Wedding Planning Update #36 - The tasting!
On our way back from Andrew and Sabrina’s wonderful wedding, we were able to meet up with Kris’s parents on the highway. Our paths merged at the Tappen Zee Bridge, and they followed us down to my parents’ house in NJ. All six of us went to mass together at St. Bart’s, so Kris’s parents could get a look at the church and meet Father John (Paladino). Our tasting was scheduled for 7pm, so we stopped back at my parents’s house afterwards to kill some time and pick up my grandmother. I got to show my dress and my sister’s bridesmaid dress to Kris’s mom, which was really exciting.
Kris and I gathered up our paperwork, just to make sure we actually got the items we’d requested at the tasting. We found our recipe for our fun signature drink to have the bartending staff mix up for us. Then we headed out to the Somerset Hills Hotel.
When we got there, there was another wedding reception going on, so we peeked around a bit while we waited for the “tasting table” to be set for us. I’m really excited about having our reception at this hotel - it was the first time Kris’s parents and my grandma had seen it and everyone thought it was beautiful. It was fun to see what the set up would be like for an actual wedding reception, rather than a different kind of party (like the corporate function and bat mitzvah I’d previously seen in the grand ballroom).
We started off with some cocktails and a toast. One of the bartenders came out to talk to us about the signature drink mix we’d come up with (after a bit of discussion of what our actual recipe had been - by the time we’d gotten to the final “round” of trials, Kris and I had neglected to write down the recipe!). She told us that it sounded like a tasty mix (what a nice compliment before she even made it!), and the color should be what we were looking for - a bit of a dark blue-purple. I can say for sure now that our signature drink tastes fabulous! I highly recommend it - just ask for the Kris-Tiney Martini (”Tiney” here is pronounced to rhyme with “martini”)! Yay!
We got to taste two of the several possible appetizers - the first seated served course. We’d chosen Italian Wedding Soup, and Pasta Duet, which was a combination of bowtie pasta in a tomato sauce alongside a cavatelli pasta in (the best) pesto sauce (I’ve ever tasted). Both were really good - we were leaning toward the Italian Wedding Soup, as this is going to be a big Italian Wedding, but we know that may be too hot for August. It contains meatballs, so I know this course would not be vegetarian-friendly, whereas the pasta duet would be ok for vegetarians. However, we could have the Pasta Duet as part of the cocktail hour at a serving station, in which case it would be possible to have both dishes. We’re still undecided on this one for the time being!
The next course was a choice of three of the salads - the second seated served course. Our choices were: Somerset Hills House Salad - Baby greens with proscuitto chips, sliced red onions, Ricotta salada (which was a bit like blocks of mozerella, and very tasty), and served with creamy mustard vinaigrette; Claremont Salad - Mixed baby greens with goat cheese, pine nuts, sundried tomatoes, and red onion tossed in balsalmic vinaigrette; and French Served Tri-Color Salad - Arugula, Belgian endive, and radicchio tossed in Balsamic vinaigrette with a walnut apple garnish. The French Served salad sounded tasty on paper, but the best part of it were the walnuts. We were pretty much all in agreement about it as our least favorite. Both other salads were excellent, but I’m worried about people with nut allergies, so I think our decision was to go with the Somerset Hills House Salad. Skipping ahead a little, at the very end of the evening, the head chef came out to meet us and see how everything was, as well as to see if WE had any questions. So - vegetarians, do not worry! Anyone asking for a vegetarian entree will be contacted to determine which salads to leave off the proscuitto chips (and Ricotta salada, if you want). They said they will accommodate anything, which was a huge relief.
Finally, we were served the entree courses. I’m not going to waste time on the entrees we tried which we will not be choosing; instead I went into some detail on the four entrees we will be serving in the following order: beef, chicken, fish, and vegetarian.
Beef: Chateaubriand - Sliced tenderloin of beef served with seasonal vegetables (likely carrots & green beans), broiled tomato and chateau potato, accomponied by bordelaise and bearnaise sauce, plated tableside.
Chicken: Parmesan Crusted Boneless Breast of Chicken - Creamy sage demi glase and sweet potato puree served with seasonal vegetables (likely carrots & green beans). This dish was our favorite, and what we recommend if you are undecided. Both of us are getting this as our entree!
Fish: Grilled Salmon Fillet - Served with roasted pepper Dijon cream sauce and whipped pototoes, along with seasonal vegetables (likely carrots & green beans).
Vegetarian: Chef’s choice - likely a combination of grilled vegetables including peppers, eggplant, and zucchini alongside seasonal vegetables (likely carrots & green beans).
***These descriptions have been posted on our wedding website for referal as well. We’ll be posting pictures of the chicken and beef entrees in a couple days.
