Sometimes I feel so lucky. Last night was one of those times. The great BBQ Pitmaster, John Markus, invited us over for dinner. He was smoking a slew of meat; Chad Brauze, chef at Rotisserie Georgette, was doing the rest of the food. Susan Orlean and her husband John Gillespie were coming too. Did we want to join them?
JM was standing in the kitchen when we got there, pleasant chaos all around. Meanwhile Chad was mopping the meat with this thyme butter
and calmly placing all the other dishes on the table. He'd worked magic with these vegetables, coaxing out elusive flavors until they were fully capable of standing up to the spectacular meat.
In addition to huge amounts of beef and an entire cornucopia of vegetables there was this "competition chicken"
along with a few more dishes I neglected to photograph (ie. entire racks of pork ribs).
By the time we got to dessert we were eating in the dark, which is my only excuse for this truly terrible photograph. You'll have to take my word that this white-chocolate dusted strawberry shortcake, made by Chad's wife Ashley, was a transcendent version of the classic cake. Little wonder: Ashley Brauze is the pastry chef at Cafe Boulud.
Afterward, John pulled out another treat: Pinhook Bourbon.
Smooth. Mellow. Rich. There could not have been a better ending to this spectacular feast.