My Sister's Wedding

As I mentioned in previous posts, the reason I was in Cape Cod was for my sister L's nuptials to D. L and D rented a beautiful beach house in Provincetown, where we had all been staying. Months of preparation culminated to this special day. We hoped for good weather; instead it stopped raining just enough for the backyard ceremony.



As for the food, their caterer PTown Parties Catering provided a perfect New England feast. After the ceremony, we enjoyed cocktails while L and D went to get pictures taken at the beach. Appetizers included freshly fried clams, potato latkes, mini BLT's and endive spears. I was too busy to take pictures but everything was quite tasty. Being cheese lovers, L and D also had prepared an extensive selection of cheeses.


L thought of every detail for the wedding!

After L & D's return, we sat down for our meal (that is, after I gave my toast, which somewhat helped me regain my appetite!). We were first served clam chowder. You can't have a New England meal without, can you? It honestly was the best clam chowder I had. It struck a perfect balance of clam brininess and creaminess; I realized then that most chowders are too rich and heavy. My boyfriend A arrived right before the ceremony and enjoyed his corn chowder that he was highly praising too. (By the way, A generously offered to take food pictures of me.)


Corn and clam chowders.

The main meal (the majority ordered the lobster) was served with jalapeno corn bread with honey butter. The corn bread was good but had a surprising kick from the jalapeno that was a bit overwhelming.


Corn bread served with honey butter.

Finally, our lobster arrived. I have to admit I slightly regretted my lobster decision. I just didn't want to work for my food at that moment (embarrassingly, I was spoiled and got help from my mom...). However, the lobster meat couldn't be more fresh. A's vegetarian option consisted of a lasagna that seemed quite good. Each main dish was accompanied by roasted potatoes, grilled vegetables and half an ear of corn.



Top: Lobster and lasagna. Bottom: the newlyweds getting ready to chow down!

L and D's wedding was a small affair, 30+ guests. The night was filled with different activities, from the Mexican shoe game to the anniversary dance. The night did end with traditional cakes. The chocolate mousse and carrot cakes came from Whole Foods. The prices were ridiculously reasonable compared to wedding cakes. I couldn't eat more that night but I did really enjoy the carrot cake for breakfast on the next two mornings!


Cake time (L made the cake toppers)!

It was a beautiful wedding and a memorable night. Congratulations to my sister L and my b-i-l D! I was happy to be there as maid-of-honour! If you'd like to check out more pics, their photographer Shang Chen did an amazing job!

For other wedding meals:
* Maid-of-honour at Gastronomer's wedding
* My friend AM's wedding to L
* S & L's Wedding at Glencair Golf Club

New Capital Seafood Restaurant (Alhambra, CA)

140 W Valley Blvd
San Gabriel, CA 91776

626.288.1899

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

Wedding at Pierrefonds Cultural Centre

I was in Montréal to attend my friend AM's wedding. AM lives in Calgary now (Trapezista and I had dinner with her in Calgary in June) but also hails from Montréal. We went to university together and so it was a nice opportunity to get together with a bunch of university friends. Her now husband is from Brazil. So the wedding was trilingual (French, English, Brazilian Portuguese) with even some Swiss German thrown in!


AM and her husband, newly married!


My roommates, present and past (G & Trapezista)!

The reception was held at the Pierrefonds Cultural Centre. We enjoyed champagne and various appetizers during cocktail hour before sitting down for dinner. It's kind of become a joke among my friends that I take pictures of food. I was actually sitting at the table with the photographer (he also happened to be one our friends' father) and he also decided to take pictures of the food! The first course was endives with a smoked salmon filling. I liked that some of the endives were white and others were red. We were then served pasta stuffed with cheese. The third course was chicken, which was unsually stuffed with strawberries.

Our first three courses.

After AM and her husband cut their cake, it was cut and plated individually with fresh berries. We then enjoyed some dancing, including some Braziling music - that's how AM met her husband L!

AM and L cutting the cake!

My absolute favourite course came last. A cheese plate to be shared at each table. How French Canadian and I know AM loves cheese! I couldn't identify all the cheeses but it definitely included a goat cheese and Brie with some grapes and nuts. I especially liked the hard cheese which reminded me of Parmesan. I will have to ask AM what it was!

Cheese plate.

What a lovely evening! It's too bad that my friends and I can't get together more often. However, geographically, that's not always easy so we try to enjoy ourselves while we can!

The girls from my class. We're only missing our friend S who is in Paris!

Wedding at Glencairn Golf Club

Last weekend, I attended my friends S & L's wedding at Glencairn Golf Club. Glenclair Golf Club is part of Club Link, a group of 37 golf courses across Ontario. A small membership fee (probably in the range of $25,000...!) allows you to play at any of them! We had a beautiful day, with the sun shining, perfect for an outside ceremony. Unfortunately, I am rather vertically challenged and couldn't see much of the ceremony. However, I could hear the very entertaining pastor who amused everyone by quoting the very deep lyricist Akon:

Smack that, all on the floor
Smack that, give me some more
Smack that, 'til you get sore
Smack that, oh ooh

(You had to be there!).


My view of the ceremony - I barely saw the groom!

The ceremony was followed by cocktail hour. Hors d'oeuvres were served for all to enjoy. I am always amazed by pretty little bite-sized food. I think it would be fun making them. Everyone hovered around the bar near 5 pm to get our drinks!

I tried at least 3 kinds out of the 5 hors d'oeuvres.

I've been to SO many weddings that I have a good idea how it goes. Most weddings often offer a lot of food so it's important to pace yourself. It's even more important when you're wearing a dress that is not stretcheable. We started by a spinach salad that I quite enjoyed. Next came 2 beef cannelloni's - I only had one, knowing full well that more food come. This is also when the curtain was closed because the sunlight was bothering some guests and removing my source of lighting (and my apologies for poor pictures).

Our Table, aka the Dateless Table.

Spinach Salad.

Beef Cannelloni's.

We were then served a raspberry sorbet as a palate cleanser. I actually really enjoyed the sorbet as it tasted creamy somehow. Next we were served two proteins: beef and chicken! I never understand why there is never a sufficient amount of vegetables! I could have eaten much more asparagus! I ate half of each of the chicken and beef, and thought I was done for the night. Then came a little innocent cheesecake that was my favourite dish of the meal. It tasted so light and was not too sweet. I think I could have easily eaten another two... That's what I believe anyway.

Beef and chicken.

My favourite course: cheesecake!

A wedding has to end with some serious dancing and this wedding delivered! Congratulations to S & L! It may be one of the last weddings for this group of friends (the gang in Hamilton). However, I'm not done. My friend AM from university is getting married in August and The Gastronomer will also be getting married in the near future!

Cutting a rug!

The last dance. How sweet!