In 2017 I was invited to a wine pairing dinner at the Urbani Truffle Lab in Manhattan. The Chef who I met there, Chef Allison Fasano, was excellent and knowledgable, and I followed up with her afterward and invited her to a dinner at Antique Bar & Bakery in Hoboken that I had been invited to by the Executive Chef and Partner, Chef Paul Gerard, because I was writing a blog post about the restaurant. I was also planning to write about my experience at Urbani and Chef Allison Fasano, and I like to connect the experiences that I have and the people I meet and to write about how one thing leads to another and one person connects and then another thing happens and suddenly I find myself somewhere else. Over the years I have come to feel that my life is like a Charles Dickens novel, and that a person I meet or a place where I go one day leads and connects me to something else that appears again down the road. I had the idea at the time when I first went to the Urbani Truffle Lab that I could somehow make the connection between the places and Chefs that could lead to a wonderful event, but at the time it didn't happen. I wrote my blog post about Antique Bar & Bakery, and there are photographs of Chef Allison Fasano in conversation with Chef Paul Gerard at our dinner there, and I later went back again to the Urbani Truffle Lab for another pairing evening and wrote a blog post about that lovely place as well. And then time went on and one day life as we know it changed, and I found myself trying to connect people again in different ways through the Love & Plenty project I developed to help restaurants get funding to help provide meals for people in need and rehire staff, and to help support them in outreach to the community through smaller more intimate Art events and wine tastings and pairings.
In the midst of discussing the second wine pairing event that was being planned at Antique Bar & Bakery for November 21, I received an email from Urbani that it was White Truffle season. I spoke with Chef Paul Gerard and asked him if he would be interested in my ordering white truffles for the next wine pairing event and he said if that was something I'd like to do he'd create something with them. It might seem a strange question to ask a Chef if he'd like to work with white truffles because they are regarded as being the diamond of the culinary world. But I am very sensitive to the fact that all Artists have things they like to work with and things they don't, and I don't ever want to tell an Artist of any kind that they have to do something they're not particularly interested in doing. Chef Paul Gerard has worked in some of the finest kitchens in New York City, New Orleans, across the United States and around the world, and he is always creating masterpieces in his kitchen at Antique Bar & Bakery, but though I know from the experience of watching him cook and eating the sublime creations he makes that he knows the fine art of cooking anything and everything, I didn't want to ask him to cook something unless he would enjoy the experience of it. In addition to helping to support restaurants and help support individuals, families and those in need in communities, the Love & Plenty project is designed to support and encourage Artists, Designers, Entrepreneurs, Small Business Owners and Chefs like Chef Paul Gerard to keep doing the things they love in the ways they love doing them. When I asked Chef Paul if he'd like to have truffles for the next wine pairing and he said yes, I contacted Urbani and thanks to the helpful generosity of Nazzareno Miele, we received an order in perfect time.
The day of the event was a lovely one, with temperatures happily rising into the 60's and sunshine that made it a joy to sit outside. Joel Liscio, the Sommelier and Artist who has been helping to advise me with his knowledge of the wine business and by selecting and presenting wines for these events had introduced me to his Assistant Doris Pradieu at our first event, and I had suggested that they give her the spotlight this time and highlight their mentoring relationship which is another aspect and core value of Love & Plenty, to give people supportive opportunities and mentorship and help give them experience that will move them to new levels of knowledge and expertise. Joel and Doris had chosen Alpine wines for the tasting, an idea that reflects Joel's care in always seeking out something different and interesting and following after knowledge in a way that makes it a fun-filled adventure. Chef Paul Gerard created new items specifically for the lunch that were not from his usual menu, and he asked me if I could have the Chocolatier Milène Jardine who had brought chocolates and truffles to taste at the first pairing bring a selection specifically for dessert.
It's difficult to describe how truly sublime that meal was, with wines perfectly paired and dishes perfectly created to bring out the best of the flavors not only of each ingredient and each creation but to work in concert together so that each course was a delight that added up to a glorious whole. I always say that Chef Paul Gerard's knowledge and expertise and art are so perfect that he is able to make the ideas that I have turn into beautiful experiences where everything is better than I ever could have imagined or dreamed of, and this lunch was a perfect example of that truth. Each dish was perfection, and when the course with the truffles arrived, the entire group of guests nearly began cheering. Shaved so finely they were like the thinnest of parchment paper, the truffles emitted their marvelous scent as they melted into a Risotto that was bathed in a chicken reduction so richly flavorful and yet so light that it enhanced the already luscious flavor without overpowering it. Truffles by nature are known to have aphrodisiac qualities, and there was definitely a feeling of pure joy and deep happiness that descended on us.
As we finished the afternoon with chocolate and truffles from Milène Jardine, I asked Chef Paul Gerard if he could come out to meet the audience for his tour de force of a menu of masterpiece after masterpiece. True to his character, his only concern was to make sure that everyone had enjoyed the experience, and his question was met by applause. I've joked with him in the past that I wish we could keep Antique Bar & Bakery and the exquisite food that he creates there a secret, but this treasure is so great it cannot be hidden. Food like this is healing and healthful, bringing well being and life to those who experience it.
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