Citronelle

I still sit watching Council, kicking myself for not having typed out the extensive degustation menu from Citronelle. This post will not go live until much later today, not that anyone reading/viewing it will know the difference. Ah well, I'll dig in nonetheless (and maybe later I'll be able to get a couple more photos uploaded)!

Some time back, CG reviewed the cookbook Happy in the Kitchen. Complete and utter food porn. Go take a look if you wish to lust after cooking the most amazing things in your own kitchen. It will blow your socks off. And perhaps intimidate the heck out of you!

Anyway, we knew we were coming to DC for conference, and we thought, heck, why not? Not cheap, but a great oppotunity at a special meal. We marshalled Conrad (of course), MK, and two friends from swimming, Geoff and Kent. Secured a reservation. Packed along pretty clothes (jackets required for gentlemen, no sneakers or jeans). Counted down the days, hours, and minutes.

Conrad and I picked up CG and MK at their hotel and hopped the Metro before the short walk into Georgetown.I think we look quite nice. MK found my attempt at butching it up rather hilarious, but of course it was.



It was a lovely night. I am sorry not to have taken better photos of the restaurant, inside or out, but here's a blurry shot of the exterior.


On to the food? Of course!

Citronelle has a three-course option whereby diners may choose options for three courses. Some interesting things. But we were ambitious. 10 courses for us, with wine pairings. We didn't realize, though, that we were in for about 4 hours of dining (or that it would pass so quickly, it seemed). And when the first glass of wine was poured, and it was more than a 2 oz wine-flght/tasting size, I truly felt a small pang of fear. What were we getting our selves into? Well, this:

Amuse bouche:

Egg surprise (surprise, it's an eggshell filled with a cauliflower mousse and morsels of smoked salmon)

Tuna sausage

Escargot crumble

Ah, but back to that adorable egg!

Champagne Voirin-Jumel, Brut Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs, Cramant was poured with the amuse-bouche.

So we were launched. Kent was over across the table, next to Conrad, so I didn't get as much chance to chat with him, though I was struck by how easily and happily we flowed into conversations between any number or all of us.
And much as I'm secure enough to not have to sit next to Conrad at a meal, I do like to share reactions with him. Not a worry - we all had lots of reactions to the food and wine, and word made it round the table just fine.


Not a course: Geoff. When he and Kent lived in Chicago, he swam in my lane. Fast. Great guy. It's been a couple of years since last we saw him, so I was delighted that we were able to dine with him and Kent.

Next course: soup. Eggplant gazpacho. The cubes before the soup was poured in were onion mousse, carrot-orange mousse, basil mousse, and beet mousse. The chips were beets.
The soup was served with Gruner Veltliner "Holzgasse", Weingut Buchegger, Kremstal 2006.


So far, so good. Two courses in, having a very good time already. And I think the soup was my favourite thing of the night. Or maybe not.


Third course: shellfish. Soft shell crab, corn risotto. Risotto without rice, mind you. Also, the little colourful things are "pasta bacon". Cute.
CG, enjoying herself before she digs in to the softshell crab. The wine we enjoyed with it was a Riesling Kabinett, "Saarburger Rausch", Weingut Zilliken 2004. Not as sweet as people feared. Was that petrol I detected in the bouquet, CG?


Up next, fish. Chatham cod, vegetable pearls, lemon verbena emulsion.This was served with a delightful Sancerre, the "Cuvée Florés", Domaine Vincent Pinard 2005.


And then a burger, to close off the seafood courses. A lobster burger served alongside potato chips fried in clarified butter.I can't recall what point Geoff was making here......but Conrad was having fun with his burger. Let's NOT call it a slider!

Our wine with this was a Puligny-Montrachet "Clos de la Mouchere" Premier Cru Monopole, Domaine Jean Boillot 2004. Violets on the nose for some of us, a floral sweet scent that ninted nothing of the dry steeliness of the wine itself.


