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dr.com Gerard Pangaud Dinner at L'Academie de Cuisine


DonRocks

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Next week we'll announce a fascinating dinner to take place on February 3rd. It won't be cheap, but it will be very inexpensive for what it is, and it will be a unique, private event by one of the greatest chefs ever to grace this city. Wine pairings will be mandatory with this one, and will be included in the price. Members only, so if you've been thinking of joining the website, now is a good time. Stay tuned...

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Below is the menu chef and I have come up with so far. As always, menu is subject to changed based on whether or not the ground hog sees his shadow.

Amuse: Groundhog pate served on canape

Groundhog Flan with Groundhog foie gras

Rissotto with Groundhog and shaved white truffles that were found using groundhogs in the deepest forests of Pennsylvania

Roasted leg of Groundhog with pinecone puree, roasted garlic, and Groundhog au jus

Groundhog gelato served with an assortment of Groundhog biscotti

All wines, which are mandatory, will be from the Punxsutawney vineyards.

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Below is the menu chef and I have come up with so far. As always, menu is subject to changed based on whether or not the ground hog sees his shadow.

Amuse: Groundhog pate served on canape

Groundhog Flan with Groundhog foie gras

Rissotto with Groundhog and shaved white truffles that were found using groundhogs in the deepest forests of Pennsylvania

Roasted leg of Groundhog with pinecone puree, roasted garlic, and Groundhog au jus

Groundhog gelato served with an assortment of Groundhog biscotti

All wines, which are mandatory, will be from the Punxsutawney vineyards.

There will, I assume, be leftovers. Again and again and again...

A Landrum production, right?

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Hello all, first time poster but long time lurker, and very curious about this dinner! Question though- with events such as these, are allowances made for food allergies- and preferences? (And no, I'm not saying no carbs, but I do have allergies and do not eat red meat/pork for specific health reasons.)

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Hello all, first time poster but long time lurker, and very curious about this dinner! Question though- with events such as these, are allowances made for food allergies- and preferences? (And no, I'm not saying no carbs, but I do have allergies and do not eat red meat/pork for specific health reasons.)

Hi Brett Ashley! Nice to make your acquaintance.

The answer to your question is: It depends on the event. In some cases, there is flexibility in the menu, in others, not so much. Often, the menu is a surprise and is not revealed until the diners are seated at the tables. You may be able to check via PM with the organizer(s) to see if this event would be acceptable given your dietary restrictions. If it is not, then wait for more event announcements, and perhaps one will be right for you. Or, perhaps you might want to volunteer to organize an event that would match your requirements. I think you can check with Hillvalley or Crackers about doing that.

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Hello all, first time poster but long time lurker, and very curious about this dinner! Question though- with events such as these, are allowances made for food allergies- and preferences? (And no, I'm not saying no carbs, but I do have allergies and do not eat red meat/pork for specific health reasons.)
Hi Brett Ashley! Nice to make your acquaintance.

The answer to your question is: It depends on the event. In some cases, there is flexibility in the menu, in others, not so much. Often, the menu is a surprise and is not revealed until the diners are seated at the tables. You may be able to check via PM with the organizer(s) to see if this event would be acceptable given your dietary restrictions. If it is not, then wait for more event announcements, and perhaps one will be right for you. Or, perhaps you might want to volunteer to organize an event that would match your requirements. I think you can check with Hillvalley or Crackers about doing that.

The short answer is PM or email me and we will see what we can work out. For a slightly more detailed answer click here.

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Just a couple of more days and we'll announce the next dinner. It's a little different than most events we have had in the past and promises to be a very special event.

This time around we are trying to arrange payment through the venue so stay tuned for details. The following is from our Events FAQ.

Reservation and Cancellation Policy:

1. Receipt of payment is your reservation. Early payment is the easiest and quickest way to reserve your spot.

2. Payment must be received at least 10 days before the event. If payment is not received by then and you have not contacted hillvalley you automatically forfeit your spot.

3. Refunds are guaranteed if you cancel more than 72 hours before an event.

4. If you cancel within 72 hours of an event payment will only be returned if hillvalley is able to fill your spot.

a. Please do not try to fill your spot on your own. Hillvalley keeps a waiting list of other members who would like to attend the event. In order to keep things as fair as possible she will contact the next person on the list.

Answers to random questions:

Q: Why do you require prepayment?

