Secret Supper Club

Last Sunday, I had the last-minute good fortune to have been invited to the inaugural dinner of Crave, a new supper club in Paris run by three chefs in the apartment belonging to two of them. As these chefs spend the week working at very expensive and famous restaurants, they wanted to have a bi-weekly opportunity to experiment with flavors and foods and serve it in an intimate setting.

Along with 7 other people (all of whom are writers and/or have culinary backgrounds), I got to try out their first new dishes. Allow me to show you.

We started out with grain bread and homemade miso butter.

Moved on to an amuse-bouche, which was comprised of radish, kimchi, caviar and a cilantro leaf.

Our appetizer was this super-fresh salmon carpaccio with a citrus sauce, olive oil and fried capers.

Okay, then was the main course. It was homemade mustard, sweet tater tots, a fried vegetable I forget, and 7-hour braised pork snout.

Pork snout.

PORK SNOUT.

I believe this qualifies me in the field of culinary bravery.

It actually tasted very good; soft and buttery and full of flavor. But it was, without a doubt, a dish that I had to eat while carrying on conversation, so as not to think about what I was actually eating.

 Then, for the (necessary) palate cleanser, a lemon-cream ice.

To finish, a chocolat fondant with fresh whipped cream sprinkled with powdered chili pepper. Delicious! As with most meals, the dessert was the best part.

Except the champagne to toast Crave's new adventure! A lovely (and adventurous) evening indeed.