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Ray's The Steaks Dinner, Mon Dec 5th, 7 PM


hillvalley

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Wine, scotch, more wine, water, more wine, cognac.......

Yes a few of us are less than our normal chippy selves

There was a little bit of wine drunk last night.

I got on the GW Parkway going in the wrong direction and didn't get home until 11:45. :lol: Thank goodness Emma's school had a delayed opening because there was NO WAY I could get her out the door by 7:45. :P

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I'd like to thank all of the original chosen people who dropped out, so that early rejects like me on the wait list could attend. It was great to finally meet Bilrus, after all of these years of reading his posts on Chowhound, Egullet and DR.com. And we had a great group of wine mavens at our table and the next one over, who brought wonderful wines and shared generously.

I don't think enough has been said about the crab bisque, which was the high point of the meal for me. Don't get me wrong, the steak (strip) was very, very good. Deep, beefy flavor with just enough char--beautiful grill marks, too. And perfectly medium rare. But the crab bisque was ambrosial. This dish had the smooth, luxurious consistency that can only be achieved with way too much manufacturing cream (higher butterfat content than ordinary heavy cream). And crab flavor in abundance-- I've had too many wimpy crab dishes that are lacking in crab flavor-- this soup had tons of flavor, and a very generous helping of crabmeat. Too bad Joe Heflin and Michael Landrum apparently can't be in the same room together, because Joe, who is the biggest crab fanatic I've ever met, would have absolutely loved this soup.

Kudos to Michael Landrum, who I have now decided to call "The Dervish" because of his amazing whirlwind physical feat of serving, bussing tables and taking care of the needs of more than fifty people by himself, and his powerfully intense focus while simultaneously engaging in good natured banter with his guests. His performance was almost superhuman-- he filled the room with the most appealing kind of male energy. All I can say is-- Michael, I regret that I'm married, monogamous and too old for you...

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Thank you to Michael and his staff for cooking and hosting, Don and Hill for organizing and beating back the jealous hordes, and God for making the roads drivable well after we exceeded the 90-minute limit.

I have to second the accolades for the crab bisque, which is always a favorite of mine at Ray's, but last night tasted its best and seemed to have more crab than its predecessors.

The highlight for me, though, was being able to taste the many offerings that I would usually forego in order to have enough room for all of my steak -- Michael's deviled eggs, which until now had been the stuff of legend, and deservedly so; the scallops with just the right amount of heat (were they dusted with the same rub as the el diablo?); two versions of scampi; and of course the key lime pie. Like bilrus said, there is more going here than just the steak, which alone could turn a man to tears, especially if he's been drinking a lot of Glen Garioch 15.

Hillvalley in 2008!

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Simply amazing! Thanks to everyone who made the night so much fun - from DR & HillValley for setting it up, to Michael for being one of the most affable hosts I've encountered, to my fellow gluttons at the table of 8 who covered all manner of dinner conversation topics that made me laugh to the point of tears. The only thing that would have made the night better would have been a foot of snow blocking in my car this morning!

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Simply amazing!  Thanks to everyone who made the night so much fun - from DR & HillValley for setting it up, to Michael for being one of the most affable hosts I've encountered

Chef Landrum must have an identical twin brother helping him out because there is no way he could have been grilling and cooking and plating and pouring and taking orders and serving and bussing and hosting 52 of us all at the same time and have everything turn out so beautifully. Thank you Michael and staff, Rocks and Hillvalley. And thank all of you who braved the weather to come to a dr.com event for the first time - you all made the evening much more fun!

Here's what the trimmings from 52 steaks looks like (warning - if you don't like red meat, do not open this up):

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And Chef in the relative calm before the storm. Now that is the look of confidence.

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The devilishly delicious eggs were a surprise treat:

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And perfect strip steak with creamed spinach:

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I also want to thank my "beau" for the beautiful wrist corsage :lol: - the bouquet of roses and jasmine complemented the wines beautifully.

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Edited by crackers
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Finally, I have a break in my work to chime in! I would like to add to the ranks of admirers my thanks for a wonderful evening...to DR, Hillvalley (she is wonderwoman personified), my tablemates, and a special thank you to Michael for seamlessly doing what he does best.

My only regret is that I did not get to talk with more people, and would liked to have had nametags to help me remember screen names with faces. (note to self....)

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Here are some leftover thoughts from Monday night:

Donrocks may be right that Michael Landrum is "a tormented genius." But to me it appeared more likely that he was in a four-hour religious trance -- the tipoff was his beatific smile.

There was a woman at my table who had called in advance to say that she was allergic to garlic. Michael took note of her location, carefully omitted the soup, the scampi and the salad and brought her absolutely lovely substitutions -- assorted shellfish and a carefully prepared garlic-free salad that obviously had taken time to assemble. To the prodigious feat of remembering the steak doneness everyone had ordered, there was this extra complication. But he didn't break stride with either.

At the end, people who had leftover hunks of meat were provided with plastic cartons, and invited to slosh in copious amounts of mashed potatoes, creamed spinach and mushrooms. I did not avail myself of this opportunity since I could not imagine ever being hungry again.

I thought there were 40 places up for grabs. How did we get to 52?

Am I correct in thinking that the original charity was a cancer thing, rather than an education thing? Not that it would have made any difference to us grateful diners.

Those of us in the far-end kitchen table couldn't hear the speeches at the front. It didn't seem to matter at the moment. But did we miss something?

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Here are some leftover thoughts from Monday night:

I thought there were 40 places up for grabs.  How did we get to 52?

Am I correct in thinking that the original charity was a cancer thing, rather than an education thing?  Not that it would have made any difference to us  grateful diners.

Those of us in the far-end kitchen table couldn't hear the speeches at the front. It didn't seem to matter at the moment. But did we miss something?

Chef Landrum was nice enough to add extra seats (see previous posts in this thread) - and the change in choice of charity was also noted in a previous post in this thread. It is a shame you could not hear Jacques and hillvalley's gracious toasts - to Chef and his staff, hillvalley for her prodigious planning and organizational skills and, of course "To Rocks!" (which I am positive even the most hard of hearing could have heard from across the street.) Hillvalley also described the charity and its efforts, and I'm sure if you ask, she would be happy to give you any information you'd like.

Edited by crackers
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