Love is in the Air
By Jim Ray, Chevalier
Valentine, as with most holidays, and special calendar events, comes but once a year. It is a time where special emphasis is put on romance and expressing one’s affection for your loved one. Women always take this holiday more seriously than men, and if any of you guys out there don’t believe this, just try skipping giving your special someone a romantic valentine card -- one that tells her how much you love her. Yes, you do that and you will probably find yourself sleeping on the couch and having to fix your own breakfast for the next couple of days?
The Chaine, as a whole, brings out the romance in us guys more than the average guy who may be our neighbor or live down the street. Find someone with a passion for good food, an enthusiasm for good wine, and an infatuation for having a good time (such as a Chaine or Mondial member), and you will find a person, who enjoys tremendously pampering his partner with the things that make her feel special.
Now, with that said, it brings us to the subject of our fearless Chaine leader, Mr. Bailli, Bill Salomon. It was Bill and his "think-tank" who came up with the idea of having this special romantic event for the ladies in order to celebrate Valentine. I can remember when the idea started to take shape. It was back in early August, when our group had a black-tie affair at the Oak Hills Country Club. For that dinner "See you in September," we had Ditto Sturchio playing the piano throughout the evening. The music, as it usually does, lured some of us up to dance. The only area to dance was in the hall way at the entrance to the dinning area. Well, of course the first person up that evening who enticed others to join was John Wade. Vivian and I were among those who attempted to dance under those, anything-but-ideal, conditions. Ditto handles the keyboard well for background music while his listening audience is in the act of continuous chatter at the dining table, but for dancing, it just wasn’t in the cards that night.
As a result of this minor frustrating situation, a certain young lady that I know extremely well, cornered our Bailli as he was heading out the room in pursuit of another mission and said, "Bill, why don’t we have a nice dance band to perform for us at one of our upcoming black-tie events."
Ladies and Gentlemen, to cut a long story short, these 18 words spoken in a course of approximately six seconds were the birth of our romantic Valentine Dance that we attended on 10 February 2007, just about six months to the day later.
Now I’m not going to bore you with the planning, contracting, logistics, or coordination that took place during those six months, but I am going to give you a summarized front row seat at one of the major functions that takes place prior to any formal dinner such as this . . . and that is the "taste ting" – ah yes, "the sense that identifies flavors," "the sensation stimulated in the taste buds." In this particular situation, we might call it "first experience, sample, or preview of what will be presented and consumed by all of you at the big event." This is a tough, tough job, this "taste ting," but somebody has to do it.
The tasting took place in the Argyle Club. For this job, the following individuals stepped up to the plate and volunteered for this difficult and tasking endeavor: Bill Salomon, Carol Klein, Randy Mathews, Daniel Jacob, and John Wade. I felt honored to be invited and to be able to participate in this event. John Marotta, Maître de Table Restaurateur, manager for the Argyle, was also on the scene.
The first items we tasted were the hors d’oeuvres and the Champagne. We had the following:
Drappier Champagne
King Crab & Halibut Terrine Canapé on Savory Lemon Aioli
Quail Egg & Caviar Filled Bouchee
Macadamia Crusted Frog Legs with Tangerine-Horseradish Sauce
Country Pâté Canapé
Smoked Salmon Canapé
We got just one of each . . . Now who can eat just one! But John Marotta said, "No, no." We have a budget to think about here.
Everyone gave the hors d’oeuvres and Champagne thumbs up and went quickly to the appetizer. The following comments were made concerning the rest of the menu:
Butter Poached Lobster Ravioli: Great but too big. We need to reduce the size:
This was debated but stayed as is.
The wine that accompanied the Ravioli was too sweet and needed to be changed. This was debated and was changed.
The salad of greens, poached pear, and bleu cheese was great as is.
The wine accompanying the salad was changed.
The deer was great, but there was too much on the plate and needed to be reduced in size. This was debated and reduced slightly for the main event.
The stuffed quail was great, but there was too much and was recommended to be cut in half and turned sideways. This was debated but stayed as is.
The dessert was great, but there was too much and either needed to be shared by two people or cut in half. This was debated, reduced slightly in proportion, but stayed basically as is.
All red wines that accompanied the meal were approved as planned.
There you have it. This is a behind the scenes peek at some of the never-ending arduous duties that our officers need to perform in order to make sure that no stone is unturned in examining the planning and preparation of a black-tie affair. Let’s now move quickly to the night of the dinner.
Sheila and Company was brought in to perform for our enjoyment and entertainment. We had the singer, the horn, the piano, the bass, and the drums. This group performed from 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. and only stopped eight or nine times in order for our Bailli to get up to provide us with wonderful tidbits of information. At one time the dance floor was so crowded that dancers overflowed into two adjacent lobbies.
The pre-dinner and dinner wines were exceptional (see menu), the hors d’oeuvres – wow! where else, on one plate, will you find King Crab, Halibut, Quail eggs, Caviar, Salmon, and Crusted Frog Legs prepared in various ways, or an appetizer of Lobster Ravioli that melts in your mouth. The main course of Cervena Deer and Quail Stuffed with Truffle Risotto, and the dessert of Chocolate Mousse Torte with Raspberries and Peppermint ice cream were all picked and prepared with the ladies and romance in mind. Bill personally handled the buying of one long-stemmed rose for every lady in attendance. He also personally sat down and cut every thorn off of every rose stem. He showed us all his battle wounds that were in the process of healing. Ladies, you should feel honored.
Everyone should be tuned to the fact that when Bill (what a romantic) picked the theme for this event, he did not pick something like "Valentine Dance," or "Formal Dance," or "Formal, Dinner Dance." He picked "Love is in the Air."