Dinner

Although I had known for months that my parents would be here in Germany over Christmas and New Years, it wasn't until the end of November that it sunk in that my parents would be here for New Year's Eve. Score one for Matt and Riss. I sweetly asked my dad and mom if they would watch the kids so Matt and I could go out. Since I was their tour guide and primary provider of transportation and meals, I had them against the wall. They really had no choice but to do it!

New Year's Eve day started nice and slow, just the way I like it. Then around 4pm Matt and I hopped in the car and headed up to Wiesbaden. We checked in to a hotel, got all fancy, and then grabbed a cab into the city to meet some friends at their flat.

Our "cocktail" hour was loads of fun. We spent a good amount of time taking pictures. We were like kids getting ready for prom but the roles were reversed. My friends' 13 year old daughter was taking the pictures and the adults were posing and being goofy. I haven't seen those pictures yet. I'm slightly scared and yet excited to see them too!

The bartending technique for the night consisted of people randomly picking a number between 1-1000 and then making the corresponding beverage in the Bartender's guide. I'm not sure who had that idea but it made for some good laughs and a lot of half-consumed beverages. The best drink of the night was a blue fru-fru drink that our friend made - it was quite smurfy.

Shortly before 8pm we left the flat and walked into town for our quite fancy 6 course meal. It was extravagant and so special. The whole event took 4 hours. Normally, I wouldn't consider dinner an event, but when it takes 4 hours it becomes one.

I absolutely loved this experience. We opted for the "surprise me" method of eating. In other words, we asked the waitress not to tell us what we were about to eat. Sometimes it is really best just to taste the food first and then find out what it was, this was one of those times. We started off the meal with a Prosecco toast and then sat back and enjoyed the food and company.

The menu as best as I can translate it:

1. Venison Carpaccio with Veal tartar with mango and quail egg.

2. Batter-fried Scallop with Octopus Carpaccio

3. Roasted Foi Gras (Goose Liver) with Truffel Sauce and Shallots

4. Home-made Tortellini filled with truffles in a truffle sauce with a truffle foam.

5. Black Angus Beef in a truffle puff pastry

6. Zabaione filled biscuit with Campari Orange Sorbet

Yes...carpaccio is thinly sliced raw meat and tartar also refers to meat that is raw. How is it that raw food can be so expensive?

I'm so glad I had the opportunity to taste all this food. I have to say the venison carpaccio was quite tasty, the octopus was neither great nor bad, and the foi gras was surprisingly edible. I loved loved the Tortellini and all the truffle business. If you haven't tasted truffle sauce or anything stuffed with truffle - do so soon! Every time I see some type of pasta on a menu that includes "truffle" in the explanation I go for it. The meat was very rare but still incredibly delicious. Don't judge me for the foi gras. At the time of consumption I didn't know what it was or what has to happen to the poor little goose in order to become a foi gras goose.

A bonus for the entire menu was the beauty of all the food. Everything looked so pretty. I think they spray-painted some of the food silver. There was a silvery frost on the scallop and the blueberries.

We finished dinner just before midnight. We paid our bill and headed to the streets in time to see the fabulous amateur fireworks display in the city. The church bells were ringing, people were kissing, and 2012 arrived.