Dinner with the Chef

By Terry Andrews/Co-op Owner

In early November I got a call from Matt Stanley (Co-op GM) telling me I was the winner of the Co-op’s prize from their equity drive–and the prize was having a chef cook dinner for me and three friends. It was a wonderful surprise–especially because I hadn’t realized there was a potential prize for paying off my membership. But I had told some friends not long before this, I would like to have a chef show up and cook dinner for me. So it was all perfect the way it unfolded.

photo(66)To make things really special, it was chef Marco Davis who showed up bearing two bags of organic food from the co-op. And in what seemed like some effortless magic, he proceeded to prepare a really amazing dinner. I’m not a food writer so I will do my best to describe this.

The appetizer was thin slices of watermelon radish (the radish is an incredible substitute for a cracker) topped with aged Gouda and roasted yellow pepper, and sauteed slices of Bolete mushroom that I found on my walk and he offered to cook.

Next was a beautiful salad of arugula topped with roasted carrots and parsnips and some crumbled Danish blue cheese.

We had a bit of a breather before the main course while Marco put it together, plated it and brought it to the table, and it was beautiful: chicken with yummy chanterelles in a rosemary cream sauce (oh my), peridot green jade pearl rice and brocolini. As one of my dinner guests said, it made her want to sing!

Finally, dessert was a delicious creation of Marco’s called chai cream pie. You can see all the recipes on his Tuesday (Dec. 2) food blog at http://www.astoriarain.com/.

Marco said he was going to leave, and when we got up to hug him goodbye, we noticed he had quietly cleaned the kitchen! All the dishes were washed and put away.
So thank you Marco and the Co-op for creating a wonderful meal and a delightful evening. I’m already thinking about how to make this happen again. It was such a treat to have someone show up, just like I wished, and cook dinner for me. Membership at the Co-op definitely has its rewards!