Oh, what a feeling!

Our photographer, the incomparable Matthew Shelley, is putting the finishing touches on the pictures from last night’s SideDish Supper Club at Samar at Stephan Pyles, but Mr. Andrew Chalk has already written a recap of last night’s festivities.

I would like to thank Stephan Pyles, managing partner George Majdalani, and the versatile staff at Samar for putting on more than just a fabulous dinner—the evening was magical. The belly dancers swinging from the swanky chandeliers and the fire pit blazing in the foggy mist outside created an incredible party atmosphere around the exotic cuisine. (BTW, I thought belly dancers were supposed to have bellies.)

Ask for the Audi Samar Car.

Thanks again to Audi for my new white car (did you see it last night?), Ketel One for the free vodka (who doesn’t love that!), and the cultured folks at Cultured Cup for the exquisite tea. (I’m joking about the free car.)

I don’t get sappy too often, but I am so honored by how many of you who attended last night have been to all four of our SupperClub celebrations this year. I think we’ve started something really special . This club was developed as an outlet to share fine food with friends and I think we have exceeded any expectation I ever imagined. Thank you all from the bottom of my jiggling belly. Where next? The moon? Who knows? Thanks again. Here’s Andrew’s report. Let us hear from you!

There was not a spare seat at Samar last night as the SideDish Supper Club moved in. The group had the restaurant to themselves, as Sunday is a night when the restaurant is usually closed. Guests spilled from the main dining room into seats at the bar and tables set up in the bar area. There were belly dancers, a traditional Afghan tea ceremony, and Nancy Nichols dressed to make Leigh Bowery seem prosaic. The meal was supposed to be five courses but each course actually encompassed several tapas. As a result, if you counted individual dishes, there were seventeen menu items. I resolve not to eat until Wednesday.

Jump for the whole report.

I can’t cover every course in detail below (the full menu is here) and keep this report to a reasonable length so I will take a ‘greatest hits’ approach and let Dishers comment on the things I omit.

Even before the official start time for meal service at 7:00 p.m., the noise level had risen as guests were treated to the restaurant’s signature cocktail, the Samartini. The meal began with a selection of international appetizers. The Blistered Green Spanish Chiles with Hickory Smoked Sea Salt stood out as a model of economy. The dish seemed to be just chilies and salt but the smoked sea salt drew the flavor out of chilies, making them seem like exaggerated versions of themselves. Simple, yet effective.

A second dish worth mentioning in this course is Three Spreads with Naan. The first spread in particular was memorable. A Baba Ghanoush that had just an oh-so-subtle smoky flavor (from the roasted eggplant?) that was addictive. Despite knowing, and having acknowledged, that this was the first course in a long evening we nonetheless ate every single bit, mopping it up with naan.

After appetizers, the next three courses were Spanish, Eastern Mediterranean, and Indian cuisines. The dessert course was truly international and paired with a fabulous Afghan tea service created by the representatives from Cultured Cup.

The Spanish course included Tres Vasos (three glasses). Tumblers filled with three strikingly different flavors. Foie Gras Brulée with Pedro Ximenez Figs and Crispy Jamon Serrano is an orgy of umami richness of pate leavened with the tart fruit of the figs. The Serrano ham pieces sprinkled on top add mainly a texture component although you can taste the saltiness. The Ruby Red Grapefruit with Feta Foam and Lemongrass-Ginger Gelee has ripe sweet grapefruit layered with creamy foam from the feta cheese. After a few minutes in the glass the foam naturally subsided, making the whole a cream and fruit mixture. It may sound utterly odd but it worked.

Finally in the trio, the Spiced Shrimp with Pumpkin Flan and Orange contrasted of sweet fruit (the pumpkin) with tartness (the orange). I have tasted the Tres Vasos many times but held my tongue while someone in our party, who had not previously been to Samar, tasted it. He was he said blown away, which I think is what I think of this dish as well.

Despite several previous visits, I had never had the Mussels Escabeche with Pears, Sherry and Cream. The waitress poured what appeared to be a cream sauce around a mound of mussels in the center of a soup bowl. Not an uncommon service technique, however this sauce turned out to be ordinary cream sauce. It tasted like lobster bisque but with a piquant note that the chef revealed was jalapeno. The whole effect was subtle and complex and this dish now goes near the top of my Samar favorites.

