überdine – Storytellers – “The Best Thing I Ever Ate”

We might be a little behind here in KC on some things, but luckily our culinary scene is really evolving. The idea of “Pop Up Dinners” is not a new thing to KC, but it is probably one not everyone might be entirely familiar with. We actually have a few people in the area that host these events and it is a fun a different way to sample a Chef’s creativity outside of the confines of their kitchen.

You don’t know where you are dining and many times you don’t know exactly what you are eating until very close prior to the event. This particular Pop Up event was hosted by Chef Joe Shirley who operates Uberdine. His pop up dinners typically involve a theme and the one we attended was called “Storytellers – The best thing I ever ate”. The event was held at The Roasterie in their Bean Hangar event space.

My foodie friend and I are pretty adventurous eaters however we both are not big fans of things like head cheese, hearts, sweet breads etc. I realize some people go nutso over things like these, but I just can’t do it. Now I will say I have tried all of the things mentioned above. I hear so many people say “oh I hate that” Then when I ask them if they have tried it they say no…..and this my friends drives me NUTS. In my world you cannot say you don’t like something until you try it. However I suggest trying it in the right place. For instance if you say “I hate sushi” and the first and only sushi you eat comes from the local grocery store…well I am certain you will probably continue to hate sushi for the rest of your life. I am not saying you have to try something, but you can’t just say you don’t like it until you do.

We totally lucked out on the menu. There were 14 courses I loved them all. My foodie friend while not a lover of one of the courses that involved a raw oyster still ate it, and she even survived! Each course was presented with someone telling a story about the best thing they ever ate. With the story for each course the Chef did his own interpretation of it. Food is a funny thing because many times the greatest meals you have are not only about the food. It might have been a combination of the food and the circumstance, or the person you shared it with. The stories shared about the food also brought with it the memories of when, where, or why it was consumed. For me that is what food is all about.

Now when it comes to events like this the one thing that will take your dining to the next level is your tablemates. There is nothing worse than being at communal tables with people that have the personality of paint cans. As you sit at a round table of 8 you are surrounded by strangers. If you are lucky by the end of the meal you will have made new friends. We lucked out and our table mates made the whole evening that much better. It was an amazing evening. To be quite honest I will put it in my top five nights out of 2014. Especially because it reminded me why I am so passionate about this city and the culinary opportunities it provides.

The first plate was actually four courses. The most interesting thing on this plate was the foie gras lollipop dusted with watermelon pop rocks. Along with that was some tuna tartare, caeser salad, and the best item on the plate the pastrami.

Lobster, scrambled egg, crème fraiche, ricotta

This plate had a few at the table terrified of the shrimp head. It had delicious mousse inside of it. This was some tuna and pork belly.

An egg is such an amazing thing. That egg when cut up enabled the yolk to become the sauce of the pasta. This might have been my favorite dish.

Duck Breast: lavender, honey
Duck is one of those things that done right it will knock your socks off. Done wrong and you just want to quack. This was perfect.

This was SO good and so tender. The sauce had a hint of cinnamon.

This was my least favorite but it was still good. The kiwi mustard sauce served with the pork and the crostini made all the flavors work together.

The tables least favorite but I LOVED it. The sweet oyster with that sauce, and the pop of the caviar. The lovely gentleman on my left even let me eat his. He missed out!

I hate beets…loathe, detest those little dirt donuts. Then came this borscht. Ok so maybe I like beets.
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Buttermilk Panna Cotta and while this was good the one thing I did not get a picture of was amazing.

Please imagine in your head pumpkin, milk chocolate, cayenne, and pecan….it was great and I am not even on the pumpkin train the rest of the world is.

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