slow food miami at the sagamore
SFM Leader Donna Reno introduced her daughter Hunter Reno, who explained the edible herb arrangement made for the occasion (the word ‘GROW’ formed the middle).
Then, the group moved toward the Compost Treasure Map (I love this),
and Hunter explained that compost needs a balance of brown (leaves, etc.) and green, moisture, and turning:
Moving from the wasabi microgreens to edible pansies, savory, and lemon verbena, with irresistible enthusiasm, Hunter encouraged us to pull off leaves of chocolate mint and reminded us to take a small pot of herbs with us after dinner.
The tiny kitchen charged through the first three courses with volunteer chefs helping to plate the shrimp with avocado ice cream (with La Spinetta Langhe Bianco) and tempura capers that I found hard not to pick up,
and capers continued in the livornese sauce around the yellowtail snapper with fingerlings and my favorite part of the menu, the E. Pira Barbera d’Alba (all the wines were donated by Indigenous Selections).
With the third course of this meal led by meat (wherefore beautiful vegetables? I know they are still growing in South Florida), I gave myself over to the veal ossobuco and crisped chips of artichokes, on soft homemade fettucine (La Spinetta II Nero di Casanova),
before more cheese on this appreciation week, Parmigiano Reggiano fonduta with beef filet that Donna explained we spent some food miles on (with Giacomo Borgogno Barolo Classico Riserva 2000),
and two sweet courses to finish with the balanced La Spinetta Moscato Bricco Quaglia: strawberry goat milk ice cream over a lavender infusion near (I think) pepper flecks,
and last, pistachio-vanilla filling inside what I’ve always thought a cannoli should be—a wrapper that shatters like a real croissant in contrast to the smooth inside.
I always find food experiences more intense when I experience them alone, and I sat quietly at a table near the kitchen thinking of all of you last night.
Laura, we will have to make a lavender infusion; David, the pistachio cannoli is the dessert of your dreams. Jean Marc, I missed your company! Holly, I simply couldn’t take out the big camera (the ossobuco claimed me), but I did my best to document as the plates whisked by.
This morning, I slowly stretched and stepped down the spiral staircase at the cottage, smiling at the cheerful little potted herbs,
a good reminder of the event, the SFM group, and my life in the kitchen where I try, like my thoughtful friend Matt, who is on a meditation retreat this week, to move closer to mindful actions. Even though mine might involve magenta sprouts.
Related posts:
Leave a Reply
Posted by Kristen Taylor on Thursday, April 30th, 2009, 11:10 am * Filed in Food, miami. * Tags: dinner, Food, kristen, kthread, miami, sagamore, slow, taylor. Follow responses through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
April 30th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Like they said in AIRPLANE! the movie, looks like I picked the wrong week to do a cleanse!
Missed being their and sharing the experience with you. But as usual your blog made me feel as if I was there. We have to plan something special to do on the other side of this cleanse XO.
April 30th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
JM, yes! We will certainly on the other side, and happy that this took you there, I hoped it would—
May 1st, 2009 at 1:33 pm
You say pistachio, I say I’m there …
May 1st, 2009 at 5:00 pm
The ossobuco would have claimed me, too! What a beautiful job you did documenting this (as usual). Wish I could have been there to visit with you, but it sounds like the food made for much more inspiring company. ;)
May 3rd, 2009 at 8:01 am
Holly, you were missed! Donna and I talked about how great you are, and glad I could help document this one.
D, thought you might say that.