By Michael Hepworth
BEVERLY HILLS, CA(Spiritsman)11/20/11/—A fun launch and party took place this week at a Bel Air private home to make caviar more available to the general public. The Beverly Hills Caviar Company created the event with chef Marcel Vigneron to create a series of caviar based dishes, which frankly had the well heeled crowd panting for more and invading the kitchen area of the chef and his overworked assistants.
Vigneron was a runner up in Top Chef in their second season and his worked with or the biggest chefs in the world including Joel Robuchon, Michael Mina and Ferran Adria. He specializes in the art of molecular gastronomy, so this kind of event was a natural for his talents.
The event was also attended by a sprinkling of B and C list celebrities none of whom I had heard of, but when you get so many pretty people assembled in one place sometimes it is hard to spot the difference.
Also on the menu was a whole cooked alligator, where hungry guests took chunks of meat and put it on crackers. Initially the starving horde invaded the area where the proverbial beast lay, but as soon as the caviar started appearing the attraction soon faded. I found the meat a bit bland, and wonder where this kind of food is consumed on a regular basis.
A handful of vendors showed of their wares including a cheese company, and liquor available was kind of limited with shots of Caribbean spiced rum, high end vodka and Canadian Ice wine. Champagne from Grand Courtage seemed to be the drink of choice for most and is a perfect complement to caviar, so to some degree that was the only game in tow so to speak.
As for the caviar creations, the chef came up with five different dishes that utilize caviar that you could probably make at home with the right ingredients and patience. : Oyster & Nitro Pearl Parfait w/ dashi consommé gel, crème fraiche dipping dots, asparagus cream, vegan caviar and chervil.
Spanish Deviled Egg w/pimenton aioli, piquillo puree, petite tarragon and beluga caviar Rainbow Caviar Cone w/hiramasa tar tar, yuzu vinaigrette and black fish caviar Aerated Scrambled Eggs w/micro chive, maldon salt and sevruga caviar Nitro Lemon Drop w/oscetra malossol and zest.
All this complemented by a Chamber Music Orchestra made for a very different kind of evening. The Harold Robinson Foundation was the charity of choice, an organization dedicated to sending poor and inner city youth to summer camp, so I sincerely hope that they received a decent sized check at the end of the day. I do know that tickets were originally priced a steep $1000, but closer to the event they took a dramatic dip to a more realistic $150
The Beverly Hills Caviar Company have been around for 33 years and for more information and to place an order for the holidays go to. www.beverlyhillscaviar.com
Michael Hepworth
287 S.Robertson Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90211