Our Trick or Treat Recap

Remember when we talked about having made some schwanky reservations for Halloween? (Remember how we also told you we'd give you some clues along the way about where we were going, but then never did?...Ooopsie! We're total [busy] idiots.) Well, we spent All Hallow's Eve eating super yummy food and drinking amazing wine at...

Volt!

We love Top Chef, and when we found out that contestant Bryan Voltaggio's resturant was about an hour a half from us AND was a big supporter of local farms, we knew we had to go.

And with a neighborhood primarily comprised of octogenarians and, therefore, pretty low on Halloween excitement (well, last Halloween someone did steal our Obama yard sign...), 10/31 seemed like the perfect opportunity for an indulgent TREAT. We had been ticking the days off on the calendar with anticipation.

When Halloween finally arrived, we were stoked! (Okay, maybe one of us was really stoked.)

Nick made our reservations for the chef's kitchen, which was a smaller, more intimate room with front row seats of the kitchen. We were a bit giddy to see our fave Top Chef up close, but it was just another day at the office for him. It was fascinating to watch the chefs work in nearly silent harmony and with each other, like a fine-tuned gourmet orchestra.
That's the back of Bryan there that you see. One of the other guests asked him about the outcome of Top Chef, and he kindly replied that he wasn't at liberty to share any of the details. At that point, season six was a bit more than halfway through with (I think) seven chefs left. I had a feeling that our inner nerds might sneak out of us, and we'd geekily ask for a picture with him. However, eating in a fine establishment instead brought out the composed adults in us, and we just admired our delicious nosh and vino as we soaked in the whole experience. Seriously, it was a good time.

The chef's kitchen had two menus, the kitchen menu and the market vegetable menu, comprised of six courses each with its own wine pairing. I got the kitchen menu, and Nick got the market vegetable menu. (We did, however, geek out and ask for a copy of our menu.) Our meal lasted three hours, and it was utterly enjoyable and relaxing. :)

Course One

R: clam chowder with mock root vegetables and dehydrated applewood smoked bacon

N: shitake veloute and pinenut sabayon with chili oil and basil

wine: Kungfu Girl, Riesling

Course Two

The same for both of us: Cherry Glen Farm Goat Cheese Ravioli with butternut squash and chanterelle mushrooms (This was our fave!)

wine: Huber, Gruner Veltiner

Course Three

R: Alaskan Halibut with forbidden rice, yellow oyster mushrooms, cardamom spiced carrot and pinenut sabayon. Wine--Botani, Muscatel Seco

N: yellow oyster mushrooms, pea leaves, farro risotto, cardamom spiced carrot broth and ginger glazed carrots. Wine--St. Cosme, Syrah

Course Four

R:Iberico-wattle pork belly with cannelini beans, carmelini beans, petite red ribbon sorrel and mostarda. Wine--St. Cosme, Syrah

N:Chickpea gnocchi with cannelini beans, carmelini beans, and sage brown butter. Wine--Botani, Muscatel Seco

Course Five

R: Wagyu beef with ratte potatoes, golden raisins, dragon carrots and glazed Tokyo turnips (these turnips were awesome).

N: Eggplant caponata, parmesan, zhatar, roasted pepper and beluga lentils.

Wine: Hall, Cabernet Sauvignon

Course Six...DESSERT!

Textures of chocolate, cinnamon spiced chocolate ganache, milk chocolate ice cream and chocolate caramel. Served with Graham's 10 year tawny port

Really full and slightly inebriated: