No time for witty thread titles! Bocuse d'Or Grand Gala (w/pics!)!!!

[jeminni]

Great pictures and reviews. I am really missing being able to go to F&W this year, but there's always next year.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Can't wait for more!

 

[ghidorah97]

Had a bit of a relapse this weekend, so no updates. Sorry! Hoping to get through the entire Grand Gala tonight after getting home from work. At the very least, we will get through the appetizers!

Brad

 

[ghidorah97]

Finally, after a long delay we have made it to my Grand Gala review. My thanks to all of you for your patience!

First, I will start by saying that the event was absolutely fantastic. Everything was very well-organized. The food was GREAT, and the people were a lot of fun. There were a couple of minor hiccups here and there, but these were far outweighed by the positive.

Of course, one of these hiccups just so happened to be right at the beginning. See, the event was scheduled from 7:00-midnight. So after heading back to our rooms to rest, clean up and put on our big boy clothes, we headed back to the World Showplace. Here's a quick look at us:

I'm the shorty on the right, Will is in the center and Ken on the left -- not bad for 40, right? Right?

So we arrive at the gates at about 6:45, figuring we'd be waiting 10-15 minutes (it was pretty warm so we were definitely hoping for the former). Well, 6:55 arrives and passes without opening. Okay, here's 7:00 -- open 'im up!!! Ummmm....guess not. 7:05....7:10.... the crowd was getting VERY restless! Finally the doors opened at 7:15. All in all, a minor annoyance. On to the good stuff...

As we enter the venue, there are a line of waitstaff armed to the teeth with a variety of cocktails and appetizers. Not wanting to be rude, we gladly accepted their offerings! First, the drinks:

Oronoco Passion Mojito -- Oronoco Rum, Funkin Passion Fruit Puree, Lime Juice and Club Soda These were dangerously deeeeelicious!!!

Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label I'm a big fan of the Veuve!

They were also serving classic Manhattans and a Ciroc Vodka with White Grape juice that I didn't get a pic of. There were two bars set-up at either end of the reception area where they were mixing the drinks. We made friends with Craig, who kept us very happy with the quality of our drinks!

Drinks menu

I really liked the way they set-up the room. There was a mixture of small tables scattered about the room -- some for sitting, some standing. The chefs preparing the appetizers were all working in the open kitchens used earlier in the day for the competition. Each kitchen featured two chefs, each one creating a dish featuring a main theme ingredient.

Kitchen One - Foie Gras
Foie Gras Terrine with Raisin and Apple Mostarda -- Chef Laurent Tourondel, BLT Restaurants, NY, NY
Somehow, I did not get a picture of this dish. Must have been the Veuve! It was GREAT!

Foie Gras Feuillete, Caramelized Endive and Mango -- Chef Alain Sailhac, French Culinary Institute, NY, NY

I ate four of them.

Kitchen Two - Duck
Grilled Duck and Armagnac Sausage, Black Lentil Dal and Red Curry Sauce in Phyllo -- Chef Roland Muller, Food & Beverage Product Development, WDW Parks and Resorts (believe that he's the head food guy @ WDW)

This was good, but I found the sausage somewhat overpowered the other ingredients.

Roasted Muscovy Duck with Fennel and Blood Oranges, Smoked Bacon and Minus 8 Vinaigrette -- Chef Scott Hunnel, Victoria & Albert's

REALLY good -- and allowed me to get my V&A's fix!!!

Kitchen Three - Wild Mushrooms
Jalousie d' Epinards et Champignons Sauvages (Wild Mushroom and Spinach Tart) -- Chef Andre Soltner, French Culinary Institute, NY, NY

I should have gotten a close-up shot. This was good, but not my favorite. Guess I'm just not a big fan of the whole tartlet/phyllo dough thing.

Wild Mushroom Cappuccino -- Chef Georges Perrier, Le Bec Fin, Philadelphia, PA

WOW! This was, without doubt, the highlight of reception. Everything about this dish just screamed wild mushrooms, the nose, the flavor, the mouthfeel. Just incredible.

Kitchen Four - Fall Squash
Kabocha Squash Wrapped with Smoked Salmon -- Chef David Myers, Sona, Los Angeles, CA

I really enjoyed this. Will and Ken didn't care for it as much. I liked the texture contrast between the tender salmon and the firm, mildly crunchy squash. My one quibble with the dish would be that the squash wasn't the really the star as salmon definitely took the lead.

