So, right away we can ditch any notion of boring you with reports of the many meetings and breakout sessions attended and just hit the cultural and culinary highlights.
Our conference was held at the Turf Valley Inn, a resort style facility, with golf courses surrounding the main building. Somehow my room got a fairly nice view of the course.
Fast forwarding past the first day of meetings, one of the things you do at these things is to host “hospitality suites”, where you feature various things to eat, and of course drink. There were “chocolate fantasy” rooms, “dessert heavens”, that sort of thing. Being as our club was from Southern Maryland, what would you think we might offer? You got it..Bivalves
And, you still got it, libations
We are famous for our Mai Tai’s which explains the tropical theme. Don’t ask me about pairing oysters with that drink.
Anyway, after happy hour in the hospitality suites, there was a dinner for an evening plenary session. We will not waste any of our mutual time discussing the hotel food. It was almost classic hotel food. Sustaining at best. But another highlight was the evening’s entertainment. The Show Choir from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts put on a performance for us. Reading the program before attending the dinner (and blissfully ignorant of said school) I thought, oh, geez, a night of show tunes. Wrong, wrong, wrong, oh Bottom Feeder. What followed was a riveting performance by a group of highly talented students that didn’t stop for over an hour.
It was exciting stuff. Never ceases to amaze me what ability is out there. Great show.
The next day, I signed up for an extracurricular tour of Historic Ellicott City along with a “gourmet lunch” at a local restaurant. Thinking I couldn’t do much worse than the hotel offerings again, I decided to skip a meeting or two (shame, shame) and see what Ellicott City was about.
Ellicott City was founded in 1771 by a three Quaker brothers from Pennsylvania, named… Ellicott. They were attracted by the lush countryside and the fast flowing Patapsco River. So they built a mill, and eventually the town grew up around them. At one time Ellicott City was the terminus of a railroad from Baltimore, and the start of the first toll road to Frederick, Maryland. At one point in their history, you came to Ellicott City for wild weekend. It also played a little part in the Civil War.
Now, like other towns conscious of their history, they are seeking to attract Tourism by emphasizing the history and a collection of galleries, restaurants, and drinking establishments. Our tour started with a tasting in “The Wine Bin” a little wine store that had a nice selection of wines and beers.
We tasted a rose and a white which didn’t do too much for me
After sampling those we went (literally) down the street to a restaurant called Tersiguel’s, a French Country Restaurant located in a 19th century home.
We were led up a series of stairs into a pleasant room with a few tables
Done in soft greens with wine related script on the walls, and gee, can you imagine?....white table cloths. We were greeted by a server in white shirt, black pants, and a black vest. Our lunch was a pre-arranged menu of three courses with paired wines. Water glasses filled, crusty country French bread with creamy butter, portended a great lunch. Bingo..
The first course was
A house cured Gravlax with arugula in a light vinaigrette (note edible violets) and that ring of delectable tarragon hollandaise. Each bit was a joy. It was paired with a ’04 white Burgundy that showed its age with a deep golden color and honeyed flavor.
Next we were treated to a Boeuf Bourguignon
Slowly braised flavorful beef until fork tender, and how many vegetables can you count in there? Brussels sprouts, carrots, haricot verte, pearl and spring onions, mushrooms, potatoes at least. And you know what? it wasn’t the mushy all taste alike “steamed vegetables” so common these days, you could close your eyes and pick out each one by its flavor. A dish of each would be great. And that grilled bread? Sopping!! For this course a Syrah loaded Cotes du Rhone was served with great nose and lots of fruit. It was an ’03! How many times do you get that in a restaurant.
We forced ourselves to eat the dessert course:
A strawberry was sliced, placed on a pastry cup, filled with a white ganache, and reconstructed. The little cup contained a rich chocolate mousse and more of the ganache. That glass presented a late harvest Chenin Blanc, that wasn’t quite as sweet as a Sauternes or a dessert Riesling. Very nice. Oh, did I mention that each dish was described upon service and new glasses were served with each wine? And that other tables who were served wine by the glass were done so out of the bottle? Not just a glass brought to the table. How it should be done.
After that, we did a little walking tour of the town with a great guide who pointed out buildings and their significance
After returned to the hotel sort of sated, no time for a nap, into the duds to DFD for the main banquet for the conference. Although I swore I would never eat again, I did manage to do pretty well by a filet that was really not too bad.
This year’s District Governor for our organization is of Indian heritage and for the entertainment we were treated to a performance of Classical Southern Indian Dances.
So that was the weekend. I returned home late Sunday afternoon, but forced myself to attend the inaugural vocal concert in the Chapel at Historic St. Mary’s City. But, if you’re still reading you’ll be glad to know that we’ll postpone that for a day..(known in the trade as a "tease"
A fun filled weekend (capped off by the Concert). If you're ever in Ellicott City, please try to dine at Tersiguels's. It's the real deal.. one of those little gems.. and yes, dear friends, thoughout the weekend, I was
DFD
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