Cloak & Dinner: The Art Walk || 1/28/12

From ashen scrawls on the walls of Cro-Magnon caves to vibrant vistas rendered on canvas in glowing realism, humanity's artistic prowess has cemented our status as elevated lifeforms and established a language that every subsequent generation will understand. Tonight we praise a handful of the masters, the artists who reflect their small slice of history with dedication, passion, and bravado. With each course you'll take another step through a gallery that spans our favorite epochs of creative history, seeing the world at once through an artist's eyes and a chef's palette. It's often stated that every great meal is truly a work of art. Allow us to finally remove all doubt.

The table was set... up as a Piet Mondrian of course!  Hey if we're going to do an art walk, we're going to do it all the way.  One question we get asked a lot is "which came first, the food or the concept?" Unfortunately there isn't an easy answer, it's very chicken or the egg, but with this dinner I can most certainly pinpoint it's origin.  For Christmas my amazing boyfriend invested in a lovely little cook anthology entitled "Modernist Cuisine" & after flipping through page after page of gorgeous inspiration, I knew that Cloak & Dinner was going to come back from our little break with something artfully magnanimous.

What it was hadn't quite come to me yet.  Then one early evening, sipping Chardonnay at BLT's happy hour, reading "Ferran: The Inside Story of El Bulli," and imagining the exquisite dishes presented in the chapters, a warm fuzzy feeling took hold and I pictured a warm consommé as a perfect canvas to create something spectacular.  The ocean perhaps?  No, it was a little too small.  A pond?  A pond covered in lily pads & flowers?  Monet's water lilies?

I immediately began texting my co-chef ideas & his first response was LOVE. A whole dinner inspired by art, how... well let's be honest it's a little pretentious, but it was also a ton of fun!  Out of that moment our next meal began to take shape, and I'm so honored to share it with you all as well!

Abstract Italian inspired by Jackson Pollock

tomato, basil, balsamic, burrata, garlic, onion, bread

Monet's Water Lily Oxtail Consomme

oxtail consomme, spinach, flower croutons

Mark Rothko Multiform Tartar

spicy ahi tuna tartar deconstructed

Picasso's Cubist Porcine Heaven

rosemary pork tenderloin, honey pork belly, mirepoix of fruits & veggies

A Gargouillou Study in Edible Glass inspired by Chihuly

broken glass jello, pretzel crumble, lavender ice cream, lemon curd raspberries, fruits

And of course, who can forget the cocktails...

War & Beets - Leo Tolstoy

Beet, Lime, Brown Sugar, Ginger, Tequila

Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson

Mint, Cinnamon, Lime, Blackberry, Rum

The Long Goodbye - Raymond Chandler

Bourbon, Lemon, Maple Syrup, Jalapeno, Luxardo, Angostura & Orange Bitters

Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess

Gin, Irish Whiskey, Orange, Lime, Cayenne, Nutmeg, Chocolate Bitters

Cloak & Dinner: The Art Walk Invite

presents

THE ART WALK

AXEL FOLEY

Yeah. I was wondering how much something like this went for.

SERGE

One hundred and thirty thousand dollar.

AXEL FOLEY

Get the fuck out of here!

SERGE

[laughing] No, I cannot! It's serious! Because it's very important piece.

From ashen scrawls on the walls of Cro-Magnon caves to vibrant vistas rendered on canvas in glowing realism, humanity's artistic prowess has cemented our status as elevated lifeforms and established a language that every subsequent generation will understand. Tonight we praise a handful of the masters, the artists who reflect their small slice of history with dedication, passion, and bravado. With each course you'll take another step through a gallery that spans our favorite epochs of creative history, seeing the world at once through an artist's eyes and a chef's palette. It's often stated that every great meal is truly a work of art. Allow us to finally remove all doubt.

~ nicole iizuka | sean brogan | isaac zucca | matt portman ~

Please join us for the 8th Cloak & Dinner supper club. Details below.

2 seating times || 10 Seats || 5 Courses + 2 Cocktail

$50

Saturday January 28th, 2012

First Seating || 6pm
Second Seating || 8:30pm

Location will be given out once you have a confirmed spot.

