And yes, feast is the only way to describe it, and if you missed it, you certainly missed out on quite the event. Not that SFB was represented during the actual event, but we did get to check out the menu the next day.
There are, at least as far as I am concerned, two important points to take home after the dinner. First, not once did I think I was eating a vegetarian meal. This is important, as so many vegetarian options in town is the standard replace-meat-with-portobello. Or tofu. Or… Well, you know the deal. Eating the borscht with a beet bread pudding, the torta, and the lentil mole, I did not once feel like anything was missing. The same went with the rest of the dishes in the six course dinner. The food, in other words, was a runaway success.
One thing we lucked out with over the actual event was that we could choose wine from the actual wine list. The previous day’s festivities had included only organic wines, which… Well… I can see the thought behind it, but I think it was more of a well intention than something which would perfectly compliment the meal. How many times have you had an organic wine that really blew your mind? I’m not saying that it’s impossible to find good organic wines, but when it comes to having three glasses with a $60 meal. Seems that non-organic wines would have made more sense.
More importantly is that events like this give chefs a chance to do something more creative than what is usually on the menu. Six course meals like this—vegetarian or otherwise—is a great way to have menu items perfectly paired with eachother, something we don’t see much of around town. With all respect to those who like lots of choices, I do believe a chef is better at picking out these kind of things than the customer. Why don’t we see more events like this? I suppose it could be something as simple as owners not thinking it’ll be profitable with Spokane’s customer base. And honestly, it would probably take a bit of time to get something like this penetrated into the market.
Still, good on Latah Bistro for taking a chance, and dishing up a very successful dinner.