Slow Food Summer Solstice
To mark the new season (my favorite season), I hosted a Joyful Dinner party. This fundraiser campaign by Slow Food USA was the perfect excuse to start bringing goldenco into the real world.
Until there’s a site for the flagship hotel, the brand will live through gatherings and installations that reflect its values.
At hotel scale, my idea of participation is the amenity means spaces are designed for people to get involved. Edible garden beds, a kitchen studio, and workshops give traveling guests and locals a chance to get their hands in growing and making food while sharing culture.
For a residential dinner party, that concept was represented by clustering herbs and their bolting flowers on the table with culinary planters around the yard for friends to prune themselves. A DIY garnish bar is something I wish I had at restaurants who often skimp out on using fragrant leaves IMHO.
If you’re not yet familiar, the slow food movement is exactly what it sounds like: the opposite of fast food culture.
The international organization Slow Food began in Italy in the 80’s. Their programs advocate for farms, chefs, and restaurants who practice good, clean, and fair food values.
I’ve sought out a few Snail of Approval restaurants in Spain but not surprisingly this program is less popular in the U.S.
The slow “menu”
(word used loosely) was prepared for grazing which is how I like to eat. Of course focused on what’s in season, but also on methods that taste better with time: roasting, simmering, sprouting, fermenting, pickling, dehydrating, macerating, infusing, and curing. Did I miss anything?
Lucky for us in Southern California the farmer's market is quite the rainbow.
Some, not all, of the bounty • Shoutout to my friend Annamaria who brews the best tangy, meatless borscht for special occasions – we added Great Northern beans making it hearty.
I fell in love with a panzanella at Felix Trattoria in LA and lately I've been experimenting with adding in cherries, peaches, and nectarines • This nut-based creamy dip is a fan fav whenever I make it for parties.
Sour Butterfly (full details in the section below)
I prioritize pigmented food for their higher polyphenol content (antioxidants).
Coconut whipped cream with pecan cookies and berries 3 ways
Herb bouquets coming through!
Love this calendar from californiagrown.org (click to open all pages)
For drinks,
I had to create my current obsession: the Sour Butterfly. It’s a riff on a Gin Sour but for the n/a crowd it’s most similar to a floral arnold palmer. If you want to nerd out I made a slideshow with all the components:
Butterfly pea flowers change color once acid is introduced.
My go-to citrus mix is half lemon half lime juice.
Single guests get a bachelor's button (for alchemical wayfinding) and mocktails get bright fun flowers.
I like to harvest thyme sprigs direct from a tabletop plant, especially when using gin.
Wonderfoam creates incredible froth.
Wonderfoam is made from tree bark.
Clitoria ternatea (butterfly pea) is a vining legume native to Southeast Asia.
I try to order all teas, herbs, and spices from mountainroseherbs.com
goldenco’s bar concept is tea-based. A terrace where guests can learn about the fragrant and medicinal plants used in the drinks.
I had fun with infusing wines,
inspired by this Martha Stewart video.
My favorite result: drop 5 cloves in red wine for an hour • It tasted delicious and Green Fin is an affordable organic Napa Valley wine to experiment with.
I might have discovered a summer mulled wine hack: add a stick of cinnamon into the bottle and let it chill.
All wines were equally great as spritzers or tinto de veranos on ice (I mixed half tinto with half blood orange San Pellegrino)
Lemongrass steeped inside a biodynamic chardonnay and a crisper white blend bottle for almost two weeks • interesting...
That’s a wrap on goldenco's 1st gathering.
Slow food, botanical beverages, seasonal ingredients, and friends pitching in on cooking and plating (vs. precious tablescaping). These values are what goldenco hotel will do at full scale. Until then, I’ll keep on planning.
– Jen