Hi friends! As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post, I had a special treat on Tuesday night: a blogger dinner at Kapnos on 14th street, hosted by Dietz & Watson! A huge thank you to D&W for having me and for sponsoring this recap post.
Check the end of the post to see how you can enter to win your own dinner here in DC – but first, read on to see what delicious food you’ll get to experience if you win – it will be the same location and menu as our dinner!
Dietz & Watson is hosting this series of regional dinners around the country this year to celebrate their #ChooseTheTable campaign, which encourages people to reclaim a few extra moments of quality time over a meal – whether with family or friends, both new and old!
You guys know I believe that we should all stop and savor our meals more often – it’s why I preach about taking a real lunch break, and about eating mindfully, too. Food doesn’t have to be a rushed afterthought – and giving ourselves time to slow down and connect, with both the food we are putting in our mouths and the people we are sharing it with, is so important.
In cities across the country, Dietz & Watson is partnering with a local chef to create a culinary experience utilizing their premium meats and cheeses. Here in DC, they collaborated with Kapnos executive chef George Pagonis of Top Chef fame – he is pictured above!
I love sliced meat and cheese but usually end up having it in sandwich or picnic/appetizer form. Especially with the holidays coming up, I’m pumped for some delicious charcuterie/cheese boards – Matt and his family take these very seriously and make amazingly epic appetizer boards (and pack totally over the top picnics, too). Mmmm!
Anyway! That said, I was really interested to see how Chef George incorporated food I would normally snack on directly into a dinner menu! All the meats and cheeses he used are from Dietz & Watson.
Our first course was my absolute favorite of the night (although it was a close call with the dessert – more on that in a minute!). It was Arancini, which is stuffed rice balls! These were filled with soppressata (an Italian dry salami – it tasted like pepperoni!), parmesan, mozzarella, tomato, and basil, and were served sitting on a bed of marinara sauce. You guys – this was SO. GOOD. I could have just eaten this for dinner and been very happy!
Next up was a fun Greek twist on sandwiches: a turkey, ham, and mozzarella phyllo pie! So creative! It was served with a roasted garlic yogurt sauce – and those cherry tomatoes were lightly pickled, as was the whole grain mustard. They gave the dish a yummy tart note.
Our third course was a roasted London broil with smoked cauliflower puree, maitake mushrooms, creamed savory cabbage, and a truffle jus. Whoa – so flavorful. I was already pretty full by this point and saving myself for the dessert, though, so I just had a couple tastes!
Dessert was worth saving a little room for – it was so creative and delicious! We received little personal apple pie pockets with spiced walnuts, oats, a hickory smoked bacon caramel (!!!), and – my favorite – manchego ice cream. I’m obsessed with cheese-infused ice creams, and this one did not disappoint!
Each of the courses was also served, as you see above and below, with a delicious wine pairing – unfortunately being pregnant I wasn’t able to partake, but I hear they were excellent, and they will also be included in the winner’s dinner! I’ll have to go back sometime to try the wine at Kapnos – their sommelier was excellent and very informative.
So – want the chance to win this dinner experience?! Four randomly selected winners (and their guests!) will get to experience this exact same exclusively curated dinner with Chef George Pagonis at Kapnos in DC. The dinner will be on November 7, and travel is not included, so before you enter make sure you are available and able to make it to DC on that date in the case you win! 🙂 Entries close on October 24, so click here to enter now before you forget.
How do you make it a priority to #ChoosetheTable, and what makes a meal special for you? I’d love to hear about your latest special meal experience, whether it was something as simple as a picnic outdoors, a lunch date with an old friend, a cozy dinner at home, or a fancy meal out! For me, a meal is definitely made special by the people I’m with – even a subpar meal can be memorable if you have the right people with you. Although of course a delicious meal with special people around you is even better. 🙂
