last night was the spice of life fall forage and f&b plated landscape dinner at killibuck valley mushroom farm. for those of you unfamiliar with s.o.l.'s plated landscape dinners, throughout the summer and early fall, ben and co. host incredibly unique multi-course plated dinners on some of the farms from which we source our locally grown foods. the killibuck valley dinner is the benchmark by which all of the other dinners are judged. the setting is absolutely beautiful, listening to tom and wendy, the owners, discuss the actual science and method behind growing mushrooms is truly fascinating, and, like the other dinners, the whole experience feels like it was dipped in some kind of magic. our dinner for this lovely, cool evening was staged in an open-sided barn and a great band played quiet classic rock throughout the evening...with guests at the table tearing up quietly when one or another particular piece seemed to touch their hearts and bring even more power to this uniquely memorable event (the beatles always get me). the seven course meal was, of course, fantastic, even though ben began the evening by pointing out to all of the diners that they were lucky enough to be eating with a food network star...a little embarassing and mostly untrue, but funny. after basking 
in the glow of the wonderful setting for a while, the wine and beer started to take hold and the generally festive atmosphere became even more so. our end of the table was, as usual, loud and really, really jokey. i honestly don't remember the last time i laughed so hard or well. my very good friends who i don't get to see as often as i would like, michael and nicole, joined us to celebrate nicole's birthday and really helped to amp up the laughfest at our end, with the rest of the table stealing glances from time to time to see what was so incredibly hilarious. for me, the real stars of the show were ben, jess, chris, dan, and ryan from spice of life, my much-loved friends with whom i dined, and karen small, one of cleveland's very best chefs and owner of the flying fig, my favorite restaurant in town. the whole experience was like catching lightning in a jar and a reminder of just how beautiful and perfect life can be. thanks to everyone involved for a truly memorable night...and, of course, the staggering hangover that's followed it today. ha!
in the glow of the wonderful setting for a while, the wine and beer started to take hold and the generally festive atmosphere became even more so. our end of the table was, as usual, loud and really, really jokey. i honestly don't remember the last time i laughed so hard or well. my very good friends who i don't get to see as often as i would like, michael and nicole, joined us to celebrate nicole's birthday and really helped to amp up the laughfest at our end, with the rest of the table stealing glances from time to time to see what was so incredibly hilarious. for me, the real stars of the show were ben, jess, chris, dan, and ryan from spice of life, my much-loved friends with whom i dined, and karen small, one of cleveland's very best chefs and owner of the flying fig, my favorite restaurant in town. the whole experience was like catching lightning in a jar and a reminder of just how beautiful and perfect life can be. thanks to everyone involved for a truly memorable night...and, of course, the staggering hangover that's followed it today. ha!
