I'm digressing before I even get to the main point of this post.
The main point is that wedding planning has commenced. This includes starting to look for a photographer, figuring out license issues, talk about location and (you guessed it) middle of the night emails from Giz with pictures of wedding cakes.
I'm not the type to want a big wedding. For the time being, I'm thinking I can deal with a small reception at a restaurant. With this in mind, R and I decided to check out a local restaurant that is known for holding weddings. We had never been there before, so we decided to go for dinner.
The restaurant is quite nice. But with the weather being really cold (-20 Celcius), I was cold the entire time. As a result, the meal was brief. I couldn't wait to go home and warm up with a hot water bottle. But, the wedding would be in the spring-summer, so I can't factor that into my decision making.
Their group menu differs from the normal menu (easier/quicker to prepare). But, we're told the quality is the same.
To start, I ordered a Butternut Squash and Roasted Apple Purée. It came with a goat's cheese foam and chives:
The soup tasted a lot like this soup that I made last month, albeit much less spicy. The soup was ok. The flavours of butternut squash and apple are so prominent that I can't imagine there being much variation in flavour of this dish, despite who is preparing it. But it was no where near as good as the squash soup I ate at Les Fougeres. The other complaint is that it was at best luke warm. This is a big issue because 1. I was freezing cold and wanted soup to warm up and 2. I like my soup piping hot. I'd rather burn the roof of my mouth than have cold soup. The goat cheese foam didn't add any flavour and wasn't particularly attractive, if you ask me.
Thankfully, the main courses were MUCH better. R ordered Elk. It was prepared using using the sous vide method over a bed of quinoa and greens, topped with a slice of blue cheese. I was impressed with the use of local ingredients. The menu descriptions detail where the products were obtained and they were all pretty local.
R enjoyed his elk. He said he enjoyed it more than the elk we ate while in Prince Edward County. I tried a bit and it was good. But, I preferred my steak. I ordered a striploin, which came with a blossoming onion, topped with mushroom and a side of pommes Laura.
My dish was very good. If I had any concern it would be the rubberiness of the mushroom. But, I'm not an expert on mushrooms - perhaps they were supposed to be like that. The steak, onion, and potatoes were excellent.
So, the verdict is still out on whether we'll go with this option. But, since neither R nor I are particularly eager to do much shopping around, we'll probably go with it.
There's still so much to plan...and I think I need YOUR help. Giz and I have an idea and we'll let you in on it soon.
21 comments:
...and you're suggesting there's something wrong with receiving wedding cake emails in the middle of the night - especially when you say "hey, I like that one"?? :)
Don't let it all overwhelm you & enjoy it! We actually had a pretty good time planning our wedding. We kept things small, got married outside & had the reception at the wine bar where we had our first date. We even skipped the cake & had petit fours made instead.
I love party preparations! Enjoy it.
I never actually heard of goat cheese foam but it sounds like a nice touch with the soup.
Have never eaten elk!
I hope you enjoy the planning of your wedding.
Oh, how much fun! I think you should keep shopping around -- a good excuse to have romantic dinners together.
If the restaurant was too cold maybe their insulation is bad and in the summer won't hold a/c well and you will roast in the height of emotion and more bras and slips than you can imagine! But hey the food looked great.
Well congrats on your wedding day! I don't like foam of any kind, lol reminds me of soap bubbles on food.
Don't stress .. enjoy your day :)
you know i could never get used to fiance so i never used it! jonny was my boyfriend until the night of our reception. i just couldn't do it. it's too temporary. i still sometimes call him my boyfriend which of course now is kind of cute.
good luck finding a venue. just make sure of 2 things, that everyone can see you when you dance, that everyone can feel included and that you won't have a difficult time going around to say hi. also, make sure the bar is easy to get to and the food that you order will taste GOOD to a large group. steak sounds nice to people, but when you have to make 100 at once, you usually get a dry piece o' poo.
just some advice from a girl who singlehandedly planned her own wedding in italy FROM america. don't get too caught up in the details. and if you want to do an ipod wedding, it's totally cheaper and way more fun!
Going out to dinner sounds like a lovely way to plan a wedding ;-) Maybe you should try a couple other places, you know, in the interest of research... Of course if it's cold, I can see going with the easiest option!
Mazal Tov on your engagement.
We had a small intimate wedding with 50 people. We made our huppah, I made the wedding challah, and I even made one of the wedding cakes. We decided not to have an American wedding cake.
Good luck with your planning.
Planning a wedding can be loads of fun that's for sure. A small wedding sounds nice...just take a big honeymoon!!!
I agree, I dont think the foam is very attractive. I would much rather have diced apples or a dehydrated apple.
We too had a pretty casual wedding. We were at a lodge, had it catered, bought a cake. Nothing fancy but it was a nice time!
Oh ha! I'm glad you want my help, I love to plan parties! Let me know.
LL
Well congrats to you! I took a year to plan ours because we were both in school and working. It never really got stressful that way. Have fun with it all -- that's what's important.
Congrats!! Your getting married!! I"ve never ever had Elk before... must add it to my list of must try foods. Congrats again! and dont knock Mom for being excited about Wedding Cakes! She's entitled you know!! LOL
Thank you Dharm - I can always count on you :)
Dharm man?!? Where are your allegiances? :)
Seems I am behind in the news! Congrats.
Congrats! You can alwasy just call him your Sweetheart...no one will complain :)
The food looks good, but the message from 'we are never full' is wise...if you have more than 25 people, ask the restaurant what they make best for a very large group...then ask for a tasting of that dish. They should do that for free or very small fee to get your business. Looks like they know their food and have some style. Is your mom going to make the wedding cake??
We are never full - thanks for all of the advice. The restaurant we're looking at will have 2-3 options (depending on our price range) for the main. Everyone orders at the begin of the night. Since our wedding will be small (approx. 30), hopefully there won't be any problems with the quality. The restaurant has a good reputation and the chef is quite involved in local food events. So, I'm fairly confident that the quality will be good.
We're not planning to dance. At least, that's the plan for now. Really - we've very anti most wedding stuff. No ceremony, no dancing, no speeches. Just eat your food, socialize and go home.
If do music, it'll either be ipod or the restaurant's music.
Elle - Giz and I might make the cake together. Still not decided. I think I'm going to do a mix of cupcakes and cake. 2 tiers of cupcakes and a top tier of a smaller cake.
Have you seen the Seinfeld episode when the woman keeps asking Elaine if she'd seen her fiance...very funny. Thanks for the feedback on my blog, I really appreciate it! You've got so many tasty recipes on here that I'm itching to try...
Post a Comment