Springtime in Madrid

G and I went to Madrid for a brief visit last week.  (Got back Monday afternoon.) Weather was warm (in the 60s) during  the day and cool at night (40s and 50s). We had both been to Madrid and various parts of Spain before, so we were not pressed to visit every attraction. Just took in some museums, leisurely walks around our quiet neighborhood, long siestas, and fantastic restaurants.
With good reason Madrid is heralded as the European Capital of Art (who knew?). Its three museums: the Prado, Reina Sofia and Thyssen, house a staggering number of masterpieces from almost every important artist of the past 1000 years. All centrally located within walking distance of each other in the Paseo del Arte, the collections include works by Van Gogh, Picasso, Goya and Bosch.
Visitors can buy a “Paseo del Arte” ticket at any of the museums which gives discounted entry to all three gems. Our hotel, Hotel Selenza, bundled an unlimited entry to the three museums with our hotel stay.

We stayed in Salamanca, an old, elegant, quiet and urbane neighborhood known for its chic boutiques and charm. Apparently, the neighborhood is pricey and exclusive and clearly where wealthy Madrilenos live. Hotel Selenza is a boutique hotel with 40 rooms and contemporary art deco decor.

THURSDAY

The lobby

 

Our room and its great details

 

The library, where we had afternoon drinks

We arrived around 7 am Thursday, having taken the new Aer Lingus direct afternoon flight from DC Wednesday.  The hotel was kind enough to give us a room, albeit small (the only one available at that moment--check in is typically 3pm), right away. They said we could move the next day if we liked (which we did). So we took a nap, refreshed ourselves and got up around 2pm to go for lunch. It was perfectly aligned with how the Spanish spend their days: a siesta and then a late afternoon lunch. Here we are at Cafe Oliver, looking very groggy.

Cafe Oliver, located in the artsy and gay neighborhood of Chueca, is a great little place that serves up the best from the French, Italian, Spanish, and Morroccan cuisines in this Bistro-style restaurant. Very local and very friendly. Not a tourist in sight and English is spoken in very limited amounts. Perfect.

  

Bacalao (salted, dried cod) rehydrated with some milk and shaped into a cake with peas. Bacalao is very popular and a food staple. Yum.

G had Iberico ham a melon

A bit of roast chicken with mustard sauce and a potato topped with cheese. (You'll note two things: 1) I'm eating chicken here, which I never do in the States and 2) it's a very small (not a raptor-sized US) piece of chicken. The taste is markedly different from American chicken--somewhere between duck and chicken. Delicious. 

G had a shrimp and pasta dish that was tinged with curry. There was also some  nice cava, rice pudding, and a little espresso involved.

We walked around Chueca and wandered towards Retiro park, Madrid's main park (there are many) in the city center. A giant park, reminiscent of New York's Central Park, filled with beautiful sculpture, a green house, monuments, galleries, a peaceful lake and host to a variety of events, it is one of Madrid's premier attractions. 

 

Afterwards, we walked back to our Salamanca neighborhood and stopped in at the tiny panaderia (bakery). There's also a mercado (think farmer's market) right around the corner from us as well.

We took another nap before our dinner in the neighborhood at Lateral, a chic new tapas bar around 9:30 that night. (People eat late there.)

Madrid has undergone a bit of a metamorphosis in the past twelve years since I've been here. The mayor has undertaken a grand effort to make the city walkable and more international and visitor friendly. Chic and sophistie bars and eateries like Lateral are now everywhere, supplanting some of the more divey or traditional taverns.

 

A baked potato...topped with a fried egg (they love their fried eggs), stuffed with ratatouille. DELISH!

Mushrom crepe

(from top left clockwise): Tortillia española (a traditional frittata/omelet with potatoes and onion); ever-present shrimp croquettes; foie gras with marmalade and Iberico ham; tempura veggies (an international twist on the classic fried anything)

 

A bit of lemon pie and sorbet of mango and raspberry

We went to bed with very full bellies!

FRIDAY

The next morning we got up around 10am to have breakfast and head over to our first museum--the Reina Sofia.

The Centro de Arte Reina Sofia houses Madrid’s collection of modern art in a huge exhibition space converted from a hospital housing Spain’s most famous work of art – Picasso’s Guernica. Picasso’s masterpiece shows the Nazi bombing of Guernica in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. Due to its depiction of the atrocity under Franco, Guernica was displayed in New York until 1981. After Franco’s death in 1975 and the end of his dictatorship in Spain, Picasso’s work returned home. The adjacent galleries show the preliminary sketches by Picasso. Apart from several other works by Picasso, there are paintings by the French artist Magritte, the surrealist Salvador Dali, and a large collection of photography including photographs taken by Robert Capa during the Spanish Civil War.

