Betty’s Table

By Betty Zlatchin

Asparagus and Paris

March, the harbinger of Spring, comes in like a lion, so the saying goes, and leaves as gentle as a baby lamb, even here in San Francisco.

At this time of year, my food memories turn naturally to my grandfather’s house in Atlanta where I spent my early childhood. Grandfather had a field of narcissus off the dining room, two hundred rose bushes to prune and of course, asparagus that grew by the side of the old clay tennis court.

We dutifully measured the pale green tips appearing in the wet ground in the morning and once again in the evening to see if the tender spears had grown enough to cut and quickly blanch for our dinner. The butter we used was pale and sweet, not salted. Just a little drizzle of melted butter and that was the perfect first course. Spring leg of lamb often followed and we ended the meal with strawberry rhubarb crisp. The sweet promise of spring existed in that meal for me.

To get that surge of spring taste in your mouth, just go down to The Ferry Plaza market on Saturdays when Zuckerman brings in his local crop of asparagus and you will have the real thing! Of course, you may have to wait in line with the early morning chefs filling their bags for the day.

Asparagus should be picked early, with the ends tightly closed. I like the plumper spears, but the pencil are good too. If you are at the supermarket, ask the green grocer where they came from, when they came in, and of course, check the bottoms of the spears for any woodiness or dryness. Feel free, as I do, to reject the bundles the markets offer you. I prefer to hand select just the ones I want for my table.

Below are two of the many ways we recently incorporated Asparagus:

· Asparagus soup with asparagus flan

· Asparagus tempura with shiso and shiso aioli

Guests really enjoyed this wedding and so did we!

Our placement of the band’s stage and dance floor in the middle of the room with the guest tables centered around them made for a communal and intimate feel.  Note the side “lounge” with the white ottomans and blue light up bar we set up in the corridor which had a fun photo booth by Denon and Doyle.

The black and white theme really made this event classy.  No need for specialty linens on this one. Once the lights were dimmed and the tables are pin-spotted, the less formal white duck linens disappear and the table settings glistened with candlelight.  We loved the tiered candleabras by Floramor Studios. Instead of the old fashioned large wedding cake (so many of our wedding clients seem to moving away from nowadays) this couple decided on small individualized wedding cakes as table centerpieces by Cake Coquette (delicious and so stylish).  Later, the cakes were removed and set up at a cake station with coffee.

Mac and cheese, a Bride and Groom favorite, made it’s way onto our menu as a special amuse course. We added gorgonzola, toasted walnuts and grannysmith apple to make a delicious gourmet version. Enjoy the photos!

Last week we did a fabulous Hawaiian themed engagement party in Atherton for 100 lucky friends.  Guests were greeted with Leis, live music, and of course, a Mai Tai!  Later, the Hawaiian dancers performed a fire dance under the stars– it reminded me a little bit of the Brady Bunch goes to Hawaii episodes with the Hula Fire Dancers for the Luau bonfire party. The differences were that this party was in Woodside, CA and was not tacky, but tastefully done, of course, in all senses of the word!

We loved the way our lounge design and Cabanas turned out.  Michael Diagan did a fun and tropical design with the small cocktail arrangements.

Suckling pigs with Asian steamed buns with hoisin, cilantro and fresh mango salsa, peking duck salad, pineapple fried rice, Lomi Lomi salmon and lot’s of other delicious savories were on the evening’s menu.  For dessert, our new staff favorite, pineapple upside down cake with berry coulis, individual coconut cream pies and banana cream pies, and of course macadamia nut chocolate fudge bites. Yum.