Today's blog is an impromptu restaurant review. Last night, I attended "Cooking for a Cause," which is a cooking class that supports Tulsa's Iron Gate Ministries. The class featured Geoffrey van Glabbeek of the new Lava Noshery, whom I had the pleasure of knowing when I was a teenager working at Paradise Bakery. Geoff grew up to be a chef, and is now a rising star in the Tulsa food community. Lava Noshery was actually featured in this article this morning.
The menu at last night's class was delightful. Wines were paired perfectly with each course by Parkhill Liquor. The first course featured an arugula salad with hazelnut vinaigrette, fresh raspberries and goat cheese; clearly a favorite of mine. You can put quality goat cheese on just about anything and I'll love it.
The second course, though, was the clear star of the evening: halibut en papillote with fennel farro, spring vegetable hash and gremolata. The halibut was roasted in a little parchment parcel that, when opened, revealed a gorgeous array of tiny vegetables, wheat berries and halibut. My close friends may remember that I had my first encounter with cooking wheat berries not long ago for a waldorf salad. Sadly, I did not do them justice. In my salad, they were a bit undercooked, but they were incredible in chef Geoff's dish, soaking up the delicious, buttery broth from the halibut.
The third course was a play on the traditional surf and turf: herbed tenderloin over lobster mashed potatoes with morel demi glace. The tenderloin was perfectly cooked and easily cut with a butter knife. The lobster mashed potatoes contained generous chunks of tender lobster meat.
A slice of flourless chocolate cake with berry vanilla sauce concluded the meal. The other ladies at my table liked this dessert so much that one asked for boxes for her left overs! This was truly a wonderful dining experience well worth the price. While I did not leave with any recipes, perhaps my friend Geoff would be willing to share...
On July 9th, Lava will participate in Tulsa's second dining event, with 15% of the day's proceeds going to Iron Gate Ministries. I definitely plan on having lunch there that day.
Have a delightful weekend!
3 comments:
Sounds like a place I would love to try! So did you get to cook any of it? How did it all work?
No, we just got to watch while the chef prepared it all! He gave the crowd cooking tips, though.
This review has made me SO HUNGRY!
Well done!
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