Birds chirped, flowers blossomed and streams awakened from their wintry slumber as happy bellies and attentive ears received the bounty of spring.
The third in a collaborative series that tests the creative prowess of Mercury's artistic director Antoine Plante and Triniti's executive chef Ryan Hildebrand offered a mouthful that paired artful food, full structured wine and classical music performed on period instruments.
Plante and Hildebrand spoke the same language for "Spring Concerto in Eight Courses," frolicking around ingredients and tunes to represents the many faces of the season of revival.
The menu included literal allusions, like a colorful collective of petit vegetables lightly bathed in a chicken consommé, and more abstract comparisons, like an escolar amandine with earthy hummus infused with coastal flavors. The 70 gourmands jumped to their feet and applauded for an encore, particularly after the melt-in-your mouth filet with bone marrow sope accompanied by, at the suggestion of general manager and sommelier Brett Storey, not your predictable cab, but a 2010 Il Poggione Rosso di Montalcino sangiovese.
Foodie news of the night? The next dinner, set for Sept. 22, will play on the subject of Romeo and Juliet.
Taking a bow for joyful fare were also chef de cuisine Greg Lowry and pastry chef Samantha Mendoza, whose walnut sponge spiked with coconut, lime and citrus was a mellow coda to the decadent affair.
On the melodious side, concertmaster Jonathan Godfrey and violinist Hae-a Lee tore it up in Vivaldi's Concerto for two violins Op. 3 while soprano Ana Treviño-Godfrey moved listeners with her enchanting interpretation of Handel's "Ombra mai fu" from the opera Xerxes.
Foodie news of the night? The next dinner, set for Sept. 22, will play on the subject of Romeo and Juliet.
Taking in the multi-sensory sunshine were Johanna Donson, Carolyn Farb, Vlada Mitchel and Robert Lathon, Sonja Bruzauskas, Gil Cote, Maria Lin, Mike Kutsch, Tammy Coselli, Kristi and Denney Cancelmo, Mark and Amanda Basford, sisters Lindsey Brown and Claire Brown, Kelly Williamson, Lori and Michael Pierce, Ayca Stiffel and restaurant owners Faranak and Chong Yi.
Mercury performed a selection of works that nodded to the springtime theme.
