Salumi Dinner

[Mr. Toast]

A group of us had dinner at Salumi last Friday night. There were three other eGulleteers, all more active posters than me, and I expect they'll pipe in with details. Also, I took photos of most of the courses and some of the action and at some point I'll add a few to this thread if there's interest. For now, I'll just list some of my random thoughts from the evening.

Armandino mentioned that as of last Thursday, Salumi is USDA-certified to ship his cured meats around the country. I told him that's too bad; it's already tough enough to find them in Seattle.

Armandino's daughter (Gina?) worked with him on the meal. He proudly announced that she's now half-owner in Salumi.

My personal favorite course of the many we had was a very simple grilled sea bass, served cold. This was perhaps the best fish dish I've ever eaten. Perfectly fresh, perfectly cooked; just excellent. Other standouts: the cured meats (of course), the unscotti (recipe to be published in Sept. Bon Appetite), the rabbit. I'll download a photo of the menu later, from home.

[little ms foodie]

How fantastic! Tell me, how did you end up getting in for dinner?

[Mr. Toast]

Tell me, how did you end up getting in for dinner?

No real secrets here to share; sorry. A friend of a friend is a relative of Armandino. We followed the link, and after a false start or two got in unexpectedly. I suspect someone else had Friday scheduled but canceled recently.

We enjoyed ourselves so much we jokingly tried to schedule our next dinner while we were still there. No dice: Armandino said they're not taking dinner reservations right now, and they're going to decide in January about continuing them.

[Really Nice!]

Here's the menu:

Gnocchi Interactive

Salumi Cured Meats served with various fruits

An array of Antipasti

.....Braised Rabbit Crostini

.....Corona Beans with Genovese Tuna Fish <- this was very good!

.....Crostini with Fig Confit and Coach Farm Goat Cheese

Gnocchi with fresh Porcini Mushrooms

Sauteed Shell Fish

.....Clams, Baby Octopus, Shrimp and Scallops

Grilled and served cold - Sea Bass with new olive oil and parsley

Palate freshener

Stuffed Veal Breast - with Lavender and Boneless Quail

.....both served with Cippollini Onions and Fresh Asparagus

Gina Unscotti

Caffe Vita

Most of us brought a bottle of wine each. One person brought an imperial-sized bottle of an Italian wine. (This is equal to 8 750-ml bottles.) All told I think we consummed the equivalent of 13 bottles.

I brought a 1927 Grande Soleras 375ml bottle. It's a dessert wine. The entire contents of the bottle did not come from the 1927 vintage. It started with that year, but as the contents of the barrels offered their angel's share, it was replaced with younger vintages. I'm guessing that less than 25 percent of the bottle actually contains wine from 1927. Armandino thought this was really nice!.

Edited for grammer, Kelsey Grammer.

Edited June 14, 2004 by Really Nice! (log)

[Jim Dixon]

Gnocchi Interactive

I think we need to know a little more about these gnocchi. Just how interactive were they?

Jim

[Fish]

My personal favorite course of the many we had was a very simple grilled sea bass, served cold. This was perhaps the best fish dish I've ever eaten. Perfectly fresh, perfectly cooked; just excellent.

I agree about the sea bass - it was amazing. Olive oil is my new favourite condiment.

- S

[Mr. Toast]

"Gnocci Interactive " means that Armandino kind of taught us how to make them. He had the dough pre-made; I believe Fish scribbled down the recipe on the back of a receipt. We each got a turn rolling out, cutting, and forming a few gnocci. So this wasn't a course at all, just a little cooking lesson. The gnocci we prepared were used in a later course, with porcinis (mmm).

[Really Nice!]

I believe Fish scribbled down the recipe on the back of a receipt.

Seeing how Fish is slacking, if memory serves me correctly, here's the recipe he told us:

500 grams potato

150 grams flour

1 egg

Boil the potatoes with the skins on. Don't cook them completely because they'll continue cooking as gnocchi.

The dough should be moist and don't over work it.

I'd like to know how he cooked it because mine always comes out gummy. This stuff had a good texture to it.

[Mr. Toast]

Here are some photos:

The menu board

The Toast Mistress practices Gnocci Interactive

Gnocci with Porcini

Stuffed veal breast

Really Nice! wine

Main course (veal, quail, asparagus, cippolini onions)

Known cheese

Unscotti

[malarkey]

I think my favorite dish was the gnocchi with porcini. There was a LOT of porcini offered in this dish, nice big chunks. Just fantastic. Especially since I got xtra porcini from the non-mushroom eaters in the crowd !!

Next would have to be the veal & quail. The flavors in these were absolutely wonderful.

And we got the last of the mole salami, which is stunningly good.

[laurel]

Especially since I got xtra porcini from the non-mushroom eaters in the crowd !! 

Non mushroom eaters???

[Really Nice!]

Especially since I got xtra porcini from the non-mushroom eaters in the crowd !! 

Non mushroom eaters???

Yes, I live in a mushroom-free household. She can't stand them.

As a matter of fact I have to do without beets, raisins, olives, and mushrooms. Funny how those things end up on my salad at work so I can get my RDA.

[Fish]

Seeing how Fish is slacking, if memory serves me correctly, here's the recipe he told us:

500 grams potato

150 grams flour

1 egg

Boil the potatoes with the skins on. Don't cook them completely because they'll continue cooking as gnocchi.

The dough should be moist and don't over work it.

That's pretty much what I have on the back of the famous receipt (which I'd totally forgotten about, despite the very minimal amount I drank). He did say that they use russet potatoes and "any" flour.

- S

[kiliki]

As a matter of fact I have to do without beets, raisins, olives

That is MY trio of most feared and hated foods!