Laguna Tastes & Tours: A Curated Adventure
My Bluebird Farms dinner extravaganza
A couple weeks ago, Laurie Nassif, the “Tour Director" and Founder of Laguna Tastes & Tours, asked me if I’d be interested in dropping in on one of her curated dining events.
This took about .03 seconds to think about. For a few years now, Laurie has been making an impact in Laguna Beach with her very unique “Tastes & Tours.”
Laguna Tastes & Tours: Atypical Adventures
I’ve heard rumor of everything from in-town cooking classes to artist studio tours, duffy boat cocktail cruises, helicopter trips to Catalina Island and even wine-and-dine excursions to far off lands in Europe. The company even provides a fun “food styling” course for kids who learn how to prep all kinds of different foods for food photoshoots.
I was invited to a “Golden Harvest” dinner taking place at the lovely Laguna Bluebird Canyon Farms setting.
Bluebird Farms’ Storied History (because there’s always a story in Laguna Beach)
Now, THIS is a story in and of itself as those longest-term residents of Laguna Beach might remember Bluebird Farms as a sort of hippie colony of artists in the 1970s. The artist community populated the lovely hill nearly a century after the Acjachamen indigenous people settled here … after Europeans settled in the late 1800s while seeking riches in minerals … and even after a “Tom Sawyer” boys’ camp in the 1940s.
In 2010, Scott Tenney and his wife, Mariella Simon, purchased the property and began extensive renovations to created a community farm and market. This proved a most enticing backdrop to our private dinner.
Me & The Cast From Bachelor’s “Love Island”
When I arrived, I met my dining companions, a group of 5 beautiful couples and friends who had decided on a group night out with babysitters at their every home. They were all a quarter century younger than me and beautiful in every way. I told them I felt like I’d just been dropped into the “Bachelor’s Love Island.”
All five couples live in Laguna Beach with only one of the 10 an actual born-and-raised Laguna Beach kid. They took me in as some kind of aged, great Aunt, and we proceeded to have a really fun evening. (I’ve got to hand it to them - what a great idea on their part to come up with this dining idea.)
Laguna Tastes & Tours initially arranged a quick tour of the farm which, in addition to the many obvious vegetables, fruits and herbs, included a commercial farm stand, a micro-bakery, six beehives, 40 chickens and their newest resident, a giant, well-loved tortoise by the name of Momo.
Laurie initially introduced her chefs of the evening, Chef Aci Landa, who found her way here from Venezuela, eventually partnering with Chef Molly Ortwein to create the company, “Chef My Date,” a super-creative take on memorable life events. She (Laurie) then introduced a cocktail of her own makings - a Sgroppino blend of lemon sorbet, prosecco, vodka, lemoncello and fresh mint inspired by her recent trip to a wedding on the Amalfi Coast. Frankly, I could have sipped that drink and been entirely satisfied with my entire evening’s invite.
From that awesome starter, we settled at the beautiful outdoor table and began the evening with Chef Aci’s Opening Tea Ceremony, a mix of meditation, gentle awareness and honey lemon balm and chamomile tea, the ingredients of which had been collected from the Farm.
A shot glass made entirely of ice
A crispy Potato Rosti (fried grated potatoes sort of like hashed browns) topped with crème fraîche and caviar followed, quite a sublime follow to the meditative tea.
With the Rosti, the chefs coupled the most exquisite idea … a shot glass made entirely of ice WITH inlaid flower petals for a Belvedere vodka toast. This unique idea originated with Molly’s dad in a long-ago Wisconsin party that should have been canceled because of a blizzard … but everyone showed up anyway, and he produced a toast worthy of the event (shared with us).
I won’t share the finer details of this lovely story, but suffice to say that the folks in Wisconsin completed the toast by throwing their shotglasses in the fireplace. We, however, were instructed to throw these beautiful shot glasses made of ice on the ground to solidify the benevolent toast. I thought furtively of hiding the shot glass in my purse, but I would have been left with puddles and petals in a matter of minutes, so I sorrowfully obliged.
A perfectly faultless evening in service and flavors
As we all chatted, Laurie and her Chefs didn’t miss a step, gliding between diners to clear and bring on the next and the next and the next. (See my gallery of photos as this blog can’t be the length of a football field.)
Our second serving consisted of a Navajo Bean Salad, a bright, chunky mix of the flavorful beans, summery white corn, red onion, red pepper and a rabble of fresh herbs.
Then it was “Alain Ducasse’s Stuffed Zucchini,” and say no more beyond that name. Ducasse is a particular French chef hero of mine, a gentleman who might probably have more Michelin stars than any other chef in the world. At last count, he held 21 Michelin stars for more than a dozen restaurants and still helms three Michelin star restaurants in Paris, London and Monaco.
From there, we cleansed the palate with a spunky Lemon Basil Granita (flavored ice) and then dove right into the fabulous, fabulous Vegetable Paella with mushrooms, Mediterranean green and black olivers, tomato, zucchini, artichoke hearts and more, all with an adornment of flat-leaf parsley and spry lemon wedges.
Each of us paired the paella with our choice of protein - mine was Brown-Butter Honey Salmon, a beautiful, almost-poached tender filet.
Finally, it was the grand finalé, Espresso-Soaked Lady Fingers (more the size of something fashioned after Fiona’s fingers, Shrek’s wife) with amaretto sweet cream dolloped atop.
What a fabulous evening all-around! The detail was meticulous and the dinner was extreme. Learn more about Laguna Tastes & Tours and all the tours, dinners and unique experiences they create at their website: Laguna Tastes & Tours