This course also had my favorite wine of the evening. The 2007 Martina Pietro Verdejo from Rueda, Spain. The first notes are grassy and herbal, like a Sauvignon Blanc. However, after a few seconds more perfume-y aromas emerge that are like, dare I say it, Viognier. I haven’t had this wine before but it is worth searching for. Verdejos’ are rarely expensive and this will substitute for Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, and probably dry Gewürztraminer when served with food.

The next course took us to the Eastern Mediterranean. The star here was the Endive-Orange Salad with Fennel, Pecan Labne and Sumac. Endive was used in its traditional role as a scoop for most of the other ingredients. The Pecan Labne was the second spread of the three in the appetizer course, but with the pecan added. It was creamy like a cream cheese dip punctuated with the texture of pecans and their distinctive flavor. Ladled with the endive juxtaposed the sensory impressions of bitter and creamy. The orange, however, was another story. It was sliced very thin (maybe barely a sixteenth of an inch) and then ‘candied’ (somehow). The result was a very thin layer of sweetness encasing a tart orange slice. The sweetness was so intense it was a heavenly flavor but odd in this dish. Quite frankly, I could put a slice of this on top of ice cream to create a special dessert in no time.

Next was the Indian course. Since executive chef Vijay Sadhu hails from India and has a track record devising innovative menus, I had high expectations here. In the past, he has most impressed me with his ability to get the flavors out of the ingredients he uses. Top billing goes to the South Indian Coconut Fish Curry for the clarity of the fish flavors and the sweetness of the coconut milk.

Then came dessert. Or, rather, five of them. Top marks go to the trio of ice creams: Pistachio, Rose and Gum Mastic Ice Cream, which were served in three cones fitted in a holder. It is a tough thing to make such flavors as rose water stand out in heavy butterfat but Samar did it commendably.

Kyle Stewart from Cultured Cup demonstrates the Afghan tea ceremony assisted by Fatima White.

The dessert beverage was Afghan tea provided by The Cultured Cup. Owner, Kyle Stewart, demonstrated the traditional method of preparation. He may not be as easy on the eyes as the ubiquitous belly dancers, and he had to contend with highly elated audience, but his tea was good and the ceremony didn’t involve strapping any munitions to your body.

Freak out at the SideDish Supper Club on Sunday.

Yesterday the D marketing department met with the Samar peeps to configure the communal seating layout for Sunday’s SideDish Supper Club. In case you’ve yet to dine at Stephan Pyles’ newest spot, I’ll tell you that the best seats in the house are the stools that sit in front of the open kitchen. Originally we weren’t going to set those places for the Supper Club, but yesterday, after reviewing the floor plan and the entertainment schedule that includes two belly dancing demonstrations, we decided to include these fabulous seats. You can’t reserve them because it is first-come-first-choice seating, but you can call now and make a reservation and get there a little before 6:30 p.m. on Sunday and have a great chance of sitting there. Hurry, feed your head and be a hookah-smoking caterpillar–give them a call: 214-922-9922. Details here. (I miss Grace Slick.)

The SideDish Supper Club at Samar by Stephan Pyles will be festive and single-friendly!

Several single folks have asked me if the SideDish Supper Club at Samar by Stephan Pyles will be single-friendly. Our get-together this Sunday (December 6) will be communal seating and the five-course meal will be served family-style. It is going to be a festive (post-Cowboy game) evening with lots of belly dancing gals and exotic foods and wines. And, hell yes, it will be a friendly-to-all crowd of people who enjoy eating fine food and drinking fine wine. The menu and details are here. I urge you to hurry and make reservations as we have very few seats left. I’ve got my costume ready. Feel free to wear yours. The $110 per person price includes everything: valet, tax, gratuity, welcome cocktails,  five fabulous food courses paired with wine and cocktails, and an Afghan tea service.  Call now for a seat. 214.922.9922.

I asked Pyles why he wanted to do the Supper Club, and he had this to say:

“Having traveled the world in search of exotic flavors and preparations, the opportunity to showcase those tastes and customs in this one-time dinner spectacle was very exciting. You will savor the cuisine and cocktails inspired by India, Spain, and the Eastern Mediterranean–think curries, garam masala, cardamom, tandoori, naan, labneh, pomegranates, and pumpkin kofte. Have you ever had a remarkable Lebanese wine? Had your fortune read from the grounds of your Turkish coffee? You will at this dinner! Revel in the unique experience with Indian and Arabic music, belly dancers, and the exotic hookah ritual of narguile shisha.”

