Lisa and I begin planning our New Years Eve Dinner Party menu in the summer. This year, Lisa came up with the inspired theme, What’s in a Name? where we explore the history behind the name of various dishes and products used in our menu. Dean became very excited about this idea, what with all the different dishes named after people. But Lisa said, no, no. no…I’m going to pick the most premium ingredients, and then I had to figure out a name to go with them! After much deliberation and research we settled on a 7 course menu. Our theme allowed us to create dishes from a variety of different cuisines. We also upped the number of guests we invited from 8 to 12… no biggie, right? The week between Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve was a flurry of shopping visits downtown and advance preparation. As always, we asked guests to help with the ingredient and wine costs, so we could get the premium ingredients to truly make this a memorable end to 2018.
Cocktails (click here for name history notes for the cocktails and amuse)
We offered three cocktail options this year – The brown spirit Robert Burns cocktail (2 oz Ballantyne’s Blended Scotch Whiskey, 3/4 oz Mia Amata Amaro from East Vancouver’s Odd Society Spirits (considered by some the best bitter in Vancouver), gin barrel aged orange bitters, Griottine cherries, orange twist and an Okanagan Spirits Taboo Absinthe rinse), the lighter Bitter End cocktail (1 oz Absinthe, 1/2 oz Cointreau, 1/4 oz Campari (poured in after shaking to get it to go to the bottom), 1/4 oz simple syrup, 1/2 oz orange juice, 1/2 oz lemon juice, egg white and star anise and lemon twist garnish) which refers to the end of the year, but also the bitter taste of the Campari that becomes evident as you reach the bottom of the cocktail. The Absinthe, Taboo is genuine, and comes from Vernon’s Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery, which we have become quite familiar with since Lisa has been working there for the past year and a half. For the first time, we offered an alcohol-free cocktail option, made with Seedlip Spice 94, a distilled non-alcoholic base, with Club Soda, orange bitters, cinnamon stick, orange and Griottine garnish.
Amuse – Beef Carpaccio
So good! Beef Carpaccio was invented in 1950 in Italy for a countess whose doctor told her she needed to eat raw meat. Maybe she had anemia? It was named after Italian painter, Vittore Carpaccio, since the color of the meat resembled the deep red tones in his paintings. We used to think you needed an industrial meat slicer to make carpaccio…nothing could be further from the truth. The trick is to roll and freeze the meat (start with a good beef tenderloin) for 2-3 hours, then take it out, roll it in fresh thyme and tarragon, salt and pepper, sear it ever so briefly in a hot pan, and then put it back in the freezer again for 30 minutes. Freezing allows you to slice the beef thinly, and then either press down on it with the edge of your chef’s knife to flatten, or more efficiently, place the thin slices between two sheets of parchment and roll it out with a rolling pin for maximum thinness. We made toasts from brioche rolls, then topped them with the beef, a thin slice of aged Parmigiano Reggiano (known as the King of Cheeses, and also a protected Denomination of Origin (DO)), fleur de sel, olive oil infused with black truffle, and arugula leaf. Our original idea was to get Wagyu beef to make the Carpaccio, but unfortunately, using this prized but ridiculously expensive beef would have put our total ingredient cost through the roof.
After enjoying our cocktails and carpaccio, and setting up the premise for the evening, we asked our guests to take their seats. Roses (from Shakespeare’s famous quote – that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet) were the visual theme for the evening, with roses appearing on the menu and placecards, the color of our tablecloth, flowers… even the napkins!
Appetizer – Lobster Newberg (name history)
Our first course was a classic ‘name’ dish from Delmonico’s – at one time the most famous restaurant in America – Lobster Newberg served in a Vol Au Vent pastry. When researching this menu, we came across Delmonico’s over and over again – they loved to name dishes after people and places, and so many of these dishes remain famous today, such as Eggs Benedict, Manhattan Clam Chowder, and Baked Alaska. Lobster Newberg was first created by a Mr. Wenberg, as Lobster Wenberg, and following a dispute with the owner that resulted in the popular dish being taken off the menu, it was brought back, renamed in anagram fashion, to Lobster Newberg. The warm goodness of chunks of lobster and mushrooms in a rich Sherry and Cognac cream sauce with curry and smoked paprika were nestled inside a conical Vol au Vent pastry (the only item of this dinner we didn’t make ourselves). This pastry was invented by one of the first celebrity chefs Marie-Antoine Carême, and the name Vol Au Vent in French means “lifted by the breeze” or “windblown” to describe the pastry’s airy lightness.
