Sunday, October 18, 2009:
Hmm, I'm about two months behind between dining and reviewing. Not bad, considering how much I procrastinated! I've already had a trip to Vegas, and recently came back from WDW this week (with a case of the Plague.) So where did I leave off again?
Oh yeah. I stuffed my face at breakfast at Captain's Grille, then had "snacks" at the Ditch. I had plans to have dinner at Victoria and Albert's with Catherine, Brenda, Chelsi and the two Jasons.
Originally, I had tried (and failed) to get the Chef's Table. I had Catherine trying, too. We were both shut out by whoever had the fastest fingers dialing that morning. But I didn't give up.
I found out that with a bit of persistence and a bit of luck, one could ask about getting the Chef's Table menu served in the main dining room. They tend to accommodate small parties, but they were going to make an exception for us. I got a phone call from V&A on the day I was travelling. I'm sitting on the Magical Express bus talking to them about getting the Chef's Table menu. The cast member needed an answer THAT DAY whether we still wanted the chef's table menu, because they had to acquire all the foodstuffs for it.
The catch? Everyone in your party must agree to the Chef's Table menu, or nobody may get it. Well, Chelsi and Jason didn't want to do it. And Chelsi had the nerve to suggest that the rest of us do it and she and Jason could take one for the team and not join us!
Hey now, that ain't happening! I would rather skip the Chef's menu if that meant Chelsi and Jason would join us. I believe I may have threatened them with bodily harm if they became martyrs in the name of food! So that was settled, and the six of us met for our 5:15pm seating.
We were seated fairly close to the entrance. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not. Perhaps they knew our reputations for snarky, obnoxious behavior.
I got a shot of Brenda taking our photos.
She looks terrific, even if the photo came out too dark! Here's a pic of Chelsi with her Jason:
Looks like Jason thought he should match Brenda, no?
You be the judge. Here's a perfectly lit shot of Brenda with her own Jason.
See what I mean about Chelsi's Jason? He must have gotten the memo. Meanwhile, I did not take any photos of Catherine. I'm sure Brenda and Chelsi have some, though.
Oh, before I begin, I think the Skumps Rating System would be completely obvious. Victoria and Albert's gets a glutton rating just by being Victoria and Albert's.
But they earn a Bad rating for something beyond the control of the chefs.
That's for Disney's decision to ban foie gras from its restaurants. Bad Disney! Bad! Bad! I couldn't let a review of Vicki and Al's Diner go without a bad rating for that short-sighted decision.
Now let's begin!
I was happy to see that the World's Cutest Servers, Jack and Sherry, were serving us that night. We had supplementary servers to help out because there were six of us at the table.
Do I
really have to mention that we all got the wine pairings with the meal? It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has read my reviews!
We were all served the same amuse bouche course to go with the obligatory first round of champagne, Pommery Royal Brut NV:
I still enjoy using the "hoover doover" method of pronouncing it as "a moose bush". I'm just easily amused.
From top left, going clockwise, we have a celery root cream soup, a custard served inside the egg shell, a spot prawn, and octopus.
I enjoyed the soup, enough that Catherine gave me hers because she didn't quite like it. The custard was ok, but not something I was blown away by. The spot prawn proved difficult to eat. I thought I could pull it out of the shell with my fork. Wrong! I had to pick it up and scrape the shrimp off with my teeth. I'm sure I looked
very classy doing that! The best part was the octopus.
First Course:
Colorado Buffalo with Fennel, Olives, Artichokes, and Sherry Vinaigrette
Served with
Bisson Bianchetta, Golfo del Tigullio (DOC) Genova, 2007
I always associate Victoria and Albert's with the plate they served this on. I call it the Big Eye Plate. I always felt it looks like my food is staring at me.
You can't see the buffalo under there, but it was there. And it was tender and delicious.
Brenda splurged on the caviar. $190 for a 1/2 oz? I wouldn't do that! Little did I know I'd be spending that money a month later for some Japanese beef!
Second Course:
King Salmon with California Asparagus, Crab, and Sauce Bearnaise
Served with
Baileyana Chardonnay "Firepeak Vineyard" Edna Valley, 2006
Isn't that just the prettiest thing? You can see the crab is lightly battered, and it went well with the sauce, the salmon and the asparagus. Yum.
