One of the most fun aspects of the Rendezvous was writing the menu. In culinary school, you’re taught menu-writing...which entails, basically, stating what the dish is, how it’s cooked and how it’s sauced. Popular over the past few years has been a minimalist approach, sometimes not even revealing the method of cooking. “Hangar steak. Green peppercorns. Brandy.” Perhaps it’s a reflection of today’s world, where we crave instant information. Is the dining experience going to reflect the menu? We went to the other extreme, sometimes telling short stories about each choice. Our menu began with “We hope you enjoy a leisurely meal...” The menu was designed to engage the guest, get them to slow their pace of life a bit, and relax.
It was fun for me to be walking through the dining room and hear one guest reading parts of the menu to their dining partner...”Honey, listen to this--it says...” Not every dish had a story, of course, and some were too long to tell. One of those was a story about frogs legs. I was dining solo one night at a restaurant in France, thoroughly enjoying some frogs legs. The waitress came by and asked me how I liked them and I told her they were wonderful. “But in Frrrrahnce, we eat them with our fingers,” she politely told me. It was her way of correcting my faux pas, and making my life a lot easier.
One of my favorite stories was about the sauce we made for the rack of lamb. It told how complex the flavors were, and that it took four days to make. It ended with “A request for mint jelly will summon the executioner from the kitchen.” To back that up, I kept a machete in my office. As a prop, obviously. Every now and then it got pulled out. Sad to say things have changed so quickly over the past few years, I probably wouldn’t dare bring it out now. But it did get a lot of laughs.
We had a local couple come in for dinner one evening, and they were seated at a window table. The windowsill was about six inches below the tabletop. I strolled by the table, and happened to notice a jar of mint jelly sitting on the windowsill. Busted!!! They had brought their own. Another time, a local asked me for mint jelly. I said “Okay, George. I’ll run to Safeway and get some. I’ll be back in five or ten minutes.” Later when I passed his table, he said “I thought you were going to get me some mint jelly.” He seriously thought I was serious.
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