The wine pairing with this course (and the salad) was Caves Llopart Brut Reserva 2013, a Spanish Cava. Cava is the Spanish equivalent of Champagne, and also a controlled Denomination of Origin. Only Spanish wines produced in the traditional Methode Champenois style may be labelled Cava, and the grapes in Cava are less familiar in this part of the world; Macabeu, Parellada and Xarello. The Llopart House has been producing Cava since 1887. This pale gold sparking wine had fine, consistent bubbles and the soft, fresh taste on the palate had a lingering acidity with hints of white fruit that complimented the Lobster Newberg nicely and cut through the richness of the sauce.
Salad – Jamon Iberico de Bellota, White Asparagus, Figs, Melon, Marcona Almonds
Iberico ham from Spain is the most prized ham in the world. This aged ham has only been available in North America since 2007, and Jamon Iberico is also a Denomination of Origin (they’re big on that thing in Europe, showing the value of a name). Priced at over $550/kg for the 4 year aged ham, you don’t get a lot of it when you pick some up. In Vancouver, you can find Iberico ham at Oyama Sausage Company in Granville Island Public Market or at the Spanish specialty store Lola & Miguel. What makes it so special is the pigs diet; they are exclusively fed on acorns (de Bellota) prior to slaughter, which makes the antioxidant content in the meat very high, and allows aging and curing much longer (up to 5 years) resulting in a distinct, sweet, smoky flavor. This visually pleasing salad was plated with a balsamic reduction, topped with 2 spears of white asparagus (which along with figs, we were told was not in season and not available – Ha! we found them both at Granville Island Market), cantaloupe, figs, edible flowers, and roasted Marcona almonds, which are also from Spain. To finish off the plating, in the bottom corner is a slice of fig bread, topped with a Spanish ash-ripened chevre. It was fun to plate this dish, as Dean got to go all MasterChef and use long culinary forcep-type tweezers to tuck the flowers in around the other ingredients.
As is usual at our New Year’s Eve parties, we have a game to play during dinner. Don’t tell our guests, but it’s a way to buy us some time to finish some more complicated courses… you wouldn’t know it by the fierce competition that takes place however! This game was called Time’s Up, but really it is about guessing the names of people and fictional characters, which seemed fitting for the evening’s theme. The first round is pretty easy, since you can say anything except the person/character name to get your team to guess the name. But, in the second round, you can only say a single word to make people guess the name, and in the third round, no words are allowed at all – you have to act it out. We got things underway, and then Dean and Lisa repaired to the kitchen to start plating the next course. Bursts of laughter and cheering emanated from the dining room, and occasionally Lisa would yell out an answer (Popeye!!) from in front of the stove while she was cooking.
Corey Lee’s French Farmhouse Stew (name history)
This delicate stew was a lovely melange of winter vegetables like baby carrots, pearl onions, turnip, Savoy cabbage, Romanesco broccoli, and two featured proteins: pork belly and seared giant scallops. Corey Lee created this dish as the head chef at the 3-Michelin starred restaurant Benu (Egyptian for ‘Phoenix’) in San Francisco…their tasting menu runs at USD$310+20% per person, so this would be destination, once-in-a-lifetime dining for most people. As we have done more of these New Year’s Eve dinners, we have learned the value of having dishes or ingredients that can be prepared ahead of time, and that was a necessity with the pork belly. We made Korean Bao sandwiches with picked cabbage and hoisin sauce to take to a family Christmas party, and rendered the pork belly for this dish at the same time.