Please visit our event on Gusta to enter the lottery & if you're picked (by Random.org) to attend I will email you further payment instructions by Monday January 23rd.  You may request either 1 or 2 seats, and if you register for both times, we will only select you for one of them. You will then have until Wednesday January 25th to pay otherwise your spot will be given away.

First Seating: http://www.gusta.com/events/183-cloak-dinner-the-art-walk-1st-seating
Second Seating: http://www.gusta.com/events/184-cloak-dinner-the-art-walk-2nd-seating

** if you have any food allergies, let us know. will do our best to accommodate.**

A few other nit-picky notes

please plan to be on-time and for the dinner to last approximately 2 hours

there will be 2 cocktails included, with the option to purchase additional drinks at the bar

you are also more than welcome to BYO, beer, wine, soda

this dinner will be on a rooftop, so dress appropriately for sundown

Previous Dinners + Photos

Any Colour You Like || 5/30/11

Rookie Blunders || 6/11/11

E Pluribus uNOM || 7/3/11

A Day in the Life || 7/23/11
Rags to Riches || 8/13/11
Carnevale di Venezia || 10/22/11

Any other questions, please check out our FAQ

First Seating

Second Seating

Cloak & Dinner: Carnevale di Venezia || 10/22/11

Our first private supper, booked exclusively by my parents for their friends who've all had yet the chance to try our cooking, even though we take over their house on a monthly basis and turn it into our own private kitchen studio.  Knowing that we were cooking for a group of massive wine fanatics, we decided to head to Italy for a little Carnevale experience...

A tavola non si invecchia!

Tonight, we travel to Carnevale di Venezia! Each year, forty days of pageantry light up the ancient canals and corridors of Venice, as masked revelers sing, dance, and feast their way to Martedì Grasso. A Venezia, you talk with your hands and cook con il cuore... (with your heart.) We've gathered tastes da tutto il paese to capture the intoxicating spirit of the Queen of the Adriatic, but in truth, the food is only one small part of the eternal essence di Carnivale. Unirsi a noi per gustare i sapori d'Italia, e, così facendo, diventano una vera famiglia. Mi scusi, I got carried away there for a moment. Park your Gondolas, don your bauta, and viva la vita! Tonight we celebrate il Carnevale, wishing it could last all year.

As always, here are a few housekeeping notes.  If you'd like to be added to the mailing list for future C&D dinners, please email rsvp@cloakanddinner.com. and remember you can also follow us on twitter @cloakanddinner.

Antipasto

compartmentalized caprese

deconstructed caprese salad with pesto olive oil in pipettes & sweet balsamic reduction
 

Zuppa

gazpacho of melon with prosciutto duo

a play on melon & prosciutto with both fried & fresh and a garnish of mint
 

Primo

smoked salmon lasagna

a fan favorite from the Rags to Riches dinner!
 

Il Contorno

a walk through the garden

edible mushroom dirt with an elderflower spiked salad garden
 

Secondo

array of scented sea salts with steak

taken from our A Day in the Life dinner we accented with baby potatoes, cauliflower & exotic sea salts including ghost pepper, garlic & hickory smoke

Fromaggio

goat + parmesan panna cotta

a goat cheese panna cotta topped with a parmesan tuile and "kalamata olive" grapes reduced in red wine

Dolce

not your traditional tiramisu

deconstructed. chocolate mousse with sponge cake, espresso mascarpone and bacon cocaine

 

And of course... onto the cocktails!

with a few non alcoholic drinkers in the midst, Isaac got to flex his creative muscles for some non-alcoholic libations

Eastern Standard Time (non-alcoholic)

cucumber/cranberry/lime/sugar/salt

Faux Kir (non-alcoholic)

raspberry/sparkling cider

Winter Warmer (non-alcoholic)

pear/cranberry/lemon/cinnamon

Clockwork Orange

gin/whiskey/orange/lime/miracle mile chocolate-chili bitters/nutmeg

Basil Gimlet

gin/basil/agave/lime

Honey Fig Redemtion

rye/honey/mint/lemon/fig/shiraz

Cocktail Roulette: Shine Gimlet

Thank god Boardwalk Empire is back... I was definitely missing a little Nucky in my life.  It's helping fill the gap between Seasons 1 & 2 of Game of Thrones.  What would we do without HBO?

