ArchCare Gala Tasting

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Each October my husband hosts the ArchCare Foundation Gala at Gotham Hall in New York City. The foundation provides services for the frail and elderly in the archdiocese of New York. This year they raised over $1.4 million that evening, a huge success.

Before the gala each year, we attend a tasting at Gotham Hall to choose to menu. We begin with the floral centerpieces, and this year we chose this beautiful autumn arrangement.

We tasted some of the appetizer choices, including a clever meatloaf & mashed, a white truffle mashed potato ball topped with meatloaf. Our other choices included a confit of duck on a crispy sweet potato hashed brown topped with aleppo pepper- orange jam, coconut shrimp beignets, with a carrot-ginger puree and bonito flakes topping, and for the vegetarians, eggplant "meatballs", and figs in a blanket with goat cheese and poppy, coriander-maple topping.


For our first course, which was plated when we sat at the tables, we chose a salad with citrus (clementine and blood orange slices), cucumber oil poached tomato and goat cheese bon bons (so tasty!)  drizzled with a citrus vinaigrette.

Our entree was grilled filet mignon & butterflied lobster tail, served with a tiny twice stuffed baked potato, asparagus, crispy onions and a bordelaise sauce.  Our vegetarian choice was a delicious pumpkin and wheatberry "risotto", that had roasted apple, thyme, goat cheese, wild mushroom and spiced pepita. I thought it was fantastic.

For dessert, we had a flourless cocolate fondant cake, with burgundy-macerated currants and topped with a vanilla chantilly.

A view of Gotham Hall from the balcony

The table