Dangerous Dining Club - A Dare

[tim olivett]

It's nice to be back on line. A thousand words later and if that wasn't enough to test your patience I'm challenging everybody.

I originally posted this at the end of Where Have You Been Lately?.

So let's hear it. Put your mouth where your mouth is. So to speak...Click to read

It's at the bottom of page 5.

Feel free to pm me with suggestions to arrange this. Of course everyone is invited down anytime they'd like and)please don't feel that you'd be in anyway imposing or ostentatious in asking for me. Really, Monday nights are best for me, but if it has to be a Sunday that's fine, just not Mother's day, unless of course Mom want's to come too.

The best day's would be either the 26th or the 3rd of May.

Looking forward to hearing from at least five or six of you. And possibly even meeting you. Maybe for a little extra scratch, Ms. Loeb and I could pair wine with courses.

Well, that is if it's dangerous enough.

Either way, keep eating, drinking and thinking (hopefully in that order).

[Rich Pawlak]

I like the idea, but let's discuss this in PM and by phone and really plan! A DDC thing can bring 40-60 people, no joke, always has.

[mrbigjas]

I'm totally there, and available both dates. Yes to the sweetbreads, also.

[stephenc]

Alright, I know I haven't posted for a while but ever since Katie forced Guillermo on me, I've been going to Pasion alot and loving it.

But my real point here is ... all you egulleter's need to take me up on my offer of a Monday night you'll never forget down here at the boat. So far I've tried to be restrained about blowing my own horn but I never have as much fun in the kitchen than when a receptive audience comes in and lets me improvise and spontaneously create each course. For example, the other night my new landlord came in unexpected at the end of a long weekend and I served him things off the top of my head and not on the menu. I ran around and sent a first course of lobster knuckle timbale with mango, coconut milk, lemongrass with a sauce of reduced orange juice, lobster stock and vanilla bean topped with crumbled coconut croquant. Then I sent an etuvee of green and white asparagus with crisp potato gnocchi and a fonduta of fontina val d'asto, truffle butter, chanterelles and morels. Then an intermezzo of passion fruit sorbet with a peppered pineapple relish. Then a surf and turf of venison and scallops with a chile spiked salsa of fresh grapes and cardamom with a juniper-syrah reduction and vanilla parsnip mousseline. Finally, I had first brined pork tenderloin in a mix of maple syrup, straight bourbon and dijon mustard while the other courses went out and sliced it over a bed of barley cooked in spiced apple cider, dried cranberries and pears simmered in banyuls vinegar with a port reduction. And that was for my freakin' landlord (I'm not behind on the rent, just to be clear.)

For me, these are the best moments in the kitchen, since when I plan a menu, there are numerous mitigating factors, economy, commercial appeal (I'd probably sell two, if I used vension and scallops as a surf and turf, nevermind the people who'd run for the door (or gangplank I suppose) and (probably every chef's achille's heel) - the ability of my cooks to repeat the dish faithfully. And Mr Bigjas, I'll even bring in a pound or two of sweet breads for you and me.

These are the times I can even surprise myself by being let go from the constraints placed on running a restaurant that has 9 times the amount of seats as any BYO and that's what makes it fun for me, instead of cooking for 450 strangers, I get a chance to let myself go and have a receptive audience who are willing to trust me. Plus, hopefully in a couple of years, you guys are going to need to post to send people to my little 40 seater (god willing).

So while I support your intentions in helping the neighborhood bistros that are truly the kind of dining I champion the most, I'd like to challenge you guys to an upcoming Monday before the Moshulu's deck opens and I have another 200 seats to feed. (Beginning of May)

Give it a shot guys, it's lonely on the river, I'm on a friggin' boat for chrissakes. It's not that I'm getting rusty, it's just a different proposition ( and I venture to say a much more demanding one) to run a place this size and stay true to yourself while still trying to meet the expectations of our clientele. I don't get to cook and create in a vacuum but maybe you guys could come on down and suck it up (pun intended). Talk to Katie and we'll do it in the next couple of weeks and call it $40 for 6 courses including dessert (Maybe seven if you want the sweet breads). We even have a chef's room that seats 18 behind the kitchen.

So there, Dangerous Dining Club, I dare ya. Triple dog.

Love,

Tim

(All the local press egulleters are welcome too, I'll get baseball hats and dark shades for you to remain incognito)

sounds cool

Edited April 21, 2004 by stephenc (log)

[stephenc]

"Primo, do you know why this night is happening?"

