foodpr0n: Orson, with planning

We went to Orson last night to sign paperwork and put down the deposit for our wedding, and talk with their private events coördinator about drawing up the floor layout to figure out the exact count of how many people can fit, and how to time the rehearsal dinner the day before (when they'll still need to be able to open at 5pm for their regular dinner service), and so on. He's supposed to get back to me within a few days, with the layout plans, and a few possible times to meet with Elizabeth to discuss food and cake. We also met the general manager, and talked a bit about the A/V system.

For the meeting, we were hanging out in the nook on the right side of the bar, where the wall-paper kind of looks like slightly-derezzed paisley. In a good way.

Since we were there anyhow, we had dinner. And we were there early enough for happy-hour cocktails...

Cocktails before/during meeting:
Angels Nogging: Creme Anglaise, brandy, bourbon, rum, nutmeg. Basically, a very strong eggnog.
Sunshine in Winter: Vodka, kumquat puree, lime, simple syrup, with a whole kumquat as a garnish. As promised, the flavor was intensely summery.

Cocktails with dinner:
Terms of Endearment: Rum, sugar-pie pumpkin butter, Luxardo Fernet. Pumpkin pie. As a cocktail. *head asplode*
Beyond Good & Evil: Gin, quince compote, Aperol, rosemary. The Aperol bitters (which includes orange and rhubarb) combined with the quince to make something surprisingly fruity, but not overly sweet. I keep meaning to get some bitters to play with at home. I suspect our cocktails would come out a bit less fruit-punchy with that addition.

Amuse bouche:
Crispy flatbread with small bowls of harissa and beet-nut spread.
Shot of sugar-pie pumpkin soup, with a drop of (hot!) chili oil.

Dinner:
Salad of red and green endive, thinly-sliced pears, maple-candied bacon, and blue cheese crumbles.
Butternut-sage cavatelli, caramelized squash, browned butter, sage. Cavatelli are little dumplings, a little like gnocchi, but without the potato, often with a bit of ricotta kneaded into the dough. These also had some butternut squash puree in them, so they were pale orange. And there were the little cubes of slightly candied squash. Yum. At first the serving looked a little small, but those little dumplings are much denser than standard pastas.

Dessert:
Herbs & Thistle: Guiness gingerbread, Fernet ice cream, brown butter toffee sauce, spicy pecans. Again with the smallish-looking, but dense. The Fernet ice cream was kind of amazing just on its own.

All very yummy.

Also, OMG, we're actually having a wedding.