Butternut Squash Panna Cotta, Celery and Truffle Salad -- Chef Traci des Jardin, Jardiniere, San Francisco, CA

Very good, if a bit difficult to eat (not a big fan of the fancy spoon thing).

The wait staff kept coming up to us and offering us more. Who were we to say no?

The great part about the reception was the ability to interact with all of the chefs. Chef Bocuse was extremely accessible, signing tons of autographs and taking many, many pictures. Like this:

And this:

I spent a fair amount of time getting up close to watch the chefs preparing the appetizers. It was fascinating watching them all at work. I give them a ton of credit as they were really pumping out the food.

This post is getting pretty long, so we'll leave off here. Next installment -- pictures of the chefs working on the appetizers; close-ups with Chefs Hunnel, des Jardin, Sailhac and others; the previously promised return of Besh; and on to the Dinner Course!

Thanks again for reading!

Brad

 

[oybolshoi]

YUMYUMYUMYUMYUMYUMYUM!!!!!

The drinks sound very good (we love Cirroc in our house ... it makes a mean martini) and the food looks fabulous ... even the dreaded mushroom dishes!

And I think you're a handsome 40!

 

[Tatania]

The 3 of you look adorable and the pictures are outstanding. I look forward to seeing more.

 

[ghidorah97]

And I think you're a handsome 40!

The 3 of you look adorable and the pictures are outstanding. I look forward to seeing more.

Awww, you guys are making me blush! Thank you!

YUMYUMYUMYUMYUMYUMYUM!!!!!

The drinks sound very good (we love Cirroc in our house ... it makes a mean martini) and the food looks fabulous ... even the dreaded mushroom dishes!

The drinks were fan-freaking-tastic! When I say that they were dangerously delicious, they were REALLY dangerously delicious. Seriously, I could have had like four or five of those mojitos. I have the feeling that you and Jason would have really enjoyed them.

 

[BriarRosie]

I concur. You're all adorable. And how can you be the shorty when you're the same height as your other friend? I guess Will is freakishly tall?

I'm a bit jealous that you had foie gras two ways.
And I'm a big fan of the bent spoon serving a la Uri Geller. I took photos
of an item served at last year's signature dinner I went to that featured
an hors d'oeuvre (or hoover doover - inside joke) served on one of those spoons.

I'm also pretty sure I've met Roland Muller at two events I've attended, but
as a guest, not working as a chef. He sat next to me at an Exquisite Evening
a few years ago, and sat at the same table as me at that signature dinner I mentioned. Nice guy.

Anyway, so far everything you posted looks fabulous. Yum!

 

[ghidorah97]

When last we visited with our intrepid party-goers, we were smack dab in the middle of the Reception. By this point, I decided to get up close and personal with the fantastic chefs who were preparing this amazing food.

Not the best picture, but gives an idea of the kitchen set-up. As an aside, that is Chef Perrier in the center of the picture, walking away. I tried to find him later in the evening to complement his amazing mushroom cappuccino, but I unfortunately was never able to.

Here are a few up close looks at the chefs working:

I was so impressed by how clean, organized and detailed all of the chefs were. I tried in every case to thank them personally -- and to get them to pose for a picture, of course!

Chef Traci des Jardin

Chef Scott Hunnel

"The Mushroom Guys"

I also had the opportunity to spend some time with Chef John Besh (yes!! It's the previously promised Besh-iness!). Let me just say that he is awesome. Despite the fact that he was in constant demand throughout the evening -- the guy is a ladies magnet! LOL -- he spent a significant amount of time with me. We discussed August (his signature restaurant in New Orleans that I am fortunate enough to have dined at), New Orleans in general, the Bocuse competition and his experience with the Next Iron Chef program. I made sure he knew that I thought he got screwed. Anyway, here's the pic:

So it was at this point that we were called to enter the dining room. Chef Bocuse welcomed us all in to begin the celebration.

And I will continue the story in my next post....in just a few minutes (Presidential Debate break).

Brad

 

[ghidorah97]

The Dining area was beautifully appointed:

Seating was pre-assigned, and each table was easily identifiable. We were seated with a group from Texas, and man were they awesome!! Nice as can be and LOADS of fun:

Our fantastic tablemates!

