Living a tasteful life

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Chef Event with William Dissen of The Marketplace

Anytime I have the chance to attend an event where an awesome chef will be preparing a meal for me outside of their restaurant, I'm there! Last week Chef William Dissen of The Marketplace, in Asheville, NC was visiting Charleston, SC for a special cooking demonstration hosted by Le Creuset. Chef Dissen comes from a family of attorneys and politicians, but he decided to take a different route. Growing up in the mountains of Charleston, West Virginia, Dissen lived the farm to table life, lending an influential hand to his style of cooking. 
After the informative cooking demonstration and Q & A, I left with a greater appreciation of ingredients from West Virginia and a full stomach. All of the dishes he prepared came directly off of his restaurant menu, with the exception of one. Something that stood out to me was the fact that all of his ingredients are sourced within 100 miles of his restaurant.  I thought that was a pretty cool fun fact. Here's a peak at the deliciousness that crossed our table. 

A mushroom gratin served with a side of crostinis was our first course, and also my favorite. Made from foraged mushrooms, this dish was served hot out the oven and topped with bread crumbs. The mushrooms had a hearty meat like texture and left me craving more. But then again, I'm a huge mushroom fan. While I noticed that this dish isn't listed on his restaurant menu, I'm still hoping that I can get my hands on this recipe. I don't know that I would do it justice, but I sure would like to give it a try. 
Next up, a warm bowl of heirloom pumpkin soup.  This candy roaster pumpkin soup was made with cave aged blue cheese and topped with pepitas and chili oil. The combination of warming spices created a wonderful flavor with a creamy and smooth consistency. On another note, how cute are these mini cocottes that the soup was served in? I should note that each dish was paired with a different beverage. For the starter and the soup, we sipped on a glass of Romana Sancerre Blanc, which really paired nicely with both dishes.

For our third course, braised beef brisket on top of a carolina gold rice cake, topped with smoked chili crema, pickled ramps, and a radish & herb salad. Every component of this dish
was delicious. The perfectly pan fried crunchy rice cake paired nicely with the melt in your mouth brisket. This dish was paired with a glass of Sobon Old Vines Zinfandel. Wine pairing is something I would like to learn more about. It makes a huge difference when you are sipping on a wine that enhances the flavors of your meal. 
Carolina gold rice cake
And last but not least was the dessert course, which consisted of an apple crisp with cinnamon crumble, imladris farm raspberry preserves, topped with buttermilk ice cream. You can't go wrong with a warm crumble topped with ice cream. Interestingly enough, we were served an Appalachian mule cocktail with our dessert. Although I'm not a bourbon fan, this cocktail wasn't too bad. For all of you brown liquor drinkers out there, you would have loved this! 
Every single thing that we had was spot on. I can only imagine what the other dishes on his menu taste like. Hopefully one day I will make it there to find out for myself!

Have you ever eaten at The Market Place restaurant? If so, what was your favorite dish?



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