Menu Tasting

Yesterday Joe, Lauren and I went to her menu tasting for her reception.  YUMMY!!  It was like dejavu from when we did the menu tasting for Jessica just 2 short years ago.  The reception site hosts the menu tasting as if you were the most important clients they have ever had.... they lead you to a private room that is gorgeous.... fully set up as if it were a reception table.... and they serve 3 choices of each course.

The first choice for us to make was napking folding.  Each place setting had a completely different fold for the napkin.  That was pretty cool.... it's the little details I didn't even think about.  Then the white gloved waiter offers a tasting of red or white wine and a variety of bread choices.

Next comes the salad selections.... the three for us to choose from was "Greek", "Baby Butterlettuce", and "Mesclun Fig/Cheese".  The Greek salad was definitely the most colorful and quite delish.... however, it was mostly all tomatoes with a couple of cubes of feta cheese and a couple of olives on top, with a balsamic dressing drizzled over top.  It was really really really good..... but.... if someone didn't like tomatoes they would be unhappy to sit through the salad course without enjoying eating it.

The "Baby Butterlettuce" salad was our hands down favorite from first bite (before we tried the weird salad)... it had candied walnuts and thinnly sliced green apple mixed in with it and drizzled with a lemon vingarette dressing..... it was really yummy and a definite crowd pleaser.

We saved the weird salad for last..... none of us thinking we would like it..... but.... what a surprise and treasure it turned out to be!  It got a WOWZERS two thumbs up from all of us and we instantly decided it was the salad of choice.  It had this teeny tiny bruchetta like triangle underneath a mound of micro mesclun greens (micro mesclun greens are basically lettuces that have just started to bloom/sprout.... very tender and very tasty).  The teeny tiny bruchetta underneath was a toasted piece of bread spread with pureed figs and some sort of cheese and had a balsamic drizzle over top.  It didn't sound good, but it was SUPER DELISH and such a surprise treasure, we are sure our guests will agree.  In fact..... my brain is already whirring on how to make my next batch of bruchetta just like what was underneath that salad.

The main courses for us to choose from was "Pesto Crusted Salmon", Roasted Chicken, and Beef Shortribs (which we had at Jessica's wedding 2 years ago and was a HUGE hit then).  We have to choose 2 selections out of the three for this course.

The salmon was served with roasted fingerling potatoes and a french green beans.  The presentation of the salmon was a bit afronting.... it was just.... sooooo bright green!  None of us liked it at all.... not the presentation of it nor the taste.  However, the fingerling potatoes and the french green beans were outstanding!

The Roasted Chicken was served with mashed potatoes and broccolini.  It was very good in flavor, had a nice presentation and not only did we all enjoy it, but felt it would be a very safe choice for our guests. It definitley made the cut and it will be on our menu... but.... we tweaked the side dishes.  We will have it served with the fingerling potatoes that we enjoyed sooo much from the salmon plate, and broccolini.

The Beef Shortribs were served with mashed spinach (as in.... looks like mashed potatoes, but are very green instead), and a steamed veggie medley.  The WOW factor on the flavor and tenderness of these shortribs made it a definite cut for the menu before we even sat down to sample the menu.  They were as good as we remembered them to be.  But.... we also switched the side items to go with this dinner choice too.  We chose to have the mashed potatoes and french green beans.... MUCH better presentation and MUCH better flavor profile to accompany the deliciousness of the shortribs.

For the serving of the cake, we had to choose between a chocolate rose petal shell with raspberry mousse in the center or chocolate covered strawberries, both are on a raspberry sauce painted plate.  The chocolate strawberries were the bombdiggity.... but Joe, the wedding planner and the reception coordinator strongly thought that the rose petal shell and raspberry mousse is a much better presentation than the strawberries...... Lauren and I allowed the others to sway our opinion and did not stand up to our own.  Later that day... while she and I were on a walk and talking about the menu tasting.... we both, at the same time said..... "Boy... I sure thought those strawberries were sooooo much better than the mousse".  Lauren said she and Kevin really wanted the strawberries, but she was afraid to offend anyone by speaking up.... I told her I totally agreed with her and that we should speak up now and change our choice.  So..... that is exactly what we did.  We will now have the chocolate covered strawberries on the sauce painted plate to go with the cake!  WOO HOO!!!  I actually think the strawberries are a better presentation anyway!

It was a fun day.... we got all gussied up as if we were heading to a dinner date, sat in our private room being treated like royalty... and enjoyed the tastings as well as the conversation of opinions.  This event made Lauren even more excited about the upcoming wedding.  We are all very pleased with our selections and anticipate our guests enjoying our selections as well.

Just 3 more months til the big event and we all get more excited by the day!