Le Chef's Kitchen

Last weekend I had the  amazing opportunity to go to California to put together a cocktail menu and tend bar for a private party in Lafayette, CA, just across the bay from San Francisco.  If you read my last post, you will remember that Michelle Edmunds took the wonderful photos of the dinner party that Sous Chef Jeff and I catered on Cape Cod.  Apparently my cocktails that night were impressive (or potent) enough to convince the Edmunds to fly me out to San Francisco to be their bartender for a party they were throwing at their home.  How could I possibly say no?

"Slightly Stormy", Photo courtesy of Michelle Edmunds

I flew out of Boston and landed late on Thursday night in San Francisco.  Other than a few snags with the Super Shuttle driver getting lost, despite his GPS, the trip was uneventful.  For a man who could barely speak English, he certainly knew lots of  American swear words.

I woke up, went for a nice run, a little bit of a swim, and then proceeded to set up the bar.  Here is the cocktail menu that I put together:

The raspberry mojitos I made the week before were the main attraction.  The party was catered by a local Mexican restaurant, so we went with margaritas in addition to the mojitos.  I threw on two more rum cocktails with ginger beer to round out the drinks menu. The “Slightly Stormy” is of course a take on the traditional “Dark N Stormy”, just made with light rum instead of dark rum, and the Texicali sling is a riff on NYC bar Back Forty’s Louisaida Sling.

Photo Courtesy of Michelle Edmunds

There were of course a number of delicious California red wines.

Photo Courtesy of Michelle Edmunds

There were going to be 40 guests at the party, so I had some major prep and bar organization to do.  I made up two pitchers of mojitos along with two pitchers of margaritas, and set up the bar.

Here is the clock that is hanging behind the bar.  It’s my new favorite clock.

The party was a great success.  The raspberry mojitos turned out to be the big seller that night, and I went through two full pitchers.  I think that after a few people had them, the word spread and everyone wanted one.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and I had a lot of fun.

The day after the party I went to see friends in town, got in some sailing, and ate great food.  I cooked dungeoness crab for the first time (see my post on that here) and generally had a very pleasant weekend.

On Saturday, walking to the park with my friend Tommy, I came across this:

No, I did not buy it.  I had heard that this was a popular drink in Mexico, but I had no idea that Budweiser had jumped on the bandwagon and had actually started producing it.  And in a convenient 24-oz size, to boot.  I mean, come on.  Beer, tomato, and CLAM juice.  I guess I shouldn’t knock it until I try it, but if I’m going to do it I’m going to make my own, not buy it prepackaged from Budweiser.  Also, people who buy Bud Light Lime because they are too lazy to cut up a lime and put REAL FRUIT in their beer instead of artificial lime flavor deserve to get drunk on it and wander into traffic, because we don’t need them.

I also wandered past an In-N-Out burger, whose delicacies I had never tasted before.  Having heard that the “double double” is somewhat of a legend, I decided to stop in.

When I walked in and saw a “double double” (double meat, double cheese) in person, I knew that there was no way I could eat one.  Instead I ordered  single cheeseburger, just to get a taste of it.  That single cheeseburger took over 15 minutes to be served to me.  Not exactly fast food…but I have to say, it was tasty.  The toasted bun was the highlight, and aside from that it really wasn’t all that different from a McDonald’s or Burger King burger.  The secret sauce was basically Big Mac sauce.  I’m sure that diehard In-N-Out burger fans will threaten my life after saying these things, but that’s too bad.

In other “culinary” news, here is a picture of a guy selling chocolate truffles in Mission Dolores park.  He had four different flavors, all handmade, and all a little “enhanced” with “extra special”  ingredients.  At least that’s what I heard.  We were just relaxing in the park, enjoying the weather, and within 15 minutes we had been approached by people selling beer, jello shots, “brownie bites”, and of course…the truffle guy.

His presentation was definitely a step above everyone else’s, so I had to snap a picture.

On a final note, my friend Kirsten and I ate dinner and drank wine at a restaurant called A16 in the marina district.  It was exxxxcelllent.  The best burrata I have ever had, delicious wines, and these amazing grilled peppers.  If you live in San Francisco, or ever go to visit, I highly recommend it.

-LeChef