There were amazing displays of other non-Spanish artists, including Schutte (aluminum sculptures) and Calder (mobile). The space itself is wonderful with a giant atrium with industrial elements. A mix of classic on the outside with contemporary on the inside.

 

We then walked over to beautiful Plaza Santa Ana and had a little lunch of kebabs and fries (they love their meat and patatas fritas!) and some flan. Leisurely lunches on sunny terraces, people watching, was by far my favorite thing to do while in Madrid. And the sidewalk cafes were plentiful.

 

After lunch, we did the obligatory walk over to Plaza Mayor, the giant and very popular square in the middle of the city. It's over-run with tourists and concommitant mimes and pick pockets, much like Times Square or Plaza San Marco; and is where you'd find a lot of kitsch and crappy things to buy. We walked through it quickly.

Plaza Mayor

And afterwards, what else: nap time back at the hotel! Before dinner, we snapped pictures of the lovely courtyard of the hotel, which also houses Ramon Freixa, the one Michelin-starred beauty, that Gourmet magazine describes as "delirious excess".

 

Gold charges, black water goblets, and crackers on a hanger (inspired by Chicago's Alinea--which I still have to blog about).

  

Amuse bouche of the TINEST bits of potato puree in tapioca skin; spherified foie gras; Parmesan cloud with salmon roe; sweet pea with candied marshmallow bits; braised pork belly with candied pineapple and some edible goldleaf

Fish course: Cod sous vide with a bit of crispy skin and purple basil

A rioja and some cava

 

A meat course?: 

A FANTASTIC deconstructed hamburguesa (hamburger): Ground duck with grated clouds of parmesan, green mustard savory ice cream; tomato and molasses sauce (aka ketchup) and the thinnest wheat cracker.

My main course: Sea bass; potato skin (not skin of potato, but a sliver of potato with the texture of...skin) and the most delicate julienned herico verts.

 

A side of potato pudding, a bit of spinach with a sliver of leek and the tiniest cube of apricot gelee

G had pork cheeks, braised; with corn three ways: grilled sliver of baby corn, POPCORN, and corn pudding

A floating rose and chef Freixa himself! He was very gregarious, spoke decent English and worked the room often

PRE-DESSERT!: Pumpkin sorbet; lavender pillow puff; chocolate-covered POP ROCKS in a white chocolate cup; raspberry gelee; bluberry stabbed with a tuille; tiny madeleine; and, literally, a golden (gilded) crab apple

 

Dessert: Dark chocolate ganache cake; chocolate and hazelnut ice cream; cold chocolate (aka, like a Mexican hot chocolate, but cold and without sugar with a thin waver on top). Then six different types of chocolate bits with our espresso: chocolate covered almonds, chocolate-covered sour patch kids (not actually sour patch kids, but a similar type of ultra pucker-worthy candy that Spanish kids eat), chocolate-dusted coffee beans and white chocolate balls and salt. Oy!

G finished everything off with a Cognac. 

Note: as part of the hotel package, we got to have dinner at this amazing restaurant for half of what it would typically be ($250 versus $500). Though "packages" and "bundles" may sound down-market, it certainly can be the opposite, and great value.

SATURDAY

The next morning, we had the usual breakfast at 10am that included baked goods, coffee and juice.

We walked over to the fabulous Thyssen museum for our daily art intake.

 Juan Gris, El Fumador, 1913

Source.

The Thyssen, aka, the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza is a huge assemblage of art collected by the Thyssen-Bornemisza dynasty.  The works on display cover examples of great art from all over the world. There are works here by almost every major artist of the past 600 years; Raphael, Titian, Canaletto, Monet, Renoir, Gauguin, Rodin, and Vincent Van Gogh all have paintings here. More modern works by Freud, Bacon, Pollock, Lichtenstein and Picasso are also on display at this immense private treasure-trove. Amazing.

For lunch, we walked back to the edge of our neighborhood and ate at Iroco. Yet another, slick, nouvelle cuisine establishment, it's decorated in a very familiar slick, trendy New York style. It seemed to be popular with a lot of Americans.  The menu is not particularly Spanish, but very tasty. I wish a garden table was available--but indoors was nice enough.

 

 

Sliders and fries.

A panko and sesame-crusted scallopini of chicken Cesar salad

After lunch: The usual, a siesta...

