What's she carrying? Bags of delicious food, a luxury dinner from Surprise Me Kitchen delivered straight to my door and ready to eat without any reheating or transferring to serving dishes.
And I didn't even have to order from a menu. All I did was tell Surprise Me Kitchen what I didn't want to eat (liver, tofu) and the chefs then crafted a four-course fine dining menu just for me.
The ingredients came from local farms, and the food was packed in compostable and recyclable materials, including a dinner plate, so there wasn't any cleanup afterward.
Opening the bags--two for each of the two people who were going to eat--I found an elegant black box full of goodies. It was like Christmas morning, opening gift after gift, only these gifts were food, so beautifully arranged I couldn't wait to eat. Some of the dishes were sprinkled with edible gold leaf--wow!
Each person received a totally different menu, so the photos here are from two dinners.
First courses included heirloom cherry tomatoes with pureed fresh mozzarella, pesto, shaved Parmesan and basil (above).
Shrimp and scallop ceviche (above) was as fresh as if it had just arrived from a Mexican seaport.
Crunchy guacamole fritters (above) were rolled in crushed tortilla chips. Chipotle sour cream sauce came with them.
Mexican flavors predominated--and they didn't even know I love Mexican food. But there were Italian influences too, such as the tomato salad and creamy gnocchi with bits of honey-roasted butternut squash (above).
My main course was a lamb shank (above) that had been braised with seven types of Mexican dried red chiles, tomatoes and onions. It's on a bed of pancetta black bean puree.
The red rice on the side was perfectly done--and I have eaten and cooked a lot of Mexican red rice so I don't say that lightly.
My dessert was yet another surprise. What looked like a bowl of nachos, guacamole, salsa and sour cream was the same idea transformed into a sweet version with fresh summer fruits, avocado and sweet cream (above). Wonton crisps replaced the corn tortilla chips.
The other dinner ended in a quinoa pudding (above) made with coconut milk, cream, cinnamon, pureed strawberries and raspberries, diced fruit, mint, basil--and gold leaf.
Surprise Me Kitchen is Los Angeles-based and brand new. If you want to learn more about this unique concept, go to www.surprisemekitchen.com. And thanks to Chef Arturo Robles, who created these dinners.
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