Now for the meat course. Veal - Black Angus steak and sweetbreads, morel sauce, asparagus. Love the "tater tots"!
Geoff and Kent dig in.
Conrad fairly glows with delight.The wine servd with this, much to Conrad's delight, was made with Pinot Noir grapes. The Aloe-Corton, Domaine Maillard Père et Fils 2003. Again, violets for some of us, though Kent suggested tea. Alas, the sommelier blew it when CG suggestion that she could smell lilies was pooh-poohed. The only real misstep of the night, and a source of subsequent snark and hilarity. Our waiter was terrific, though, and he left this bottle with us rather than limiting us to a pour. He also brought back the next wine when people asked for more. His service went a long way to making the night a success.


After the meat, the cheese course. Sorry, but I cannot remember what all of them were.
A funny thing here. I was half way through my plate when CG pointed out to me that I had two servings of the Camembert, and I was missing the chèvre. The waiter quickly took care of it. All the cheeses were fine, mind you, so I wasn't too concerned with having extra Camembert. Our wine was the Cabernet Sauvignon Abeja Wines, Columbia Valley, WA 2003.


Dessert #1. Fruit-based. Apple napoleon. Such thin slices of fruit in place of the pastry, and I loved the candied piece of vanilla bean atop it.



Dessert #2. Chocolate. Mushroom vacherin, so-called because of the shape, not the flavour or content. A chocolate meringue, filled with ice cream, atop a white meringue.Our wine was the Pedro Ximenez Solera 1927, Bodegas Alvear. For me, this was the best pairing of the night. I mean, all the wines had been good to great to excellent. Utterly enjoyable. But the taste of the dessert and the sherry married so remarkably.


And finally.Petit fours. Can I recall them all? The little berry-topped shortbreads were outstanding. The bowl of fresh cherries was a lovely touch as well.


Happy people enjoying desserts.







A final view of some delightful treats.


And me, dining at the speed of light, making sure no last, fine morsel goes unconsumed!

I will say that Sunday morning required a good sleep in before I forced myself into five miles on the treadmill. Not an inexpensive evening, but an excellent one, assuredly. I'm deeply grateful to CG, MK, Geoff, and Kent for sharing in it with us. I'm lovingly thankful to Conrad for dining and celebrating being with our friends.

Seattle so far

Is it chauvinistic of me to blog an entry on each street corner or morsel of food in Vancouver and then come to the US and lump three days in Seattle into one entry so far? Likely. Sorry. Also very lazy of me. Let's get started.

Friday we arrived, having taken time on the way to shop at some outlet stores. I didn't have any particular obligations on the Friday beyond dinner CG arranged at Purple Cafe and Wine Bar. Such very odd and not especially good service. [PLUNK!] a glass of wine is set down and no indication of what it is or why it was paired with the course. Half an hour later: [PLUNK!] Strange night of dining, but as we were all determined to have a good time, I think we did. FXK and Melissa joined our ranks for that meal. Only the photo of the Syrah brownie turned out in terms of photos of food, alas.





The Midwinter Meetings really began for me on Saturday. Happily, my schedule wasn't all that crammed, so I did get to stroll around some, including walking down to the Market with CG and grabbing a bite of lunch.



That night we hit a couple of vendor receptions, one at the Experience Music Project where we roamed in the museum and pretended to know what we were doing with musical and recording instruments. After that it was a brief stop in the Space Needle before I called it an early night.




Yesterday brought some more meetings and a focus group, but also lunch with a friend from the Twin Cities, Bob. The Public Library, where we took these photos, is quite an interesting (if not actually attractive building). Some of the colouring is a bit disconcerting, like the red hallway outside the room where the GLBT Round Table social was last night. But still, good to see what the fuss was about.

I escaped the social before the end, and headed back past the convention center to grab dinner at Tango with a friend from Houston, David. Good to dine with him again, a regular conference occurrence, it seems. Sweetheart of a guy, now if I can just convince him to run Victoria this year as well!




Today? Campaigning for Jim Rettig, then I tried to find a hotel where a discussion group was being held. No such luck. Merde. My sense of direction is so bad. Ah well. I did have an enjoyable breakfast with the friend of a friend. Steve is a flight attendant for Delta and soon to move to an Ontario farm with his partner. Interesting the paths we all choose, I think. We strolled around a gay neighbourhood some, then it was time for more committee meetings.


Still up for this trip: two more nice meals out and one more committee meeting. But truthfully? I will be very glad to be home on Wednesday night and gladder still to see Conrad when he gets back from Orlando on Friday night.