Anyone ever sat at a Chef's Table before?

I ate in the kitchen of a Buca di Beppo once

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There is a four panel poster of Morris running the bases, that's the only one I can think of

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have it and love it

took me a while to acquire it

I had the chef's table at Commanders about eight or nine years ago for my wifes birthday. It took me six months to get it and only thing available was a Thursday. It was a great experience and it was right at the end of Jamie Shannons run there. He left a month or so after because of his cancer.

We had a great time and if I remember it was about $150 or so then with wine. Four top booth in the kitchen and they fed us forever. He noticed my wife not eating some of the items so he asked her what she liked and started making different items for her. Private bar in the courtyard and we would get up and stand at the bar and have a glass of wine then sit back down and have more food and wine. Pastry chef brought the cart over and we tasted 18 different desserts. For some reason thats a number I remember but I bet we had close to that in courses.

They let you take your coat off because you are in the kitchen.

I've done the wine room at Emerils a couple times and it's very nice too but not the kitchen.

There is one here in Houston called Table One. It's in the Intercontinental Hotel.

Runs from around 70 bucks for 4 courses all the way up to $1,000 for a twelve course meal.

I've eaten at the table in Emeril's kitchen several times and both times, it was outstanding. Most of us let the chef feed us, though one person preferred a certain entree. The chef asked us what kinds of foods we were interested in. We had about 5 or 6 courses and a bazillion different desserts, as I recall. Both times we did it were on Sundays, which are apparently easier to get or so we were told.

will do .. 10 courses

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I will be doing commander's palace chef table in 13 days


I've been wanting to do this. Let us know how it turns out!

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Did the chef's table and commander's last night and it was awesome. Did not take pics but I will give you a run down of the nine courses:

Amuse Bouche: Shrimp & Tasso - This was one large fried gulf shrimp stuffed with tasso sprinkled with tabasco and served on top a pepper jelly glaze. Very good!!! Paired with the cocktails we were drinking when we sat down at the table.

Saffron Soft-Shell crab Bisque (Paired with "Fleur de Champagne" Brut, Perrier-Jouet) This was just ok. The saffron kind of overpowered the bisque, IMO.

Blue Crab & Cucumber Tian (Paired with "Rossj-Bass" Chardonnay, Gaja) This was a cold salad that was really good and surprisingly refreshing. The cucumber was sliced super thin and wrapped around the crab and presented almost like an sushi roll. Probably the best wine of the night as well.

Nectarine & Blackberry Salad (Paired with Riesling Grand Cru "Schlossberg", Domaine Weinbach) Probably my favorite course of the night. The nectarines were cooked down in what tasted like some sort of cognac and served with blackberries, candied pecans and bleu cheese crumbles. Really tasty.

Foie Gras Tartine with Blueberries (Paired with Moscatel "Colosia", J.J. Guiterrez) The chef described this course as her favorite dish to prepare. It was a seared piece of foie gras served atop a sweet phyllo pastry along side a serving of foie gras ice cream topped with blueberries and powdered sugar. I must admit that I am not a huge fan of foie gras and this course did not do it for me. The seared foie gras was very very rich. The foie gras ice cream was almost to salty to eat but the blueberries were good

Le Coup se Milieu: Hibiscus Martini - This drink was founded at commander's. It is a brian storm of one of there bartenders and it was delicious. In fact the ladies ordered another one after the meal as an after dinner drink.

Crispy Lake Poncchartrain Soft Shell Crab (Paired with Rose, Brut, Billacart) This was a fried soft shell crab served atop a stone ground grits. It was also very good. Nothing to fancy just a great product fried to perfection ...

Black Angus Filet Mignon and Blade Steak (Paired with Cabernet Sauvitgnon "One Point Five", Shafer) This was two different cuts of beef served atop creamy mashed potatoes. Also really good but nothing over the top. Maybe would have like some type of sauce over the beef.

The Dessert Bomb and Artisinal Cheese Plate (Paired with Monastrell Dulce, Olivares) WOW !!!! They brought our table of four one of every dessert on the menu. Nine total desserts AND a cheese plate... My favorites were of course the bread pudding, watermelon sherbet, and cheesecake.

So I guess my favorite course were the two salad courses (Nectarine & Blackberry, Blue Crab & Cucumber) and the Soft Shell Crab course. My least favorite course had to be the Foie Gras. All in all a great night with some really good food and wines. It was also really fun to be in the kitchen and see what goes on during a busy night. I was surprised at how quiet it was in there. It also appeared to be very orderly and running very smoothly (I am sure that was not the case as it is never the case in kitchens). Really cool evening. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a fun experience.

Thanks for the great review. If you don't mind sharing, how much was the food and how much was the wine?

Also, how far in advance did you call for this?

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on a bed of grits and oysters, with a crab and brie sauce

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