A: When a chef agrees to put on a dinner for DonRockwell.com he or she assumes they will take in a predetermined amount of revenue. Paying ahead of time ensures that the chef will receive the money they expect even if you do not show.

Q: What if I have dietary restrictions?

A: Please let hillvalley know as soon as possible if you have dietary restrictions that are because of allergies or religious beliefs. She will contact the chef and see what accommodations can be made. Usually chefs are able to tweak the menu so that your restrictions are met, but this is not a guarantee.

Q: How many guests can I bring?

A: Each member is allowed to bring one guest when an event has a waiting list. If you know someone who would like to participate in an event all they need to do is register with www.DonRockwell.com. If an event is not full and you would like to bring more than one guest let hillvalley know. We ask couples who are both members to sign up only once. If an event goes to lottery this is they only way to ensure that the lottery is fair.

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I'm excited to announce the next dr.com event: a special "Highlight Film" dinner personally cooked by Gerard Pangaud at L'Academie de Cuisine. When Gerard received his second Michelin star for his Paris restaurant Gerard Pangaud, he was the youngest Michelin two-star chef in the history of France [Chef, I know you don't want people to keep saying that, but tough! :P ]

We've been working on this dinner with Gerard for quite awhile now, and it's going to be a fantastic meal. Limited to 36 seats, all the cooking will be done in L'Academie's professional demonstration kitchen where you'll actually watch Gerard prepare the meal.

Soup of Salsifis and Black Truffle (!), Flan of Foie Gras

Rockfish with "Four Spices" and jus de vin rouge, Potatoes sauteed in Duck Fat [Gerard made me this dish a year ago, and it absolutely blew me away, so he decided to include it here.]

Seven Hour Leg of Lamb with Lentils from Le Puy

Mango Tart Tatin Caramelized with Ginger with a Coulis of Passion Fruit [This is Gerard's signature dessert - I first had it over ten years ago at the Ritz Carlton in Pentagon City, and I swore up and down it was the greatest dessert I had ever eaten.]

Wine pairings will be provided by the excellent local importer Laurent Givry of Elite Wines, Inc.

The total price for the meal, all-inclusive, is $125.

In a "normal" restaurant, this would work out to $65 for the food (including black truffle!), $30 for the wines, $10 for the tax, and $20 for the tip.

I talked with Gerard about accomodating people not wishing to drink wine. He wrote me, and said, "I will celebrate my 10th anniversary of sobriety on January 23rd and I understand very well the problem... Many times a bottle of passion fruit juice or apricot is as expensive as wine." So he'll be preparing special non-alcoholic drinks, but the price will remain $125 (and Gerard will need a total count of the non wine drinkers in advance in order to prepare the beverages).

The dinner will take place at L'Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, one mile from Exit 8 (Shady Grove Road) off of I-270. No doubt people will organize car pools, so we can coordinate that later. Time is TBA, but will surely begin at a "normal" dinner hour.

Send hillvalley a PM as soon as possible to request a reservation, along with how many people total you wish to bring. Please remember to include your real name in the PM. Depending on how many people wish to attend, we may need to limit this to one guest per member, and perhaps institute a lottery system.

Cheers!

Rocks

P.S. For new members, click here to read Gerard's fascinating chat that he had with us one year ago.

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I have responded to all of the PM requests I have received. Please note that at this point no one is gauranteed a spot for the dinner. As bilrus put it, you're adding your name to the hat.

If there is enough interest we will add a second date. If not we will use the lottery system. With the lottery system everyone is assigned a number and then Rocks uses a random number generator program thingy to determine who the lucky winners are.

In the mean time please do not send me any money or credit card information.

Please read the FAQ before asking any questions about how the event will be run. Thanks!

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I just wanted to bump this up to make sure that no one has missed the announcement. I will continue to take names until Wednesday evening. If enough people sign up we might be able to do two evenings so everyone will be able to participate. Keep those reservations coming :P

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Good News!!! We are adding a second night, Saturday, February 10th. This means that everyone who has signed up will be able to join us. All I need to know is which date you prefer.

In your topic line of your PM to me please put which date you would prefer and then the same info in the body of your PM.

If you have signed up but not heard from me you are in, just let me know which date!

Around 10 additional spots have opened up so it is still not too late.

