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Two Special Dinners Worth Going To

Posted by Ed Levine, January 30, 2008 at 4:45 PM

On any given week I am sent information about numerous special dinners taking place in restaurants and party spaces all over New York. I usually don't get excited about these things (the food is often overly fussy, and the bloviating can be a bit much), but here are two that sound especially promising. The menus sound particularly delicious, and, with any luck, the speechifying will be interesting and be kept to a minimum. Here are the important excerpts from the press releases emailed to me.

Farm to Chef, Field to Table

What: A dinner with Michael Anthony, Peter Kaminsky, Mary Cleaver, with wine pairings from Channing Daughters Winery. Along with each course will be a presentation on the sustainable dining movement from the point of view of farmers, chefs, and food writers.
When: January 31, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Where: Astor Center, 399 Lafayette Street, New York NY 10003 (at East 4th Street)
Phone: 212-674-7501
Cost: $175
More info: The full menu, event description, and online ticket-ordering can be found at astorcenternyc.com.

Here's the partial menu:

Passed Canapés

• Sheldon Farms potato chips
Witenagemot Farm butternut squash samosas with cardamom yogurt
Open-faced mini Manx Station beef burgers
House-made buns and roasted organic tomato relish
Witenagemot Farm blue corn crackers and Nettle Meadow goat cheese canapé
Sheldon Farms potato pancakes with Saratoga apple-onion rose compote

Seated Dinner

• Celery and smoked Mountain View Farms bacon
Custard with crisp Adirondack red potatoes and toasted almonds
Mosaic of Mountain View Farms chicken and turnips with house-cured pancetta and Austrian crescent potato salad
Mountain View Farms cotechino with pistachio, onion marmalade, and shingled Eva potatoes
Braised Manx Station beef with roasted La Ratte potatoes, "black dirt" carrots and leeks

And here's a more intimate (only 30 seats), homespun, pork-centric, and cheaper alternative that's coming up Monday night. It's going to be held at Marlow & Sons in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

An Evening with Mateo Kehler

What: Mateo Kehler, co-owner of Jasper Hill Farm, will speak about the farm's development, its philosophy, and the future of locally sourced and sustainable animal products in the Northeast. Mateo and his brother Andy have just finished work on the largest underground cheese-maturing complex in the region, and diners will feast on foods from the farm, including a heritage pig.
When: February 4, 6 to 9:30 p.m.
Where: Marlow & Sons, 81 Broadway, Brooklyn, New York 11211 (Williamsburg, b/n Wythe and Berry streets)
Cost: $125, includes tax and gratuity
Reservations: 718-384-1441, ask for Andrew or Tom

Here's the tentative menu:

• Pork rillette/terrine/head cheese
• Celery root salad with pig cracklin's
• Brodo/tortellonis
• Pork tonatto
• Pork trotter Milanese
• Apple pie

Don't both these menus sound amazing? It all sounds like food I'd really like to eat.

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