My husband and I celebrated 30 years of wedded bliss (preceded by 5 years of living in proverbial 1970s sin -- as my younger son put it, "you couldn't have done it without me!") this past week....12/22. We dined at a remarkable restaurant called Alinea. We had been invited to a publication event for the chef's cookbook in the fall and because of that kind inviter we wangled our way, on short notice, to a res at a place that requires...long notice, or whatever it's called.
(aside: It was the coldest night on record when we went to Alinea. Ok, I exaggerate, but it was very cold. Of course, the warmth of the evening and the people who made it interesting more than made up for it. ha! I'm lying when I say that. It was too cold and I wanted to stay home. Still, I was cajoled and wheedled into going despite the cold and I'm glad I was. Because otherwise I would never have heard the end of it.)
So. We stepped down a lavender hallway, and turned to the left as elevator style doors opened and admitted us to what immediately felt like the innermost sanctum of all sanctums. Each dark-suited person in the entry greeted us graciously, but quietly and specifically non-pretentiously. Our coats were stowed and we were led to a corner table in a beautifully understated room accented by a large overstated (but not in a bad way) flower arrangement.
I can remember some of the names of those who attended to our sojourn over the next 4 hours, but not all. Colleen I do remember as she seemed to be in charge, and Robert was the sommelier. He wore shoes that pointed up at the toes like those of an elf, which I found to be delightfully seasonal. He may wear lace up sandals at Easter, or carry a shillelagh in March, I don't know. But I will say, he is one of the few men I have encountered who could pull that off. His imaginative hair and the pointy shoes were a wonderful match. I liked him.
I liked him even more when he brought us champagne. But first another fellow arrived table side with a little honeycomb wedged into a stainless square cylinder (what? can that be what that's called? I was terrible in geometry), which he described as the centerpiece and which he suggested we not touch but rather focus on anticipating the part it would play in the unfolding food experience ahead of us. I giggled a little, I'll admit it. I'm pretty down to earth.
So, champagne... Henriot 'Souverain" Brut, Champagne NV. I was not familiar, but I wouldn't mind the opportunity to become so.
I toasted my husband of lo! these thirty years.
See the honeycomb thing? Wait, now I realize this was before the champagne arrived. Hold on...
Ok. This is dark, because I never read the manual that came with my camera, but I think you can see he is holding a glass and saying something like, "Up yours! 30 more years!"
Then the food bonanza began. I intended to photographically capture each of the 25 (?!) courses, but I invariably started eating, or just as often finished eating, before I thought oh hey! I should have taken a picture. Following are pics of some of what we ate. At the end I'll list what we drank, too. It was quite an evening!
I have gone through the pics and now realize I pretty much have no idea which is which for most of them. The food didn't look like anything one would immediately recognize. That was the point! So just appreciate these as "art"( humor me), and if I have anything to add in the way of description, I certainly will do so.
This may have been Grapefruit, parsnip, licorice,
ginger.
I used the washroom, after making a lame joke to the adorably tolerant Colleen about not really needing a 'rest'.
And I grabbed a gander at the kitchen, which is right out there for everyone to see and is filled with millions ( I think that's not an exaggeration) of staff and sous chefs and whatnot.
