Last summer, Studiofeast put together a dinner entitled the Doppelganger which was a 6-course dinner featuring dishes that had a meat version and a perfect look alike vegetarian version. That dinner is a complete embodiment of what the Carnivore and the Vegetarian could be. The dinner came and went before I had a chance to sign-up for future events. Soon after I heard about this dinner and Studiofeast (which is an invitation only culinary collective which utilizes a variety of ideas and concepts to create a gastronomic experience) I knew that I had to get involved and find out about future events.
When you sign up for the Studiofeast mailing list, you are asked what your last meal would be. Using a variety of data (which will soon be available and re-posted here), the top ingredients were compiled and put together into a 5-course meal. I was lucky enough to get a seat for this 12 person dinner, which the location is only made available a few days before. The setting was intimate, the location was perfect and the food…was incredible.
Aside from the amazing food (which we will see some picture of soon), I met some great people and reconnected with people with whom I went to high school with, including Danielle Gould of Food+Tech Connect and Naomi Hersson Ringskog, Executive Director of No Longer Empty.
Above you can see the menu from the 5-course dinner, but that list doesn’t do it justice. Here is a pictorial break down of the courses:
The first course was a Halloumi cheese, which is a hard Greek cheese, that was pan fried and served with fois gras foam and a parsley salad with a lemon dressing and papadu peppers. The texture if this type of cheese is almost meat like in its toughness, but the flavor is something of its own.
Maybe my favorite course of the night came second — a lobster bisque with a lobster tail, crouton, creme fraiche and caviar. The soup broth itself was built on lobster stock — an amazing lobster stock and just kept going from there. Some lobster bisques are overly creamy, while this one left the creamy texture to the creme fraiche — just enough to add a nice delicate texture. The lobster itself was cooked to perfection.
Next up was chicken wings with a sichuan pepper sauce, charred scallion, pickled carrot and blue cheese. This maybe the best chicken wing that I have ever tasted. I am a huge fan of Chinese sichuan peppers which give you the spicy and numbing flavors. I will do my best to get this recipe and make a huge batch for the Super Bowl.
The main course of sorts was a duck extravaganza. Sliced of medium rare duck breast accompanied duck confit and sides of kale chips and fingerling potatoes. This was the heaviest course, but it didn’t feel that way. The various versions of duck each brought something different to the plate.
The final course brought decadence to a new level. Chocolate ganache, candied bacon, caramel powder and a bourbon gelatin were all in perfect harmony and shows you again why bacon is best at the end of the meal in a sweet setting.
Overall each course really brought flavors, textures and ingredients together in harmony. The meal is something that I would eat again and I hope to partake in more amazing dinners with Studiofeast.