As you may have noticed in the first picture, each place-setting had a chef's toque placed over it. Chef Patrick O'Connell of the Inn at Little Washington (Washington, VA) was introduced and instructed us to lift our toques revealing a beautiful little tin of Petrossian Caviar and traditional Mother of Pearl spoon:

Chef O'Connell (by the way, if you ever want to enjoy one of the absolute best meals in the entire country, go to the Inn at Little Washington!) explained to us that within the tin, not only would we find the non-endangered, farm-raised Petrossian Caviar, but underneath was a Peekytoe Crab Salad. He called the dish his:

"Tin of Sin" -- Peekytoe Crab Salad with Petrossian Caviar

Oh my gosh and golly! Sooooo good. Sooooo sinful. Loads of creamy crab salad topped with briney, top-quality caviar. Each of us were supplied with a toasted, buttered brioche with which to enjoy the contents of the tins.

Paired with this dish was a glass of Edna Valley Vineyard, Paragon, Sauvignon Blanc 2006 that I felt was a perfect complement.

Following this, Chef Charlie Trotter of Charlie Trotter's in Chicago was introduced. Chef Trotter explained to us our next dish:

Steamed Pierless Cod with Hojiimenji Mushrooms and a Ginger-Soy-Hijiki Sauce

This, without doubt, was the dish of the evening. I was completely floored at the execution behind this dish. The moment it was placed in front of me, I was immediately hit was the most wonderful, pleasing aroma of ginger and soy. I've never before experienced a dish that so completely enveloped me in such a pleasant aroma. How can a plate that smells so good possibly go wrong? It couldn't. Even if I wanted to, it would have been impossible to find any fault with this dish. The fish? Perfectly prepared. Firm and flaky, yet extremely moist. The sauce? Oh that sauce...*swoon*. They provided us with a choice of rolls with this course. I went with the oatmeal roll, and literally mopped up every last little drop on the plate. Easily one of the best single dishes that I have ever been served.

The pairing was the Acacia Vineyard Chardonnay 2006. Another very nice pairing.

At this point, I got up to walk around a bit and decided to sneak back into the reception area, as they were in the process of setting up the dessert stations (yeah, I am a rebel with a camera!). Since it's getting late, I'll leave off at this point and next installment will begin with some of my thoughts on the back room/staging area and then move quickly to our next dish -- presented by Chef Daniel Boulud!

To be continued tomorrow!

Brad

 

[TigerKat]

Great update Brad. Beshiness very much appreciated!!

 

[christinou]

Wow, what a great review of a great event, i can't wait to read more about it.
Thanks

 

[ghidorah97]

I concur. You're all adorable. And how can you be the shorty when you're the same height as your other friend? I guess Will is freakishly tall?

I'm a bit jealous that you had foie gras two ways.
And I'm a big fan of the bent spoon serving a la Uri Geller. I took photos
of an item served at last year's signature dinner I went to that featured
an hors d'oeuvre (or hoover doover - inside joke) served on one of those spoons.

I'm also pretty sure I've met Roland Muller at two events I've attended, but
as a guest, not working as a chef. He sat next to me at an Exquisite Evening
a few years ago, and sat at the same table as me at that signature dinner I mentioned. Nice guy.

Anyway, so far everything you posted looks fabulous. Yum!

So do all of the WDW Chefs report to Roland? It kind of seemed that he was the head honcho of all WDW dining...

You would have LOVED the foie dishes! So, so good.

Gotta love those horse doovers (I think we all have our version of that inside joke )

 

[BriarRosie]

So do all of the WDW Chefs report to Roland? It kind of seemed that he was the head honcho of all WDW dining...

You would have LOVED the foie dishes! So, so good.

Gotta love those horse doovers (I think we all have our version of that inside joke )

I got the impression that Roland was the head honcho over everyone at WDW. It's very tempting to tell him exactly what we think of menu changes at our favorite restaurants.

I'm having my vicarious foie gras through this review! Here's what I liked about your review, in no particular order:

1. Beshiness.
2. Foie gras many ways
3. Bent spoons serving hoover doovers.
4. The Texas Party Table. (They looked like fun people!)
5. Memo to me to try Charlie Trotter's place

 

[Krissalee]

Amazing! I am so envious! I am (patiently) waiting for the rest of this report!