Stephan Pyles knows how to throw a party!

During the dessert course, Kyle Stewart of the Cultured Cup will demonstrate a traditional Afghan tea ceremony, and everyone will be able to try Samar’s Afghan Tea, as well as an authentic Masala chai.

Dancing girls! Hookahs! Lebanese wine! Goody bags! Communal tables! Dancing Hookahs ? Perhaps.

The  SideDish Supper Club is not just dinner; it’s a culinary learning experience. Please join us on Sunday, December 6, for the next SideDish Supper Club. The cost is $110 per person and we have included tax, gratuity, and valet parking.

CHECK OUT THE MENU BY CLICKING ON THE SIDEDISH SUPPER CLUB LOGO TO THE RIGHT. Hurry, seating is limited. 214-922-9922.

Housemade salumi, sformato of potato and ricotta, tonno del Chianti with bitter greens.

Loads more porn after the jumperoo.

Fresh handmade pici.

Pici tossing in wild boar ragu.

No words.

Grand fritto misto (bronzini, shrimp, oysters).

Arista of Bershire pork, before.

Arista of Berkshire pork, after.

Tuscan honey gelato with Vin Santo roasted East Texas peaches.

Hosts Guido Nicholini, Alfonso Cevola, and chef Julian Barsotti.

Chef Julian Barsotti (apron in center), sous chef Dustin Koerner (far left), and the staff of Nonna.

You will have read elsewhere here about the fabulous five-course meal the SideDish Supper Club enjoyed at Nonna. As luck would have it, they also served some wine! In fact, you could choose to drink wine at two quality levels for the duration of the meal. The lower level was called Borghese. I think that must be Italian for trailer park. Italian is such a beautiful language that they had no qualms allowing the opera Aida to be written by a guy named Joe Green. The upper level was termed Alto-Borghese, which I think means Fru-Fru in Italian. I went with the Borghese level, reflecting my social status, and my date went with the Alto-Borghese, thereby allowing us to swap and try all the wines.

There wasn’t a single dog among them but a couple stood out as being of exceptional quality. First, with the antipasti we had a sparkling Rosato, 2004 Contadi Castaldi Franciacorta Rosato. Putting this name through the Italian-Label-to-English-Parser the producer is Contadi Castaldi. The area of production is Franciacorta (in the Province of Brescia in the Region of Lombardy) and the wine is a rosato (pink/rosy in color).

Consider this as a substitute for Brut champagne or California sparkling wine. It paired well with all of the antipasti, which goes some way towards illustrating its diversity. The matching included salumi, bitter greens, pesto, potato, and the ethereal baked zucchini blossom stuffed with goat milk ricotta.

The second exceptional wine was 2003 Sassetti Brunello di Montalcino. This time the parser tells us that the 2003 wine is made by a producer named Sassetti, from grapes grown entirely within the designated wine growing area (DOCG) of Montalcino (defined as encompassing the town of Montalcino and surrounding agricultural areas), and it conforms with the regulatory body’s rules to be called a Brunello. These regulations are fairly involved but stipulate that the wine is made 100% from the Sangiovese Grosso grape and aged at least two years and four months before release. The main result is that you should expect any Brunello you buy to be a wine of complexity and age worthiness. The Sassetti fit this bill to a tee. It was tannic enough to last another decade and yet the tannins are sufficiently supple to drink this wine now. We sipped it with the arista of Berkshire pork but it would also pair well with steak (which would cut the tannins with its fat), prime rib, or lamb. Open it an hour early and aerate it to bring out the flavors.

Refer to the menu for the names of the other wines we tasted. All of which are worth seeking out. Thanks to Alfonso Cevola for unearthing such an intriguing selection.

Perfect pici pasta at Nonna.

Yow. Zah. What a night the SideDish Supper Club had at Nonna: Two sold-out seatings, five fabulous Tuscan-inspired courses, 12 wines, and absolutely marvelous company. Detailed reports and pictures will follow throughout the day, but I wanted to thank the chef Julian Barsotti and the Nonna staff for putting on a flawless performance. The star dish of the night, IMO, was the pici pasta with wild boar ragu, fennel pollen, and pecorino. It took two people three days to make enough for the Supper Club. And I bet there is not one noodle left in the kitchen.

