eGullet Outing at Corduroy

[rvanrens]

Can we get the updated list of who is attending?

Rob

[mdt]

Here is the list:

Chef Shogun

ereidy

giuinha +2

iamthestretch +1

mnebergall

mktye +1

simdelish

laniloa

tomdc

cjsadler

Gary Tanigawa

Tweaked

eunny jang +1

mdt +2

edemuth

rvanrens

Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow night.

[mnebergall]

I suggest a pre-event warm-up at Firefly.

Also, I seem to recall mdt making some comment about validated parking at Corduroy.

[Chef Shogun]

Sounds good.

Edited October 18, 2004 by Chef Shogun (log)

[eunny jang]

Yeah, what's the parking story?

I'm excited about this - may show up at Firefly.

[fero style]

Corduroy does not have its own parking area , however , we are sharing hotels parking garage. You may park in the garage which is located right next to the hotel`s entrance and we will validate your parking tickets up to 3 hours. but there is that small problem , the garage is subject to availability , sometimes hotel may be full and you may not be able to park your car.

There is also street parking available with the parking meters. There is no need to feed the meters after 6.30 pm

hope this is helpful for all of you and we will see you tomorrow evening .

[eunny jang]

very...thirsty....what time is it?

[iamthestretch]

Oh, man. Not to be a gusher, but that was just great. Great food, great wine, great service, great value, great company. We should do this again. Just not for a week or two. (Rubs Buddha belly. Smiles inscrutably.)

Edited to add: Big ups to Mike for organizing, Chef Power for expediting and Fero Style for making it all so smoooooth.

Edited October 20, 2004 by iamthestretch (log)

[Chef Shogun]

It's going to be tough not to gush. There were a lot of seriously good dishes involved in tonights meal. For example: all of them. Stay tuned for details, after these messages from 'contented napping for a couple days'.

[mdt]

Here are my pictures of the dinner.

My thanks to Chef Power and the entire staff at Corduroy for a wondeful and delicious dinner.

Note: If you view the pictures via the slide show, sort by date (descending) to see things in order.

[Tweaked]

I had been to Corduroy about 2 years ago for Resturant Week and thought the food was good but not really up to the level that Tom Sietsema was raving about.

Last night Chef Power ROCKED it! Every dish was delicious, and the scallop tartar and pork belly were sublime.

Thanks Mike for organizing and everyone at Corduroy. Also thanks for taking our Q&A at the end, where just about ever questions was, How do you make X dish? As a note, some of the prep work, brining etc, started 2 days before the event...this is a chef who truly cares!

[Mrs. P]

Looks like a fabulous evening! Thanks for the pics mdt! I will have to stop by Corduroy soon!

[Suzanne F]

Oh. My. God. :drool:

Hmmm, there's got to be a reason to go to DC soon . . .

[JPW]

Great pics mdt.

Very bummed I couldn't make it.

But I'm glad he served you all the re-engineering of fried mozzarella sticks.

My favorite dish in a long long time.

Must go back for more.

Edited October 20, 2004 by JPW (log)

[iamthestretch]

I like this one, Mike, as I appear to be praying very hard. Probably that there is still some Corison left to drink! Apart from a great meal, that was a master class in picking wines to complement food, wasn't it?

[mnebergall]

Good God, where to start; I guess at the beginning.

Started out in the bar with a few other eGulleteers. Stretch and Chef Shogun, naturally, had on "corduroy" trousers. I had a nice glass of Olivier LaFlaive Burgundy. Before I could finish, we threw a bunch of cash on the table and retired to the dining room. We all sat down only to have to get up and "mingle" while the staff passed glasses of Champagne and platters of (1) goat cheese in a fried potato "spaghetti" nest, (2) duck egg rolls with a dipping sauce, and (3) little crostini with chunks of lobster on them. The appetizers were all excellent and right now, I can't say one was my favorite over another.

Once the Champagne ran out we took that as the signal to sit back down. When we did, a nice glass of white burgundy appeared as did the first course of scallop with chanterelle and chardonnay sauce. Very nice, but only a warm up for the next course:

The scallop tartar. To my mind, this was the star dish of the evening. I am sometimes amazed at the transportational effects some foods occasionally can have on me. The scallop tartar had such an effect. At the first bite, in my mind's eye, I was "beamed" to the rocky shore of a Penobscot Bay island with the salt air and fog blowing in my face. I can still taste the oceany flavor of the tartar this morning as I write this. The only other dish to have this effect on me was the diver scallop I had at Restaurant Eve a month or so ago. Tuna tartar you see from time to time; I have never encountered scallop tartar before and I hope to have it again the next time I dine at Corduroy. My guess is that you have to have incredibly fresh scallops in order to pull this off.

Next came the peppered rare tuna. The tuna was seared over high heat which left a nice crust on the outside and very rare in the middle. I think mktye got some good pictures of this which I'm sure she will be posting soon. The polating was spectacular with the redness of the tuna showing atop the rice and hijiki. A very complex mixture of textures and flavors. There was not a bit left on anyone's plate. Tweaked said it was the best tuna he had ever had. The Oregon pinot noir was an excellent wine paring with the tuna.

When the confit of range chicken came, I began to sense I was in for trouble. I should not have had that second sandwich from Galileo in the afternoon. After the tuna I was beginning to get a little full. I sort of viewed the chicken as stop along the road to what I was really anticipating, which was the pork and beans. The confit of chicken was very good but what I really liked was the Rasteau, which I thought was the best wine of the evening.