 

For dinner, we made an ill-advised trip to El Mollette, an overly hyped, overly romanticised dive serving greasy racionnes and terrible wine in a really crappy part of town on a dumpy street. However, the owner, Tomas Blanco is a wonderful and friendly man. The reviews and at the urging of a friend, made it sound like it was difficult to get a table in the 20-some seat eatery. We got there early, around 9pm, got a prime (relatively speaking) seat on the top floor and Tomas helped us choose our platas. They were not good. They gave me heartburn. The only thing I could surmise from the overly positive reviews (like "the best place in Madrid to eat") is that the reviewers' lifestyle vernacular includes hostels and dive bars.

 

Avocado salad with cured salmon and tuna; more croquettas; huevos roto (aka "broken [fried] eggs" on top of french fries!; fried chorizo on top of more french fries! We at a fraction of this meal and high tailed it out of there.

Again, the service was very friendly and mom and pop who run the place are the sweetest people. I hope they do well, and hey, it's not bad if you want a cheap, greasy, fun meal one night. We mad the excuse of having to catch the big futbol match (Madrid v. Barcelona) that night! So we walked out, and popped our head in a local cerveceria to catch a glimpse of the game.

 

We headed towards the more urbane Mercado de San Miguel, a really remarkable foodie food paradise (like Eastern Market, in DC, but on steroids), and wished we had just gone here for dinner.  Everyone held plates full of tapas and bruschettas.

Since May last year, Madrid’s foodies have been flocking to a rather more alluring (if pricey) alternative to the city's utilitarian municipal markets. El Mercado de San Miguel is the Spanish capital’s first, and so far, only, “gourmand” produce market. The feel is that of a southern European version of Borough Market in London. There are 33 upmarket stalls, housed in a beautifully restored, cast-iron and glass pavilion, just off the historic Plaza Mayor near the heart of old Madrid. Read more about it here.

 

Poultry stall; oyster stall

 

Plenty of places to get a drink--it's popular for late night eating and drinking (which is what the Spanish do--eat and drink late), it's open until 2am.

Croquettas, jamon, dessert, MACARONS, you name it, they got it. We enjoyed some cafe con leche and some eggy desserts.

SUNDAY

Our last full day. We saved the Prado for last. Walking along the beautiful park promenade that runs down the center of main drag Pasillo de Recoletos, was a lovely day. Madrid has so many lovely parks and green spaces.

 

Amassed by the Spanish royal family, the Museo del Prado is one of the oldest and largest collections of art in the world. It boasts hundreds of priceless works of art covering Spanish, Dutch, Flemish, German, Italian, French and British art between 1100 and the 19th century. Among the cavernous galleries at the Prado, masterpieces on display include works by Bosch, Brueghel, Durer, Raphael, Titian, El Greco, Caravaggio, Velazquez, Rubens and Rembrandt - to name but a few. Naturally Spanish art is well represented with large collections by El Greco, Velazquez and Goya. Highlights include; the Black Paintings (Pinturas Negras) by Goya, a wonderfully dark series produced in the 19th century, and the macabre Flemish works by Bosch and Brueghel; The Garden of Earthly Delights and The Triumph of Death.

The Prado is free on Sunday! 

On our leisurely walk back, we stopped by the historic Cafe Gijon. It's said to be one of the best literary and artistic cafés in the world. History is of such importance that in fact, the expanded name of the establishment is "Gran Café de la historia de España". 

Opened in 1888, it won itself a place in Madrid's political and artistic life quickly by becoming the site of "tertulias" (informal group discussions on everything from art to politics) and also the favored place for scientists, writers and poets searching for inspiration. Among its customers were Santiago Ramón y Cajal (the winner of the 1906 Nobel Prize in Medicine) and later, writers and poets such as Camilio José Cela, Federico García Lorca, Antonio Machado, Rubén Darío and Pérez Galdós.

 

Speaking of literati, we ran into (okay, sat near) a real life artist and author,  Eric Bogosian.

 

The outdoor dining is actually across the street from the restaurant. So servers had to negotiate traffic when serving up our plates!

More eggs. Scrambled eggs with cured ham on top of fries! Garlic shrimp and a sundae. We lingered quite a while before heading back to our neighborhood, for more...napping. I could really get used to this siesta thing!

Our last dinner in Madrid was again in our neighborhood, at the stylish and funky Pan de Lujo, an ultra contemporary Spanish-fusion restaurant run by acclaimed chef Alberto Chicote. The entrance looks like a clothing store front, but enter and you'll be greeted with a bar area with disco-like floor lighting and a wall of glass opens onto a reflecting pool illuminated by three big light boxes.

