When Ryan Clair posted about leaving Humboldt in our local Foodies group and in the meantime he would be into doing a private dinner Matthew said, “let’s do it and let’s invite some Foodies.”  So that’s just what we did.

We invited two other couples from the group, both that we had never met in person before.  How much fun is that to hang out with people with a common interest like good food and good wine?  We were up until 1 am, I must confess and it was a lot of fun for so many reasons! 

Before I tell you about the food I’ll give some other information.  Ryan and I chatted back and forth to get an idea of what would work and how much per person we were looking at.  We set a date that he could come by, pick up the money he needed and get a look at our kitchen and what was available for his use.  He showed up punctually and presented himself as a very decent guy–polite and thoughtful. He bought everything he’d need and did the majority of the preparation before arriving.  We made sure he had all the dishes necessary to present his work of art to the dinner guests and he did this very professionally.

Ryan prepared a 6 course meal for us and all of the diners brought wines to share.  The pairings were excellent!

Each course was stunning in appearance and divine in our mouths.  Even the lemon tart that was a struggle to remove from the tin was fine–deconstructed. Everyone was making lots of lovely sounds of pleasure over each bite and each sip.  

Ryan is very particular about the plating in multiple layers and  brilliant colors.  Personally, I’ve loved looking at his food from the first day he posted and announced his arrival to Humboldt.

I want to say the apple and lemon radish granite (pronounced “granada” by the way) was really something.  The freshness of the flavors is hard to describe.  I could eat a lot more of those!  

Suffice it to say, this was a wonderful experience for everyone.  I hope Ryan enjoyed cooking for us as much as we enjoyed eating the orgasmic meal he prepared.  We wish him much luck on the next leg of his journey in New York.  

Here are some of the dishes he prepared for us:

First Course: Kumo oysters with apple and lemon radish granite.

Have to share that we paired the oysters with this 2000 bottle of Dom Perignon that two of the dinner guests brought to share. Wish we could have had lots more of that AND lots more oysters.  I think this was almost my favorite course.

Second Course: Seared scallops and pea appetizer.  Pea puree, roasted carrot puree, scallop, crispy egg yolk, pickled radish, caviar, lace tuile, scallion air, vinaigrette with a paprika and oil finish.  Several guests really enjoyed the yolk.  It’s like a crunchy little yellow surprise.

Third Course: Endive with radicchio, raspberry, strawberry with raspberry vinaigrette with chives and snap peas.Endive with fadicchio, raspberry, strawberry with raspberry vinaigrette with chives and snap peas.  

Fourth Course:  Zucchini scaled halibut, butternut squash soup, radish, snap pea, celery root puree, roasted garlic and a garlic tomato foam.  It was creamy and melted in your mouth but the zucchini had just enough crunch.

Fifth Course:  Duck with honey lavender, cherry duck jus, candied dehydrated rhubarb, pea puree, turnip puree, radish with garlic bread crumbs.

Sixth Course–dessert: Lemon tart with berry wine reduction sphere.  It didn’t come out the way he’d hoped but I always just say, “were gonna chew it up anyway.”

Here are all the dead soldiers from the wines we paired.  Somehow that whole bottle of port disappeared.  Apparently everyone was still thirsty by the end of the meal.