A group of friends and I went to the final dinner in Veritas Winery’s Supper Series: The French Cafe. Here’s the recap!
Veritas: French Cafe Dinner Series
This is the second year that Veritas celebrates its Dinner Series Dinners. Almost every month there is a themed dinner with several courses and wine pairings hosted by a talented chef. (You may remember the hip hop themed dinner series that Thomas and I attended in May!) Going to a themed dinner is one of my all-time favorite things to do, so it was an honor for me to write about this experience again on the blog.
July’s theme was French Cafe. Dinner was served on the patio under string lights; we were transported to Paris from the menu to the jazz band. And we lucked out with PERFECT weather for al fresco dining!
At the end of July it is also our friend Sean’s birthday, and he is a huge Francophile! So this was the perfect occasion to celebrate. We dressed up in French flowers and surprised him the same day with our plans.
Our group!
Welcome: Oysters and Vermouth
In addition to a welcome cocktail made with Flying Fox Summer Vermouth and Smoke in the Chimney sparkling water, there was the most beautiful display of oysters clouded by dry ice!
Canapes
We also enjoyed a Sparkling Rosé with a couple of canapés, which included watermelon, basil and my favourite blue cheese: Bleu D’Auvergne.
Happiness
Of course we took lots of pictures while enjoying the appetizers!
Sit-down dinner
The chef of the day was Adam Bean, who is part of the Veritas team. I thought his dishes were fantastic (especially the dessert!). We were greeted with a few words by Chef Bean and winemaker Emily Hodson.
Pay attention : )
The wine pairings were perfect!
Birthday boy!
Blue and white thematic section
The menu
First course
“Vol Au Vent” summer tomato with royal red shrimp and escarole paired with Cabernet Franc 2023.
Bread course
Of course! The honey butter was amazing.
Second course
Mussels in Viognier and saffron cream with charred fennel.
Beefsteack with french fries
And the most delicious corn dish made with vadouvan curry and chanterelles. Paired with the Petit Verdot 2022 which was my favourite wine of the evening!
The atmosphere under the lights all night long was magical. We listened to music by the French bistro jazz group Les Zazous.
Dessert course
I loved the creativity of this course. We thought those shavings were some kind of sweet chocolate, but they were actually CHEESE. 18-month-old Comté cheese served over honey ice cream. What a unique and delicious combination! The dessert wine that accompanied it was a Petit Manseng.
Join the next one!
There will be three more Dinner Series dinners in 2024 in August, September and October. Check them out here and buy tickets!