? And why on Earth would you be on a social media site where you feel you have to apologize for posting pictures of the most important people in your existence, because you're aware some of your 'friends' are going to be bored/annoyed?

I can't do it. I can't pretend I care about someone's daily life when I don't, and I can't manage the audacity to believe anyone but my family and actual, daily-interactions friends care or want to hear about MY life. I have three friggin' people subscribed to this blog, and one of them I'm pretty sure did it accidentally. I don't want someone to replace a picture of Bailey with some bacon. I don't want to get into an argument about gay marriage with my sister's friend's boyfriend that I've never laid eyes on, or have some random ex find me.

On the downside is the fact that I am notoriously bad about 'staying in touch'. I think it's because I disagree with the notion that if you stop talking to someone every day, you must hate them. I've fallen out of touch with many, many people because of moves or schedules or they or I leaving the hobby/workplace where we got most of our interaction. I don't hate them; I'm just as fond of them as I ever was and it's a treat to see them or hear from them. I just don't get personally offended when they don't call or visit. I don't think it means they hate me, or they're not my friend. And I guess I always am a little baffled when they do get offended or upset when I don't keep in touch. I realize I'm in the minority on this, and it may screw me more than I know.

But, yeah. Babies into bacon. Fuck Facebook.