Refectory Dinner: French Country Meets Ohio Countryside

French Country Meets Ohio Countryside
The Refectory
1092 Bethel Road, Columbus
Thursday, June 5, 6:30 p.m.
$58 members / $68 nonmembers

Did you know that the building in which The Refectory is housed was first used as a church when it was built in the mid-1800s? And that due to the new, noisy Hocking Valley Railroad that was built in 1877, the minister had to stop speaking until the trains had gone by? Finally, in 1918, two small schoolhouses and the land on which they were sitting were put up for auction. Consequently, the building was moved to its current location next to these schoolhouses and later joined them to become the lovely restaurant that it is today.

Since 1980, The Refectory’s relaxed and quiet Slow Food pace have presented evenings of elegant dining to residents of the Columbus area. At the heart of the dining experience are the culinary creations directed by Chef Richard Blondin, a native of Lyon, France, who studied under chefs Pierre Orsi and Paul Bocuse. Chef Richard will help us celebrate the bounty of Ohio at the beginning of June for our next dinner, French Country Meets Ohio Countryside. We will enjoy a six-course meal with wine pairings (some of which will come from Ohio, including the well-respected Ravenhurst Sparkling Wine) on the outdoor patio, weather permitting. The meal is $58, all inclusive, for members and $68 for non-members. Pre-paid reservations only, please. Seating is limited. Please join us! To make reservations visit the Slow Food Columbus Events page.

Menu

A Service of Hors d’oeuvres

Chilled Ohio Emu Egg Omelette
with smoked salmon, chives,
mushrooms, and tomatoes

White Asparagus Feuillete
with morel sauce

Roast Ohio Ostrich Fan
with quince bordelaise

Cheese Presentation

Ohio Strawberry Duet

We will present some Ohio wines
featuring Ravenhurst Cellars and
Kinkead Ridge with the courses.

Coffees for the tasting workshop

I’ve finished selecting the coffees for the tasting workshop. Short descriptions are below; more details are available on the Events page. Now for the part I’ve been looking forward to — fine-tuning the roasts! 

Renewing America’s Food Traditions: Saving and Savoring the Continent’s Most Endangered Foods

This was sent to me by Slow Food USA in NYC. This new book was discussed in the Wednesday food section of the NYT yesterday including Slow Food’s involvement in it. If you haven’t read it and are interested, please find it below:

Dear Slow Food leader,

On the front page of The New York Times Dining Section today, Kim Severson writes about Gary Nabhan’s new book, Renewing America’s Food Traditions: Saving and Savoring the Continent’s Most Endangered Foods, and looks at the work that the RAFT Alliance and others have been doing around the country to save endangered and at-risk foods and preserve regional culinary traditions.

Industrial farming, which selects for shipability, is the cause of the loss of 93% of our food diversity. In contrast, over 500 RAFT market farmers in over 40 states took on our Grow Out Challenge and returned endangered varieties to their fields, sharing their bounties with chefs and neighbors, and with us.

For three years, small-scale farmers have been the backbone of RAFT.

With our encouragement and without it, farmers across the US have taken on the task of preserving our country’s agricultural biodiversity. We celebrate the delicious successes of our
country’s forward-thinking farmers, chefs and co-producers - the leaders and members of Slow Food Seattle (mentioned in the article) and many other convivia around the country who are helping lead the way!

Slowest regards,

The staff at Slow Food USA

———–
To Save a Species, Serve It for Dinner
By KIM SEVERSON
Published: April 30, 2008 by The New York Times

SOME people would just as soon ignore the culinary potential of the Carolina flying squirrel or the Waldoboro green neck rutabaga. To them, the creamy Hutterite soup bean is too obscure and the Tennessee fainting goat, which keels over when startled, sounds more like a sideshow act than the centerpiece of a barbecue.

But not Gary Paul Nabhan. He has spent most of the past four years compiling a list of endangered plants and animals that were once fairly commonplace in American kitchens but are now threatened, endangered or essentially extinct in the marketplace. He has set out to save them, which often involves urging people to eat them.