 

[jeminni]

You guys are too cute. I love the rebel with a camera bit.
Waiting anxiously for more .

 

[ghidorah97]

Now where was I? Ah yes, having just been knocked senseless by Trotter magic, I decided to be a little sneaky and peek back behind the curtains where the prepwork for the dessert portion of our meal would be taking place. It was an absolute flurry of activity back there as, not only were the dessert stations being set-up, but this was also where they were staging our next course. I stayed for a few minutes -- doing my best to remain completely out of the way -- and watched as both chefs and waitstaff moved about like ferrets on crack. Extremely controlled, professional and confident ferrets on crack. It was very, very impressive.

I was particularly impressed with Chef Gavin Kaysen. Some of you may remember Chef Kaysen as "the young kid" during the Next Iron Chef competition. He is now the Chef de Cuisine at Cafe Boulud in New York, and he was running the show here -- supervising the prep, staging and plating. He was completely in control and extremely professional. The world-famous Chef Daniel Boulud of Daniel in NY created the dish, but Chef Kaysen seemed to be executing it. I figured I'd best be heading back soon, or else I'd miss:

Duo of Brandt Beef: Red Wine Braised Short Ribs and Seared Rib Eye, Glazed Beet, Root Vegetable Gratin, Horseradish

Another plate full of Wow, Oh My God and Holy Cr*p! The Seared Rib Eye was a perfect medium-rare, with beautiful marbling and a marvelously creamy horseradish topping. I love beets, and the glazed red beet, topped with a baby golden beet were major winners in my book. The root vegetable gratin was a combination of seven different root vegetables, but at this point I can only remember that two of them were potato and sweet potato (I'm going to guess that carrot, parsnip and rutabaga were three of the others???). Regardless, it was just delicious.

But the star of the plate had to be the Short Ribs. Lordy, lordy! I just know that short ribs are horrible for me, but I swear I would eat this dish every single day if I could. That little rib was out-of-this-world tender, delicious, juicy, YUM!

This dish was paired with Beaulieu Vineyard Reserve, Tapestry, 2004. A superb bottle, an even better pairing with the dish.

At this point, unfortunately, I began to run into my second hiccup of the evening. You may recall from my earlier post that began the Grand Gala review that I mentioned a couple of hiccups in the evening. The first was the late opening of the doors. The second began for me at about this time. You see, I have this occasional little allergy problem with wines. The really annoying thing about it is that it is never consistent. Sometimes I can drink wine all night with nary a problem (a great example would be our Thursday dinner at Cali Grill where we drank two different bottles with no ill effect whatsoever), but then there are those nights when I'm not as lucky. Unfortunately, this was to be one of those nights. The dreaded WINE HEADACHE arrived. The worst part about these things is that they arrive like a ton of bricks, and truly can ruin your evening. So in an effort to control the problem as best I could, I immediately switched to water, water, water, and decided to take another walk to the back and see how the dessert work was going. This time I figured it was time to take some pics, too!

Here's one of them:

Okay, here's another:

We'll save the rest for later because we still have another course to go! While I was being my sneaky little self again here in the back, the waitstaff were once again staging to serve the next course. One thing somewhat unusual caught my eye though. Something gray, something fuzzy, something... with a tail:

It's Remy from Ratatouille! How cool is that? He was skittering all around amongst the waitstaff, paying particular attention to what they were carrying. He was even posing for pictures, too:

Meanwhile, the waitstaff were all lining up:

So I moved on back to the table. Shortly thereafter, Remy lead in the entire line of waitstaff, like one huge conga line. Only this conga line was carrying gifts:

Artisanal Cheese: Comte Fort Russe, Gorgonzola Piccante, Grayson, Manchester -- Presented by Max McCalman, Courtesy of Artisanal Premium Cheese - NY, NY

And so here is the third hiccup for me. As I mentioned, ever since the wine headache started, I began drinking lots of water. That, combined with all of the food previously eaten, meant that by this point I was REALLY...DARN...FULL. Wicked full and a pounding headache to boot meant that I really didn't eat any of the cheese. What a waste. And I love cheese too. With this course we were also served Dom Perignon, 2000 Vintage:

I have to be honest, I preferred the Veuve that was served earlier in the evening.

