A Real Treat
This promises to be one of the great culinary treats of the year, so we’re telling you now: Richard Hebben, executive chef at the Park Hyatt Philadelphia, will prepare a four-course dinner at The Green Room of the Hotel du Pont Oct. 7-8. Hebben has honed his skills in hotel kitchens around the world, making him a favorite of such celebs as Robert De Niro and Jay Leno and of such influential publications as the Conde Nast chain of magazines. Just take a peek at what he has in store for you at The Green Room:
Start with an amuse bouche of sweet corn with sorrel pesto and savory biscotti.
Your choice of first courses is grilled Spanish octopus, warm potato and leek salad with aged sherry vinaigrette, or calabaz squash ravioli with sheep’s milk ricotta, roasted peppers, pine nuts and parsley purée.
Move on to roasted baby beet salad with Humboldt Fog goat cheese and apple cider vinaigrette or black Mission fig salad with shaved fennel, red gem lettuce, Tumbleweed Cave aged cheddar and orange balsamic dressing,
Course three presents a choice of wild striped bass with orange cauliflower and fingerling potatoes with artichoke broth and truffle butter or braised veal cheeks with red wine cabbage, horseradish potato mousselline and heirloom baby carrots.
Dessert? We have to leave some mystery. Suffice it to say, you can sample three.
Tickets are $85, which includes wine and gratuity. For reservations and information, call 594-3154.
When You’re Here…
No meal is as important to Italians as Sunday dinner, so are we ever glad to hear this: The Endless Sunday Dinner is back at Pomodoro Ristorante Italiano. That means you don’t have to cook. For $25 a person, enjoy self-serve appetizers and continuous tableside service of veal, chicken, seafood and pasta entrées. That’s affordable for the whole family. Take everyone. Pomodoro is at 729 N. Union St. in Wilmington. Make a reservation at 574-9800.
The Nature of Food
Taste autumn during Culinature at Longwood Gardens on Oct. 1. Longwood’s esteemed chefs will turn local ingredients into fabulous foods as you wander the grounds and savor. Here’s a teaser: prosciutto-wrapped Port pear with maple mascarpone, a carpaccio of venison tenderloin with French toast rounds and huckleberry chutney, mushrooms of every description, of course, and friend artichoke bottoms with lobster soufflé and parsley pesto. That’s just the start of the appetizers. You’ll also enjoy seared diver sea scallops with smoked maitake mushrooms and more, and pork chops stuffed with roasted figs, bleu cheese, toasted walnuts, kale, braised purple cabbage… you get the picture. Desserts are equally fabulous. See Longwood after dark and taste something special for $175. Call (610) 388-1000 for tickets, or visit tickets.longwoodgardens.org.
Eat Dessert First
Philly bakery Brown Betty Dessert Boutique is open for business—one day only—at Terrain at Styer’s in Glen Mills on Oct. 1. Try BB’s tea-flavored cupcakes (green, chai and Earl Grey), as well as delicious butter cream-frosted cupcakes. The “Pop Up” shop, as it’s called, will also offer red velvet, sweet potato and other favorite cupcake flavors. If you stop at Terrain this week, you’ll be able to buy Brown Betty’s famous coconut cake, the Sweet Potato Pot, Apple Brown Betty and rice pudding. You don’t have to wait till Saturday. Styer’s is at 914 Baltimore Pike in Glen Mills, just off Concord Pike. What better reason could you have to shop for fall garden supplies now?
Since You’re in the Neighborhood
The Fresh Market at 925 Baltimore Pike in Glen Mills offers chef demos monthly. In October, learn how to make garlic-sage pork with butternut squash sauce, fennel salad with blood orange vinaigrette and dark hot chocolate. Check the freshmarket.com for dates and times.
