Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The end (maybe)...Iron Chef 5.7.10

Our next dinner -- and possibly our last open dinner -- will again be Iron Chef themed. So sign up soon and send an ingredient or two along!

Dinner will be Friday, May 7 at 6:30pm. For pricing, please see this post. To make a reservation, click on the "reservations" tab at the top of the page.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

4.23.10 -- Vegan Iron Chef

Click on pictures for closeups and on names for recipes

The Ingredients:

Mango
Jasmine
Ginger
Artichoke
Coconut
Pea Tendrils
Pomegranate
Coffee
Mushroom

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Local pumpernickel with coffee-date-almond spread
Pea tendril mojitos



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Artichoke hummus with pomegranate tahini. Fried baby artichoke "alla giudea".





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Jasmine miso soup



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6-c* braised portabella mushroom. Mashed parsnips and purple carrots with coconut. Sauteed pea tendrils. Mango pickle**.



*coffee, cardamom, cumin, coriander, cloves, cayenne
**refers to an indian quick-pickling method based on salt, spices, and oil; not acids like in other "pickles"

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Sticky rice with sweetened pomegranate-coconut milk and mango. Ginger-jasmine ice cream.




Photos courtesy of Catherine Nakajima and Jesse Kornbluth

Saturday, April 17, 2010

About the price

Some of you may have noticed that we have increased the price of the dinners from $20 to $25, and some of you have complained about it. We'd like to explain a little bit about why we did this...

Really, there are two parts to it. The first is simply a matter of freedom and quality. We really enjoy putting on these dinners and we strive to make them as good as we possibly can. That means buying only fresh, high-quality ingredients from mostly local and/or organic sources. And the fact is that at every single dinner we have had to not buy something that we really wanted to incorporate because of cost. The amounts aren't necessarily large (although they can be), but when we're talking about 4-5 courses and wine, it quickly adds up to a lot. Basically, the difference will allow us to create the dishes as we envision them.

The second aspect is that...well, we think the food we make is really good. Other closed door dinners cost anywhere from $50-$200 per person, which, compared to our dinners, is of course pretty exorbitant. Essentially, we spend about two whole days planning and preparing these meals and while the dinners themselves are ample compensation for this, and we do it cause we love to do it, we think it's fair to make a modest profit as well.


All that being said, we understand that that majority of the people who come are college students (like ourselves) for whom shelling out $25 for ANY meal is a lot, no matter how good it is. So we'll leave the choice up to you. If you are willing to pay $25, that's great. If not, just pay $20 and that's also great. No pressure, nothing personal (we don't ever actually know who pays what anyway since it all gets passed up to the front while we're prepping the first course). We'd rather have you here for the experience than not at all.

So, we hope this clears some things up and that you find our solution a fair one. And we hope to see you all at our next dinner!!!

Much love,
Luke & Jared



4.16.10 -- Iron Chef

The List of Requested Ingredients:
Lime
Honey
Lemongrass
Green Tea
Seasonal Fruit (Rhubarb)
Jalapeno
Goat Cheese
Eggplant

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Coconut Patties with Cilantro-Lime chutney. Blood orange & cara cara orange salad. Shot of rhubarb & meyer lemon infused vodka.



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Napa cabbage, mung bean sprouts, enoki mushrooms, asian pear, avocado, cashews. Honey-lime-ginger dressing.



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Green tea spaghetti with lemongrass/basil pesto and sauteed eggplant.



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Lemongrass-lime cupcakes with green tea frosting. Honey-glazed eggplant "cannoli" with goat cheese and gjetost filling. Jalapeno chocolate chip ice cream.


Luke+ guests enjoying the meal



Photos courtesy of Jesse Kornbluth and Catherine Nakajima


Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Next Dinner: "Iron Chef II" 4.23.10

It's been almost a month since our last dinner, and we've missed it. Spring break, crazy schedules, and all sorts of things have been getting in the way, but now we're back and ready as ever! See, we've even learned to write like stereotypical bloggers.

So here's the deal. We just finished the menu for the first Iron Chef dinner (this Friday), and we enjoyed the challenge of incorporating everything so much that we've decided to do it again.

Iron Chef II -- 4.23.10

The price will be $25 per person and will include 4-5 courses plus wine. When making your reservation, include an ingredient of choice for us to incorporate into the meal. Just about anything is fair game, except for the following:

1) animals or parts of animals
2) prohibitively expensive materials
3) really too weird

If you fear that your ingredient choice might fall into one of the above categories, go ahead and send a backup choice or two.

Til then,
LJ