Wedding Wednesday: Tasting!

Yesterday we had our tasting for the wedding and it was amazing. D'amico Catering is the premiere caterer for International Market Square and other amazing venues around Minneapolis, so the way they do their tastings is a little different that what I've seen/heard of. They hold a tasting once a month and put it on as an event for several couples. Our tasting was held at the Metropolitan Ballroom. We invited my mom and J's step-mom to come with us and the four of us were seated at our own table complete with the dishes that will be used at our wedding so we could see what it looked like. I loved that they included menus listing everything we would be trying with pens and room for notes so that we could keep track of what we did and did not like. It was also super helpful in the writing of this blog post.

The tasting started with a glass of champagne and a wonderful assortment of hors d'oeuvres which included:

Petite Lobster "Club" Sandwich

with prosiutto, roasted tomato and aiolo on crostini

*these were SO good, J and my mom were not a fan though

Bucheron and Sundried Tomato Phyllo Triangle

*these were fine, nothing to write home about

Beef Tenderloin Skewers

with tarragon aioli

*this was my favorite, so tender and amazingly delicious!

Chorizo Stuffed Date with Cilantro-Lime Aioli

*these were disgusting! Yuck!

Chicken Satay

with peanut sauce

*Really good, a little dry but the sauce was yummy!

Miniature Butter Burgers

with red wine shallot butter

*These were J's favorite, so delicious!

The First Course of the tasting included two salads and fresh baked bread with sweet butter.

Garden Salad

with cucumber, tomato, sweet red onion, sprouts and Parmesan peppercorn dressing

*I wasn't the biggest fan of this one

Balsamic Marinated Berry Salad

served over organic baby greens with warm goat cheese crouton

*I loved this salad! It had fresh berries and the goat cheese crouton was amazing! J hated it though, so we're going with a completely different option for the wedding.

The main course was incredible and included a glass of both the house chardonnay and the house cabernet, both of which we will be serving at the wedding. We also sampled a couple glasses of other options....it was free, who cares that it was noon?!

Miso Sea Bass

with potato puree and fire roasted vegetables

*I'm not a huge seafood fan but I tried it and it was DELICIOUS. I was obsessed with the potato puree and the fire roasted veggies....sooooo good!

Wild Mushroom and Vegetable Strudel

with port wine sauce and fried sweet potato nest

*This was also amazing and would make a wonderful vegetarian option, but, we were concerned that it just wouldn't be enough food. The sweet potato nest was definitely not a big enough side.

Stuffed Chicken Breast with Sundried Tomatoes, Mushrooms and Red Pepper Sauce

served with polenta and asparagus

*The polenta and asparagus were delicious, but the chicken was not.

Pan Seared Breast of Chicken with Gremolata Sauce

served with roasted baby red potatoes and vegetable saute

*This was incredible. I could have drank that gremolata sauce!

Tenderloin of Beef with Peppered Vodka Sauce

and Yukon Gold potato puree and baby carrots

*This was cooked medium and I cannot handle red in my meat, so I didn't try it but apparently it was amazing. The potatoes and carrots were fabulous!

Finally, we had the dessert course served with coffee. Only problem---we're coffee snobs, I mean we own a damn coffee shop, and the coffee was terrible! Luckily, I talked to our event manager and she is allowing us to bring in our own coffee to serve. Thank goodness! 

Triple Chocolate Torte Cake

Devil's food cake filled with layers of fudge chocolate ganache and chocolate mousse with vanilla butter cream exterior

*I'm not the biggest chocolate fan but everyone else agreed this was the best cake. So **spoiler alert** this is going to be our wedding cake! I made a deal with J that he could choose the flavor of the cake and in exchange I get to play two Backstreet Boys songs at the reception.

Banana Cake

with chocolate ganache, caramel mousse and white chocolate butter cream exterior

*This was delicious but just didn't seem right for a wedding cake

White Cake with Raspberry Studded Filling and Vanilla Butter cream exterior

*This was my favorite is was soooooo stinkin' good. But a deal is a deal.

Mini-Dessert Selections:

White Chocolate Dipped Pineapple

*AMAZING!

Handmade Truffles

*Didn't try them...too chocolatey for me

Chocolate Toffee Trifle

*Same here

Cheesecake Lollipops

*The best thing I had yesterday! I am going to need to make some room in the budget so these bad boys can make an appearance!

Cupcakes

*Didn't try them, I was too stuffed from cheesecake lollipops at this point.

Overall the food was amazing, the service was great and the event was super helpful. I am really excited about the quality of food we are going to be serving our guests. A lot of said guests read this blog so I don't want to give away what we decided on, but some of the things we tried yesterday will definitely be making an appearance on our menu!