Creating a festive specialty menu is always fun for us and at the same time a challenge for a professional kitchen. Most likely we’ll come about new ingredients and cooking techniques just for the excitement and we push ourselves to a creative edge. With new dishes there is a lot of rehearsing going on with trial and error and test cooking in the kitchen before the actual menu items are put in front of a guest.
(halibut "flower" with baby spinach and braised red cabbage puree)
Past and present V-days
I remember past Valentine’s day menus where we incorporated edible flowers of all sorts into our dishes – a lovely addition in particular since flowers play such an important roll for V-day. The scent of mesmerizing rose petals steeped in an herb broth served with a shellfish dish, the fragrant flavor of orange blossoms combined with a dessert course and the visual appeal of colorful edible flowers on food should be not underestimated. Another year the theme was inspired by flower arrangements, for example greens were served bundled like a bouquet and looked just like a flower arrangement, a halibut which was thinly sliced and arranged in a flower petal fashion and then gently cooked.
This year we decided for a rhythmic musical theme – the taste of music. Every course of our Valentine’s menu will be served with a dance style theme. Let’s see how we let food dance…
A waltz of small appetizers…
Like a waltz assorted appetizers are fun, fanciful and go in a crowd
Lobster Roll Taste Duet
two little bites, tailored for couples
(lobster rolls like hugging)
Belon Oyster Jazz
with Champagne ice shaving
silvery, fleshy and beautiful oysters with frozen champagne flakes - every flavor has a solo similar to Jazz
Smoked Salmon & Caviar Tango
The dance of love … smoked salmon is tightly trapped around its partner -- kernels of caviar
1ST COURSE
Thin Crust Pizza (for 2 ) Tarantella
prosciutto, parmesan, Greenmarket onions
prosciutto tries to be the star but can’t do it without parmesan – similar in the Italian Tarantella dance where the drum and dancer try to upstage each other
or
(lobster bisque with tarragon swirl and a touch of tequila)
Lobster Bisque Flamenco
smoked popcorn, tequila-tarragon swirl
a velvety textured lobster bisque with a fiery-spicy tequila-caramel reduction and smoky popcorn flavor reflecting the speed of the dance making the room and your feet smoke
or
Three Color Winter Salad Twist
ricotta salata cheese, vegetable curls
arugula, endive, radicchio, candied walnuts
greens are intertwined with a network of parsnip, carrot and beet curls
ENTRÉE
Muscovy Duck Rumba
duck meat ball, duck leg confit
shaved red cabbage cooked with Rum
coriander crisps
the softness of rumba dance reflected in duck meat balls balanced with a touch of rum to round things out
or
Beef Steak Salsa
Brandt farm beef shoulder steak, potato cannelloni
grilled hearts of romaine, spicy pepper sauce
an excellent steak served with a spicy peppercorn and jalapeño sauce and a touch of tomato salsa
or
Truffle Mac & Cheese Polka
spätzel pasta with four cheeses
pumpernickel & truffle crust
a Middle European polka pairs well with this peasant Germanic spätzel pasta with the fragrance of black truffle
or
King Salmon & Shrimp Swing
steamed spinach, Meyer lemon preserve
these seafoods intertwine in a roulad-style whimsical dish
DESSERT
Sweet Samplings (for 2) Cha-Cha-Cha
peanut butter banana bar
red velvet cupcake with raspberry frosting
chocolate-apricot cake
this three-in-one puts a swing in the hips like a cha-cha-cha
bon appetite!
(citrus tart with candied Cara Cara orange and whipped vanilla cream, sprinkled with dried rose pedals)
