Food, Wine and Friends Page 236

It was with great pleasure we were able to host our friend Simone Daubin, the famous French chef from Gascony, and her grand-daughters, daughter and son-in-law, along with the famous local artiste, Marian Spadoni.

The festivities began with a Chinese version of Duck Confit, although this was not at all similar to the classic French...apart from the duck.

Then we had some Koi Palace Hot & Sour Soup...and this is remarkably delicious, especially the little dumplings or wontons which have just the right amount of ginger in them!

Rosalie and Juliette immediately were "busy."

With an opportunity for seconds, Rosalie and Juliette seized the moment...

We had enjoyed a bottle of Benoit Lahaye's Brut "Rose de Maceration" Champagne to start...then had a 2011 Iron Horse Rose of Pinot Noir which was all of 11.1% alcohol and actually quite good.

Next up was Heitz Napa Rose made of Grignolino...

Simone is a fan of pink wines, you see...


It seemed as though our Spicy Salt & Pepper Crab may have taken a bite out of this Koi Palace staffer...

The waiter suggested a smoked sea bass dish instead of some sort of anchovy filet plate...so we had this...

A real highlight of dining at The Koi Palace is their Live Prawns with Garlic.

Juliette was especially enamored with the Concubine Chicken...

It's chicken that's served near room temperature with a sauce seemingly made of green onions and garlic...quite tasty, actually, once the chicken isn't looking at everyone around the table.

We also had a plate of a Chinese version of Rib Eye Steak.

Someone thought we had a sufficient number of plates at this stage and that we would not need to stop for a pizza on the way home.

The dapper Charles Neal, pretty in pink!

The final bottle of wine was a Summers Charbono...

My folks used to love dining at The Koi Palace.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a server brought one of their favorite desserts, Mango Pudding!

I was hoping we could order another of my folks' favorite desserts, Sugar Egg Puffs.

Simone started speaking about dessert and her love for Beignets.

Well, soon these hit our table...

And soon Simone and Nathalie were in heaven!

Rosalie said her Granny isn't the only one who enjoys this sort of thing...

Juliette jumped into the fray, too!

And soon there was a major conference regarding Beignets...

...or French Rugby.


And so we thoroughly enjoyed hosting Queen Simone and the crew...



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