It was a highly anticipated night for me. It was my first time attending a highly coveted ‘underground’ dinner. I knew it was going to be a fun time as I was going with a good group of friends like Vancouver Social Spot and Liv. And it was extra special as also in attendance were 2 highly respected food professionals. Since it was such a secretive night, I won’t disclose the names of these well known industry folks.
Steve is the mastermind and master chef behind NFA (No Fixed Address). You don’t know the location until the day before and what the menu is until the day of. The espionage nature of ‘underground’ fine dining added another level to the experience.
My eyes just widened when I saw the 6 course menu scribbled on the chalkboard. I wondered how my stomach would be able to handle it (especially since I’m cheating on my low thyroid diet). Starting off the course was the simply named Thai Beef Salad which had complex layers of garlic chips, medium rare cooked beef, and parsley on top of onion cake. The light sweet tangy sauce complemented the dish well and didn’t overwhelm the fresh ingredients.
Next came scalloped served 3 ways: Scallop with miso dressing, leek and apple; Scallop ceviche; and Scallop with watercress, leek and apple. All were so good but I think the consensus was the ceviche was our favourite. Next came the third Course which was the slow cooked Lamb Shank with lentil pilaf and cumin honey. The lamb shank was tender and not gamey tasting. It was my first time having lamb as is and not in some stew or doused with sauce.
After all that protein and rich tasting dishes, we had a nice grapefruit sorbet topped candied ginger to cleanse our palette for the next duck dish.
The seared duck with fenugrek chilli-soy sauce and steam bak choy was nicely done too. I did find the tangy sweet sauce was a bit much and overwhelmed the flavour of the duck. The seared duck itself was delicately cooked and not chewy at all. General comment…I like to see some other chinese vegetable used to pair with dishes like give siu choy or gai lan a try.
And then came my favourite dish of the dinner….dessert. If I could I would have dessert for dinner, I would.
The Berry Bread Pudding was surprisingly light. I’m use to eating dense sweet bread pudding but I like Steve’s version. It was topped with a brandy or Grand Marnier soaked blueberries (forgot which one) with a light sweet cream sauce. We were all full at this time but we managed to finish it.
Our table had a great night of conversations ranging from food to blogging to facebook to cooking mishaps to horses…you just had to be there. These underground dinners are more than just about good food…it’s really about the experience of having these personal dishes refined, cooked, and served by the chef. In a restaurant, the ingenuity and individuality of a meal seems lost in the big room. But within the comforts of home, you could taste the originality, thought and hard work that goes into each plate.
To make reservations, email: nfa.reservations@gmail.com
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Comments ( 3 )
[...] Have a look at S&S’s adventure in mystery dining here, complete with pictures. photos by Senses and Styles [...]
Underground dining – figuratively. Maybe. | Vancouver Metblogs added these pithy words on Mar 17 10 at 12:27 pmWow you guys were so lucky to be at this!! I’ve always wanted to have an underground dining experience and this definitely looks worth it! All the food looks amazing, especially the dessert and appetizer.
MizzJ added these pithy words on
Mar 11 10 at
9:10 pm
