My husband surprised me with tickets for the Earth, Wind & Fire concert for the 4th of July weekend. I immediately had a flashback; it was 1977, I was in 7th grade. I remembered my first EW&F album, “SPIRIT.”
On the day of the concert I was so caught up in the excitement breakfast was the last time I ate. The minute we got in the car all I could think about was “FOOD” and, we had a 2- hour ride to Atlantic City. There is nothing worse than a hungry, cranky Chef…ugh! Like music which tames the wild beast, a good meal does the same for us.
Dinner at Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant, American Grille, another surprise! I had immediate visions of his famous mashed potatoes… yum! We were immediately seated upon our arrival; I was ravenous. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted and made eye contact with the bread server. He approached us with tongs in hand and a tray brimming with assorted breads. Needless to say, I accosted him…”I will have onion focaccia, one of these, one of those and olive bread”. I wolfed them down and was looking for him again, but to my chagrin, he never returned……….. hmmm.
I started off with red beet and goat cheese Napoleon followed by Ossobuco and mashed potatoes with goat cheese. I was behaving like an impatient child; the Proseco calmed me down, just a little. The Napoleon was beautiful, looked like a piece of art….four layers of red and white wedges, neatly placed on a long rectangular plate, with a drizzle of aged balsamic citrus vinaigrette and toasted hazelnuts.
While we waited for our entrée I imagined the veal and those beguiling mashed potatoes with goat cheese! Our waiter set a brontosaurus sized Ossobucco in front of me; I felt like Wilma Flintstone. The meat fell right off the bone. It was infused with anise, red bell pepper, and a demi- glace. I was temporarily elated, until I realized no mashed potatoes. The waiter could see the panic it in my eyes and, quickly brought a small lidded silver tureen which contained a little bit of “creamy heaven.” He removed the lid and his hand out of the way just in time to avoid becoming a victim of my fork. I dipped my silver trine into the hot, whipped “Nectar of the Gods” and into my mouth, incredible! They were inhaled almost instantly creating a near patina on the silver surface in the process of my fork scraping the bottom. “Wow!”, is all I can say.
The concert was my dessert; I was dancing and singing like an Earth Wind & Fire Backup singer/dancer. They sang all my favorite songs including: Shining Star, Serpentine Fire, Love’s Holiday and Reasons. Boy oh Boy, can those guys STILL sing and dance!
