Del Posto

Printemps Daffodils, watercolor at Etsy, 9" x 11"

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Printemps thumbnails...

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I has a Spring lunch at Del Posto yesterday at 85 10th avenue...
They have one of the best prix fix lunches in town ($29! for 3 courses)
Bowers of orchids greet you in a gracious, airy space...

My first course was a mini jungle of roasted winter vegetables...

Whoops I forgot the amuse-bouche - little cups of soup and risi bisi/rice balls with gold dust sprinkled on them...

My niece had a lobster thing first...

My main was sea bass with droplets of Campari/blood red orange and sauted radiccio. Verdict = Out Of This World!

My niece's fiance had the Artic char with truffles and chestnuts. But we were not allowed bites. Suffice it say it was divine as well...

Well heck EVERYTHING was divine. The desserts were perfection - delicate and light.

The Butterscotch semi-fredo is reknown at Del Posto but the fiancee ordered it, so it was look but don't touch...ahem

Isn't this a great way to serve a pistachio chocolate cakelet with a slice already cut out? It was perfectly accompanied with a dollop of tart yogurt gelato.

And not to forget the tiny little caramels, popcicles and truffles post-dessert.

I was walking on air post-lunch at Del Posto...

But these 'green' cats and dogs in a vets window brought me down to earth quickly...

BONJOUR DEL POSTO!

Decadent Desserts:from Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte

Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte,watercolor

After posting Monday about the new cookbook from Chateau de Vaux le Vicomte, I went looking for a copy.

 

The pictures and setting are utterly lush and truely decadent - just as good as a visit to the chateau. I was inspired to do a version of this heavenly line-up of L'ile flotante/floating island with pink pralines and green tea custard.  

The inside is every bit as yummy as the cover: Decadent Desserts: Recipes from Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte.

Kitchens are downstairs at the chateau - I shot these pieces montees of fruit and macarons - click for a better look!

A model of an old dessert, decorated with architectural details much like Antonin Careme.

 Stacks of brass molds to make even more desserts.

 

Plus a life size tableau of a cook preparing the meal. 

 The author of Decadent Desserts and resident owner of the chateau, Countess Cristina de Vogüé. Sylph-like, it's hard to imagine even a cracker crossing her lips much less the fabulous desserts in her cookbook. Note the countess is wearing an apron with the chateau's symbol, l'ecqureuil/squirrel.

Ah to be a countess and reside here. It must be a lot of work I suppose. If you visit Chateau de Vaux le Vicomte on a spring and summer weekend, you may catch their special candle light dinners well worth attending. Someday...
BONNE WEEK-END! 

Xmas December Dessert Party, David Dewey

It's too hot to be talking about chocolat chaud... But I want to post about an Xmas party. David Dewey was my watercolor Prof for 12+ year at NAD, Parsons and summers at his Maine workshop. Annually David ran a Christmas dessert class that we all looked forward to. We'd bring in outrageous desserts and DD would set up a crazy, wild still life. We'd paint for 2 hours and finally eat the desserts and drink champagne to celebrate!

This is an old Xmas demo of David's from 1996. Painting CHOCOLATE is no piece of cake...We were not supposed to use any "brown" colors. Instead we had to mix the chocolate color out of Indian Red + Pthalo Blue for example.
I painted this at the 2000 dessert party. Pencil notes are all over it - overheard comments by David: "Frustration is healthy...you can always throw it away..continuity & change...what keeps you going - maintain interest.

trust the medium...be loose"

I did color swatches last week using Fancy Food Show choco bits. The trick is not to let the BROWNS go dead.

Go for a "chocolatie" feeling. "Organic paint" is when "pigments are allowed to mingle naturally on the palette or on paper wet-on-wet to describe three-dimensional form".

Taken from David's book, THE WATERCOLOR BOOK, one of the best.Some of my fellow classmates dessert paintings:Pam Fenwick did this painting last December.From Ruth J. Baron

Vivian Troy's painting.
Last May David announced he was going off to Maine to paint full-time and he left our gang of 20 Tuesday-night-devotées. Since then I've been painting chocolate and desserts 24/7!

What will I do next XMAS ?