As part of our last Cloak & Dinner: The Time Machine, we traveled right back to the Prohibition Era and our master mixologist Isaac cooked up his take on a Gimlet, albeit with moonshine like they'd have made it back then.  Enjoy!

Shine Gimlet

• 2 oz Moonshine
• 1oz Fresh Lime Juice
• ¾ oz Simple Syrup
• 2 cucumber slices, muddled
• 6 mint leaves, muddled
• 2 dashes celery bitters

Muddle together cucumber slices and mint leaves.  Add in your celery bitters, lime juice, simple syrup & moonshine with a heavy helping of ice.  Shake vigorously and strain into a coupe. Garnish with a cucumber slice and/or a fresh mint leaf.

Cocktail Roulette: Ginger Figgle aka "Slow Screw"

Did you know Cloak & Dinner has a book club? Why yes we do, and our first task is tackling the whole George R.R. Martin manifesto while brainstorming appropriate feast like courses for the eventual "Game of Thrones" C&D event in the near future... GET EXCITED!

Thankfully our awesome mixologist Isaac conjured up a fitting cocktail to accompany a long stint of reading in a cozy chair. From our Cloak & Dinner: The Time Machine, here's a little "how to" on the Ginger Figgle!

GINGER FIGGLE 

• 2oz Gin
• 1 oz fresh squeezed OJ
• 1 fresh fig (or 2 spoons fig jam)
• 2 slices fresh ginger root

Press the ginger root and add a sliced fig or 2 spoonfuls of fig jam and muddle. Add in the gin and orange juice and shake well. Strain and serve in a stemmed cocktail glass. Garnish with a slice of fresh fig and/or orange spiral and candied ginger.

Muddled Meals: Aztec Chocolate Lava Cake

 As your spoon breaks through the sponge-y exterior of this delectable chocolate cake, and molten liquid fudge pours out, you find yourself enveloped in what can only be described as death by chocolate. Invented by chef extraordinaire Jean-Georges Vongerichten as an accident, the Molten Lava Cake has taken on many forms, but one thing remains constant, the oozing hot center for which it’s named.

For our most recent Cloak & Dinner: The Time Machine, I’ve taken the French classic that literally melts in your mouth and added a spicy twist to awaken your taste buds. Easy to prepare, these delicious treats are a surefire way to impress even the toughest dessert critic.

Aztec Chocolate Lava Cakes
Preparation Time: 15 minutes || Cooking Time: 10 minutes || Yield 4 servings
Ingredients

• 6 oz. Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate
• 6 oz. Butter (Room Temperature & Diced)
• 3 Eggs
• 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/3 cup Flour
• 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon Chili Powder
• Orange
• Powdered Sugar
• Butter for Ramekins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Melt the chocolate on a low flame in double boiler. (Or if you don’t have a double boiler, very carefully microwave the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second increments until its liquid smooth.)
3. While your chocolate is melting, in another bowl beat together the eggs and sugar until it starts to whiten and foam up.
4. Take the melted chocolate off the heat and stir in the butter, cayenne, cinnamon and chili powder. Keep mixing until all of the butter is melted.
5. Mix the chocolate into the egg mixture, and then very quickly mix in the flour until it’s all incorporated.
6. Butter 4 individual ramekins and then pour in the chocolate batter.
7. Bake for approximately 10 minutes, then immediately tip the ramekins upside down onto a dessert plate.
8. Garnish with a dusting of powdered sugar and some orange zest to serve.

Tips & tricks

• You can prepare your Aztec Chocolate Lava Cake batter ahead of time and then simply toss your pre-made cakes into the oven 10 minutes before serving.
• Play with the cooking time, 10 minutes gives a nice cake exterior with a melted chocolate interior, but if you prefer more liquid cake then bake for a shorter time, or if you’d prefer a stiffer cake, add on a minute or two!

Ingredients

• 6 oz. Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate
• 6 oz. Butter (Room Temperature & Diced)
• 3 Eggs
• 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/3 cup Flour
• 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon Chili Powder
• Orange Zest
• Powdered Sugar
• Butter for Ramekins

Preheat your oven & melt your chocolate!

