"Work"
So every few weeks, I actually have to get up off my couch and eat some free food. I recently visited Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley (I was calling it Monterey for a while but I understand now that that was a bad thing to do.) Bernardus Lodge is this jewel of a resort tucked into the green hills of middle-California. The lodge has won all these incredible awards, but remains off the general public's radar. Not quite sure why this is, though I suspect Google's wildly incorrect driving directions aren't helping the cause.
Anyways, I'm doing a piece on the resident Executive Chef - Cal Stamenov - and Bernardus Lodge offered to have me stay the night and enjoy a meal at the chef's table. The chef's table, for those not quite clear on the concept, is a table erected in the kitchen and reserved for VIP guests. You get to talk with and watch the people making your food, and I suppose that's a real luxury or something. It strikes me that as a VIP, I'd much rather enjoy my meal in the plush, hushed setting of a restaurant's dining room than the whistling, clanking kitchen. But this time around, perhaps because I went solo and didn't need to talk above the clamor, the chef's table was indeed a special treat.
I tried to take pictures of every course - there were 9 - but was distracted from this very basic task by all the glorious fare. I even laid my camera out in front of me so as to not forget, but each time a new dish arrived I swatted my camera to the side without a thought and dove in head first to the food. In the end, I only got a few good shots and then the rest were pathetic afterthoughts like the one below:
At least, I captured dessert in full (all three courses):
(above: yummy cheese.)
(above: banana brule, truffle caramel, chocolate ice cream.)
(above: financier, oak ice cream. yes - oak ice cream. they take oak tree bark, bake it, then boil it with milk and sugar. it tastes like you'd think it would, but is also somehow delicious.)
Perhaps the most wondrous part of the evening was swiveling around in my chair to read all the signatures of those who'd dined before me at this chef's table. I present you with a couple -
Julia Child (who wrote Bon Appetit!)...
...and Leonardo DiCaprio.
I'm ashamed to admit which one excited me more.
So every few weeks, I actually have to get up off my couch and eat some free food. I recently visited Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley (I was calling it Monterey for a while but I understand now that that was a bad thing to do.) Bernardus Lodge is this jewel of a resort tucked into the green hills of middle-California. The lodge has won all these incredible awards, but remains off the general public's radar. Not quite sure why this is, though I suspect Google's wildly incorrect driving directions aren't helping the cause.
Anyways, I'm doing a piece on the resident Executive Chef - Cal Stamenov - and Bernardus Lodge offered to have me stay the night and enjoy a meal at the chef's table. The chef's table, for those not quite clear on the concept, is a table erected in the kitchen and reserved for VIP guests. You get to talk with and watch the people making your food, and I suppose that's a real luxury or something. It strikes me that as a VIP, I'd much rather enjoy my meal in the plush, hushed setting of a restaurant's dining room than the whistling, clanking kitchen. But this time around, perhaps because I went solo and didn't need to talk above the clamor, the chef's table was indeed a special treat.
I tried to take pictures of every course - there were 9 - but was distracted from this very basic task by all the glorious fare. I even laid my camera out in front of me so as to not forget, but each time a new dish arrived I swatted my camera to the side without a thought and dove in head first to the food. In the end, I only got a few good shots and then the rest were pathetic afterthoughts like the one below:
At least, I captured dessert in full (all three courses):
(above: yummy cheese.)
(above: banana brule, truffle caramel, chocolate ice cream.)
(above: financier, oak ice cream. yes - oak ice cream. they take oak tree bark, bake it, then boil it with milk and sugar. it tastes like you'd think it would, but is also somehow delicious.)
Perhaps the most wondrous part of the evening was swiveling around in my chair to read all the signatures of those who'd dined before me at this chef's table. I present you with a couple -
Julia Child (who wrote Bon Appetit!)...
...and Leonardo DiCaprio.
I'm ashamed to admit which one excited me more.
posted by Amalia at 11:21 AM
2 Comments:
I went to a party at Bernardus on Sat. night which was sponsored by Rolex - very swanky and the food and wines (esp. the 2004 pinot grigio) were spectacular!
dear god, mali mali...this post is cruel to those of us who are forced by the excess of yak cheese to eat potato chips (french fries) both as a staple and a main source of vegetable matter. I MISS HOME AND GOOD FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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