Florida Feast, Part One

We had many wonderful meals as part of Dave's trip, one of which was a seven-course meal at the Versace mansion. We began with cocktails and appetizers in the foyer courtyard.
Then we proceeded into another courtyard for the meal. The pool and mosaic were a beautiful backdrop to the dining area.
First course: beet salad with goat cheese and microgreens. Note table setting contains 3 sets of silverware, which one might (mistakenly) use as a guide to pacing oneself for 3 courses.
Next up, what was my favorite course, scallops served on a puree of potato, with roasted brussel sprouts, fresh peas and some kind of sprout. The combination of textures and flavors in this dish were very delicious.
Third course, seared tuna with greens, cracker with caviar, tomato with sardine, roasted pepper sauce. Very good, but of the tuna salads we ate on the trip (there were many!), not my favorite.
Fourth course (pictured after I had already dug in, oops!): some kind of white fish over Israeli cous cous with eggplant and roasted peppers and onions. Very good, probably the second best dish but I had paced myself for 3 courses and really couldn't manage more than a few bites of it.
Course Five: Not pictured, as I refused to let them serve it to me for fear I would eat it and regret stuffing myself. For the non meat-eaters, some sort of veggie dish which Dave said was good, and for the others, a large hunk of beef tenderloin or prime rib or some other expensive cut of red meat which looked like it could feed a family of 4 for Christmas dinner.

Course six, banana cake with pecan ice cream, fresh strawberries, a fried banana and chocolate straw. Very good but again, only could eat a bite or two given the stuffed state I was in.
This was definitely the best meal I have ever eaten that was prepared and served to such a large group. That is, until the next night at Nobu (see my next post!). It was especially nice to have so many dishes with no meat, not excessively salted or oily or heavy as can happen even with good restaurant food.

Whatever, Whenever, What is Your Wish?

I recently took a vacation to visit my brother and sister-in-law in San Francisco. During the time I was in California, Dave and I went to Miami on a trip with his colleagues which was a reward for the people who had met and exceeded their goals at work. The group stayed at the W hotel in South Beach, where the concierge answers the phone with "whatever, whenever, what is your wish?" We joked that we should call with increasingly unreasonable wishes, to test the veracity of their marketing. But it wasn't really necessary, as the very nature of where we were and what we were doing was much more indulgent than either of us would normally choose for a vacation. In fact, excess was pretty much in excess on this trip. That being said, we took advantage of the chance to relax, eat well, and have fun for 3 days. Here are some highlights.Our room at the W.
Poolside at the hotel.The hotel was right on the beach, and because of the tropical storm, it was wonderfully deserted.
The water was warm and wonderful, but the surf was pretty intense from the high winds. Dinner at the former Versace mansion, now "the Villa" by Barton G. Pictures of the dinner to follow in a later post.