The wine pairing for this dish was a wine we have served at New Year’s Eve once before and it was so popular that even the occasional wine drinkers amongst our guests remember it, the Wagner family Mer Soleil Reserve Santa Lucia Chardonnay 2015. Chuck Wagner and his family from Napa Valley, are probably best known for their flagship Cabernet Sauvignon Caymus, but his children have picked up the torch and make amazing wines of their own like the unoaked Chardonnay Silver, the Merlot Emmolo, the incredibly popular white (and now rosé and red) blends Conundrum, and Mer Soleil (“sea of the sun”). This barrel fermented Chardonnay is perfectly balanced with oak that is not overpowering, acidity and fruit. The Santa Lucia Highlands is a small AVA are in Monterey County that grows some of the best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in California.
Cephalopoda Octopoda Octopodidae (name history)
(Braised Octopus with Ancho Chile Sauce and Pear Jicama slaw)
The most visually stunning and challenging dish of the night was up next – braised octopus is not encountered all that often in most people’s daily dining experience. We couldn’t come up with a clever, name for the dish, so we went with the full latin name instead (Cephalopoda just means head and feet, and octopoda means 8 of said feet) for this dish. We started with sashimi grade octopus tentacles, and braised those suckers (literally, they have suckers) for over 2 and a half hours in dry Sherry (this was another make in advance dish). Then, they cool, the skin is rubbed off (tricky to do while leaving the suckers intact) and when it is time to finish them, they are pan fried (or grilled) in a smoky Ancho chile sauce. The ancho chile is the dried form of wide Poblano peppers from Pueblo, Mexico, and it develops a smoky sweetness compared to the heat of the fresh peppers. To cool things down, the octopus was served with a small salad of pear and jicama slaw with celery and Anaheim pepper, and a dash of smoked paprika for color. This dish ended up being a favorite of many of our guests, and looked amazing on the black plates we rented specifically for this dish, which totally benefited from practice runs with Charlotte and her boyfriend Matt, in advance, who happens to love Octopus. You can also see in the background of the photo, our bread course which was a yeast leavened savory bread with with asiago cheese and fresh basil made in our waffle maker served with a lavender fleur de sel butter. We will definitely be making savory breads in our waffle maker again – you can’t beat it when you taste them warm right off the waffle iron.
We needed a wine pairing for the octopus that could stand up to the spice, and chose the Cedar Creek Platinum Reserve Viognier Haynes Creek 2017. This Viognier features flavors of apricot, peach, white flowers, and just a hint of toast, and is known for its minerality. Cedar Creek is a favorite winery of ours, on the lakeshore in Kelowna, having once won a trip there for dinner and a Jim Cuddy concert at their open air stage.
The Time’s Up competition got heated as the final round approached and as we prepared to serve our main course.
Main Course – Duck Season with Black Trumpet Mushroom Soil, Roasted Long Carrots and Butternut Squash Risotto with shaved Black Truffle (name history)
We were having fun with the name for this last dish, which Dean based on the old Looney Tunes cartoon, where Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck argue whether it is Wabbit Season or Duck Season, eventually resulting in Elmer Fudd blowing one of their heads off. The roasted duck breast was sliced and placed atop the soil of black trumpet mushrooms and topped with a black garlic puree. Black garlic is aged, fermented garlic that softens, turns black and develops a deep sweet funky taste. You can ferment it on low heat in rice cooker for 3-4 weeks (best not stored in your house), or you can, um, just buy them that way for a few bucks. We did the latter. We’re not crazy.
The long carrots (a nod to Bugs Bunny?) were roasted and became sweet and candied, and the risotto, one of the very best dishes Lisa makes, was incredible, with truffle oil in the risotto itself, and actual shaved black truffle on top. The main course was hearty, satisfying and complimented nicely by a special wine Lisa had sourced earlier in the year even before our menu was set, La Vieux Pin Syrah Cuveé Violette 2016. The fatty, rich, red-meat-like qualities of duck make it a versatile partner for many wines, including those with more robust tannin levels like Syrah. This Syrah is technically a blend, with approximately 2.5% Viognier added. This is a common practice, since Viognier and Syrah grow alongside each other in the Côte-Rôtie region of the Northern Rhône Valley of France, and winemakers were allowed to blend in up to 20% Viognier into their Syrah. As the name suggests, this wine is dark violet in color and left you wanting more after the course was over.