Alana’s / UE photos

I’ve now had a chance to sort through some of the photos from the Alana’s / UE dinner, and it’s been great to re-live it all over again!

The program for the evening.

Gathering on the front porch.

Colleen welcomes everyone to the table.

Pat discusses UE’s wines, passionately.

Connie takes a turn at the projector.

Alana’s truffled duck egg salad on brioche (photo courtesy Columbus Foodie).

Muscat scented petit risotto with Toad Hill spinach and Integrated Acre Farms goat cheese (photo courtesy Columbus Foodie).

Shiitake and buna shemiji mushrooms with caramelized ramps (Fruit of the Moon, Mushroom Harvest).

Hopping Good rabbit (from North Market Poultry & Game) with ménage à trois reduction of terres de solence with huckleberry and cranberry.

Terres de Solence, Côtes du Ventoux, “Les Trois Pères” 2004; Domaine des Terres Falmet, Saint-Chinian “L’Ivresse des Cîmes” 2004; and Domaine Roche-Audran, Côtes du Rhône Villages - Visan “Le Père Mayeux” 2004, all from United Estates.

I’m really not sure where to begin. It was a truly delightful dinner: Alana really outdid herself with four different passed hors d’oeuvres (andouille cider vinaigrette with gouda and cabbage shoots; fava bean skordillia with mizuna shoots; the truffled duck egg salad on brioche; and baby quesadillas with oakevale jack and mango salsa), the risotto, the rabbit, the mushroom-and-ramp dish, Blues Creek lamb in the style of Bolognese “with love and spaghetti,” and pear panna cotta with Jeni’s pear riesling sorbet — all told, one course more than the diners had been promised on the invitation. None of it was anything like ordinary; the rabbit, the mushrooms and ramps, and the truffled duck egg salad were particularly breathtaking, and the skordillia and lamb Bolognese were superb. Becke, the Columbus Foodie, was there as well and prepared a much more detailed writeup of the meal, complete with a comprehensive array of photos; click here to read through it.

For their part, Pat and Connie came prepared. They were prepared not just with wine –

• Château Virgile, Costières de Nîmes, Blanc 2006
• Domaine de Barroubio, VDP d’Oc, Muscat Sec 2006
• Terres de Solence, Côtes du Ventoux, “Les Trois Pères” 2004
• Domaine des Terres Falmet, Saint-Chinian “L’Ivresse des Cîmes” 2004
• Domaine Roche-Audran, Côtes du Rhône Villages – Visan “Le Père Mayeux” 2004
• Domaine de Barroubio, Muscat de Saint-Jean de Minervois 2005

– but with a laptop and a projector and a detailed presentation about the producers, the regions, the vineyards, and the terroir that gave birth to the wines that we were drinking. Easily my favorite was the Terres de Solence, which I thought had a really impressive richness and depth, though many of my fellow diners preferred the Domaine Roche-Audran, and my neighbors were more impressed with the Muscat that we had with (as) dessert. I’ve also been a fan of the light, complex, minerally Château Virgile for a while. It’s also worth noting that the Muscat Sec (#2) and the Muscat are made from the same grape by the same vintner, but that the Muscat Sec is a relatively unusual dry Muscat — the bouquet makes you think it’ll be a sweet wine, but it isn’t, and as Pat and Connie pointed out, its unusual flavor profile allows it to stand up to a variety of foods (asparagus, e.g.) that have a way of ruining other wines. Finally, I can’t overstate the value of these wines: if memory serves, not one was selling for more than $20 a bottle.

The best part, though, was the people. I wasn’t lacking for conversation for a moment, and I had a chance to get to know quite a few people. It’s really remarkable how a shared passion for great food and wine can bring everyone together.

It was an unforgettable evening. Thanks to everyone who made it happen and to everyone who came out to take part.

Alana’s / UE dinner, early report

I know people will be expecting a report on the long-anticipated United Estates wine dinner at Alana’s, but unfortunately, it’s going to take a little while to get the photos together and write something up. In the interim, I’ll whet your appetite with this:

This rabbit dish made me want to give up vegetables for the rest of my natural life.

