Me in All of My Plain Jane Glory

I went to a very fancy dinner tonight. Five course fancy. $700 fancy. In way over my head FANCY.

Let's just say I'm a very unadventurous eater (which some might argue is an understatement) so when I have to participate in these meals I get a little nervous. The problem usually isn't that I can't find anything on the menu that I would like, but more that I have no idea what the words on the menu mean.

Kumquat Gastrique? Confit? Pomegranate Demi?
I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT.

To make things even more complicated this evening, it was a prefix menu. Meaning I just chose how many courses I wanted and what came during each of those courses was already decided. To be clear: I committed to several courses of food I didn't really choose. We each ordered the five course meal, which turned into six courses when one of the men I was with (in an alcohol altered state) requested the chef whip us up some foie gras when he came out to say hello to our table.

It was an interesting experience that I will sum up in this statement: I feel like I lived through my own personal Fear Factor tonight. 

Below is a list of most of the items I ate. Not just items that were served, but items that I actually consumed. If you know me at all then, after reading this list, you will probably rub your eyes and re-read it to make sure you weren't seeing things.


Butternut squash soup
Goat cheese
Sea scallops
Braised pork belly
Brussels sprouts
Quail egg
Sweetbreads
Artic char
Foie Gras
Lemon-pomegranate sorbet
Moulard duck breast
Creme brulee and other dessert deliciousness

Let me break this down for you. I ate sea life, a thymus gland, sea life again, liver and duck. And I didn't throw up or even gag. Although there were a few moments with the char that I had to stop thinking about how I was eating fish right at that moment.

I'm not going to lie, I left that restaurant 3.5 hours later feeling pretty proud of myself. I did it. It may have been out of guilt, but it still happened.


Update: Not everything on the list was too exotic for my taste buds. Maybe just 90%...