Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Eating, Connecting, Learning and Eating Again


Eating
Julia Child would have had a marvelous time on June 15 at An Evening with Arlington Chefs. The food was out of this world and the wines were incredible. The chefs outdid themselves and according to Mike Milan of Beaujolais Catering, Angelo, Bob, Paul, Ricardo and he had a great time in the kitchen hanging out together and helping each other plate courses. I have to say, just as delicious as the food was the comment I heard over and over about how much fun it was for people to connect with each other and with the chefs that evening.

Connecting
The camaraderie among the guests in Tryst’s dining room and among the chefs behind the scenes lifted the event to another level. Elsa Schiaparelli said it best: “Eating is not merely a material pleasure. Eating well gives a spectacular joy to life and contributes immensely to goodwill and happy companionship.” I agree!

And it wasn't just friends connecting with friends; it included people who entered Tryst as strangers and left as friends. To accommodate everyone, we had made up tables of 4-6 with parties of 1, 2 or 3. The Chamber tried to pair up people in congenial groupings and like any hosts, we had our fingers crossed that it would work out. As for attendees and the menu, I will let them speak for themselves:

"Jane and I congratulate all involved for what was a great event. The food and drink were first class and the warmth we felt being with the group was extraordinary. I particularly thank you for seating us with our tablemates. The four of us were very simpatico. We've been to many dinners over the years but very few organizers had the thoughtfulness to make sure 'newcomers' felt looked after."

-Ted Peluso, Cairn Enterprises

"Wow!!! I wanted you to know what an outstanding time I had the other night at the Evening with Arlington Chefs. From the moment I walked in the door, I felt like a "guest of honor." Starting with my glass of delicious brut rose (I will definitely put that on my list of favorites, thank you for giving us the wine list too - I'm off to Giles Wine for more!!

This night was so relaxing. Beaujolais Catering did an outstanding job with the hors d'oeuvres, and having them served while sipping my wine and asking 'what's in this?' was fun!

The sit down dinner was amazing. Being able to taste the different delicacies prepared by Tango, Ristorante Olivio, Tryst and Flora while being served wines that were hand-picked specifically for each entrée was brilliant! Our table of four, who up until that night I did not know, were laughing and sharing stories of our family, children and grandchildren the same way you would with old friends.

At the end of the evening, we all agreed "Where else can you enjoy different wines, hors d'oeuvres, three unique flavored delicious entries topped off with coffee and dessert and be personally greeted by the chefs who prepared this fabulous evening all for $100, gratuity included?' At our table, we all agreed this was the bargain of the century. We now have these fabulous restaurants to try and refer our friends to and I personally don't want to miss the next one...and you should know that I will want to spread the word to my family and friends!

-Donna Markussen, Aflac

"I always get nervous at social events that require me to be, well, social.. . I was seated with four other guests. Although I didn't really know any of them before that night. . .I easily fell into conversation.

And, quite surprisingly, the conversation started itself. . .we defied between politics and town issues, between the economy and ESPN. Our discussion swayed from good wines to good beers. From the Northwest to the East Coast. From state and national parks to hopeful vacations.

And what's obvious to me now, is that at an event like this, the one easy thing we all have in common is food. Yes, we were all there to support the Chamber, but it was the kind of event that drew us all to Tryst on Monday night - a chance to get a taste of places we love or places we hadn't yet experienced."

-Nicole Laskowski, The Arlington Advocate

Take a peek at what they enjoyed that evening:

Beaujolais Catering
Asian Pesto Grilled Shrimp
Hoisin Duck on Wonton Crisps
Rosemary Grape Foccacia with Gorgonzola
Paired with Rotari Brut Rose

Tango
Hearts of Palm Salad with crispy chicken & beef Empanadas
Paired with Tolloy Pinot Noir

Ristorante Olivio
Hand Crafted Butternut Squash Cannelloni
poached lobster, sundried tomatoes, caramelized fennel & mascarpone

Paired with Axis Chardonnay

Tryst
Red Wine Braised Beef Short Rib, green garlic potato puree & glazed vegetables
Paired with Righetti "Ripasso" Valpolicella Classico

Flora
Strawberry Shortcake Warmed cream biscuit, rhubarb & beaten cream
Paired with Mezzacorona Moscato

All wines for this evening were provided and selected by Giles Fine Wine
from Prestige Wine Imports & Horizon Beverage

Learning
Then there was the food for thought presented at Marketing on a Shoestring presented by the Chamber (the offline marketing tips) and Patricia Carney of Walden Webworks (online tips).

The Chamber distributed a tip sheet on how to frugally and imaginatively promote your business. Then Patricia used four customer case studies to demonstrate how small businesses are using the web to grow: Holovak & Coughlin Sporting Goods, Eric Volkin, Licensed Massage Therapist, Fun Chew Rawhide and Classic Cars & Byways. Attendees got to see some cool Google tools in action, templates for making websites easy to maintain and how SEO is being used to build a presence.

Eating again
A busy Chamber month that ended today with Coffee's on Us at Sweet Sue's!

Margy Rydzynski of Brave New Web chatting with Chris Chen, financial planner


Clockwise from left: Donna Markussen of Aflac, Phil Mathey of Edward Jones, Jennifer Withers of Central Bank, Cathy Zolner of Nourish to Florish and Dick Moskow of Richard S. Moskow Associates