There were six people at my table and the next course was split up. Three people got the pork and beans and three people got the Wagyu beef. I considered myself lucky as I got the pork and beans. After the scallop tartar, I thought this was the best dish of the evening. The pork belly had been brined and braised and had a nice "glaze" on top. It sat atop a mound of some kind of white beans with a nice gravy. I saw Stretch moping up the gravy with a piece of bread. He was not about to let a bit of go to waste. I also shared a bit of my pork and beans with cjsadler in exchange for a bite of his Wagyu; one of the most tender pieces of non-tenderloin beef I have ever had. The reduction sauce was wonderful. The Cabernet that was paired with the last course was excellent.

Then came the three chocolate deserts. I think my favorite was the one with the banana in it. The Spanish wine was port-like in its density and went well with all the chocolate.

To sum up: This was one incredible dinner. The quality of the ingredients, the preparations and the plating are on a par with Restaurant Eve, in my opinion. Chef Power is one of the most talented chefs in town and I thank him for the tremendous effort he and his very capable put into the event last night.

Also thanks to Mike for organizing and to DonRocks for the calvados.

Edited October 21, 2004 by mnebergall (log)

[mdt]

Wow, what a wonderful dinner it was last night!

The evening started with a glass of champagne and some passed hors d’oeuvres. The items passed around were:

Warm goat cheese with crispy shredded potato (?)

Duck filled spring rolls

Bruschetta with lobster salad on top

Cauliflower soup – I cannot remember exactly what was in it, but foie gras was one of the items. This was served in espresso cups so that we could easily sip while chatting.

As JPW mentioned earlier the buffalo mozzarella was outstanding. For once I am glad that I cannot eat scallops and this was my substitute. The flavors of the tomato coulis, basil oil, and the warm cheese were incredible. Combined with the crunch from the crispy phyllo nest made this my favorite course of the meal.

As Stretch said, the wine pairings were great. That Cotes du Rhone was just amazing with the confit of chicken.

Each of the other courses was wonderful and the flow from one course to the next was as close to perfect as I could imagine.

The desserts were a chocolate lovers dream and I was particularly fond of the dark chocolate tart.

After the dessert was served we were all treated to a Turkish sweet made by eG member, fero style. I have the name written on a sheet of paper at home. Anyway, the dessert was a cookie (for lack of a better term) stuffed with walnuts and drizzled with honey. They were not too sweet and the perfect complement to the coffee that ended the meal.

Also a thanks to DonRocks for the after dinner drink. BTW, I was asked if I would see you in the next night or so from one of the wait staff. My response...laughter, as that would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

[rvanrens]

My, oh, my, what a fine dinner.

Believe it or not, I'm trying hard not to be a gusher...

Many, many thanks to Mike for organizing, and to Chef Powersfor amazing food, and to Fero Style for excellent service (and those absolutley perfect little pastries...was the name "hurma"? I fear I don't remember clearly...)

This was the first eGullet outing I've attended. It will certainly NOT be the last. Good food, good drink, and good company. After a long and trying day, I literally could not have asked for a better time. Thanks again, guys.

Rob

[eunny jang]

Wow. Dudes. What a great evening. Enormous thanks to mdt for pulling the whole thing off, and to fero style and Chef Power for the incredible food/service experience.

I was suprised that Tom Power came out and chatted for a while - though he did note that we were suprisingly well behaved. I told him later that it was because the real rabble-rousers who give eGullet a bad name around town stayed home.

Interesting note: Ann Cashion was in last night as well.

[Gary Tanigawa]

Thanks to Tom Power and his helpers in the kitchen, fero style (wonderful Turkish dessert) and the other servers, mdt for "herding cats" and Don Rocks for the calvados (first, but not the last, time drinking apple brandy).

Having spoken to a few of the local chefs in the last year, I'm still impressed by their humility and dedication to the craft.

[eunny jang]

Oh yah. Interesting tidbit: was anyone else surprised by the distinctly Asian note to each dish? And then by how freaking well butter goes with ginger and bok choy and hoisin

[laniloa]

I'd like to add my gushing compliments to Tom and his entire staff for making this such a phenomenal evening. I know that an event like this can be tricky for a restaurant -- 20+ servings that need to be ready at exactly the same time while still taking care of the other customers. Given those challenges, Tom was unbelievably accomodating and providing alternatives for dishes people had problems with. When I saw the menu I was going to drop out because I don't eat seafood. Its not an allergy, just a character flaw, and I didn't want to cause a problem. I was told not only was it not a problem but urged to come.

I was given the mozzarella wrapped in crispy potato instead of the scallops. I agree with mdt that the coulis and basil oil pulled the dish together. I had the same base prep as the tuna (rice, lotus root, hijiki, ginger/soy/chili magic) but with butternut squash. I love butternut squash but think of it paired more with the sage, thyme, nutmeg, brown butter universe of flavors and I've been missing out. This stuff was meant for asian seasonings.

[bilrus]

So, for those of us who weren't there, what's with all the comments about "gushing"?

[mktye]

I think mktye got some good pictures of this which I'm sure she will be posting soon. 

←

My pics are pretty much the same as mdt's, but if anyone is interested in a slightly different angle, they can be found here.

The desserts were a chocolate lovers dream and I was particularly fond of the dark chocolate tart.

After the dessert was served we were all treated to a Turkish sweet made by eG member, fero style. 

←

Not being one who dreams of chocolate, the Turkish sweet was my favorite part of dessert. Thank you fero style!!!

I had the same base prep as the tuna (rice, lotus root, hijiki, ginger/soy/chili magic) but with butternut squash.

←

I was almost served this by accident and, momentarily, considered just keeping it! However, the tuna was my favorite dish of the evening, so I'm glad I didn't hijack the squash.

To add to all the gushing... For me, the best part of the evening was the fact that everything was flavorful without being overly rich. I left feeling very well fed, but not stuffed.

And another big "thanks" to mdt for arranging the wonderful outing!

[DonRocks]

fero style's wonderful hurma.