Mission Gastroclub: New Years Eve 2010

I'm the kind of diner that disects every element of a dish and gets extremely excited if I think I can recreate it at home for a fraction of the restaurant cost. And even more excited when I can't think of how to re-create it, so I want to go read and study up on the myriad techniques of creating various soup textures. I'm the jerk who asks the waitress questions she clearly isn't prepared for and has to retreat to the kitchen to find out how the food was made. You could say I appreciate and analyze food like an accountant counts numbers.

So, on New Years Eve, when my friends, Elianna and underground dining veteran, Jesse, invited Jason and I to join them for a 4-course beer dinner at a little 14-person underground dining club called Mission Gastroclub, I accepted with grace.

And by grace, I mean I drank all of their excellent beer.

I laughed louder than I should have in mixed company.

I talked Jason into sharing some of his market fresh chilaquiles after I had already devoured my own allotment.


And I boldy walked up the Chef (who was busy cooking) to ask him how exactly he made such an impossibly marvelous brioche doughnut (which he then filled with my favorite food of all time--burrata).


But you know what, the Chef (Neil Davidson) wasn't mad at all when I asked questions. I think he might have even been a little amused by my curiosity. He even pointed me to Peter Reinhart's rich man's brioche.

When the clock struck midnight they poured us some Deus (a champagne-style beer) and pulled some string attached to a lighbulb to lower a wad a of foil Times Square Ball. In the wee hours of the night (read: 3 am), I reveled in the madness amongst friends and strangers. And strangers who are now friends.

It was one of the best New Years Eve celebrations I have ever had. Thankfully, it is adequately documented to restore my fuzzy memory of how much fun I drank had.