And there were four other courses. And six very nice wines.

More soon.

Message from our friends at Mockingbird Meadows Honey and Herb Farm

It’s spring and therefore almost market season!  We’re looking forward to seeing everyone again- it’s been a long, cold winter!

We’ve grown!  Here’s a sample of new things you’ll find at our market booth in May:

Wild Salad Mixes- made with edible herbs
Fresh and Dried Healing Herbs
Healing Tea Mixes
Products for your Baby

2008 Markets
We will be at the following markets this summer:

Worthington (9am-12pm)-               Saturdays starting May 10   (**We’ll be on The Green this first day as part of Plant Fest.  Starting May 17 we’ll be back in front of Graeter’s)
Westerville (3pm-6pm)-                                Wednesdays starting May 7
Whole Foods Dublin (3pm-7pm)-             Wednesdays starting April 23
Whole Foods OSU (3pm-7pm)-              Thursdays starting April 24
Pearl Market, downtown Columbus (10am-2pm)-                     Fridays starting June 6

2008 Workshops at the Farm
Please visit our newly developed website at http://www.mockingbirdmeadows.com/education.asp to sign up or for more information on any of the following:

May 24-                                    Herbal SkinCare
June 14-                                   Bee Medicine
July 26-                                     Herbs for Women’s Health
August 24-                              First Aid Naturally
September 21-                Herbs 101

Green health to you,

Dawn Combs
Mockingbird Meadows
614-354-5162
www.mockingbirdmeadows.com

Happy Spring!

Hi there All,

I am particularly excited by a couple things, and I need to share… one, Boulevard Gardens on Olentangy River Road has beautiful tomato plants ready for us zealous gardners! Some are interesting such as Mr. Stripey, but I hoping to see Green Zebras come in. I was informed that more new vegetables and herbs will be out to purchase by Friday afternoon. The people there are really nice and helpful, what a treat!

Also, I have enjoyed it before, but man oh man is that ham and gruyère sandwich on brioche at The Rossi darned good! To boot, it comes with their frites and lemony aioli. It’s a must try. (A nice take on the classic Croque Monsieur, with the yummy addition of a fried egg, which is always good.)

More directly related to Slow Food Columbus, look for…

an event at The Refectory May 19…

a Scotch tasting in May…

a farm visit and tasting on July 13 at Mockingbird Meadows Honey and Herb Farm…

both a gardeners’ and coffee roasting workshop…

among others!

Happy Garlic Day!

Personally, I’m not a huge holiday person.  Perhaps it’s because most of them end up being irrelevant to whether or not I work, in the end, or perhaps it’s due to lack of identification with the holiday in question (especially if it was inspired by, say, Hallmark, Inc., or is a celebration of Major Historical Figure’s Birthday that doesn’t actually fall on Mr. or Ms. Figure’s Birthday).

But I digress.  Today, I can celebrate wholeheartedly.  Happy garlic day to one and all!

Local Dining Challenge?

We’re always on the lookout for interesting and innovative ideas from other groups in other parts of the country or other parts of the world that we can steal borrow. Michael over at Local Matters pointed us toward an interesting website — another Slow Food convivium with an even more local focus — that got us thinking. One of the things they did was challenge the local restaurants to offer one dish on the menu that was made entirely from ingredients that came from within 200 miles (with what they called “Marco Polo exceptions” for things like spices, salt, and olive oil) during the month of June.

Interesting thought. The time might be a little short, but I wonder how much interest there would be in doing something like that here?

Slow Food Columbus announces Taste Education Workshops

Slow Food Columbus will be working with local restaurants and food artisans to produce a series of events designed to stimulate and educate the palate. Slow Food’s Taste Education Workshop series will allow participants to sample some outstanding examples of fine food and drink while listening to, and conversing with, experts on the food being consumed. The inaugural event in the series will be the tea tasting at ZenCha Tea Salon, mentioned below; other events being planned include wine tastings from the south of France, Scotch tastings, and a tasting of biodynamic Ohio honey at the farm where it is produced. For details visit our main website; to be notified of events as they become finalized, join the mailing list.