Camille-Beau

Hopefully this new show will be decent

Philippe Cousteau to Speak at Slow Food Sustainable Seafood Gala Slow Food America has invited AIWF members to join Ris Lacoste and five other great chefs at Agraria Restaurant for the Sustainable Seafood Gala which will benefit Slow Food's sustainable seafood initiatives. Jacques Costeau's grandson, Philippe, is carrying on a family tradition of educating the public that by making smart environmental choices as individuals, we can lead our friends and neighbors towards a brighter, more sustainable future. Philippe will be the featured speaker at this fabulous dinner. Agraria is located in Georgetown's Washington Harbour and is the first farmer-owned fine dining restaurant of its kind. AIWF members are invited to attend at the Slow Food member rates of $175 ($75 off the individual ticket price) and $250/couple ($100 off the couple ticket price). Link to http://www.slowfoodusa.org/events/seafood_gala.html for more information and ticket purchases. Look below for the menu. Monday, September 25, 2006 6:30pm at Agraria Restaurant Washington Harbour / Lower Georgetown 3000 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 A delicious five-course dinner will be prepared by six highly-acclaimed local chefs, led by Chef Barton Seaver at Café Saint-Ex, an advocate of sustainable food systems who actively promotes the use of eco-friendly ingredients within the culinary industry. The delicious menu and participating chefs include: Certified Organic Marine Shrimp from Florida prepared by Chef Barton Seaver, Café Saint-Ex Cured Marbled Salmon from Alaska with Heirloom Tomatoes drizzled with Armando Manni Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Japanese Sea Salt prepared by Chef Cathal Armstrong, Restaurant Eve Baked Cape May Salt Oysters with Moscato Zabaglione, Leek Fondue, Preserved Lemon and American Caviar prepared by Chef Todd Gray, Equinox Restaurant Seafood Stew with Mussels, Alaskan Spot Prawns and Massachusetts Barramundi in Pernod-Citrus Broth with Homemade Orange Aioli Prepared by Chef Ris Lacoste, previously with 1789 Pan-Seared Wild Striped Bass with Gruyere Cheese Potato Cake in Aged Sherry-Shallot Butter Sauce Prepared by Chef Robert Wiedmaier of Marcel's Assorted Cheeses provided by Cowgirl Creamery Concord Grapes with Prosecco Panna Cotta and Peanut Butter Biscotti prepared by Chef Robert Underwood, Agraria Restaurant Proceeds from this event will support Slow Food's sustainable seafood initiatives in the United States. Slow Food USA is a 501 ©3 nonprofit organization.

Thanks for the info Don. Sorry that Beau and I missed Saturday's event, but the donation link works just as well

Perhaps without your new in-laws...

Buffalo mozzarella, rosemary Italian bread, applewood smoked bacon and heirloom & Green Zebra tomatoes purchased today at Dupont Circle Farmer's Market -- all combined into a sandwich with sundried tomato mayo and Beau's homemade basil pesto and basil leaves then toasted to perfection. Yummy! -Camille

A new twist on the tuna appetizer tonight -- Blue Fin tuna sashimi with crispy beef tongue, housemade (and searingly hot!) mustard & garlic pickles. This dish is incredibly delicious -- very fresh, flavorful tuna with several unique textures and flavors. Loved the homemade pickles! Another favorite dish was the steak tartare, served with capers and pickled onions and topped with a quail egg. I kept stealing tastes of this from Beau and would return to 1789 just for this dish alone. Also loved the silky fois gras terrine which was paired with roasted pineapple and saturnes jam and the crabcake which appeared to be 100% crabmeat without any binder whatsoever. And those are just from the appetizer/second course options. The restaurant was packed at 9:30 when we arrived with lots of celebrations (birthdays/anniversaries) all around. It's great to see Nathan Beachamp's personal touch on the menu, from freshening up of old favorites to the addition of new, more modern creations. We look forward to a return visit very soon. -Camille

I find it amusing that Bistro Bis now has a cocktail called the "Segway Martini"

Beau and I have been there twice and I don't recall seeing a dog on either visit...

That's ok since I'm not concerned about the tax deduction Great idea -- I believe I'll do both. Beau and I are looking forward to the event itself in order to meet Sandhya Rao, the development officer in charge of coordinating it.

Just to clarify my position, I wasn't stating that I thought the DC event was horrendously expensive. I was merely pointing out that different types of events carry different price tags, from a $45 BBQ in NJ, to a $75 all-tomato dinner in CA, to the $250 Sustainable Seafood event in DC, to the $500 VIP tickets to the NY event. To quote from the Slow Food USA website: Slow Food U.S.A. is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to supporting and celebrating the food traditions of North America. From the spice of Cajun cooking to the purity of the organic movement; from animal breeds and heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables to handcrafted wine and beer, farmhouse cheeses and other artisanal products; these foods are a part of our cultural identity. They reflect generations of commitment to the land and devotion to the processes that yield the greatest achievements in taste. These foods, and the communities that produce and depend on them, are constantly at risk of succumbing to the effects of the fast life, which manifests itself through the industrialization and standardization of our food supply and degradation of our farmland. By reviving the pleasures of the table, and using our tastebuds as our guides, Slow Food U.S.A. believes that our food heritage can be saved.I'm very happy to support this event in DC next week and am appreciative of the time and effort donated by the participating chefs, even if only $1.00 of my ticket price goes toward this very important and beneficial group. -Camille