The wine list was nice and extensive. Tons of Spanish wines, of course.

 

Quirky details like a rubber gasket for the olive oil plate and a long napkin the size of a sheet.  

I had to have a salad. And though they aren't the most interesting things on the menu, this one was quite fabulous with pomagranate seeds and asparagus. 

G had the most amazing semi-dried tomatoes.  Basically, dried tomatoes are rehydrated with oil and with a drizzle of balsamic, they imparted a caramely sweet flavor that was out of this world. 

Our main courses included truffle stuffed veal and pork meatballs for me and pork tenderloin in some sort of muscavado sauce for G. Dessert was an amazing matcha ice cream iwth a bit of mint, toasted brioche crisps, and lychee juice!

 A perfect end to a perfectly relaxing Madrid long weekend!

Mc-Macarons: The end of good taste

As you may or may not know, I'm obsessed with macarons. My whole wedding was planned around Laduree. Our French friends have, on more than one occasion, smuggled in French Laduree macarons for my eating enjoyment (Ms. Quiche on Weddingbee even tried to get them for me when she was in Paris).

I actually made them as favors for my wedding--which is a ridiculous feat, since a) I don't bake and b) the pastries are extremely delicate and finicky and thereby very difficult to execute (but I did it--obsessions are inspiring, non?). When I use to mention the tasty little delights to people, they'd say, "Oh, I love macaroons--those Girl Scout cookies are great!" Um, no. That was a couple years ago. But like many memes, the idea spread. And they've grown into some notoriety.

In the past two weeks, friends and family members have emailed and clipped newspaper articles on the confection. Headlines in lifestyle and food sections of major newspapers announcing the new "it" dessert. LAME. I hope these don't become trendy and down-marketed like cupcakes. Don't get me wrong, I love cupcakes, but like a lot of Mc-trends where the masses get on the trendwagon, the object loses its appeal, especially when not-so-great versions start to saturate the marketplace. Starbuck's (talk about contrived) is offering them. And in some French McDonald's they're serving up Mc-Macarons (in their McCafe)--it makes as much sense, I suppose.  Many find them a pale, ersatz comparison. I'm a little cynical because I am experiencing that childish want to be the special snowflake. And I also believe these cookies should not be democratized.  They should exist in that rarefied air of artisan creation.

To Julie Jargon, who wrote the Wall Street Journal article, "Mon Dieu! Will Newfound Popularity Spoil the Dainty Macaron?" I say, yes.

 {G brought home this article from the WSJ the other week}

To Elinor Klivans who wrote the recipe piece in the Washington Post called "The French cookie trend du jour comes out of the oven with elan" I totes gag.

{My mother-in-law saved me this article}

There is a silver lining to the popularization of theses delicacies...that people will stop.calling.them.'macaroons'.

Here's the recipe for my wedding macarons.

MISS PERFUME'S (that's me) FRENCH MACARONS

2 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 1/4 cup almond flour

1/2 cup aged** egg whites (KEY STEP: Aging the eggs)

Pinch of salt 1/3 cup granulated sugar




Directions To make the macarons: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a food processor, blend the confectioner's sugar and almond flour.









In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip egg whites with salt on medium speed until foamy. Increase speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar.









Continue to whip until stiff glossy peaks form.






With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the confectioners' sugar mixture until completely incorporated. It should be the consistency of lava, and peaks should melt away at this point.



Add six drops of whatever food coloring you want. (I added red drops for light pink and green drops for pistachio green).








Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Trace one-inch circles two inches apart from one another. Be sure to flip the parchment over so you don't bake the pen ink or pencil carbon into the macaron!!!




Fit a pastry bag with a 3/8-inch #4 round tip, and fill with batter. Pipe 1-inch disks onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. The batter will spread a little.






Tap the sheet against the counter to get the air bubbles out. One or two taps will do.


THIS IS KEY: Let stand at room temperature until dry, and a soft skin forms on the tops of the macarons and the shiny surface turns dull, about 30 minutes.








Bake, with the door of the oven slightly ajar (I put a wooden spoon between the door and the oven to keep it the tiniest bit open--THIS IS ANOTHER KEY STEP). Bake for about 12 minutes.




The macarons should have "feet" those little bubbly-edged things at the bottom. Remove baking sheet to a wire rack and let the macarons cool completely on the baking sheet. Gently peel off the parchment. Their tops are easily crushed, so take care when removing the macaroons from the parchment. Use immediately or store in an airtight container, refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month. Fill with anything you like. I use lemon curd, jams, or Nutella in a pinch.