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Thanks to everyone who got back to me so quickly about your date preference. Right now I am two people over on the 3rd, so if you can switch I would appreciate it.

If you are just finding this, there is still room for the 10th. Just shoot me a PM (personal message) and let me know.

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Below are the lists for each night. Please make sure I have you down for the correct night and number of guests. Right now the 3rd has room for two more people and the 10th has room for 18. Payment information will be sent out in the next few days.

*Please note that the numbers posted are not complete lists. Some members have asked that I keep their attendance private.

February 3rd

banco

dinwiddie

Gary Tanigawa

mdt

MeMc

ustreetguy

agm +1

collijie +1

dcdavidm +1

DiningInFrederick +1

goldenticket +1

lackadaisi +1

moniquedc

rkduggins +1

saycheese +1

Waitman +1

wcferg +1

February 10th

gnatharobed +1

Barbara +1

bilrus +1

MMM +1

nashman

porcupine +1

purplesachi +1

tfbrennan +1

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PayPal emails and PM's have been sent out. If you have never attended a formal dinner like this on DonRockwell.com you should have received a PM from me explaining what to do. If you have not heard from me at all please PM me asap.

Normally I send reminders and hunt people down for their payment. I do not have the time to do that this time. Pay asap. Excuses won't cut it this time (cough cough those of you who live on U street).

Let me know if you have any questions.

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Folks, we need 6 more people for the February 10th dinner. So who's in? Send me a PM, please.

Cheers,

Rocks.

P.S. Have you seen how much black-truffle costs this year? Ouch!

I'm excited to announce the next dr.com event: a special "Highlight Film" dinner personally cooked by Gerard Pangaud at L'Academie de Cuisine. When Gerard received his second Michelin star for his Paris restaurant Gerard Pangaud, he was the youngest Michelin two-star chef in the history of France [Chef, I know you don't want people to keep saying that, but tough! :lol: ]

We've been working on this dinner with Gerard for quite awhile now, and it's going to be a fantastic meal. Limited to 36 seats, all the cooking will be done in L'Academie's professional demonstration kitchen where you'll actually watch Gerard prepare the meal.

Soup of Salsifis and Black Truffle (!), Flan of Foie Gras

Rockfish with "Four Spices" and jus de vin rouge, Potatoes sauteed in Duck Fat [Gerard made me this dish a year ago, and it absolutely blew me away, so he decided to include it here.]

Seven Hour Leg of Lamb with Lentils from Le Puy

Mango Tart Tatin Caramelized with Ginger with a Coulis of Passion Fruit [This is Gerard's signature dessert - I first had it over ten years ago at the Ritz Carlton in Pentagon City, and I swore up and down it was the greatest dessert I had ever eaten.]

Wine pairings will be provided by the excellent local importer Laurent Givry of Elite Wines, Inc.

The total price for the meal, all-inclusive, is $125.

In a "normal" restaurant, this would work out to $65 for the food (including black truffle!), $30 for the wines, $10 for the tax, and $20 for the tip.

I talked with Gerard about accomodating people not wishing to drink wine. He wrote me, and said, "I will celebrate my 10th anniversary of sobriety on January 23rd and I understand very well the problem... Many times a bottle of passion fruit juice or apricot is as expensive as wine." So he'll be preparing special non-alcoholic drinks, but the price will remain $125 (and Gerard will need a total count of the non wine drinkers in advance in order to prepare the beverages).

The dinner will take place at L'Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, one mile from Exit 8 (Shady Grove Road) off of I-270. No doubt people will organize car pools, so we can coordinate that later. Time is TBA, but will surely begin at a "normal" dinner hour.

Send hillvalley a PM as soon as possible to request a reservation, along with how many people total you wish to bring. Please remember to include your real name in the PM. Depending on how many people wish to attend, we may need to limit this to one guest per member, and perhaps institute a lottery system.

Cheers!

Rocks

P.S. For new members, click here to read Gerard's fascinating chat that he had with us one year ago.

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Something has come up in my other life and I will not be as available as I usually am. If you have any questions please either post them here or direct them to Rocks, crackers or mktye. They'll be able to help you or get to me.

Thank you to everyone who has taken care of their payment so quickly. Hopefully tonight I will be able to get back to you to let you know that I got your payment.

Thanks for your understanding and patience.

