Teatro ZinZanni (food & theater) and Thanksgiving
If I count Thanksgiving from sunset to sunset as we do days on the Jewish calendar, then my Thanksgiving festivities began with last night's excursion with oldmangrumpus.
OMGrumpus invited me to be his guest for his company's holiday shindig. It's a small company, maybe 7 people, and so the boss treated the whole team to a night out at Teatro ZinZanni, the one true dinner theater venue in the Seattle area--but don't be put off by the phrase "dinner theater." This isn't community theater with a cafeteria. This is caberet, comedy, and circus arts accompanied by a five-course gourmet meal created by Tom Douglas, the chef behind some of Seattle's most remarkable restaurants.
For my foodie friends, here's the menu we enjoyed. I also ordered the wine flight, a half-glass to accompany each course:
Appetizer: Lightly whipped herbed Goat Cheese Mouse, smoked Black Cod offered with Toast, accompanied by Pickled Grapes and Marcona Almonds.
* Wine:Rive Della Chiesa Frizzante Prosecco, Colli Trevigiana, Italy
* Notes: I was a sucker for the goat cheese and the cod, but the big surprise for me here were the pickled grapes. I'd never had such a thing before. The pickling keeps the grapes firm but changes their color and adds a zing I totally didn't expect. The wine, unfortunately, was served some minutes after we'd finished eating the appetizer, so I lost the opportunity to get the complete flavor experience. Still, I'll never complain about a nice glass of Prosecco.
Soup: Creamy roasted Butternut Squash puree with carmelized onions, served with curry sour cream and toasted pumpkin seeds.
* Wine: O'Reilly's Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley, WA '07
* Notes: Almost a bisque, this thick soup was a seasonal pleasure, and the curry sour cream gave it a little hot tartiness that was delicious. The toasted pumpkin seeds, of which I found only one in my bowl, were really lost, and I'm not sure what their purpose was. I ate the soup slowly and savored it. The wine was a nice counterpoint, a sweetness that cut the ever-so-mild saltiness enough to create a lovely even-ing of flavor.
Salad: Frisee and Spinach, bacon, maple molasses pecans with a sherry vinaigrette and dried Bing cherries.
* Wine: P. Ferraud & Fils Beaujolais-Villages, Les Merrains, France '07
* Notes: If the meal could be said to have a weak link, the salad course was it. I just didn't find it terribly special--though those maple molasses pecans were to die for. The wine for this course was completely lost on me which, I'm sure, is a shame, but I think I was also, by this point, fairly engrossed in the show, too.
Entree: Beef Tenderloin slow roasted to medium rare served with Syrah Jam, Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans. (The menu offered two other options--Artic Char or Mushroom Strata--but I was in the mood for beef).
* Wine: R Stuart Bi Fire Pinot Noir, Oregon '07
* Notes: The beef was possibly the tenderest I've ever had. Lukewarm, I would have preferred it a little warmer but no matter--it was remarkably good, especially with the Syrah Jam which offered a grapey sweetness that was a delightful surprise. I could have enjoyed a whole glass of the Pinot with this.
Dessert: Chocolate orange Creme Mousse with White Chocolate wand.
* Wine: Quinta de la Rosa Tonel No. 12
* Notes: First time in a long time I can say with complete candor that a dessert was too rich for me. It was a small cup-sized hill of mousse and I ate perhaps half. Especially with the wine, it was delicious but a little overwhelming for me. It's entirely possible that I was, at that point, just overwhelmed by the whole meal.
I would, however, do it all over again in a heartbeat.
The entertainment was a sort of revue called "Beaumount & Caswell--Together Forever...Again!" Centered around the tempestuous, on-again off-again relationship between the flamboyant Clifton and the diva Vivi--a passionate, gender-confused pair if there ever was one, the show follows their negotiations for remarriage between outrageously, bodaciously costumed skits. They used audience members liberally (I'll never look at a panini sandwich the same way again). And between their skits, the audience was treated to songs performed by the smoky-voiced Francine Reed, contortions performed by Vita Radionova, arial gymnastics by Erika & Andrew (she'd had a baby in July and looked as lean as if the entire thing had never happened), and comedy and acrobatics by Les Petits Frere.
Though I enjoyed the Beaumount and Caswell stuff well enough, I think I enjoyed the circus arts performances almost more. Some of the B&C stuff felt a little forced to me, though I'm not sure why. Francine Reed sang her guts out; she was marvelous. And Erika & Andrew and Vita were all captivating.
Today was Thanksgiving with jackwilliambell at DVE's place: turkey, two kinds of stuffing, mashed potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower, peas, yams, cranberry sauce shaped like cans, gravy, two kinds of pie, dark chocolate pudding--all homemade. That girl can cook! Lovely evening--lots of food.
