Last night, we dined with 22 new friends at the Artisa Kitchen supper club. What a fun experience! I imagine (because I've never actually been to one of these) it was much like a larger, more boisterous version of dining at the chef's table. Chef Bryon Brown, who works at Jaleo, is very affable; he, along with his sommelier, who hails from Poste, gave us a memorable *5 hour* dining experience.
Sadly, there are no pictures and I can't go into the details of the dishes, because Chef Bryon asked that we "preserve the mystique." But I can tell you that we had 12 courses, from bread through dessert, that featured a variety of proteins, cuisines, and techniques. There were emphases on Italian and comfort food, as well as a few homages to summer. Portions were generous, and overall the execution was about what we would expect from a professional chef experimenting, having fun, and finally in charge of his own kitchen. Although a few dishes could have used a little tweaking, my only real complaint was the bit-too-liberal application of salt. This might be a me thing, though, because I don't think the others at the table had the same issue. Flavors were good, though not particularly complex. The dessert stole my heart, but I *do* have the world's biggest sweet tooth...
We came away satiated, a bit tipsy, and best of all, with a few more friends than we came in with. Probably not something I will be a part of every month, but definitely worth the experience! It's really cool, particularly as a lover of food and cooking, to see a chef having fun and coming into his own.
An excellent evening, I must say. I, too, was not blown away by the Chef's creations but each course was solid with a few that were definitely memorable. The affordable wine selections were also solid...ironically, the extra wine refills I was provided led to a mighty hangover this morning so I certainly cannot complain about the quantity of wine. I truly enjoyed the intimacy with the Chef provided by the event space and the Chef's detailed explanations of the both the rationale for each course and the techniques used to create the course; I would definitely encourage all of my friends to try the Supper Club. One warning, the room is not meant for 22 people so it can get very loud...but the Chef's unique accent (Brooklyn, I believe) and vocabulary more than made up for the noise level...
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