The double co-host dinner

This dinner marked the eighth time that a group of Entrepicureans gathered at my place, and the first time that the dinner featured two co-hosts! Both Mary and Carrie have been co-hosts before, and we had been having some discussions about how to improve this growing dinner series, so it seemed like a good idea to have both co-hosts. And in fact, it was - there were absolutely no lapses in conversations, with many interesting topics.

Tonight's line-up, shown in the picture counterclockwise from the lower right, included Ajeet Bagga, Carrie Stalder (co-host), Sandy Missakian, Dave Waller, Carolyn Potter, Mary Chiochios (co-host) and yours truly.

There were a couple of unusual "categories" in the crowd: first, two of the diners (Carrie and Sandy) both have had and currently have some involvement with restaurants or businesses related to restaurants. This was reflected in some of the conversations. Also, several people (Mary, Dave, Sandy) have extensive experience with the film industry, and that was also a recurrent theme throughout the evening, with discussions about selection of actors, movies, production, distribution and much more.

At one point I recall a conversation about Las Vegas, a city that seemed to elicit diametrically opposed views and opinions from some of the Entrepicureans. We also learned about Dave's recent family vacation to New Zealand, a place we would all love to visit it if weren't so far away. Many other conversations swirled around the room, touching on topics as varied as baby sweaters and neon signs. People must have been having a good time because nobody left until after midnight!

The food had a definite maritime slant. The appetizers included smoked salmon tartines, bluefish paté, trout paté and a few other items. The first course was a seafood risotto that I had recently "invented" by borrowing ideas from a mixture of other recipes. The risotto was topped with bottarga, a substance made from the roe of the grey mullet, typical of certain southern Italian regions. It is similar to caviar, but comes as a hard reddish lump that was used during cooking and also grated on top of the risotto.

For a second course we had sole filet mugnaia style with a white wine and lemon reduction, accompanied by asparagus and roasted vegetables. Dessert included a taste test: Carrie had bought vanilla ice cream from two Cambridge favorites, Toscanini's and Christina's. We used these ice creams to make two types of affogato (ice cream with espresso) for each guest, and asked everyone which they preferred. People's decisions seemed to switch, and at one point it was suspected that the server (yours truly) got the two brands mixed up, so the results were inconclusive - though quite tasty.

Dinner was washed down with a great variety of specialty beers and wines. You can see a selection of what we consumed in the picture. In addition I am happy to report that my collection now includes a couple of delicious bottles that I am saving for the next good opportunity to enjoy some great wine with great company.