Paul Young
Educator, Designer, Culinary Explorer
@cooking.with.paul
@cooking.with.paul.young
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An Evening in the Cinque Terre
Sunday, August 20, 2023 • 6–8pm
Prix Fixe: $75 per person (all-inclusive, tax and tip included)
When visiting Italy, everyone raves about Rome, Venice, and Florence. But what about the Cinque Terre, a perfectly preserved UNESCO World Heritage Site of five fishing villages linked by walkable trails? True, these romantic hillside villages are packed with tourists during the day, but once the day-trippers leave, everything slows down and one can easily enjoy a peaceful alfresco sunset dinner by the sea without having to fight for a table.
The Cinque Terre is in the Liguria region of northwestern Italy where pesto was invented. It's autumn, so the tomatoes are at their full ripeness, the local basil harvest is in, and there is an abundance of freshly-made pesto available everywhere — what a great excuse to indulge in a pesto feast with some great Italian wines.
Harkening back to ancient Roman times, garlic, cheese, and herbs have been pounded into a paste which eventually evolved into the modern version of pesto — a raw sauce that demands the freshest of ingredients. Tonight, we'll be making a large batch of pesto from scratch using fresh local basil from our farmer's market, fresh garlic, and Italian extra virgin olive oil. We'll use our raw pesto sauce in every dish on tonight's special Mediterranean menu:
Bonus: Maximize your experience (optional) by watching the 1988 arthouse hit Cinema Paradiso before the dinner event (currently streaming for free on Kanopy via our public libraries), then join us for stimulating conversation about the movie and its themes during dinner. Winner of an Oscar for Best Foreign Film and the Special Jury Prize at the 1989 Cannes festival, this nostalgic tribute to cinema and community is also a study of Italian culture and one boy's awakening to the world around him.
Note: All of our pop-up events are all-inclusive prix fixe dinners. This means you get a multi-course dinner complete with wine and other beverage pairings all evening long for one fixed price. Unlike at restaurants, all taxes and tip are included as well.
Reservations: For more information, please join the popup_dinners_cu Facebook group, follow @popup_dinners_cu on Instagram, or subscribe to my email newsletter.
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