Winter is a curious time for desserts. There’s an abundance of glorious citrus around but for the most part the trees are bare of fruit, the vines bereft of berries. What’s a girl to do? In our case, have a pastry chef that rolls up his sleeves instead of just rolling his eyes.
Last week Scott raided Vidal’s honey harvest, big time. He baked delectably light honey tea cakes, poached pears in honey water, spun the creamiest honey ice cream to rest on a little mound of pollen, dehydrated milk until it turned into flakes as light as snow. He even foraged velvety dark purple pansies from the garden which had manage to survive beneath a rain tent. If all that wasn’t enough for a sublime dessert, he fabricated tiny edible ‘hives’ from cocoa butter, and filled them with pure nectar.
This dessert has all the hallmarks of becoming a classic. Especially as 2016 will mark an exclusive collaboration with Kristee Rosendahl's Dream Ranch to produce wild honey for Barndiva. We use a lot of honey on our goat cheese croquette plate, a tried and true BD classic. Stay tuned for more about Dream Ranch and the Barndiva hives in the wilds above Lake Sonoma.
If there had been a boycott of this year's Oscar Ceremony, we would have supported it. Like many of our faltering institutions (yes, predominately run by cranky old white men) it's time for change, not just with how the Oscar's are chosen, but with who decides on what movies get made. As of this writing there is no boycott planned, so we're looking forward to having a great time watching the Oscar Ceremonies LIVE on the big screen in the Studio gallery on February 28th. As it will coincide with our Sunday French Country Supper, which is growing in popularity through word of mouth, we strongly recommend reservations - any size party is fine. It's going to be a great evening - there is a pretty cool field of movies and performances this year. Ballots will be available from Feb. 22, prize to be announced (though chances are it's going to be something award worthy you can drink...).
Our Oscar poster was designed by the ever talented K2 - Kirsten Petrie.
