About a month ago I was relaxing with a friend of mine named Jonathan over a long late summer weekend, drinking Korean beers that taste enormously like Miller High Life and enjoying the lack of breeze. We were sitting in my back yard, watching my dog viciously lie in the sun and while talking about nonsense we stumbled into a conversation about dinner and theater.

We were speaking about our plans for the fall and some of the events that we were working on. I explained about the dinner on the first of November and the Autumnal Harvest and Pig roasting extravaganza in October, while Jonathan went on to explain about his plans for acting and writing throughout the fall.

Sometime around the middle of the afternoon it occurred to us that we had nothing yet planned for September and with a little bit of mental wrestling we discovered that there were some dishes that need to be tired and some of his plays that needed to be worked on. It was in that moment that we decided to take a stab at Dinner Theatre.

We wanted a lounge feel, with smoke and cocktails. Jonny thought it important to include some multimedia in the event and decided that he would like to bring in a dance performance as well as the thespian display. I felt strongly about cooking for each act and leaving dessert for the after whisky. What we eventually came up with, through the great help of our friends was this night of Dinner Theatre:

Menu: 
Snacks: Candied Bacon, Crisp Garbanzos and Spiced Nuts
1. Dark Roux Sausage Étouffée with Caramelized Onions and Pega
2. Black Tempura Prawns in Green Curry Custard with Key Lime and Cilantro
3. Sweet Braised Short Rib, Country Pâté Brulée over a Horseradish demi-glace with Alsatian Munster whipped fondue, Enoki mushroom and quail yolk purses and charred Japanese scallions
4. Tobacco Crisps with Coffee crème and whisky dipping sauce
5. Cigar - Dominican Metropolitan

Menu created with Daniel Castaño and Eugene Edele.

Executed with Daniel Castaño, Eugene Edele and Cathy Erway; and special thanks to Kristen Hager, Kirsten Larson, Nora Sherman and Leah Viens-Gordon for all of their help in coordination and execution.

Wines and Spirits by Jesse Salazar:
Bodegas Llopart 2005 Rose Brut Reserva Cava
Wingut Hirsch 2006 Riesling Gaisberg
Scholum Project 2007 Naucratis Lost Slough Vineyard
Elmer T Lee Single Barrel – Buffalo Trace

With performances of:
“The Confidence Man” adapted from Herman Melville’s novel by Ben Rose and Jonathan Cristaldi and performed by Jonny Cigar and Abraham Danz.

“Awakening” choreographed by Ori Flomin and performed by Amanda Wells and Ori Flomin

“Kammerspiel!” Written, directed and performed by Jonny Cigar while featuring: Abraham Danz, Phoebe Oglesbee, Zach Bernstein and Another Girl.

Video Installation by Tyler Coburn www.tylercoburn.com

Photos by:

Tim Ireland © 2008
www.irelandstudios.com

Christine Wells © 2008
http://christinekwells.blogspot.com/