You mean like this one?:Fertile Ground October 5, 2006 6:30 pm Industria Superstudio, 775 Washington St., NYC Hosted by Marion Nestle, author of What to Eat and Food Politics, honoring Poppy Tooker, culinary activist, with the First Annual Carlo Petrini Leadership Award Reception and Dinner Menu created by Galen Zamarra of Mas(farmhouse) featuring foods from the Slow Food Ark of Taste as prepared by The Catering Company. Silent and Live Auction featuring artisan foods, sought-after wines and exciting excursions! Check back next week for a list of auction items available. Tickets are $250 per person. Tables for ten available. VIP tickets available for $500 per person, and include a private reception hosted by Carlo Petrini at 6:00 pm, premium seating with the evening's guests of honor, and acknowledgement in the Fertile Ground program. It also seems like many of the other less-expensive events are listed as BBQs/pig roasts with cash bars. Since you belong to Slow Food, perhaps you can find out how much of the cost goes to charity for these events and post that information.

Congratulations to you both on your engagement! Now you'll need to return to Eve each year on the same date to celebrate the occasion

Unfortunately dinner events that are benefits for a cause instead of just a regular dinner tend to cost more than average. Kinda like the $25 po' boys we all purchased at Acadiana to benefit the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, the $125 for Share Our Strength's Restaurant Relief Gala (also for the Katrina effort) and the $75/$200 Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation event to help eradicate childhood hunger. All very good causes I think and worth skipping a few other evenings out, perhaps, in order to pool the resources for these types of benefits.

Just a reminder of this upcoming event on Monday, September 25th at Agraria. The event chefs will be: Chef Robert Wiedmaier (Marcel's), Chef Cathal Armstrong (Restaurant Eve), Chef Todd Gray (Equinox), Chef Ricky Moore and Pastry Chef Robert Underwood (Agraria Restaurant). Hope to see you there!-Camille

Well ok then, I shall. For those of you who don't understand my post (and thanks for the IMs from those of you who do ), here ya go:A "dinner" typically consists of a main item (fish perhaps) and a side or two (chips perhaps). That would, of course, be more filling than one item alone. DLB's statement of "If not for the huge bag of those good French fries and the fried dough, I would have left hungry" leaves me with the more accurate but snarkier response of "Well, duh". [Jonathan, I wasn't directing this toward your post, just responding to DLB's ]

Thank goodness that the piece of tuna I had last night came with a salad or I would have left hungry. And Beau, thanks for serving side dishes with that roasted chicken last Sunday, otherwise that piece of chicken just wouldn't have been sufficient.

So, I thought it was about time to post a long-overdue update on the status of the farm, now named "Davon Crest II". David and Sharon Lankford recently hosted a tour of the new location to display their scientific methods for tracking information about the farm such as the water levels, fertilizer, temperature, humidity, etc. The irrigation process is setup with underground pipes that recyle the water used to help eliminate runoff into the Chesapeake watershed and to also take advantage of using the nutrients that would normally be washed away. The Star Democrat (local Easton paper) was in attendance and wrote this story: Davon_Crest_II_farm_tour.pdf The equipment is pretty cool. It includes weather stations setup in various locations around the farm with probes in the soil so that information can be checked via the internet from any location. David can even control the irrigation system remotely! Here are a few photos of the equipment and the farm: Tomatoes! and purple basil: More later!

FYI - Upcoming Slow Food USA event at Agraria (also posted in Media and News): Slow_Food_Sustainable_Seafood_Gala.pdfFinal_release_SlowFoodSeafoodGala_9.25.06.pdf ETA the link directly to registration for the event

Also on Agraria thread: Slow Food USA has announced it's first Sustainable Seafood Gala in Washington DC. Organized by Chef Barton Seaver with participation of several other local (and well-known) chefs. Details: Final_release_SlowFoodSeafoodGala_9.25.06.pdf Slow_Food_Sustainable_Seafood_Gala.pdf ETA the link directly to registration for the event

'Twas not a private party people -- it was a quiet opening. Big difference. No one crashed anything so let's all relax and just enjoy the fact that Eamonn's is now truly, officially and finally OPEN (at least for dinner. . . and without beer. . . for now ) -Camille

So why don't yis all just fook off

If you had been reading the board as mentioned, then you would have known Eamonn's would be open on Monday at 5pm. Anyone who saw post #54 on the Eamonn's thread would know it was opening. People who were dining at Eve were informed by staff of the pending opening. Anyone telephoning recently (and not in July) would know of the opening. So nothing "strange" "odd" or "suspicious" about it. No conspiracy here folks. And for the record, Sietsema got a lot wrong in many ways, including the 'party-crashing'. The 'chagrin of the owners' he mentions is likely due to Eamonn's happily welcoming more patrons than expected since they themselves did not advertise. It was all word-of-mouth, people walking in off the street on a MONDAY night (not typically a busy pedestrian-traffic night) or via this "blog" (just kidding Rocks!)-Camille

Thanks be to Cod indeed! While it's tough to beat a shot of a deep-fried Milky Way, these slighty blurry photos should give you some idea of how the new place looks: A picture window of Rockwellians: Cathal and Dustin: and the party winds down. . . Congratulations to everyone for a great 'quiet' opening and a special thanks to Cathal for doing all the cooking himself and to Todd for the 'lemonade'

Interesting article to read if you plan on dining at a restaurant called 'Conundrum' in Boston

On Saturday night, I did see a vat of home-made ketchup -- that is, ketchup that contains no corn syrup or other bad stuff -- slowly simmering away in the Restaurant Eve kitchen. Chef says he plans to can it and then use it "shortly" at Eamonn's. I wonder what that means??? -Beau