The Chaine

Last night I was invited to a dinner for the Chaine des Rotisseurs club. It's a world-wide club that holds fine dining events for it's members. Only 50 members are allowed per city so that the events can remain the best quality. Here in Al Ain, the dinners are rotated between the big hotels as they have the best, most creative chefs. My friends Sharon and Serge are members so they invited myself and Linda, another co-worker.

This dinner was held at the Hilton, out in the gardens. It's about 23 degrees in the evening so it was perfect weather these days and there was a nice breeze.

 

The dinner had a Halloween theme  so all the servers were dressed in costume and some of the food was designed to look scary.  The smoked duck and pumpkin soup was served from a cauldron and one of the starters was oyster margaritas in test tubes.

Apparently the dinners are usually seated but this one was a buffet and we had a huge variety of dishes to try..  Quail, lamb, beef medallions wrapped in bacon, and the best rosemary roasted potatoes that I’ve ever had.  There was also a good selection of wine and cocktails before and during dinner.  Of course, my favourite part of the meal was the dessert.  Fruits, berries and chocolate all mixed together in amazingly good morsels. 

Linda and I were both told that we might be able to become members and I might do it.  The dinners are a bit expensive at $75 but I met some nice people there and the food was really good.  I also got to buy a new dress and get all fancied up for the evening which was fun. Next week there is a wine tasting event held by a different group so I’m probably going to that as well.