And now, I'm for bed. It promises to be a busy weekend, and I have miles to go....
OMGrumpus invited me to be his guest for his company's holiday shindig. It's a small company, maybe 7 people, and so the boss treated the whole team to a night out at Teatro ZinZanni, the one true dinner theater venue in the Seattle area--but don't be put off by the phrase "dinner theater." This isn't community theater with a cafeteria. This is caberet, comedy, and circus arts accompanied by a five-course gourmet meal created by Tom Douglas, the chef behind some of Seattle's most remarkable restaurants.
For my foodie friends, here's the menu we enjoyed. I also ordered the wine flight, a half-glass to accompany each course:
Appetizer: Lightly whipped herbed Goat Cheese Mouse, smoked Black Cod offered with Toast, accompanied by Pickled Grapes and Marcona Almonds.
* Wine:Rive Della Chiesa Frizzante Prosecco, Colli Trevigiana, Italy
* Notes: I was a sucker for the goat cheese and the cod, but the big surprise for me here were the pickled grapes. I'd never had such a thing before. The pickling keeps the grapes firm but changes their color and adds a zing I totally didn't expect. The wine, unfortunately, was served some minutes after we'd finished eating the appetizer, so I lost the opportunity to get the complete flavor experience. Still, I'll never complain about a nice glass of Prosecco.
Soup: Creamy roasted Butternut Squash puree with carmelized onions, served with curry sour cream and toasted pumpkin seeds.
* Wine: O'Reilly's Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley, WA '07
* Notes: Almost a bisque, this thick soup was a seasonal pleasure, and the curry sour cream gave it a little hot tartiness that was delicious. The toasted pumpkin seeds, of which I found only one in my bowl, were really lost, and I'm not sure what their purpose was. I ate the soup slowly and savored it. The wine was a nice counterpoint, a sweetness that cut the ever-so-mild saltiness enough to create a lovely even-ing of flavor.
Salad: Frisee and Spinach, bacon, maple molasses pecans with a sherry vinaigrette and dried Bing cherries.
* Wine: P. Ferraud & Fils Beaujolais-Villages, Les Merrains, France '07
* Notes: If the meal could be said to have a weak link, the salad course was it. I just didn't find it terribly special--though those maple molasses pecans were to die for. The wine for this course was completely lost on me which, I'm sure, is a shame, but I think I was also, by this point, fairly engrossed in the show, too.
Entree: Beef Tenderloin slow roasted to medium rare served with Syrah Jam, Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans. (The menu offered two other options--Artic Char or Mushroom Strata--but I was in the mood for beef).
* Wine: R Stuart Bi Fire Pinot Noir, Oregon '07
* Notes: The beef was possibly the tenderest I've ever had. Lukewarm, I would have preferred it a little warmer but no matter--it was remarkably good, especially with the Syrah Jam which offered a grapey sweetness that was a delightful surprise. I could have enjoyed a whole glass of the Pinot with this.
Dessert: Chocolate orange Creme Mousse with White Chocolate wand.
* Wine: Quinta de la Rosa Tonel No. 12
* Notes: First time in a long time I can say with complete candor that a dessert was too rich for me. It was a small cup-sized hill of mousse and I ate perhaps half. Especially with the wine, it was delicious but a little overwhelming for me. It's entirely possible that I was, at that point, just overwhelmed by the whole meal.
I would, however, do it all over again in a heartbeat.
The entertainment was a sort of revue called "Beaumount & Caswell--Together Forever...Again!" Centered around the tempestuous, on-again off-again relationship between the flamboyant Clifton and the diva Vivi--a passionate, gender-confused pair if there ever was one, the show follows their negotiations for remarriage between outrageously, bodaciously costumed skits. They used audience members liberally (I'll never look at a panini sandwich the same way again). And between their skits, the audience was treated to songs performed by the smoky-voiced Francine Reed, contortions performed by Vita Radionova, arial gymnastics by Erika & Andrew (she'd had a baby in July and looked as lean as if the entire thing had never happened), and comedy and acrobatics by Les Petits Frere.
Though I enjoyed the Beaumount and Caswell stuff well enough, I think I enjoyed the circus arts performances almost more. Some of the B&C stuff felt a little forced to me, though I'm not sure why. Francine Reed sang her guts out; she was marvelous. And Erika & Andrew and Vita were all captivating.
Today was Thanksgiving with jackwilliambell at DVE's place: turkey, two kinds of stuffing, mashed potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower, peas, yams, cranberry sauce shaped like cans, gravy, two kinds of pie, dark chocolate pudding--all homemade. That girl can cook! Lovely evening--lots of food.
And now, I'm for bed. It promises to be a busy weekend, and I have miles to go....