Chefdance 2012 Night #5: Elio Scanu

Last of Chefdance starred Chef Elio Scanu of Zucca Trattoria in Ogden, Utah. First up, let's visit the crew from the Snake Oil Cocktail Co. manning the fort at the Monkey Bar. The drinks were sensational. Sips of thrilling bubbly art.

Kenny and Mimi introduce Chef Elio Scanu... 

Drake Family Farms Goat Cheese Creme Brulee, Aji Dulce Croquant.  The egg vessel was mounted on a clever puddle of honey. I tried to shoot it up, but the creamy inside wouldn't budge plus I had anxiety about eggshells crumbling into my mouth. Ended up spooning up delicate bites of sweet milky cream. Tons of texture, fantastic flavors, exciting amuse. Delicious start.

Yucca Gnocchi, Oven Roasted New World Bolognese, Chlorophyll & Parmigiano.  Very good with great meaty crunch and delicious salty yucca flavors.

Chef Scanu drew plating diagrams of each course. Cool.

Cascal.  We did a Cascal tasting. Love.

Smoked Sea Bass, Mano & Avocado Salsa Criolla, Taro Root Roesti.  An interesting attempt at progressive chemistry. We squeezed the dropper and detected subtle effects from the red mystery liquid injection. Huge piece of fish, beachy light flavors.

Vegan Dish.  Looks like Israeli couscous, portabella, asparagus...

Ballard Farms Suckling Pig Confit, Shallot Cara Cara Orange Sauce, Tonka Bean Essence, Low Temp Potato Mousseline.  He must have been aiming for height with the interesting plating. Magnificent flavors—sugary sweet purple potatoes, tender buttery suckling pig meat, rich flavorful sauce. Totally unusual but fabulous.

Vegan.  A pile of random vegetables...

Smirnoff Presents Death by Chocolate.  Smirnoff Whipped and Smirnoff Fluffed Vodka. That black knot is licorice, so goth!

Mignardisses "Latitude 10" Petit Fours made with Venezuelan Cacao.  Interesting combination and delicious. Love fuschia pink.

Yo, chef.

We all dig Common's dinner scarf. (And I tagged that lit back silver black, btw. See?!)

Park City Live's sick line-up for Sundance 2012.

One Republic live upstairs at Park City Live. They played all the hits and I am crushin' on the cellist ;) 

Yay for girlfriends! Nancy Nichols, Sonya Powell, Hilary Reiter, Rob & Rachel Alday, Nicole Maclaren.

xoxo

Chefdance 2012 Night #4: Donatella Arpaia

Sundance continues and Park City is still swarming with movie stars, industry people, film buffs and all sorts of cool people. Tonight I had the privilege of sitting with the crew from the intriguing and fascinating Slamdance documentary film about the fighting-boxing underground culture of 8-year-old little girls in Thailand, Buffalo Girls—wow!

Kenny Griswold introduced our chef, the awesome Donatella Arpaia. Not only is she a killer chef and a total stylin' knock-out, she's also an impressive businesswoman, a former corporate attorney, restaurateur, Iron Chef judge, TV personality, cookbook author, proprietor of the Donatella Food Collection, and the list goes on... Oh, and she is married to a famous cardiac surgeon and is a new mom. She's my idol. 

Nantucket Bay Scallop Crudo, Citrus-Pickled Spicy Pepper Panzanella, Basil.  Too fabulous for words. The flavors and textures were over-the-top, just phenomenal—chilled raw slippery scallop, grapefruit segments, spicy panzanella (chic croutons). Can't wait to visit her restaurants in NYC for some variations on this dish. Till then, I'll try copying.

Ricotta Gnocchi, Caciocavallo Fonduta, White Truffle, Pecorino, Cincotto, Chives.  Hands-down the best BEST, gnocchi I've had in my 35 years of life. Insanely delicious with perfect amount of rich cheesiness. The gnocchis were dense, tender and packed with flavor. The truffles took it above and beyond. We were all scraping our plates and licking every last bit off our forks. Again, exceptional.

When Life Gives You Lemons.  Ketel One Vodka cocktail prepared by Snake Oil Cocktail Co.

Red Wine Braised Short Rib, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Parsnip Puree & Preserved Lemon.  The parsnip puree was the perfect starch, smooth, rich and sweet. They balanced perfectly with the intensely flavored tender short ribs. Brussel sprouts were al dente, perfectly quartered and simply prepared, loaded with flavor. Sweet potato crisps (?) added crispy crunch. We couldn't believe how every course got better and better. Unreal.

Meyer Lemon Budino with Pinenut & Rosemary Shortbread, Olive Oil Gelato & Meyer Lemon Marmalade.  I can't believe I missed her dessert. Shame on me ;'(

SOFI kills. Sofi is the BOMB. So is Sonya.

Then upstairs for a girls night out with Drake...

Here goes uber cheesy pix. Girls night. Thank goodness for girlfriends :) Danyi Deats, Sonya Powell.

DJ Scooter...

Girls night with Mimi Kim, Ellie, Cosima Fryer, Danyi Deats, Sonya Powell, Samantha Clayton...

xoxo