It was obvious upon my arrival that the evening was going to be a real diet buster, with a beautiful display of gourmet hors d’oeuvres including pickled eggs with onions and balsamic marinade, risotto cakes with fresh green peas, skewered lamb meatballs and a fabulous vodka citrus punch. There is something about food that unifies total strangers and in no time at all I found myself chatting with invited guests, foodies, food bloggers, hostess Jamie Geller and Shlomo and Shifra Klein of Joy of Kosher magazine.
“Many of today’s kosher consumers are looking beyond the traditional towards fare that is at once more sophisticated and more simplistic, with an emphasis on a wider array of flavors and tastes,” Aaron Popack of Crown Heights said as we chatted over finger foods. “Kitchen surfing is a marketplace that connects consumers looking to enjoy quality food with the chef that makes that food and is a new direction in entertaining. Restaurants are one thing, but being able to enjoy quality food from chefs trained at culinary schools around the world in the comfortable, intimate setting of your own home is definitely something new.”
Transitioning to Schlass’ dining room, we found ourselves faced with a spectacular meal exquisitely prepared by Chef David Donagrandi. Born in Northern Italy near the Swiss border, Donagrandi, a former chef at Prime at the Bentley, prepares food with Slavic influences. Call it what you will. I just call it delicious.
Our meal began with fresh corn soup topped with roasted faro and paprika oil. The Long Island-grown corn had been freshly roasted to enhance its sweetness before being blended with Yukon potatoes, onions and olive oil. I confess that while others at the table were gleefully exclaiming, “I love faro,” I had never tasted faro before. I realized that there is a great big universe full of food out there that I have yet to sample. Which is exactly the point of kitchen surfing: bringing fresh new tastes to the kosher diner, all in the comfort of your own home.
We continued with cured branzini, a fish I only knew of from watching the show Chopped on the Food Network, Fahrenheit turnip topped with farmer carrots and a white truffle oil emulsion and beef steak cruda, with crispy cumin Yukon potatoes, Vidalia onions and capers. The main dish of roasted prime rib chanterelle with mushrooms, sage and sun choke salad was fabulous. I admit that I found myself amazed that so many of my companions already seemed intimately acquainted with sun chokes while they were totally new to me and we spent dinner chatting about our jobs, our personal cooking preferences and the best ways to cook a crown rib roast. (For the record, I have never even seen a crown rib roast, let alone cooked one.)
We concluded with an excellent light dessert of grapefruit and orange aspic topped with blueberries and incredible sugared mint leaves and Chef David came out of the kitchen to tell us how he had prepared these beautiful edible garnishes. Despite the amazing culinary prowess that I enjoyed, possibly the most impressive thing about KitchenSurfing.com is that you get to enjoy incredible gourmet cuisine while someone else packs up any leftovers and leaves your kitchen even cleaner than it was that morning.
The possibilities for kitchen surfing are endless. Birthday dinners, holiday meals, family-style barbeques or even sheva brachos are all great options and the combination of enjoying exceptional freshly prepared gourmet cuisine in the comfort of your own home is a can’t-miss idea that is sure to became the newest trend for the kosher consumer.