ELJOGAHA: December 2008

I know it may seem a little crazy to travel 6.5 hours for one dinner and turn around and come back but this dinner was definitely worth ever moment and penny. I can't thank John, Karen and Sean enough for the great meal. I was of course camera less but I will try to recap as best as possible: and hopefully Tyler will post some photos soon

The Amuse was a Scallop, Banana, Bottarga, Pineapple and Dashi which was made up of a slightly warmed scallop and Dashi, pineapple foams and banana puree. The subtlety of this dish was really outstanding. All the flavors stood out on there own and were very complementary of the scallops.

Chicken Liver, tart apple, Hazelnut, Cocoa this was one of our tables favorites and had a very interesting technique that Sean shared with us. They froze hazelnuts with liquid nitrogen then sent them through the juicer with a blank plate, Making a hazelnut butter without heating the nuts, then turned that into little pebbles with maltodextrin. Really cool looking and tasting the chicken liver mousse was really outstanding as well and cheap:)

Candied Yam, Trout Roe Quince Braised in beer, tapioca and ginger kimchi. It was really fun watching everyone take apart there plates and try and find all the different flavors. Definitely check out the photos of this on John and Karen's Blog. This was paired with Saporo which was a great pairing.

Chorizo Bouillon with Various Spanish influences. Another one of the tables favorites, a lightly seasoned chorizo broth with Cheese Gnocchis, using Kuzu Starch and Manchego??(can't remember the cheese), Sherry jelly, Egg Yolk and Cuttlefish. So good I only wish I could have gotten more out of the bowl there seemed to be a tablespoon of broth that would not be gotten.

This course was followed by maybe my favorite of the evening Confit of Squab with rootbeer, Golden egg, thai basil. Perfectly cooked squab accompanied by all the flavors of root beer including a great little wintergreen berry that could have stood alone as flavors of root beer. The golden egg is foie gras incased in sugar I wish there had been a little more of that. The pairing was a infused rum and rootbeer cocktail we liked this so much we asked for another round which may have sent some of us over the edge for the evening.

Also vieing for top honors was Sean's "Blackened" Short Rib, Probably would have taken top prize if he had played the song while we ate it. This was cut with a spoon tender short rib served with various truffle purees, Truffle Saba and Black trumpet Mushrooms. I have never eaten a short rib as tender as this one it was coated in vegetable ash which I had seen before but never eaten, it was outstanding.

Dessert Crispy Milk Bubbles with toasted milk, Crickle and Nutmeg. Ended the dinner on a very subtle note just as it had started. I have to say that I really don't like Brittle but I love Crickle this was the first time I have had Crickle and I was loving it. None of the stick in your teethness of brittle.

Finally truffles with puffed rice of which Tyler couldn't get enough.

Thanks to all that made this meal happen and for letting us poke around the kitchens. Special thanks to Travis for the extended tour. This meal was one of the best of my life so far and I can't wait to come and see John and Karen at Townhouse and to make the trip to Charleston again its a great town and Sean and his crew do a great job all around.