 Preheat oven to 350°F.
Melt the chocolate on a low flame in double boiler. (Or if you don’t have a double boiler, very carefully microwave the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second increments until its liquid smooth.)


Crack your eggs & add the sugar.

While your chocolate is melting, in another bowl crack 3 eggs and add 1/2 cup of granulated sugar.


Whisk it all together.

Vigorously beat together the eggs and sugar until it starts to whiten and foam up.


Take the chocolate off the heat.

Take the melted chocolate off the heat and place on the counter.


Add the spices.

Stir in the cayenne, cinnamon and chili powder to flavor the Aztec chocolate.


Melt the butter.

Add in the room temperature butter to the still hot chocolate. Keep mixing until all of the butter is melted.


Which came first, the chocolate or the egg?

Mix the melted chocolate & butter batter into the egg mixture.


Add in the flour!

Then, working quickly so there aren't any lumps, mix in the flour into the batter until it’s all incorporated.


Butter your ramekins!

Butter 4 individual ramekins and then pour in the chocolate batter.  (Or if you don't have ramekins, you can use lightly buttered silicon pinch bowls or cupcake molds.)


Bake your cakes.

Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes, then immediately tip the ramekins upside down onto a dessert plate. 


Enjoy!

Garnish with a dusting of powdered sugar and some orange zest to serve.

Tips & tricks

• You can prepare your Aztec Chocolate Lava Cake batter ahead of time and then simply toss your pre-made cakes into the oven 10 minutes before serving.
• Play with the cooking time, 10 minutes gives a nice cake exterior with a melted chocolate interior, but if you prefer more liquid cake then bake for a shorter time, or if you’d prefer a stiffer cake, add on a minute or two!

Cloak & Dinner: The Time Machine || 9/24/11

This time around we thought, why not do a little time travel? What with the premieres of Boardwalk Empire, Pan Am and the Playboy Club right around the corner, this seemed perfectly fitting. 

There's no time like the present, but tonight we tastefully disagree. We've pondered over many a quaint and curious menu of forgotten food to discover the very best this past century had to offer. Cramming for this culinary history lesson has provided us ten decadent decades worth of tantalizing ideas, and we've selected our favorites from every era to create a meal worthy of Doc, Marty, Bill, and Ted. Sit back, relax, and strap your taste buds to their TARDIS because we're time travelling through the tasty twentieth ten years at a time. Let's see if you bastards can do ninety.

Having filtered through an arsenal of old menus, we selected our favorite representations of every era starting with the 1900's & worked our way up to the near future.

A few housekeeping notes.  If you'd like to be added to the mailing list for future C&D dinners, please email rsvp@cloakanddinner.com. and as always you can follow us on twitter @cloakanddinner.

Cloak & Dinner Presents

The Time Machine

The Progressive Era

“The Beginning of Trouble”

bread with fig, brie & thyme honey

The Golden Age

“Pisco Sour – Cocktail”

pisco, lemon, simple syrup, egg white, angostura

Roaring 20’s

“Blue Point Cocktail”

oyster cocktail

Prohibition

“Shine Gimlet”

moonshine, lime, simple syrup, cucumber, mint, celery bitters

G.I. Generation

“Tagliarini in Consommé with Crillion Special Combination”

 homemade pasta in beef consommé; haricots verts

Nifty 50’s

“Lavender French Seventy Five”

london dry gin, sugar, lemon, champagne, lavender

Swinging 60’s

“Kiss of Clouds”

scallops, cauliflower, apple, horseradish

Sexy 70’s

“Ko’aia Haia Kahiki, l’wi’ao’ao”

pineapple glazed spare ribs

Greedy 80’s

“Ginger Figgle aka Slow Screw”

gin, orange, fig, ginger root

Generation X

"Passionfruit Tequila & Grapefruit Sorbet with Cinnamon Dusted Tortilla's"

intermezzo palate cleanser

2020

“Cloak & Dinner Especial”

aztec chocolate lava, orange, cayenne milkshake with snow

And here are the menu inspirations...