Tasting at Fresco

We are going to have very good food at our wedding.

Very good.

Like, amazing-beyond-reason food at our wedding.

I know, I know, I said I would write about my flour experiment. But we had our tasting with the wedding caterer today. Popular vote on Twitter said that I should write about the tasting first, flour tomorrow. I’m in love with the food from our tasting, and the pictures I took with our new camera, so I’m happy to oblige!

Dan liked the food too. And he likes our camera.

The catering coordinator at Fresco and the chef were both so sweet. Loved them.

Fresco is another Food Fight, Inc restaurant, just like Bluephies. Just like Bluephies, Fresco uses fresh, local, seasonal ingredients whenever possible. So not only is their food out-of-this-world delicious, it is also a bit “green.”

In the eco-friendly way, of course. Not the “sat out to long and went bad” kind of way.

Please note, all descriptions in italics are directly from the catering menu.

Caprese Skewers: Local tomato, buffalo mozzarella, basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar.

Simple, clean, light. Caprese is pretty hard to mess up.

Bosc Pear: Open faced on toasted french bread, gorgonzola cheese, walnuts

Instead of gorgonzola, they use blue cheese. The sweet juiciness of the pear, balanced with the tart & creamy blue cheese, was an excellent combination. Dan and I both said it reminded us a bit of my Blogger Secret Ingredient winner.

Grilled Baby B.L.T.’s: smoked Nueske’s bacon, fresh basil aioli

Confession time here. While I am mostly vegetarian, I am not willing to cut meat out of my diet entirely. I like food too much to restrict myself like that. However, because of the environmental and ethical issues surrounding meat, I eat it very, very rarely. And only when the food is so unique or of high quality that I deem it “worthy.” While a baby BLT doesn’t sound like much, it was definitely worthy.

Round two of hors d’oeuvres. Don’t mind Dan’s hands in the background. He took notes on the menu, I took pictures.

He offered to take pictures. I wanted to play with the new camera though.

Risotto cakes: Seasonal vegetables, tomato confit.

This cake was made with squash, because it is winter. The ones at the wedding will be made with either asparagus or peas + lemon. We’re leaning towards the pea and lemon, both because it was recommended by the chef and coordinator, but also because it sounds more unique and interesting. On first taste, I wasn’t sure if I liked the confit. On my second bite, I decided that it was the perfect balance to the creamy risotto. It lightened up the risotto cake a bit.

Wild Mushroom & Leek Tartlets: Brie cheese, arugula.

Poor Dan. To balance out the meat-containing hors d’oeuvres, I wanted to put this one on the menu. Dan was a trooper and tried it, even though he hates the texture of mushrooms. The puff pastry was so flaky and light, and filled with three types of mushrooms, if I heard Deb, the chef, correctly. The yellow on top is apricots, which I normally don’t like. But on top of this tart? The perfect final touch.

Mini Crab Cakes: Chipotle aioli, chives.

This may have been our favorite hors d’oeuvre. Made with super lump crab meat. So savory and delectable, and topped with the most creamy, kind-of spicy chipotle mayonnaise.

Pork Empanadas: Jalapeno creme fraiche.

Now, of all meats, pork is probably my least favorite. But this flaky, hand-crafted crust and the jalapeno creme fraiche? Made me enjoy this taste of pork. I still gave half of it to Dan, only because he loved it so much.

In addition to the hors d’oeuvres, we will be having 2 made-to-order stations of small “main” dishes. The two we tasted today we will probably end up ordering.

Gnocchi: Homemade ricotta cheese gnocchi, brown butter herb creme, fresh seasonal vegetables.

The veggies today were brussels sprouts, sundried tomatoes, and mushrooms. As Dan said, “This sauce even makes me like brussels sprouts!” Apparently I should learn to make brown butter herb creme. I could eat this all day. Seriously.

On second thought, that would probably mean I’d need to get my wedding dress in a bigger size.

I’ll stick with the small plate portion. I guess.

Organic Norwegian Salmon: Cucumber-dill sauce, chopped salad of radish, feta, green onion, black olive, local tomato, cucumber, hearts of palm.

By the time we got to this dish, I was getting very full, so I only ate a few bites. Dan thought the fish had a sharp, smoky taste, but still liked it. The Greek salad under the salmon was the perfect accompaniment.

The overall verdict? We are going to have very, very good food at our wedding.

Oh, and our new camera is Awesome. With a capital ‘A.’

Tagged as: Fresco, Wedding