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I talked with Gerard and we're going to cancel the dinner on the 10th, but he said there's room for all 13 people who signed up on the 10th to come on the 3rd. So ... I'll need to hear from those 13 by tonight if they can make it this Saturday. Hillvalley is super-busy right now, so please PM me today and let me know your availability. She'll still be handling all the pay-pal stuff, but I'm trying to get a head count for Gerard. Cheers, Rocks.

Cocktails and Champagne at 6 PM

Dinner at 7 PM

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Here's the final list for the dinner. Gerard needs to order the food today, so no changes!

Please Email hillvalley TODAY and let her know whether or not you'll be drinking wine - I think Gerard also needs to order stuff for the non-wine drinkers. Thanks, Rocks.

*I've added drink preferences next to your name. Let me know if I have it listed wrong. W-Wine, N-Nonalcoholic

agm +1 (WW)

banco (W)

Barbara +1 (WW)

collijie +1 (W)

dcdavidm +1 (WW)

DiningInFrederick +1 (WW)

dinwiddie (W)

Gary Tanigawa (W)

gnatharobed +1 (WN)

goldenticket +1 (WW)

lackadaisi +1 (WW)

MeMc (W)

MMM +1 (WW)

moniquedc (W)

Mrs. B (W)

nashman1975 (W)

porcupine +1 (WN)

purplesachi+1 (WW)

rkduggins +1 (WW)

saycheese +1(WW)

ustreetguy (W)

wcferg +1 (WW)

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The Shady Grove metro is not too far from there. Certainly too far to walk, but if somebody else attending were willing to pick you up at the metro and drop you off, you would be in good shape. I have no sense of whether there are regularly taxis at that metro stop (sometimes there are). I think it's very unlikely that there is a bus line that is evenly vaguely direct from the shady grove metro to L'academie.

You could always try plugging the relevant data into wmata.com--I've found their website to be very easy to navigate and helpful.

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Please Email hillvalley TODAY and let her know whether or not you'll be drinking wine - I think Gerard also needs to order stuff for the non-wine drinkers. Thanks, Rocks.
I need the beverage choices of the following people. I apologize if you have already sent them.
bilrus

goldenticket

colliej

DiningInFrederick

ustreetguy (who should be holding his head in shame)

Dinwiddie

wcferg

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Is there any form of public transportation that would work to get to the dinner?
From L'Academie's web site -

By Metro:

L'Academie de Cuisine is located 1 mile from the Shady Grove Road Metro Station (Red line). Take bus #43 or #63. Get off at the intersection of Shady Grove Road and Gaither Road and walk one long block to Industrial Drive. Make a right at the stop sign. Walk into the first driveway on your left, which is our parking lot. Enter the first door on your right.

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From L'Academie's web site -

By Metro:

L'Academie de Cuisine is located 1 mile from the Shady Grove Road Metro Station (Red line). Take bus #43 or #63. Get off at the intersection of Shady Grove Road and Gaither Road and walk one long block to Industrial Drive. Make a right at the stop sign. Walk into the first driveway on your left, which is our parking lot. Enter the first door on your right.

FWIW: The #63 bus gets you almost to the front door, going all the way to Industrial Drive. In the cold, that is one very "long block" (seems like a quarter mile) that you'll have to walk from where the #43 bus lets you off at Gaither Road. The #63 stops running earlier, though, so not an option on the way back.
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We're not being nice to Larry until he pays his paypal.

You can be nice to Larry again....he finally paid :lol:

Don't know about the dress code. I'll let you know when I find out.

Thanks to everyone who responded so quickly and for all of the background help I had with this one. I wouldn't have been able to pull it off with those of you behind the scenes.

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Here's the new final list with drink preferences.

W-Wine, N-Nonalcoholic

agm +1 (WW)

banco (W)

Barbara +1 (WW)

collijie +1 (W)

dcdavidm +1 (WW)

DiningInFrederick +1 (WW)

dinwiddie (W)

Gary Tanigawa (W)

gnatharobed +1 (WN)

goldenticket +1 (WW)

lackadaisi +1 (WW)

MeMc (W)

MMM +1 (WW)

moniquedc (W)

Mrs. B (W)

nashman1975 (W)

porcupine +1 (WN)

purplesachi+1 (WW)

rkduggins +1 (WW)

saycheese +1(WW)

tfbrennan+1 (WW)

ustreetguy (W)

wcferg +1 (WW)

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