Resort food

February 7

Big food day. I had lunch at Bon Appétit magazine's private dining room, where Hubert Des Marais and Rémy Fünfrock, executive chef and executive pastry chef of the Four Seasons Resort in Palm Beach, were making lunch. Their publicists intended it to be an interactive affair and they handed all of us aprons as we arrived. None of us protested, but once Hubert demonstrated the salad for us they seemed to realize that we had no particular interest in expediting our own food, so they just sat us down and fed us. Gotta love publicists who think on their feet.

I was planning on going to the gym for once after work, but instead my colleague, Erica Duecy, talked me into going to the Beard House with her. But first we stopped by Fatty Crab for a drink. Erica had never been, and she's working on an article on the Meatpacking District, where it's located, so it made sense to stop by.
Coincidentally, eight or ten people from the Beard Foundation were there, having dinner. Erica and I split a ginger-infused beer and chatted briefly with the chef, Zak Pelaccio. He's hoping to have guest chefs DJ there with their own iPods on Monday nights. Stay tuned...

What I had for lunch:

Chilled lobster and alligator pear with swamp cabbage slaw (swamp cabbage is what they call hearts of palm in Florida), Swank Farms Tiny Herbs and tangerine vinaigrette
Florida Stone Crab Bisque with crab claw and Venezuelan añejo rum
Jupiter Island pompano and rock shrimp with southern okra-Scotch bonnet succotash and passion fruit
Smoked pineapple and mango tian with passion fruit mousseline and tropical rum fruit punch granité

What I had for dinner (prepared by Philippe Trosch, executive chef of the Ventana Room at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Ariz.):

Maine lobster beignets with tarragon infusion
Colorado lamb beignets with smoked eel and sake reduction
Gruyère beignets with cumin butter
Bay scallop beignets with sweet vinegar glaze
Beaulieu Vineyard Carneros Brut 2001, and a surprisingly good cocktail made from tequila and Champagne
Russian royal osetra caviar from petrovich with egg brouillade and brioche
Belvedere Vodka
Dry sausage and seafood in olive oil–infused tomato broth (basically a charcuterie plate
Beaulieu Vineyard Carneros Reserve Chardonnay 2003
Veal confit with cracklings, carpaccio of cèpes, and hazelnuts
Beaulieu Vineyard Carneros Reserve Pinot Noir 2003
Chocolate floating island
Beaulieu Vineyard Dulcet 2002