Jesse has been a part of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs for quite a few years but he and we have not really been to many events only because Jesse works often on days that the events were, or I would work, or I was busy being pregnant and raising kids as well. So basically I have never gone to a Chaîne event until Sunday. Jesse told me months ago about this lunch and that he had bought tickets for us and I just needed to be pretty and join his side. He would be cooking one of the courses and some hors d’oeurves, There would also be a lot of wine flowing. I obviously was excited and more than down to go.

Sunday was the day! Jesse dropped the kids off early enough in the morning because he had to work to prep some of his course still. We had to be there for 11:30 but I still wanted to get in a swim so I went early and even brought stuff to do my hair so I would have time to fit everything in. I managed to make it through my morning and even had a few minutes to spare before we had to leave. It’s one of the earliest date events we have ever had. We got there and nobody was there. I won’t lie I was a little nervous, I didn't know what to expect and I can sometimes be socially awkward. It also didn’t help that we were basically the first ones there. But the event was held at Breezy Bend Country Club. It was my first time there and it was really nice. The table was beautifully decorated and there was champagne handed out immediately. It was perfect to show up early though because I was able to snap some photos of the beautiful table before it was full of people. Jesse worked on his course. The way this lunch works is there are multiple courses and each course gets 3 chefs who make a dish for that course. The plates are rotated and that way everyone gets something different and you can all share amongst each other. Soon all the guests started arriving and Jesse came to join me. We chatted with some people, he knew most of them and he introduced me to everyone which was nice. We talked about the boys a lot.

Wednesday Dress - Amazon Peacoat - Aritizia Purse - Michael Kors Knee Highs - Forever 21 Lipstick - Nyx Lingerie in Honeymoon — Wednesday Dress - Amazon
Peacoat - Aritizia
Purse - Michael Kors
Knee Highs - Forever 21
Lipstick - Nyx Lingerie in Honeymoon

Each course was paired with 2 different bottles of very fine wine. Jim Jaworkski, who owns Kenaston Wine Market, brought several bottles to the table and explained why they would go well with this course. It was time for the first course. I personally got what I thought was going to be some type of game meat, oysters Adobo and a deep fried shrimp crisp thing. It turned out what I thought was meat actually ended up being eggplant, so my veg side was pleasantly surprised. Another dish was duck prosciutto, lonza, rabbit ballotine with garnishes. Another dish, not pictured was by Chef Norm Pastorin of the Grove, Cornerstone and Blackbird Brasserie, it was a Philipino style sausage with squash purée, a play on bangers and mash. The sausage was by far my favourite. The wine paired was Virginia Dare Chardonnay and Marqués D Irún Verdejo. I enjoyed the verdejo.

Charcuterie by Chef Barry Saunders from Smith

Graciously donated by Kenaston Wine Markets

Eggplant, oysters Adobo and crispy shrimp by Chef Rain Regalado from St. Charles Country Club

The second course we again were presented with 2 different bottles of wine to try with our next meal pairing. We had Domaine de la Begude Rosé and some type of red that I never got a picture of. I was presented with a bowl of corn, chipotle chicken and poblano pepper soup with feta cheese. It was so delicious I was very happy with my dish. Another dish was kabocha squash soup with foie gras and it came in these really neat copper pots that you poured the soup onto the foie gras. The last dish was corn and crab chowder with shrimp tempura.

Kabocha squash soup with foie gras by Chef Takashi Murakami

Corn, chipotle chicken and poblano pepper soup by Chef Denise Friesen from Denise and Jean-Louis Catering

Corn and crab soup and tempura by Chef Richard Tolentino from Southwood Country Club

The third course was the fish course. There were two salmon dishes and a sablefish dish as well. I had the salmon but didn’t really eat it because I don’t eat fish. One of the Salmon dishes was roasted salmon with horseradish, dill, sunflower, pickled onion, cucumber and buttermilk, this one is not pictured and it was by Jordan Carlson of JOEY restaurant. The sablefish was accompanied with a parsnip purée and a soy butter sauce. The second salmon dish my husband thoroughly enjoyed.

Sablefish by Chef Joseph Wojakowski from the Fort Garry Hotel

Salmon by Chef Jeff Cameron from the Breezy Bend Country Club

Lots of wine and people enjoying a minute between courses. All wine graciously donated by Kenaston Wine Market.

The fourth course was the main course. There was seared duck breast with foie gras and local carrots. I had the pork tenderloin with brussel sprout leaves and root vegetables. The last dish was a sous vide pork chop with quail egg yolks, mustard, squash purée and balsamic vinaigrette. It was paired with 2 more red wines. The only wine I got a photo of was the Château de Cénac Eulalie Cahors.

Pork chop by Chef Tim Palmer from The Fairmont

Wine donated graciously by Kenaston Wine Market

Duck breast by Chef Klaus Leiendecker from Breezy Bend Country Club

There was a salad course courtesy of Chef Kristel Patsorin and Chef Albertino Costa, however they are not pictured because I was busy plating dessert with Jesse. Dessert was after salad and there were again 3 dishes. There was Panna Cotta with blackberry sauce, merengue and tuilles. The other dish was a playful version of Strawberry Shortcake. Jesse’s dessert was Pinolatta which is an Italian pine nut tart, that was garnished with blackberry powder, currant gel, mint syrup and winter truffle crème anglaise. My favourite was the Strawberry Cheesecake. Yummm!

Panna Cotta by Chef Heiko Duehrsen from Assiniboine Park Conservatory

Strawberry Shortcake by Chef Cameron Huley from Winnipeg Squash Club

Pinolatta by Chef Jesse Friesen from The Merchant Kitchen and Pizzeria Gusto

After dessert believe it or not there was more food. It was now time to indulge in a beautiful platter of different types of cheese. There was aged brie, Moliterno Pecorino, Stilton, maple flavoured Gouda, Saint André, Chimay Grand Cru with nuts and apricots. This was paired with a 12 year tawny.

Graciously donated by Marco Deluca from Deluca’s

It was so much delicious food! I am so lucky that I was able to be invited with my husband to this amazing, exclusive event that has been happening for the past 26 years. I met some really awesome people and obviously enjoyed more than enough food and wine. The wine was all generously donated from Jim Jaworski at Kenaston Wine Market. The chefs all worked hard to cook us exquisite meals for each course. It was a lot of fun! Special thank you to the chef hosts Takashi Murakami, formerly of St. Charles Country Club, and Klaus Leiendecker of Breezy Bend Country Club. I can’t wait to finally participate in more events.