Meanwhile, as we're enjoying our dinners, Brenda went on a mission to ask the harpist to play a song. But someone Brenda knows came looking for her before they had to leave, so she was out of the dining room for most of it.
The song? "Send in the Clowns".
Brenda wanted to have one of the schmaltziest songs ever as a fun tribute to our dinner. Of course I'm sure she chose that song because Krusty the Clown did a rendition of it on "The Simpsons". I'm sure the harpist would have been scandalized if she was asked to play "Inna Gadda Da Vida" or "Stairway to Heaven", as was discussed by us in another thread!
So we had some "cheese" before the cheese course. On to the next course of the meal...
Third Course:
Duck Breast, Sausage, and Confit with Salsify and Delicata Squash Puree
Served with
Acacia "Winery Lake Vineyard" Pinot Noir, Carneros 2006
And two sauces skid on the plate. You'd think the sauce on top would be thin, but it was actually more like a syrup glaze. It went well with the duck breast. And say what you will about the squash puree, but I thought it was just a fancy phrase for baby food. Tasted terrific, though. And I remember that this pinot noir was my favorite wine of the evening.
Fourth Course:
Marcho Farms Veal Tenderloin with Marble Potatoes and Sauce Soubise
Served with
Castillo Perelada La Garriga Samso, Catalonia 2005
What's that thing perched on my veal? Oh yeah. Sweetbreads. There's my trifecta of sweetbreads, now complete. For those keeping track, I also had sweetbreads at the Flying Fish and Muppet Jerky (aka Todd English) signature dinners.
You know what the hidden gem of this dish was?
The potatoes. You think they were just these little unassuming things, but they were packed with flavor. Especially with the sauce.
And now for some cheese, glorious cheese! They were listed on the menu out of order of what was on the plate, but I will list them in the correct order.
Fifth Course:
Coach Farm Goat, 36-Month Aged Parmigiano-Reggiano, Epoisses, Colston Bassett Stilton
Served with
Quinta do Crasto Late Bottled Vintage Porto 2002
My favorite was the gooey, creamy Epoisses served in the mini-pot. I enjoyed all the cheese, but that was just my favorite of the bunch.
I saved the port because I knew I'd be getting chocolate for dessert!
Sixth Course:
Tanzanie Chocolate Pyramid, Hawaiian Kona Chocolate Souffle, and Peruvian Chocolate Ice Cream on Puff Pastry
Again, listed out of order. The thing on the left with the chocolate eyelashes is the Peruvian thing, and the obvious pyramid on the right. Normally I'd just get the souffle because it makes the eyeballs roll into the back of my head. But I wanted to try the other items this time around.
Well, the other items were nice, but they didn't thrill me as much as the souffle. I did like the ice cream, but next time, I'll stick with my souffle.
We're not done, folks. Brenda and Chelsi surprised us with some gifts! Chelsi gave me a goodie bag with some fun items (including a mini bottle of booze), and Brenda gave us all chocolate cigars from Dean and Deluca. I saved mine.
We wasted no time in making the tables around us wonder who the heck the obnoxious people were! We all decided to order some cognac. Well, we all shared half glasses all around. And that's when we took some fun photos...
I have to give Jason credit for posing like this.
Princess Kingpin
It takes a real man to pose with a tiara and a chocolate cigar. It's doubly special when the guy posing
isn't named Todd. (Anyone who was at WDW last week during DIS-a-Palooza will understand this comment.)
Brenda appeared drunk in the photo, but she really wasn't. She was doing her best drunken FDR pose. Flashed a bit, too. She's shameless.
And lastly, we admired Chelsi's drinking skills.
And you people wonder why I love dining with these people! Now you know! We had such a good time, that
5 hours after we started, we were ready to leave. This meal was definitely a highlight of the trip because of the people I ate with, more than the food itself. If I'm missing anything particularly noteworthy, I'm sure the others will chime in.
of course I really do need to learn the real name, telling clients to go to the Ditch just isn't going to work 
Not to mention the food looked incredible. I'm with you on that Epoisses- that cheese is soooooooo stinky and sooooooo runny and sooooooo yummy! Great review!
