Tonight was CUESA's annual Sunday Supper, the biggest fundraising event of the season. Chefs from restaurants all over the Bay Area donated time and food to serve over 400 people who paid a hefty sum for some good chow. Proceeds benefit CUESA, which benefits, in turn, the Ferry Building Farmer's Markets and all of CUESA's other activites. I feel really lucky to have been able to be a part of this event...thank you to CUESA for involving the laymen in your events!
The weather in the city was perfect tonight; slightly cool and breezy; the sky was totally clear and the entire Ferry Building was swarming with men and women in chefs coats and black clogs baking and searing and chopping and finishing and arranging...the appetizers were in the main hallway...then everyone moved upstairs to be seated for first courses, entrees, cheese plates and then dessert. There were chef stations set up in nooks and crannies all over. Out back was the entree station - it was an amazing scene; it looked like a gourmet encampment! There were little white tents set up next to rotisseries of guinea quails and smoldering barbecues whose heat you could feel as you walked past. Upstairs in the Port Commission Hearing Room were long tables, and at each was a different chef from a different restaurant preparing their course dish to be taken out to the diners in the grand alley. I helped to shave cheese and arrange the cheese, nut and fruit plates; I ran here and there carrying creamer and bread to the places it needed to be; I listened in on a lot of chef-talk and got a lot of inspiring ideas, too.
The desserts, my weakness, were delicious. Shuna Fish Lydon made Buckwheat French Butter Cake with an October Fruit Compote (I had to take a piece when I left - it was SO good!); Kathleen Stewart from Downtown Bakery made a chocolate sponge cake brushed with Grand Marnier and filled with whipped cream studded Chocolate, Hazlenuts and Almonds (I went after that one with my hands, having no shame, once it became fair game - wow!); Elizabeth Falkner from Citizen Cake made a tart tatin with cheddar crumbles, cinnamon ice cream and a balsamic reduction...the list goes on. They were all gorgeous; they were all made with such care; and they were all devoured!
Chelsea and Alison and I joked that we felt like groupies around all these famous chefs, but we gushed anyhow. What a fun night!
Betty is the best coworker *ever.* I want to thank her again for bringing in mooncakes last week to share (yes, Aaron, I'd been begging her to show me what you were eating!). We started with the green bean mooncake...the next day we had the red bean...and finally, the lotus with egg yolk! I was amazed. I am clueless as to Chinese baking (although I did, once, make my own red bean buns!) and Betty has taken me under her wing to introduce me to the delights of mooncakes and buns and the like. She also brings in Dr. Brown's coffee drinks for me and shares her seaweed potato chips. Soon, we will go to hot pot at Ranch 99 - a must-go-to market if you're interested in good Asian food in the Bay Area! Thank you, Betty!
The weather in the city was perfect tonight; slightly cool and breezy; the sky was totally clear and the entire Ferry Building was swarming with men and women in chefs coats and black clogs baking and searing and chopping and finishing and arranging...the appetizers were in the main hallway...then everyone moved upstairs to be seated for first courses, entrees, cheese plates and then dessert. There were chef stations set up in nooks and crannies all over. Out back was the entree station - it was an amazing scene; it looked like a gourmet encampment! There were little white tents set up next to rotisseries of guinea quails and smoldering barbecues whose heat you could feel as you walked past. Upstairs in the Port Commission Hearing Room were long tables, and at each was a different chef from a different restaurant preparing their course dish to be taken out to the diners in the grand alley. I helped to shave cheese and arrange the cheese, nut and fruit plates; I ran here and there carrying creamer and bread to the places it needed to be; I listened in on a lot of chef-talk and got a lot of inspiring ideas, too.
The desserts, my weakness, were delicious. Shuna Fish Lydon made Buckwheat French Butter Cake with an October Fruit Compote (I had to take a piece when I left - it was SO good!); Kathleen Stewart from Downtown Bakery made a chocolate sponge cake brushed with Grand Marnier and filled with whipped cream studded Chocolate, Hazlenuts and Almonds (I went after that one with my hands, having no shame, once it became fair game - wow!); Elizabeth Falkner from Citizen Cake made a tart tatin with cheddar crumbles, cinnamon ice cream and a balsamic reduction...the list goes on. They were all gorgeous; they were all made with such care; and they were all devoured!
Chelsea and Alison and I joked that we felt like groupies around all these famous chefs, but we gushed anyhow. What a fun night!
Betty is the best coworker *ever.* I want to thank her again for bringing in mooncakes last week to share (yes, Aaron, I'd been begging her to show me what you were eating!). We started with the green bean mooncake...the next day we had the red bean...and finally, the lotus with egg yolk! I was amazed. I am clueless as to Chinese baking (although I did, once, make my own red bean buns!) and Betty has taken me under her wing to introduce me to the delights of mooncakes and buns and the like. She also brings in Dr. Brown's coffee drinks for me and shares her seaweed potato chips. Soon, we will go to hot pot at Ranch 99 - a must-go-to market if you're interested in good Asian food in the Bay Area! Thank you, Betty!
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