However, there were a lot of empty wine bottles. Italian Wine Guy, Alfonso Cevola will attest to that. He and I sat down with few satisfied customers last night—my post-Supper Club posse—and drained the last of the 2003 Sassetti Brunello di Montalcino. (Somebody had to do it.)

Anywhoo, thanks to those who attended. I’d love to hear your thoughts. It is wonderful to share fine food with people who love to share fine food. That is always my goal behind the Supper Club. Finché incontriamo di nuovo!

Zucchini blossoms from Nonna.

Last night’s SideDish Supper Club at Nonna was a delicious success. We hope you will chime in with comments if you were there. I’ve got photos after the jump, but this is a picture of the first course, the antipasti. The baked zucchini blossoms (from Tom Spicer, as chef Barsotti explained to us before we ate) stuffed with Paula Lambert’s goat’s milk ricotta were one of my favorite dishes of the night.

Mortadella, porchetta, and tonno del Chianti The mortadella, porchetta, and tonno del Chianti were served on one plate. Tonno del Chianti translates to tuna of Chianti, but it’s actually pork that has been cooked for a long time and marinated in olive oil. It was served on top of crunchy, grilled bread and it really does look like tuna. I loved the porchetta, too. I’m looking at the menu and realizing we didn’t get to try the sformato of potato and ricotta with pesto. Shoot. Someone else will have to tell me how it was (can’t believe I didn’t notice that until now).

Pappa al pomodoro This was my favorite course of the night. The pappa al pomodoro soup is tomato soup, thickened by bread. And, it was thick–the consistency of oatmeal.Chef Barsotti used the last of the season’s tomatoes from east Texas.

Pici pasta with wild boar ragu You’re going to have to turn your head to the side for this one. I apologize. Someone who actually knows how to take photos and upload them properly is going to do it later. This is the pici pasta that the chefs at Nonna have been making for three days. The pici are really like long, thick spaghetti, and the wild boar ragu (made with boar from Broken Arrow Ranch) was hearty, but in a delicate way. I actually thought the ragu was a bit on the salty side, but I still loved it.

The arista, or saddle, of pork This is the arista of Berkshire pork. It was extremely tender, with a kick in the end I asked the chef about. He said the heat was from Calabrian chiles.

Fritto misto This is the fritto misto, with Gulf shrimp and oysters and seasonal vegetables. I only tried one small bite but this was fantastic, of course.

Contorni This are the sides, or the contorni. In the back is Anson Mills polenta with mascarpone and Pecornino Toscana, creamy and spread thin. The other dish contains the braised Cavolo Nero (a type of kale) and the corona beans, which I loved.

Dessert Here, we have East Texas peaches roasted with Vin Santo, an Italian dessert wine, candied walnuts, and Tuscan honey gelato. I loved the nuts and the peaches, but the gelato wasn’t for me. It had a very flowery flavor that I didn’t care for, but I know I was the only one. Everyone else loved it. But the dinner was fantastic overall. My favorite dishes were: 1) the soup 2) pici 3) squash blossoms. If you were there, please chime in with your thoughts.

See Evan Grant? In the photo, he is literally pigging out on Italian pork products in a small restaurant in San Gusme, Italy. Tonight, Mr. Grant will also be pigging out on Italian pork products and more at Nonna. Those pork products, along with the pici pasta and stuffed squash blossoms pictured below, inspired execuchef Julian Barsotti’s menu for tonight’s SideDish SupperClub at Nonna. A few people canceled this morning. If you’re in the mood for a first class Tuscan supper, join us. 214-521-1800.

Stuffed squash blossoms made by me and Karen. (She'll be there too!)

Pici pasta will be served! Great Scott!

(Sign and T-shirts by Ellen Gribbs of Austin.)

On September 17, I will offer you the perfect cure. Nonna chef Julian Barsotti and I have been digging through Tuscan cookbooks for months.  We have come up with a dazzling menu. We asked The Italian Wine Guy, Alfonso Cevola, to come up with some fantastic wines and he did. Click on the SideDish Supper Club icon to the right for the menu. (Or click here.)  We will be discussing the menu and wine in more detail soon.  Hurry, the seating is limited. Go. 214-521-1800.

If you want to be the first to know, add your e-mail address to the list under the SideDish Supper Club icon to the right. (No need to repeat if you’ve already done so.) The details will go to that list first. The restaurant is small and it will sell out fast. The evening, September 17th, will be peachy.

