Monday, October 26, 2015

experiment #57 - 11.8.15

Dear Guinea Pigs:

It's time for another experiment!

Quick Details:
Date: Sunday November 8, 2015
Price: $103 (inclusive of tax and tip)
Start time: 7:00ish (maybe 7:30) 7:30pm

We will be doing a drawing for seats from all requests received over the first 48 hours, with additional requests filled, if possible, in the order they're received.

Please send an email using the "contact the underground" link to request seats and let us know how many you're requesting.

You will be advised by Friday October 30 if your request has been confirmed. You'll then need to book your seats by noon on Tuesday November 3, or we may need to release the seats to the wait list to ensure all spots are filled. Note the tight schedule: please make your request quickly, and if you get a spot, please book quickly.

We have limited seating available, and while we try to accommodate everyone who is interested, that is usually not possible - most events are filled very quickly. Due to space limitations, we will limit people to 2 spots per request, though if you're interested in more let us know and your request will be added to the waitlist.

When your seat request has been confirmed, please book it using the PayPal link which will be set up on this page. Please do not book unless and until you've received a confirmation. When you do receive the confirmation, please book your seats through PayPal promptly. There will be a short window of time to book before seats need to be released back to the waitlist to make sure they're filled.

There will be 2 different wine pairing options: a $50, 4-glass option, or a $60, 6-glass option as well as a la carte beverages available on site; BYOB should also be fine.

Confirmed and paid-up attendees will receive an e-mail the day before the event, confirming the location and other details.

A brief, but important, refresher course on the whole Cobaya thing: there is no "menu". There are no choices. You'll be eating what the chef chooses to make for the night. If you have food related allergies, strict dietary requirements, religious restrictions; are salt sensitive, vegetarian, pescatarian, or vegan; don't like your meat cooked medium rare, or are pregnant: this meal is probably not for you. Do not expect white-glove service. Don't ask for your sauce on the side. Just come and enjoy.

Plus some legalese: please note that if you're requesting a spot, you understand that any food or beverages you consume are at your own risk, that you voluntarily assume any and all risks, known and unknown, and voluntarily release the organizers of the event from any claims, including personal injury and wrongful death, resulting in any manner from your participation in this event, whether caused by negligence or otherwise. Hopefully it won't come to that.

Look forward to seeing you there. As always, thank you for your support.

FOR CONFIRMED SEAT REQUESTS ONLY:


experiment #57



NOTE: If you'd like to purchase one of the wine pairing options, first select the number of seats you are purchasing, then click "Add to Cart." Then click the "Continue Shopping" button to return to this page, and select the pairing you'd like to purchase, and click "Add to Cart" again. Here, you can change the quantity to purchase 2 pairings if you wish, then click "Update." When that's done, click "Check Out" to complete your order.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

experiment #56 - Cobaya Seagrape with Chefs Jason Schaan and Tony Velazquez


Another experiment successfully completed! For #56, we paid a visit to Seagrape, Michelle Bernstein's restaurant in the Thompson Miami Beach hotel, where hotel executive sous chef Jason Schaan and restaurant chef de cuisine Tony Velazquez played host to 26 of us guinea pigs. Befitting the Mid-Century Modern style of the restaurant, the dinner they put together was a little modern and a little classical all at once.

You can see all the pictures – in all their varieties of bad lighting situations – in this Cobaya Seagrape flickr set, and we'll update here when recaps are posted read recaps at Food For Thought and The Chowfather. Here's the menu for the evening:

SNACKS

Maine Lobster Toast
salted butter, shaved radish, trout caviar

Masami Wagyu Beef Belly Tartare
chorizo, quail egg, bearnaise sabayon

Gougéres
l'explorateur and shaved lardo

Sparkling Rosé of Gamay, Grandin, Nuit St. Georges

FIRST

Brussel Sprouts
tonnato, bottarga, rye toast

SECOND

Pasta "Vongole"
hand-rolled garganelli, venus clams, manila clams, salsify, uni butter

Domaine Lupin Roussette de Savoie, Frangy

THIRD

Whole Roasted Foie Gras
vadouvan spiced pumpkin jam and house brioche

La Tour "Vielles Vignes" Banyuls, Roussillon

FOURTH

Crispy Potato Wrapped Fluke
burgundy black truffle, artichoke barigoule, calabrian chili roe

Domaine Joseph Voillot Bourgogne Rouge, Volnay

FIFTH

Colorado Lamb Chop
fall legumes, lamb sweetbreads, potato gnocchi, roasted bone jus

August Clape "Vin de Amie," Northern Rhone

DESSERT

Pie and Ice Cream

A big thank you to chefs Schaan and Velazquez, to wine director Zach Gossard for some really outstanding pairings, to GM Jorge Anaya-Lopez for everything he does, to Michelle for giving her guys the freedom and guidance to do this dinner, and as always most of all, to the guinea pigs whose interest and support make these kind of events possible.

Also, a reminder: our pre-pre-sale of tickets to our second dinner with the South Beach Wine and Food Festival coming up in February (featuring Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre Foods, Carlo Mirarchi of Blanca, Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo of Animal, and Alex Chang of Miami's Vagabond), is over, but the "official" pre-sale is now on-line at the SOBEWFF website. There are still a limited number of seats available; if you'd like to join us on February 25, 2016, use your MasterCard to purchase seats here.