"no"

"Because it has to happen!"

[KatieLoeb]

"Primo, do you know why this night is happening?"

"no"

"Because it has to happen!"

Thanks! This made my day!

[tim olivett]

The boat has numerous options for private dining rooms, but for my money (or, more precisely, your) there is an elevated deck on the southern end of the main deck (stern / aft / i don't know) that is one of the most unique spots in the city with simultaneous views of the BF bridge and the skyline.

I think the date is almost set for Monday May 3rd. The time is up to you guys but 8 or 9pm is best for me.

Later I will post an outline of what to expect, but I'll keep it basic, so I have a little freedom to see what looks good that week.

By the way, trust me on the sweet breads.

Also, Katie and I will work on an option to have a wine pairing.

Thanks for the great response so far, (boy, for a bunch of people (including myself) who go out so much, we all sure do spend alot of time online) I just proposed it yesterday. That's the last time I go on egullet drunk, next thing you know, I'll have 40 people at my house and a pig with an apple in it's mouth in my patio. Actually, that's not such a bad idea ...

[KatieLoeb]

To add to Tim's reply, we're already working on this. He and I will be meeting tomorrow to discuss menu options, cost, lead time necessary, etc. May 3rd might be good, but it's also awfully short notice for many of our busy compadres. May 10th could be great except it's the day after Mother's Day and I suspect the entire staff at the Moshulu will be physically and emotionally drained from what is always a nightmare day for restaurant staff all over America. May 17 is Penn graduation, which is a local Hell Week for the restaurant industry. And it goes on...

Tim and I will talk about the best date for everyone concerned, as well as all of the other details to plan what will undoubtedly be one of the most unique and intersting DDC events to date. Check here for updates and I'll post as soon as anything is set.

[mantee]

Pig, sounds like another great idea. May 3rd..hope there is room for me. I'll trust you on the sweetbreads, one of my all time favorites, I just might have them for breakfast this weekend.

[cdh]

I'm in if it is on May 3rd! This is sounding exciting!

[herbacidal]

I'm there, come hell or high water!

Course, Mondays are better for me so as to avoid the high water.

May 3rd sounds good to me.

Less time I have to waste salivating over sweetbreads.

[sara]

I'd love to do this before leaving town, but can't do May 3. If it's May 10, I'm in!

[drjonk]

I would love to join this. I am new to the group and have been hanging out reading for a couple of weeks. May 3rd is no problem for me, its a slow day in the wine biz and Katie if I can help with wine let me know.

J. Krieger

[Lisa1349]

I'm there! Will bring some cronies from work as well. I know it's short but please, please can it be may 3rd??

[Greg Salisbury]

Mmmm... choice between eating the dregs of the previous week or having someone else cook and putting faces to the postings? That's a tough one. Count me in, fer sher. And Tim, just in case Mike Hackett hasn't extended the invite, come on out to the Wild West sometime and introduce yourself!

[davidbdesilva]

Judy and I would definitely be up for this one. It has been way too long since we've seen many of you and this would be a perfect way to do that and enjoy some great food at the same time! Lets do it

[KatieLoeb]

I would love to join this. I am new to the group and have been hanging out reading for a couple of weeks. May 3rd is no problem for me, its a slow day in the wine biz and Katie if I can help with wine let me know.

J. Krieger

Mr. Krieger! You lurking fool you! Delighted you could join us finally and warm welcomes to eGullet!

I'll let you know if I need any assistance in the wine dept.

Look forward to seeing you soon.

[SG-]

Verrry interesting and for $40 too!!! might have to jump in on this!!

[KatieLoeb]

Update!

The Moshulu tasting extravaganza will be moved to Monday May 10th, the day after Mother's Day. I just spoke with Chef Tim and the restaurant has a wine dinner booked on the earlier date he was unaware of. Fine. This should give us more time to plan and e-mail out "official" DDC invites to this fabulous soiree. Tim assures me he and the staff won't be too whupped from the day before to handle this. I personally always need to recover from working a Mother's Day. It's the worst day in the restaurant industry. Tim is a brave and hardworking lad. Or maybe he's just nuts.