So, I just sat down and read Jennifer’s interview with Craft Dallas’ Tom Colicchio in which he says that last year I printed “some gossip that wasn’t accurate at all.”

This is a long story and  it goes back to last spring when rumors were swirling around Dallas that N9NE and Craft were in trouble. I was in Aspen for the Food and Wine Festival. At the opening night soiree, a lot of Dallas folks in attendance and several big names in the Dallas restaurant biz came up to me and said, “Craft is changing to Craftbar.”

The next morning, I went straight to Tom Colicchio and asked him point blank. I printed his reply verbatim. Two weeks later, my cell phone rings and it is TC. He calls me a rumormonger because I speculated that something might change. Read the old report. What? I can’t voice an opinion? I don’t think I printed “some gossip that wasn’t accurate at all.”

What. Ever. So, we talked about an hour–specifically about blogging and how it differs from print product and how things on the Internet can get out of hand so fast–and ended on nice terms. He said if I ever needed to ask him a question, fire away. He is a man of his word.

Fast forward to a month or so ago. I get an e-mail from Craft’s local PR firm. They are interested in holding the SideDish Supper Club at Craft. I wrote (paraphrasing) “I called you folks before to get TC to do a SDSC and nobody called me back.” PR gal says lemme get back to you. She e-mails back and says TC is coming to town to do a wine dinner. Do I wanna talk to him? I say, sure.

Then a SideDish reader leaves a comment under the announcement of said wine dinner intimating that TC is no longer the owner of Craft Dallas. It reads, “Now that he [Colicchio] no longer owns the place, and signed a licensing agreement with the owners of the hotel, he is contractually obligated to be at the restaurant X times per year. What a shame.”

SO, as a recovering rumormonger and a woman of my word, I e-mailed the PR gal and asked her to verify or deny what the commenter said. I copy and pasted the comment and wrote: “Someone left this comment on the blog. Could you confirm or deny. I don’t want to leave comment out there if it isn’t true. Thanks, Nancy.”

The next day I get this reply from local PR gal: “I want to be sure to clarify that Tom is not doing a series of dinners at Craft. He’ll be part of the wine dinner next week, but each time he’s in Dallas, we expect his agenda to be different. In fact, with the filming of “Top Chef,” we’re not even sure when he’ll be able to make it back to Dallas again this year. Also, Tom’s name is still on the restaurant, and he is very much involved with the concept and menu. We would love to talk more about hosting SideDish’s Supper Club at Craft!”

I took a pass on talking to Colicchio because I originally (January) wanted to explore the idea of doing a Supper Club and that wasn’t going to happen  because he would have just thrown his own wine dinner. And frankly, I didn’t appreciate getting such a flabby answer from the  TC folks.

And that’s the facts.

But Dishers, I think I have. We had a great meeting yesterday and I can already smell the menu. The restaurant is teeny and the meal will, once again, be created especially for SideDish readers. It will sell out fast so we may do two seatings. Tentative date is September 17.

Want to be the first to find out the details of the next SideDish Supper Club? Type your e-mail address under the SupperClub logo on the right side of this page. Or join us on Twitter (DSideDish). I could spill the beans at any time. (Whoops.)

Copper River salmon nigiri, ramps, and takuan. Photo by Jerry McClure

Yesterday I was cruising around some of the local food blogs and came across this exquisite review of last week’s SDSC dinner on Dallasfood.org. The recap, with delicious photographs, was penned by Gavlist. While most of the crowd, including me, was busy learning about sake pairings and delighting in new flavors, Gavlist’s experienced palate allowed him to write a meticulous and insightful report.  For his efforts, Gavlist was given the DallasFood Meritorious Posting Award by the site’s chief, known in foodie circles as Scott. In Scott’s presentation paragraph he notes:

Gavlist got better photos of the dishes than anyone at D Magazine. (What were they thinking? The Internet is a visual medium. Couldn’t they have sent a staff photographer into the kitchen to get shots of dishes in good lighting, instead of noisy, washed-out-by-flash, cell phone shots?) His descriptions of the ingredients, tastes, and textures were more detailed (and accurate) than those in any other report on the meal.

Yes, Gavlist’s report is the most detailed and accurate and I thank Dallasfood.org for drawing attention to it. Our photo editor, Kyle Kearbey, promises to have our pictures up soon.

Updated photo album.

Second course: Hassun: Alaskan Copper River wild salmon nigiri, ramps, takuan. Fantastic.

