Celebrating Joy's Birthday at Saffron

Sharon and I got together last night with Mike, Anita, Tim and Joy to celebrate Joy's one of many annual birthdays at Saffron.  She has an in with the owner and chef and arranged for a tasting menu with wine pairings that truly dazzled our palates.

The pictures below show each of the eight courses,  but make no justice to the flavors and the impeccable wine pairings that chef Sameh Wadi selected for the meal.  They also leave out the very friendly and professional staff (including Alberto and Horatio) and front-of-the-house man (and chef's brother) Shahid Wadi, who visited our table frequently to add to the evening's delight with his affable personality and good humor.

It was also interesting to learn that Saffron will be visited today (Saturday Oct 1), by Al Jazeera, the Arabic news network to record a special on this very fine establishment and purveyor of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine.

One last comment before getting to the menu... What really pleased me most about the evening (aside from the terrific company, which was very much expected), was the masterful progression of dishes that brought to the table an unparalleled crescendo of flavor and complexity.  We've had the opportunity to enjoy a number of tasting menus over the years and even on those that we enjoyed, we haven't always felt that the whole was as harmonic as it was last evening.  Our host had clearly put thought in crafting this menu.

And finally... the menu (my apologies for the quality of the pictures, I was using my iPhone and the flash did not trigger until later in the evening when the lights were dimmed in the dining room):

Amuse bouche: Crab salad over compressed  cucumber with radish and a jalapeño sauce

Salad: Heirloom tomato confit with fried goat cheese and truffle vinaigrette reduction

Soup: Garlic yogurt with smoked paprika,  corn, figs, kikos and a corn  cream poured at the table 

Fish: Monkfish with a jalapeño-tomato sauce, fingerling potatoes and golden raisins 

Poultry: Lamb sausage stuffed quail over farro tabouli and pirripirri sauce

Meat: Lamb belly with lamb bacon and a lamb reduction (that's three time lamb!) with chickpeas 

Apple caramel parfait

Chocolate ganache with caramel ice cream