Fine dining
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After the wine tour we met friends, shopped, and when night fell headed back to Copia for the much anticipated dinner par excellence. We both ordered off the Local's Menu.
Sandy started with a Copia Green Salad: garden radish, cucumber tempura, Copia padron peppers, citrus vinaigrette. I got the Ham Hock Risotto: wild mushrooms, garden mustard greens, Parmesan Reggiano, port reduction. Served on a bigger plate, it could have been a meal all by itself.
My buddy brought a '95 Groth cabernet for the event, but our chef's VIP treatment began right away with complimentary sparkling wine. Between each course, she had arranged for us a delightful amuse bouche to clear or tempt the palate for what was next. There were bite-size crostinis topped with a soft cheese, a drizzle of balsamic and a sprig of fresh herb. There were crunchy, baked cheese crusts. And before dessert, we got frosted shot glasses of house-made Orange Julius.
But, I'm getting ahead of myself. The main course lived up to its title. Sandy got the Oven Roasted Don Watson Lamb Shoulder: marjoram spaetzle, sauteed squash and peppers, violet mustard jus. There is such an artisanal approach to everything up there, that even the way ranchers raise their livestock garners them name recognition on a menu. I had the Pan Roasted Fulton Valley Farms Chicken Breast: Phipps gigande beans, grilled garden onions, Copia braising greens.
Dinner may have been the main course, but dessert was definitely the main event. The chef-liness of confection attained a level I don't think I have experienced anywhere else. My Pan Fried Bread Pudding arrived atop an apple confit and sat sidesaddle with a generous dollop of cinnamon cream. It was a layered evolution of tastes and textures. Soft, tart apple gave way to dense bread pudding fried with just the right crispy edges, all of which eventually melted down your throat on a slick of cinnamon cream. It was as though each spoonful had been loaded, Jack-in-the-box-like with flavor, so that bite after bite sprang open in your mouth, each one no less a surprise than the last.
Sandy fared no worse. She was allowed to poach her selection from the Chef's Tasting Menu, a Peanut Butter-Milk Chocolate Gianduja: peanut-honeycomb parfait, milk chocolate sorbet. At this point I'll just have to defer to the time-worn cliche that a picture is worth a thousand words: [Click] Unparalleled sums it up in a word. If you ever get the chance to experience the art of Chef Nicole Plue...take it.
[the last day to come]
After the wine tour we met friends, shopped, and when night fell headed back to Copia for the much anticipated dinner par excellence. We both ordered off the Local's Menu.
Sandy started with a Copia Green Salad: garden radish, cucumber tempura, Copia padron peppers, citrus vinaigrette. I got the Ham Hock Risotto: wild mushrooms, garden mustard greens, Parmesan Reggiano, port reduction. Served on a bigger plate, it could have been a meal all by itself.
My buddy brought a '95 Groth cabernet for the event, but our chef's VIP treatment began right away with complimentary sparkling wine. Between each course, she had arranged for us a delightful amuse bouche to clear or tempt the palate for what was next. There were bite-size crostinis topped with a soft cheese, a drizzle of balsamic and a sprig of fresh herb. There were crunchy, baked cheese crusts. And before dessert, we got frosted shot glasses of house-made Orange Julius.
But, I'm getting ahead of myself. The main course lived up to its title. Sandy got the Oven Roasted Don Watson Lamb Shoulder: marjoram spaetzle, sauteed squash and peppers, violet mustard jus. There is such an artisanal approach to everything up there, that even the way ranchers raise their livestock garners them name recognition on a menu. I had the Pan Roasted Fulton Valley Farms Chicken Breast: Phipps gigande beans, grilled garden onions, Copia braising greens.
Dinner may have been the main course, but dessert was definitely the main event. The chef-liness of confection attained a level I don't think I have experienced anywhere else. My Pan Fried Bread Pudding arrived atop an apple confit and sat sidesaddle with a generous dollop of cinnamon cream. It was a layered evolution of tastes and textures. Soft, tart apple gave way to dense bread pudding fried with just the right crispy edges, all of which eventually melted down your throat on a slick of cinnamon cream. It was as though each spoonful had been loaded, Jack-in-the-box-like with flavor, so that bite after bite sprang open in your mouth, each one no less a surprise than the last.
Sandy fared no worse. She was allowed to poach her selection from the Chef's Tasting Menu, a Peanut Butter-Milk Chocolate Gianduja: peanut-honeycomb parfait, milk chocolate sorbet. At this point I'll just have to defer to the time-worn cliche that a picture is worth a thousand words: [Click] Unparalleled sums it up in a word. If you ever get the chance to experience the art of Chef Nicole Plue...take it.
[the last day to come]