Third: Mukozuke: Atlantic lobster sashimi with mizuna, chrysanthemum, and vanilla. For me, the vanilla was a little too sweet. But I’ve never had lobster sashimi, and I would definitely have it again.

Fourth: Futamono: Green vegetable soup, fiddleheads, wasabi creme fraiche. As has been stated previously, this was my favorite course.  Clean, simple, not overly salted. And the crunchy fiddleheads in the soup were such a surprise to discover.

Fifth: Yakimono: Filet of sole with squash blossom tempura and shiso gemolata. Evan called the gremolata a “Japanese pesto.” Others (ahem, Whit Meyers) will probably disagree, but I thought the lovely tempura would have been even lovlier with a dash of salt.

Sixth: Naka-choko: Late spring  strawberry with sansho, black pepper, and granita. This one was the surprise course of the night. They are poached peppers and chef Hung says they buy them that way. They still tasted like peppercorns, without the intensity. They messed with the flavors of the dish and made our mouths tingle. The granita was grapefruit. The strawberries tasted rich instead of sweet…a very cool sensation.

Seventh: Shiizakana: Braised lamb shoulder, crispy soft shell crab, with watercress and karashi. The karashi is a spicy Japanese mustard that was served on the side. It was hot. But braised lamb shoulder and soft shell crab? It’s allll gooooood.

Eighth: Gohan: Traditional kaiseki rice service: tamanishiki, kinshi tamago, twice cooked buta, maitake, tsukemono. There are a lot of words I don’t know in there, but here’s a translation: this was rice topped with slivers of cooked egg, and slow-braised pork belly topped with maitake mushrooms. Tsukemono is a Japanese pickle.

Ninth: Mizumono: “Broken” phyllo tart, raspberry, white chocolate Chantilly.

A gorgeous meal, paired with fantastic sakes. My favorite was the Kamoizumi, a cloudy sake that is usually served for dessert. We got it to pair with the soup and the filet of sole. The Watari Bune “55″ was the “trendiest,” according to chef Hung, and the Kamotsuru “Sokaku” was $50 a pour, we heard. The meal ended with a tea service. Chef Yuki Hirabayashi was so sweet explaining how special this tea is to him. He had only had it two times previously. “When Japanese drink this tea, we get excited!” he said. A special way to end such a special evening.

Our fabulous host, geisha Nancy Nichols.

The saké lineup for Tuesday is about ready and kicks 尻〔的.

Daishichi Minowamon “The Gate” Junmai Daiginjo from Fukushima – unique and very rare “kimoto” style daiginjo

Kamoizumi “Summer Snow” Nigori Junmai Ginjo unpasteurized from Hiroshima

Watari Bune “55″ Junmai Ginjo – a superstar saké from Ibakari, a Kenichi staff favorite

Ama no to “Time of Reflection” Junmai Daiginjo from Akita – a superb entry from Akita

The gist is: these sakés all come from the top 4% of sakés worldwide. I’ve assembled saké to represent different regionalities and different styles. These will hopefully be pleasing to new drinkers but their finesse will challenge even the most experienced connoisseur.

So here is the deal—we know you don’t  love saké. Yet. This is your chance to taste the very best at a very low cost. If you ordered these sakés alone, you would pay more than the price of the SideDish Supper Club Dinner. And we’ve thrown in roaming Geisha girls, live Japanese music, and, drum roll please, free ($8) valet parking. We have 10 spaces left. Live a little, learn a lot.

On Tuesday, May 19th, the SideDish Supper Club will celebrate the fine and refined traditions of Japan at Kenichi. There will be live music, roaming Geisha girls, and a fine menu designed by Chef Hung and his fellow Kenichi chefs. They have designed a modern take on Kaiseki, the traditional, regimented, and highly ritualized formal meal served to nobles, emperors, and wealthy elite. The nine-course meal will contrast traditional and nouvelle Japanese cuisines and will celebrate the arrival of spring. Chef Hung has handpicked exotic and rare sakes to pair with the food and he will delight you with a presentation that displays the romance of saké and the culture behind it.

The folks at Kenichi have produced a one-of-a-kind evening and the $110 price tag is well below market value. Hillwood has graciously picked up the cost of valet parking. Don’t miss out. Full details, including the menu, are located on the right nav bar behind the SideDish Supper Club logo. I’ve got my Geisha outfit all picked out. Kimonos encouraged. Space is very limited.