Food Quest: Passions

So on Monday the 2nd my brother, Tim, and I went to Passions in Chesapeake and did their Cooking Class. They do this something like every other Monday. Basically it's like sitting at the chef's table and watching what goes on in the kitchen. The head chef walks you through each course and how he makes it. It's pretty fun.

The first course was classic Caprese with Balsamic Reduction. They make their own mozzarella. And they have a garden behind the restaurant that they got the tomatoes from.

They paired this with a 2009 Gouguenheim Malbec from Argentina. Which complimented this course very well.

The second course was White Truffle Risotto with Asparagus Tips. There's not much I can say about this. It was a bit cheesier than I would have liked, but the asparagus was nice and crisp. Just the way I like it.

They paired this with a 2008 Kung Fu Girl Riesling from Washington state.

The third course was Chicken Francais over Smoked Apple Wood Bacon-Potato Hash. I really liked this course. Of course, they had me at bacon. The only thing I didn't care for was the capers that were in the sauce. Easily remedied though because you could take the capers out of the sauce.

They paired this with a 2008 Santa Barbara Winery Sauvignon Blanc. I wasn't all that impressed with it. It wasn't as crisp as I like my Sauvignon Blancs to be.

The fourth course was Bananas Foster. I don't care for bananas, but I really loved the sauce over it.

They paired this with Mumm Napa Brut.

I know at the end of the Food Quests I normally put the pros and cons of the restaurant, but this time I don't think I will. I'll just leave it at how I enjoyed the food and the experience.