Prime Cuts

Recently I saw in the New York Times a story of Thomas Keller’s last meal with his father. The article was fascinating, and captured exactly how I feel about food. Food is a way to show affection, share life experiences and create memories. And it got me thinking, what would I have as my last meal? Out of the thousands of meals I’ve had in my life, and the hundreds of thousands of meals I haven’t, what would be the ultimate? Would I go for an exquisite meal at El Bulli or stick with the simple comforts of home cuisine?

Having no idea which direction to turn, I asked my friends.  The response was overwhelming. Each answer was incredibly personal, unique and most were linked to a story.

My friend Justin said “anything cooked by my grandma I would spend my last meal surrounded by my family at grandma’s table. Yup. For sure.” Spending time with family, you know I back that.

A peer, who I served with on PRSSA’s National Committee, surprised me with his thoughtful response. “French onion soup to start. For an appetizer, go for an avian theme and serve foie gras with a cinnamon rub atop two pieces of buttered cinnamon toast and scrambled quail eggs. For the main course, a veal and crab leg medley with sides of asparagus and potatoes au gratin. Warm blackberry cobbler topped with strawberries for dessert. Finish with black coffee.” Okay, I’ll admit, that sounds pretty incredible.

Two friends said they’d delve into their food allergies. Kayley would brush aside her gluten allergy to indulge in a loaf of fresh baked bread, and Lisa would head straight for the dairy aisle with nothing but thoughts of cheese on her mind.

But after hearing from so many of my friends, I still couldn’t answer my own question. So I turned to My Last Supper by Melanie Dunea (I highly recommend for its beautiful pictures), which features 50 top chefs and each of their last meal’s recipes.

But the book only confused me more. I was complicating the process. And then it occurred to me — the one thing I ALWAYS ask for when I go home. This is going to sound ridiculous…so drum roll please…

…..My mom’s toast

Allow me to explain. For every meal my mother prepares, she takes my likes and dislikes into consideration. And as silly and/or sweet as it may sound, she prepares even the smallest meals that way. Every dish is full of love, even if it’s just bread and butter.

Now that’s a last supper I can toast to.

What would your last supper be?

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Photo by: basheertome

First off, I wanted to let you know that after a 2 week break, we are finally back up to full speed.  As you know, I’ve been the traveling foodie for the past couple weeks.  During this time we’ve also been busy at Caminito planning for to open the steakhouse 7 days per week for lunch.  Currently we are only open for dinner.  So, as you can imagine, it takes a lot of work to get open for lunch.  Couple that with some exciting big announcements and the 2 weeks has flown by.  None of this is meant to be an excuse, just some explanation on why you haven’t heard from us lately.

During this break one of the things that I did was plan continue working on my wedding plans as we are quickly approaching the wedding on June 6th (the mansion we’re having it at is pictured above).  As part of that we sat down with the Executive Chef and designed our menu from scratch.  While designing a menu may sound easy, it is actually one of the harder things to complete.

At the restaurant it can take us months of working on a menu before we are willing to release it into the wild.  It takes a lot thought to design something that you feel will appeal to everyone that comes to your restaurant, or in this case, to my wedding.  But, being a 10 year veteran of restaurants, I wanted to design a menu that would be different than any other wedding menu I had ever seen before.  Previously I used to own a DJ company so I became very familiar with typical wedding menus as I’m sure any of you who has been to a wedding before has experienced.

Well, our menu is completed and as I do with many aspects of my life, I wanted to share it with you.  I want your feedback, your opinions, and hopefully, I want to make you hungry

Without further ado, enjoy!

JUSTIN LEVY & LAURA PASTERNACK WEDDING MENU – 6/6/09

COCKTAIL RECEPTION

DISPLAYS

International Cheese Display to Include: Brie, Blue Cheese, Aged Cheddar and a Selection of Local Cheeses with Assorted Crackers and Flatbreads

Garden Bounty Vegetable Crudite with Hummus, Blue Cheese Dip and Balsamic Vinaigrette

PASSED HORS D’OEUVRES

Shrimp Cocktail
Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce
Bruschetta
Beef Tenderloin with Gorgonzola Cream in Phyllo Cups
Bacon Wrapped Scallops

APPETIZER

Trio of  Ravioli
Three Cheese with Pesto
Lobster Ravioli with Madeira Cream
Roasted Red Pepper with Saffron and Yellow Pepper Coulis

SALAD

Baby Greens and Arugula, Granny Smith Apples, Crumbled Blue Cheese, Dried Cranberries and Candied Walnuts in a Raspberry Vinaigrette

DINNER

Wood Grilled Filet Mignon Au Poivre with a Brandy Demi Cream
Smoked Gouda Mashed and Garlic Haricots Vert
OR
Prosciutto and Gruyere Stuffed Chicken Breast with Mornay Sauce
Wild Rice Pilaf, Baby Carrots and Asparagus
OR
Crab Cakes with White and Wild Rice Pilaf, Asparagus and Baby Carrots and a Drizzle of Cajun Remoulade

BREAD

Country Style White and Whole Wheat Loaves with Whipped Butter

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