I Always Wanted to Be A Restaurant Critic

And I won't get the chance here, because the food was so good.

What you will see here are the tasting portions of the appetizers and entrees that we will have at the reception.

Chicken Sate with Peanut Sauce

[Sorry, but this was gone before I thought of pulling out the camera]

This appetizer came with three skewers of chicken bridged across a small pot of peanut sauce. The thing I noticed with the first bite was just how moist the chicken was. Succulent was the best word for it.


Shrimp with Cocktail Sauce

There were four shrimp when it came out, but I got the priority taken care of before I took the picture.

The shrimp was served chilled, but the firmness to the tooth was absolutely perfect. No rubber shrimp here. Also, the sauce had a very pleasant balance of sweet and tart to it.

Beef Fillet in Bearnaise Sauce with a Remoulade of Root Vegetables

I have to give it to Juan for this one, he somehow prepared a beef dish that satisfied both me and Trish. She and I like to tease each other that I prefer my beef still mooing while she leans more toward shoe leather.

This dish was as tender as I could have hoped. The real revelation, however, was the remoulade. It was a mix of finely diced carrots, parsnips, turnips, and celery. As Trish put it, "If someone told me I was going to love this, I would have told them they were nuts." Count me in right with that, because three out of four there is normally cause for me to leave the room. Bravo, bravo, bravo.

Coq au Vin with Butter Noodles


No need to adjust the color, that is a purple drumstick. The chicken was fricassed in red wine, resulting in a wonderfully juicy piece of bird. I couldn't tell just what variety of wine Juan used, but Tricia swears by this dish.

Portobello Mushroom Cap Stuffed with Pollenta, Red Pepper, and Parmasean Cheese


I'll be honest, this dish came this close to making me change my mind about having the beef. The Portobello had just as much substance and savor to it. The stuffing only set the flavor off all the better.

The stuffing is good on its own. I got this from Trish, who chose not to challenge her "no fungus" policy.

In the end, we will not be going with this as the vegetarian dish. Instead, this dish will be done with the smaller Shitake caps and two or three of these will be served with each entree. It will be a safe bet that the pasta dish that will replace this will be just as good as the rest.