June 7th Dinner Brings In Guests from WA and ID

Our run of truly remarkable dinners continued in June with a wonderful meal cooked by Nicholas St. Clair and Alexa Wilson. Once again the table guests packed our 38 seat ‘big’ table and the serving crew of 14 complemented the outstanding food with great service. If you haven’t yet served or attended a dinner, it is hard to describe how remarkable each evening has felt. Add in our commitment to build on the relationships at the table to provide practical care for those in the industry who are in crisis or falling through the cracks and these dinners become as meaningful as they are fun. The other delight of our June dinner was the presence of guests who drove hundreds of miles just for the evening. Richard and Ashley Kitos from Wenatchee were at the table as were Kimberly and Josh Schaub from Seattle. Richard is a California chef who now runs a bed-and-breakfast with Ashley in Wenatchee (and soon a full service restaurant again) and Kimberly is a nutritionist, culinary instructor, and writer from the west side of the state.

Specific thanks for the evening go to: Chefs Alexa Wilson and Nicholas St. Clair for a wonderful meal, Chris Deitz and Alex Ahl for their work in the kitchen, Reasons Wine Company for providing a case of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cave B Estate Winery for sending over several additional bottles, Craig Higashi at Spokane Produce for donating the produce for the meal, Sysco for providing much of the other key ingredients, Bouzie’s Bakery for the bread, Angela Parris of Stillpoint Photography for documenting the night, Brad and Sara Greene as well as Erin Arai (all from The Purple Turtle) for the space, décor, and menu design. Thanks also to each of our 18 servers and dish crew for the night.

If you are interested in all the pictures of the evening, visit our Big Table Flickr Page.

April 12th Dinner Kicks Off Spring

37 were at the expanded table on April 12 for glass domes filled with smoked seafood and cheeses (as well as actual smoke). And this was just the amuse bouche before the five courses from Chef Jim Barrett from The Club at Black Rock.

After we filled the table set for 32 at our February dinner, Chris Olson built us another table section for April Now we can seat 38. Yet even with the additional seats, the list of those we wanted at the table was more than double those we could invite.

Here was the menu from the evening:

Amuse Bouche: Smoked Seafood and Cheeses Under Smoked-Filled Glass Domes
Appetizer: Proscuitto Wrapped and Pesto Grilled Prawns with Spring Pea Salad
Soup: Wild Mushroom Cappuccino with White Truffle Foam
Salad: Spinach and Frisee Salad with Smoked Quail and Huckleberry Vinaigrette
Entrée: Braised Zabuton of Beef in Cabernet- Demi Glace with Parsnip Potatoes and Asparagus
Dessert "Little Tables": Edible Chocolate Tables Topped with Petite Confections and Served with Four Fruit Sauces

If you are interested in all the pictures of the evening, click through to the Big Table Flickr Page.

Specific thanks for the evening go to: Chef Jim Barrett for a wonderful meal, Chef Tyler Schwenk for assisting Jim in the kitchen, John and Jodie Stejer for providing wine, Paul Harrington for providing sherry as an aperitif, Craig Higashiama for donating the produce for the meal, Chris Olson for building another table section, Angela Parris for photographing the night, Brad and Sara Greene as well as Erin Arai (all from The Purple Turtle) for the space, décor, and menu.

Thanks also to each of our servers and dish crew for the night.