Tim and I will be meeting after work this evening to discuss logistics, menu, wines, cost, timing, etc. I will try to keep this as convenient as possible for as many people as possible. I know from past events that our participants come from far and wide for these dinners - from as far south as Delaware and as far north as Princeton. This being a weeknight, I'd like not to start too early so as to allow for travel time. I also don't want to start so late that what might be a long tasting dinner goes too late for folks that have to work the next morning, have to go home and relieve the babysitter, etc. The larger crowd we have, the longer the dinner will take. Feeding twenty people a 6 or 7 course menu takes much less time than feeding seventy five people the same thing. We'll discuss this and come up with the wisest compromise that we can. I don't want to exclude anyone that might wish to join us, but I also don't want this to turn into a really long ordeal on a night when people have to work the next morning. Capiche? So there will be no bitchin' y'all, got it?

Stay tuned for details...

[mrbigjas]

Edit:

Goddammit, I'm an idiot. I'm gonna be in Toronto that day, and before that and the rest of that week, except when I'm visiting fancy Canayjun wineries and seeing Niagara Falls for a couple days. Either way, I'm not going to be in town*. The 26th and the 3rd were great for me; why doesn't this entire site revolve around my schedule? Sigh.

(*as a friend of mine just said, "you are the most travelling motherfucker I know." Well, what are you gonna do...)

Edited April 23, 2004 by mrbigjas (log)

[Lisa1349]

alright, I guess I can wait another week. Hope to see you then!

[tim olivett]

As Katie said, I'm brave, hardworking and nuts! We routinely have parties of this size, sometimes up to 1200 so logistically we'll be ok.

Right now, we're definitely set on Monday, May 10th, tentatively at 7pm. The price is all inclusive of tax/gratuity, coffee/soft drinks and Katie and I are going to work out pairing wines with the courses. Since she has more experience with these dinners, she'll be informing everyone of how to secure reservations and I think it would be best that when you reserve for the dinner, that you note if you'll be having the wine tasting also. (I'm not quite sure the supplement price for the wine yet). I've heard that the DDC dinners typically run around $25 per person instead of the $40 I proposed and let me know if this is an issue, the more people we know are coming, the less money it can be. It will be worth it since like I said before this is as much for me as it is for you, in that I get to have more freedom than I typically do when I'm planning a menu

It's a pretty big boat so we have a lot of options, both indoors and on the deck to fit everyone who is interested. Personally, my suggestion is the deck, since it isn't going to open for business officially until the 12th and it is a really wonderful location especially since we can have the entire deck to ourselves.

Even though it will be quite a few courses, I envision it as a tasting, with some courses, ( amuse bouche, intermezzo) being just 1 bite, and the others not much bigger. While there will definitely be many courses and tastes, I also understand that the idea of a 4 hour dinner is daunting and that won't be the case, of course everyone is welcome to stay as long as they like but even with 7 courses, the food portion of the evening should run about 1 1/2 hours. After this weekend, I'll post an outline of the courses. I really want to try and use as much local product as possible.

We have parking at the boat and we used to validate stubs when it was $12 but now it's $6 to park there which, compared to most of center city is pretty good.

Thanks for the great response so far and I'm really, genuinely excited to be able to cook for a receptive, adventurous collection of diners. Don't worry, even though it's the "Dangerous Dining Club", there won't be any kidneys or sardines (not that there's anything wrong with that) but I've got to sneak in a thymus gland or two (aka sweetbreads - that's a great marketing ploy, eh?).

Thanks again for your interest and I know it's going to be fun, delicious and memorable.

Edited April 23, 2004 by tim olivett (log)

[Holly Moore]

Even though it will be quite a few courses, I envision it as a tasting, with some courses, ( amuse bouche, intermezzo) being just 1 bite, and the others not much bigger.  While there will definitely be many courses and tastes, I also understand that the idea of a 4 hour dinner is daunting and that won't be the case, of course everyone is welcome to stay as long as they like but even with 7 courses, the food portion of the evening should run about 1 1/2 hours.

So Tim, are we looking at a total dinner of, say, 10-12 bites?

Sounds like fun though, and I'm liking the idea of outside.

[tim olivett]

Yeah, but oh what a 10 or 12 bites. Actually it will work out to a dollar a bite. Seriously though, I always loved the idea of tastings since I tend to get bored with big portions, aromas and flavors develop a tolerance in your olfactory senses and become dulled. Noone will leave hungry and underwhelmed, but conversely you shouldn't be stuffed and confused by a mish mash of flavors. I find that if a dish is just the right size, it should leave you craving one more bite, then when you think back to your meal, you think Oh, I'd love one more taste of that. In this country we tend to stuff ourselves and when you think back on that,, it's like god I wouldn't want another bite.

[SG-]

Crap, I'm out if it's 7pm.