This year my friend Anne had the brilliant idea to do a couples romantic cooking class at ICE (Institute of Culinary Education) in NYC. I surprised Evan by telling him to meet me at the Flatiron Building at 5:30 so he really had no idea what I had in store. As we met up and approached the school, it all clicked and he got excited! I was so proud of myself for actually keeping it a secret. I get too excited and usually spill it!
The night was a blast! The class was made up of 8 couples and 3 menus, so 3 different tables made a complete dinner menu. We had 3 complete dinners! Outstanding! Ours was coq au vin, grilled vegetables (notice my perfect char gridmarks on the eggplant!!!) and chocolate mousse, then the next table was scallops, risotto and creme a la coeur, then the last table made filet mignon with burgundy sauce and mushrooms, pommes anna, a vegetable dish and bananas foster. There was lots of fire that night! The chef teacher claimed that that was the romantic part. He was a little uptight, but my friend Anne and I got the giggles with our creation of cleverly artistic whipped cream and raspberry decorations on our mousse and that was the romantic part! Use your imagination. We got a few eye rolls from the chef.
It may not have been the MOST romantic Valentine's, but surely it was one of the funnest!
I love you, Chef Evan!