We're almost done! Tune in same Bat-time, same Bat-channel for dessert, cake and more headaches!

Brad

 

[ghidorah97]

Following the cheese course, the big announcement took place as Chef Timothy Hollingsworth, sous chef at The French Laundry won the competition and therefore the right to represent the US in Lyon, France. After the announcement, Chef Jerome Bocuse (son of Paul Bocuse himself) sabred (is that a word?) a giant bottle of Dom:

At this point, the Dessert Extravaganza began! The band began to play! And my headache got even worse On a happier note, let's get up close and personal with some of the desserts:

The actual dessert menu was as follows:

Passion Fruit and Chocoloate Baked Alaska - Chef Andreas Born, Disney's Hollywood Studios
Grand Marnier-flamed Crepes Suzette with Vanilla Cream Poached Strawberry Dumplings and Wild Forest Strawberry Sauce - Chef Erich Herbitschek, Disney's Grand Floridian
Tropical Fruit Tartar and Champagne Sabayon - Chef Lothar Meumaier, Epcot
Salted Caramel, Coffee, Passion Fruit Duchesse - Chef Ewald Notter, Notter School of Pastry Arts
Assorted Petit Fours and Fruits with Champagne Foam - Chef Stefan Riemer, Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resorts
"Poire Helene" - Poached Bosc Pear, Valhrona Chocolate Ganache, Almond Financier and Amaretti Gelato - Chef Kelly Smith, Disney's Boardwalk Resort
Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake Martini and Apricot Napoleon - Chef Chris Vitanza, Disney's Contemporary Resort
Celebration Cake - Chef Mike McCarey, Mike's Amazing Cakes, Redmond, WA

Now, I am -- quite frankly -- a dessert freak. No matter how full I may be, I will always find room for dessert. But this night would prove to be a major challege for me. In hindsight, I was a bit foolish that I didn't grab myself a nice cup of hot Earl Grey tea from the Coffee and Tea station that they had set-up. I definitely wasn't going to be drinking any of the Moet White Star Champagne or the Diageo Reserve After Dinner Drinks that were being served! But the tea probably would have helped quite a bit. So given how full I was, and that darn headache, the only desserts I tried were Chef Notter's salted caramel, chocolates and jellies and the Baked Alaska. Any other night, I would have eaten every single one of these! Here's a view of Chef Notter in action:

I did have one other dessert -- the Celebration Cake from Mike McCarey. Those of you who watch Food Network Challenge will be very familiar with Chef McCarey. He's the guy that won the Disney Villain Cake challenge with the Captain Hook and Crocodile cake -- the cake that looked like it was taken directly off one of the original animation cells. The guy is amazing, and I just had to taste his cake. Very, very good! He is also extremely nice to talk with!

The remainder of the evening was spent dancing with our Texan tablemates (told you they were alot of fun!! -- and very good dancers, to boot!). By the time midnight rolled around, I was shot. Will and Ken, however, were both still ready to party. On our way out, I did catch one more awesome memory:

Chef Daniel Boulud! I thanked him for a fantastic evening and couldn't have been more impressed with how personable he was -- even at such a late hour after such a long day.

Grabbing our goodnight gifts of two boxes of chocolates, Will and Ken tried like crazy to get me to continue to party on with them, but the headache won out, and I headed off to my room, another bottle of water, and lots and lots of advil. They did go off to party some more at Pleasure Island, eventually making it back sometime around like 2:30 or 3:00. So while I woke up feeling much, much better -- refreshed actually -- Ken woke up feeling like this:

Poor guy was leaking oil the whole way home!

My final thoughts:

This event was spectacular. The food, the drinks, the chefs and the people were all amazing. The venue was perfect as well. I have nothing but the highest of praise for all those involved in making this happen, and I would without a moments hesitation attend again should there be another Gala in two years. Only that time I'll either lay off the wine or bring my trusty Advil with me!!!

Thanks all for reading my sometimes rambling, verbose report. I hope that you enjoyed hearing about and seeing some of my experiences during the Gala. I certainly enjoyed sharing it with you!

Brad

 

[BriarRosie]

I most definitely enjoyed this report. Sorry that you ended with a headache, though.

 

[TigerKat]

Brad - Thanks for sharing your informative and entertaining reviews with us. Especially enjoyed the Beshiness! Never leave home without the Advil my friend.