Dessert – You’re Killin’ Me S’Mores, Drinking Chocolate with Kahlua (name history)
This was an ambitious dessert with four separate aspects to making this deconstructed S’More. The recipe was developed by pastry chef Lisa Bonjour from MK Kitchen in Chicago, and is so named for a line from the 1993 movie The Sandlot, where after being asked by Ham Porter if he wanted a S’more, Scotty Smalls replies several times with the question, “Some more what?”. After his frustration grew with Scotty, Ham Porter replies, “You’re killing me, Smalls.” We made the marshmallows, the graham ice cream and the chocolate cremeux from scratch, and Lisa even torched the marshmallows prior to serving to get that perfect char and caramelization… she does like that torch a lot. The secret for the ice cream was using Golden Graham cereal infused into milk overnight. We had an ice cream maker that Lisa had never used before, and decided to put it to work, and it turned out great. The chocolate cremeux was a mix of dark and milk chocolate, and though firm when frozen, would melt slightly at room temperature. It was all served on a bed of graham crumbs and chocolate twists and pearls.
Of course, with the classic campfire food, S’Mores, you have to have hot cocoa, so we served a small cup of premium drinking chocolate, Mexican style, with chili powder and Kahlua. Turns out there is rich history even behind the humble Graham cracker, which was inspired by the preaching of Sylvester Graham, who was strongly influenced by the 19th-century temperance movement, and early versions were not as tasty as they are today. Finally, Kahlua, means ‘House of the Acolhua people’ in the Mexican Nahuatl language. Dessert was served at about 11:50 pm, and we finished just in time to distribute party horns for the countdown to midnight. Lastly, some single malt scotch, Oban Little Bay (a kind gift from Linda and Sheldon) and a bourbon Wild Turkey Longbranch (a kind Christmas gift from Malcolm) were opened for sharing.
All in all it was another successful New Year’s Eve dinner. Putting on an event like this is always a lot of work, but gives us hours of fun obsessing over the menu, ingredients and wine pairings throughout the year. Many thanks to Malcolm for his help throughout the night serving and clearing plates (as we said on the night, just like playing restaurant, but for one night only, and your livelihood doesn’t depend on it), to Alma and Angie for taking great food photographs for this blog post, and to Emma, Shawn and Dyona for helping us clean up “the morning after”.
Dean & Lisa
December 31, 2018
We have had guest crawlers once before, when Lisa’s daughter joined up for our 
We ordered beer flights (4 of their 5 beers on tap) – Ron and Angie shared and Dean got his own. Between us, we tasted their Adrift Hop Blonde Ale, Sirens Chai Saison (Angie’s favorite), Wave Crusader XPA (somethin
g between a British ale and American IPA), Riptide Rye IPA, and the Ashore Rye Porter (Ron, Lisa and Dean’s favorite). Not overly strong, Brittania’s brews range from 4.7% to 6% ABV. Lisa chose a deceptively simple, but interesting and tasty cocktail of freshly juiced Okanagan green apples, Jameson’s Irish Whiskey, topped with freshly grated cinnamon.
lers we have found you have to rein them in a bit at the first restaurant; the temptation is to order enough for a full meal like you would at a single venue, but you need to remind them there are still 2 other places to go!
Next came a pair of crab cakes (bottom), which were good, not great (of course, Dean’s benchmark for a great crab cake comes from 
We knew we could not pass up the home made brioche stuffed with mushroom duxelles (finely chopped mushrooms, herbs, onions or shallots, cream and a dash of sherry) and smoked ham; we ordered a tray of 8 (not 26, as owner Pat
rick helpfully suggested). These were super light, warm, fluffy, smooth and very french in style, and Lisa’s favorite dish of the evening.
If you want to see a patio that comes alive on a sunny spring or summer evening, look no further than the Blue Canoe. Winner of the 2015 Georgia Straight Golden Plates 
vancitycrawl 