migblog

how it went down, aka, four desserts.

i. mint straciatella gelato.

the evening was actually started as a "thank you" for an anniversary dinner that ngoc and dave had at chez panisse -- i kinda hooked them up with some wine and a few more goodies, leading to an experience that, according to ngoc, "was what made the anniversary dinner."

so in thanks to the cassoulet, we had dinner at delfina, and so it begins.

ii. panna cotta with blackberries

of course, being the fashionably late son of a bitch that i am, i roll up into delfina after getting out of the bart around ten minutes late for the reservation, where i find the loveliest couple in all the world sitting on the banquette, poring over the menu.

it's nice to have dinner when you eat with people you actually like looking at, let alone like talking to.

we made our way through the game plan, and i whipped out my bottle of wine that i had to have us drink since it was too good to pass up.

onward!

iii. profiteroles with espresso gelato, warm chocolate sauce, and candied almonds

let's just do it this way:
1. a half bottle of verdicchio di jesi, 2004.
2. louisiana white boot shrimp with cannellini beans and garden lettuces.
3. house-made bigoli with sardines and calabrian pepper.
4. entrees, with a 2004 syrah vin de pays.
4a. dave: hanger steak frites.
4b: ngoc: wolfe ranch quail, soft polenta, and fennel sausage.
4c: me: sonoma county liberty duck with farrotto and sour cherries.

glory! somewhere between 2 and 3, our server had misheard and not ordered the salt cod that we were looking over, but no matter, since...

iv. warm scharffenberger chocolate cake with vanilla creme anglaise

she brought out four desserts, the four listed above, and i ordered two glasses of brachetto d'acqui for the table since it was a chocolate extravaganza.

in the middle of it all she asked if we "worked in the industry" (the blanket term meaning servers or managers, whichever one suited you) -- i had mentioned chez panisse and we were all gloating about food the entire time -- and we said yes. ngoc's company did in fact make delfina's website (look!) and i worked for chez panisse, so we got into a bit of chitchat.

the nicest compliment i have ever heard someone give to me was that "you guys looked like you knew your way around the menu" and "it was refreshing having you here" -- a sure sign that it was amateur night in the mission.

we smiled and nodded merrily along, thinking that we had gotten away with a free dessert (the panna cotta came from the house), but lo and behold!

v. brachetto, 2005, piemonte

on our way out, looking at the check, the house had comped us corkage, the white wine, AND the four desserts, amazingly hooking us up. the dinner went from being awesome to being bomb-awesome. and our server graciously said to me as we exited, "thanks for coming in -- we'll see you soon!"

yeah, i think we'll be back.

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ngoc+dave, i love you guys. next week, what up.

posted by Open Source Food @ 2:50 PM