But alas, there are weightier concerns to ponder...like the healthcare bill: Are you happy or sad that it passed?

Hipsters on Food Stamps

They're young, they're broke, and they pay for organic salmon with government subsidies. Got a problem with that?

Read about it here.

What are your thoughts?

Green Hour!

I'd like to preface by saying I'm neither hippy nor dippy (okay maybe just a little of the latter). But on the heels of my humane meats revelation and sustainable farming, I think this is a good idea. So come!! There's art to boot? How can you beat this?

The first “Green hour” event is happening this Thursday and next (March 18 and 25) at The Phillips from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (This is part of a bigger sustainable foods initiative--learn more about it here.)


The Phillips
1600 21th St, NW
Washington D.C., 20009

Olive Oil Cake

I made  olive oil cake this weekend. We had a bunch of fresh pineapple from my mom, and it had to be eaten.  I pureed it and made a sauce and baked* the cake as a delivery system for the pineapple. It turned out dense with a slight crust, more like a scone or torte than a cake. It wasn't too sweet, and went really well with the pineapple.

The cake recipe called for  3/4 cup of good olive oil--that's a lot of oil (good or bad)! And while the recipe required baking in special ramekins and the use of lemon zest, I improvised with a tart and cake pan and grapefruit.

*As you may know, I do NOT bake (save for macarons).

This recipe was easy enough that a caveman I could do it.

 

{Click recipe to print}

For the pineapple sauce...

Puree three cups of fresh pineapple, adding 1/4 cup of orange juice in blender. Put puree mixture in a sauce pan with 1/3 cup of water and 1/2 a cup of brown sugar and brought the whole thing to a boil. The cake is reminiscent of a scone, so the moisture and sweetness of the sauce really adds to it!

Humane Meat - lots of it

At Tim's dinner party, we met several new people, including Cynthia, who is a photographer and foodie. She's trying to combine her two passions into a documentary piece of work on humane meat harvesting. I wasn't sure what she was talking about, but my curiosity was piqued enough to join her at a wine dinner showcasing her photography and Eco-Friendly Foods at our most favorite of wine-bar restaurants in DC: Sonoma.

Cynthia and Chef Nicholas Sharpe

It turned out to be a presentation and tasting of the specially-harvested meats. And there was a lot of it. Eco-Friendly Foods' proprietor Bev Eggleston, along with his wife, Jenelle, provide pasture-raised, "beyond organic" meats to consumers at farmers markets and to restaurants. All of their animals are raised (and harvested) humanely on small family farms throughout the Shenandoah Valley, VA. They're really into, and have worked very hard, to champion the benefits of returning to healthy farming and provide products crafted from these methods. Working for family farmers, they've invested large amounts of time lobbying for national and local legislation to open a venue for farmers who utilize a “holistic” approach to raise, harvest and market their products.

Bev talking; Bev and Chef (and his ink)

This might sound like a real mouth-full and hippy-dippy, and many people don't care as long as the meat tastes good. I guess I am/was one of those people. But listen, I don't want to be eating a piece of pork fed on M&Ms and corn and then tortured before it's slaughtered. The taste of pasture-raised meat is qualitatively different than big mass-produced corporate products. Remember the AMAZING pork I had in Charleston? It's from Fudge Farms, and they do the natural, pasture-raising technique. The quality of the meat is obvious. I cannot, absolutely cannot, tell you enough how different it is. But when I was eating the Fudge Farms pork back in Charleston, I had no idea that the reason for its flavor was because of the way it was farmed.

And now it's clear: How an animal is raised and harvested effects its flavor. SUBSTANTIALLY.

Back to the dinner. So for $90 a person, we dined on five courses of meat and listened to Bev describe the product and the paradigm of "beyond organic". It means, not only are the animals fed natural, unprocessed, foods, they are allowed to freely graze on the green pastures of the farm. The green-ness, a freshness, if you will, is what you taste in the meat. Also, they aren't frightened and abused, which can cause them to release weird, nasty-tasting hormones. Especially the veal. It's important that the still-suckling calves aren't torn from their mother to be "processed".

 

We started with grilled bread and ham "salad" with sweet house-pickled vegetables, which included beech mushrooms, peppers and haricot verts. (So, it wasn't *all* meat.)

