fanciful

“It will be found, in fact, that the ingenious are always fanciful, and the truly imaginative never otherwise than analytic. ” – Edgar Allan Poe

Sometimes you just want an excuse to dress up and pretend to be someone other than yourself… A Roaring 20’s – themed dinner party thrown by Off-Menu Catering Services (@offmenuhawaii) this weekend provided just the opportunity.  Not only did we party in full-costume at the Oasis Estate but to avoid wardrobe changes we confused the hell out of people and went all over town looking like we were either very late or really early for Halloween…. (thanks for humoring us and providing the pre-party @sakeshop! Masumi tasting was the perfect way to get us started!) Here are some of my favorite shots from the evening…

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My Yelp review of the event:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/off-menu-catering-services-honolulu#hrid:gfUBybmTMvNfYeYyeqdujQ

Since my first review of Off Menu, I’ve been graciously invited and attended two more of their “Off Premise” events – most recently, the Great Gatsby-themed dinner by Le Guignol’s Chef Ala Sutton held at Kathy Ireland’s Oasis estate.  Talk about a swanky event…. open bar (serving up dirty martinis and pineapple-infused vodka) on the lawn of the beautiful estate.
http://www.yelp.com/bi…
As we sipped cocktails and were served crostini appetizers by sharp-suited servers we were surrounded by spectacular ocean views and as always, the event’s theme was executed perfectly by the Off-Menu crew. Jazz played softly in the background as (in typical fashion) our liquored-up and boisterous table enjoyed the five courses of fancy delicious food:
Braised Artichoke and Curried Quinoa to start:
http://www.yelp.com/bi…
the artichoke was a little awkward to tackle at first, a bit dry as I prefer to have it steamed but the quinoa with the cucumber, goat cheese and almonds was pure textural genius.  
Chilled Lobster Cappuccino was like a foamy whipped lobster flavored butter.  I wish I had bread to spread this on as it was a bit salty – really neat though, I caught a glimpse of them dishing these glasses and it was reminiscent of watching an iron chef battle!
http://www.yelp.com/bi…
Next was the Lobster tail, I really enjoyed the citrus sauce (called Maltese)
http://www.yelp.com/bi…
Finally, the main course of Chicken fried veal cheek and veal tenderloin I can’t speak for but looked delicious, as my non-meat request was klndly accommodated and I was served salmon prepared similarly to the veal – witha  rosemary, fig and balsalmic reduction with parsnip puree:
http://www.yelp.com/bi…
The finale was, of course, dessert … chocolate souffle and cheesecake icecream – dare I say it was even better than Roy’s?!

I can’t speak highly enough of the skill the Off-Menu peeps attention to detail and skill at pulling off every theme I’ve attended thus far.  If you ever need a crew to pull together an innovative culinary experience and end-to-end event planning, look no further.
http://www.yelp.com/bi…

and from @melissa808 – Melissa Chang’s blog post and pictures on Nonstophonolulu:

http://www.nonstophonolulu.com/eating/did-this-off-premise-dinner-at-oasis/