Sunday, May 29, 2011

Unique Dining Experience


Last night I indulged in another unique dining experience.  I went to a brand new place called Cycles which is a restaurant that has guest chefs every weekend.  It’s kind of like a pop-up restaurant with a new chef every weekend and a new, special menu.  Last night the chef was Gabriele (Gabe) Bertaccini a handsome young chef who prepared an exquisite meal from start to finish.  (You can read all about him at this web site.)  We had a choice of two menus so my friend David and I decided to each take one so we could taste them all.  I have never been a fan of the “Americanized” Italian food cuisine so I was surprised when absolutely every course was over-the-top delicious.  This was the REAL thing!






I was too busy cleaning every plate to catch a photo of any of the entrees, but I did manage this shot of our two desserts.  These delicacies were Mascarpone Cheesecake with caramelized orange, amoretti cookies, orange blossom honey, cherries and berries compote and Torta Rustica di Mele, warm rustic Italian apple cake served with a scoop of handmade dates and cinnamon gelato.  Wow, were they ever good!

17 comments:

irinapictures said...

"Too busy cleaning every plate to catch a photo". I know the feeling, stomach wins over creativity every time I try to sketch hot food..
I am glad you had great time there.

brattcat said...

You have such an exciting food scene there. How wonderful!

Kathy said...

Sounds like a must-try place!

Unknown said...

... And you even went to the kitchen. Cool! :-)

Kate said...

Good chefs definitely are artists!

Regina K said...

This is like a reality restaurant, great idea to have guest chefs. I wonder if they vie for a prize.... Most likely a head chef position at their own restaurant. I enjoy your food explorations.

Jack said...

You have been discovering some very interesting restaurants lately. I admire your adventurous spirit. I am probably in a "play it safe" rut, returning to tried and true good restaurants. Maybe you will stimulate some experimentation . . .

Magpie said...

You have so much fun! This sounds like something my son would enjoy. I'll share it with him.

Dave-CostaRicaDailyPhoto.com said...

This is an interesting concept. When you return, there will be a different chef, so you will have a different culinary experience. This is sort of like Iron Chef, which we had never heard of until you showed us an episode when we visited you in Chicago, which had to be many years ago.

Judy said...

Good tasting food and a good looking chef! What more could you ask for.

EG CameraGirl said...

GREAT idea! Every meal would be an adventure.

Lowell said...

And not a calorie in sight, right?

Super concept...unless, of course, the day you decided to visit they had a lousy chef! :-)

RedPat said...

I am sitting here stuffed from brunch but that dessert still looks great to me!

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Hi Sharon, I wouldn't mind a good looking chef popping up in my kitchen, the two desserts you pictured look scrumptious, to me dessert IS the best part of the meal!!

Anonymous said...

That Italian apple cake with cinnamon gelato sounds delizioso! How did you manage to get a shot of the chef? My, you ARE adventurous! Good stuff!

Randy said...

Sorry I missed this one. We just got home. I tried American Taco on 7th Ave and I was not that impressed. It was so hot by the time we left. Oh the dessert looks amazing.

tracy said...

Well, darn, if the food was half as good as that little guy is cute it would have been five star because I give him a 10.