  

Fried chicken with apple puree and sorrel salad. As you know, we don't eat chicken, but I had to try it. The texture was good, and the crispy, crunchy skin packed the flavor, as did the apple puree with applejack jus gras. We chose our own bottle of wine, instead of the wine pairing offered. The 2008 Klee Pinot was nice.

  

Rose veal. A young cow, a little older than typical veal, is pinkish in color and, while still suckling is raised on mother's milk and grass before taken to harvest, where it's brought with its mother. (Typically veal calves are torn from their mothers, which is stressful and causes them to produce a bad-tasting fear hormone.) If you really think about it, you don't want to eat meat. But if you do enjoy it, you don't want to torture animals for your pleasure. And you certainly want a good piece of meat for  all the trouble and sacrifice, right?  Small consolation, but we don't eat much veal. This was delicious, nonetheless, served with grits.

 

DELICIOUS pork sausage. Earthy, salty, goodness with sweet potato gnocchi, red onion compote. The sweetness, of course, always pairs well with pork.

  

TAKING A BREAK. Throughout the meal, Bev talked about the process and the particular meat. It was a lot. You can't help but think about the effort and time that goes into raising these animals, treating them humanely, and preparing the meat well. One thing that I learned is how they are slaughtered. Usually (prepare *yourself*) it's a bullet to the head. In fast commercial processing, they don't even bother to check that the animal is actually dead before butchering it. But with humane farming, they go to the efforts of checking their eyes to make sure. Sorry, had to share.

  

Moving on. At this point, I was getting full. Really full. But there was goat atop chickpea polenta. Delicious. I've only had goat at Jamaican restaurants. This was topped with stewed peppers and smoked lamb jus. Very, very tasty.

  

Next up was the grilled NY strip with a side of braised short rib, served with roasted beets, parsnip puree and brasato sauce. The steak was VERY notable in its difference in taste. It tasted a little greener or game-y (which I definitely like). It had much, much more flavor than regular beef, which only tastes good when there's a lot of fat. With this style, it is very lean and the tenderness comes with dry aging. Very nice. The braised short rib was absolutely divine. 

  

Finally, a respite: brown butter cake with apple jam and smoked vanilla ice cream.

Chef Nicholas Sharpe did a wonderful job preparing the meal. Bravo, Chef!

Sonoma is one of many restaurants in DC and NYC that sources from Eco-Friendly Foods. Check them out here.  

You can also purchase their goods at some local farmer's markets. Again, EcoFriendly Foods is a bridge for the marketing and distribution of meat products for farmers who are embracing the successful model of humane and ethical standards for grass-based farming. Bev is testifying today before Congress on the matter.

Our favorite three-legged stool: Art, food and wine

Tim, art collector, oenophile and foodie extraordinaire hosted (the weekend before last--I've been behind in my posting) a little dinner party to celebrate Gesche Würfel and her show at Civilian Arts Project. It was also an opportunity to introduce G and artist, Barbara Liotta , to discuss Chinese art (and her upcoming trip to Beijing). But generally, it was just a random reason to bring together a bunch of people who love the three-legged stool.

We started with a very nice onion tart that Bob made. It tasted great with the lightly sweet and crisp Reisling and Soave. Maureen made a yummy tapenade of olives, figs, garlic and rosemary.

 Tim always rearranges his art collection, so I'm always seeing things anew:

{Yes, the beer cans in the basket is a sculpture; similarly, the red canvas is a painting; Sarah is a photography curator at the National Gallery of Art; the doll--a sculpture.}

Everyone was instructed to bring a Volnay and we all did the taste test. It was beyond me (and many of the other guests) to figure out the differences and guess which was which. The one thing for sure was that the 2006 we brought, stood out as greener or younger tasting than the other three 1999's. (Thanks for forgetting to tell us that vintage detail, Tim!)

 Cynthia was the keeper of the key. She drew the decanters to remember which wine was in which.

For the main course, Tim made chicken paprikash. We don't eat chicken, but I was starving and the sauce was really tasty. Maureen brought a delicious mashed potato-topped mushroom ragu. And there were some lovely steamed green beans.

There was a nice cheese course that Cynthia and Sarah brought. Dessert included a lovely carrot cake by Maureen and handmade chocolates from Biagio in Adams Morgan (brought by Gesche and Rosanz). We always walk by that shop, which is right next door to a consignment shop that I frequent, and never go in. I had the Jasmine dark chocolate heart. Oh.My.Goodness. It was HEAVEN. I love the delicate, perfuminess of jasmine, and with intense dark chocolate as its counterpoint, it was perfection

Another fun evening, thanks, Tim!