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My last post on my trip to California is also the reason for my trip: Cathy's and Vern's wedding! It was my honour to be one of the bridesmaids on their very special day. I won't post pictures of the couple because their photographer will have way better pictures than mine. I will just include the food pictures!
Greystone Mansion.
The ceremony took place at the very picturesque gardens at Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. After the touching ceremony (I loved that they said their own vows and their choice of song when Cathy walked up the aisle - The Beatles' Let it Be), cocktail hour included champagne and pastries from a Cuban bakery. I was able to score a mango mousse and a guava strudel. Yum!
Pastries at cocktail hour.
After cocktails, we headed to the reception in style in a limousine hummer! That's right! It was pretty amazing to see the driver make turns. At a point, he even considered U-turning but I was quite relieved when he changed his mind. It was a fun drive. We got to rock to Weezer!
Our stylish ride. It wouldn't be a Los Angeles drive without hitting some traffic!
When we arrived at the restaurant, we rode the elevator to the fourth floor. The restaurant was packed with diners enjoying their Chinese food. They barely looked up when we walked by.
New Capital floor.
Ok, so at this point, I have to admit that I was super excited to have dinner. There is nothing I enjoy better than a Chinese wedding feast! Food just keeps on coming, usually family style; although since we sat at a VIP table (the head table), our plates were served individually. Also, Cathy made me happy by telling me that there would be no shark fin soup. It's a traditional soup at wedding that showcases one's wealth, but if you've ever seen sharks being thrown back into the ocean after having their fins cut off, you'd never want to eat it either! And supposedly, it doesn't even taste any good. No more gruesomeness nor animal rights' rants, let's move on to the food!!!
Cathy cleverly divided the dishes by vegeterian, sea and land.
For starters, there was a barbecue meat platter. While I enjoyed the meat, my favourite was the jelly fish. I just love the crunchy texture and the flavour of sesame oil. We were also served a hot and sour soup. You can never go wrong with hot and sour soup in my book!
Barbecue Meat Platter and Hot & Sour Soup.
Next, we were served French-style beef and Schezuan-style sauteed prawns with broccoli. Both the beef and prawns were great and well seasoned. I especially like the heat of the spices in the prawn dish.
French-style beef and Schezuan-style prawns.
Next up, we were served Peking duck. Now, as a half-Chinese, it's embarrassing to admit that I've never had Peking duck served at a restaurant, with pancakes, scallion and Hoisin sauce. I guess my family always bought our duck to go and ate it with rice. So it was nice to experience Peking duck in a new way. The pancake topped with duck made for a perfect little fatty package! M, one of the groomsmen who sat next to me, declared that this was his favourite dish of the night!
Peking duck.The sea dishes were served together, the steamed black cod in a small bowl on a plate with the lobster with ginger and scallions. Both tasted great, as expected from a seafood restaurant. The vegetarian dishes consisted of braised haricots verts and fried rice. This was the second time on my trip that I had green beans at a Chinese restaurant. I don't usually order green beans at Chinese restaurants, but I really enjoyed them. The fried rice was good but I was honestly too full to eat anymore... until dessert that is.
The sea and vegetarian dishes.
There was a total of three desserts and two choices for cake. Chinese sweet treats were served, including sesame balls and bean stuffed sweets. Sweet tofu with ginger was also served. Finally, there was passion fruit or lemon cake, custom prepared by one of Cathy's food blogger friend Sarah the Bear!
Dessert time!
The cake was colour coordinated with the yellow-themed wedding!
What a wedding feast! I wouldn't expect less from the Gastronomer. It was an amazing night with amazing food. I was so happy to be able to share my friends' special day. I went home the next day after being very well fed for a week. I'm very thankful to all my family and friends in California!
P.S. I'll link to Cathy's wedding post once it's available.
P.P.S. For another perspective on the wedding's food, Diana Takes a Bite also blogged about it!
For the previous California posts:
* Bánh Mì Chè Cali & Tea Station
* NYC Seafood Restaurant
* Nem Nướng Ninh Hòa
* Quang An Duong Herb Store & Kim Ky Noodle House
* Oomasa Restaurant
* Fish tacos at Señor Fish
* Mario Batali's Pizzeria Mozza
* Crawsfish at The Boiling Crab
* All-you-can-eat Korean BBQ at Road to Seoul
* Rehearsal Dinner at La Grande Orange Café
1 comment:
Oh, Nina! Thanks for a lovely post about our lovely day :-) I want to go back to eat some duck. Never got the chance during the wedding.
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