Gluttons Club

Yesterday I stagiered at Toro during the day and then at 7, when I was due to finish my shift, I simply walked out of the kitchen into the dining room for drinks and dinner with friends. It was my birthday so a few folks came out to celebrate with me.

Jaime and the kitchen staff were good enough to send out a few extras for us which were gratefully accepted. It was an excellent meal and I'm glad I finally got to sample more of the dishes that this great kitchen produces. Here is what I can remember we ate and drank:

food (tapas, it's not as much food as it looks)

• stuffed and fried zucchini blossoms
• oysters on half shell with american caviar and some kind of sauce
• mexican corn
• beef heart
• halibut ceviche
• duck legs
• garbanzo and chorizo stew
• hanger steak
• garlic shrimp
• patatas bravas
• pan con tomate
• datiles con jamon (which I prepped earlier in the day)
  
• tortilla with asparagus
• anchovies
• kobe sliders
• jamon serrano
  

wine:

• 2006 As Sorte--a white made from Godello that is one of my favorite Spanish whites ever.
• Muga 2008 Rosado--Rioja shows its grace in this rosado and the style showed its versatility with food
• Prima Toro 2006--A bold red that went down well with the heartier dishes in the second half of the night.
• Celler Del Roure, “Les Alcusses” Mando Blend, Valencia 2005--something from the rare and mysterious portion of the wine list. By this point, things had gotten a little hazy but I do remember it was good
• Finally, I sidled over to another table where four lovely young women were sitting and drank some txakoli from the pitcher with them. Turns out, they all work at America's Test Kitchen. In the course of conversation, I gave one of them my contact for a potential internship there. Lovely, now I've got another potential job that doesn't pay anything.