Lake Park Bistro Hosting Black Truffle Dinner
It's your 20th annual chance to dine in decadence with five, fungi-focused courses.
Black Truffle Dinner flyer. Photo courtesy of The Bartolotta Restaurants
A decadent dining event will soon return to Bartolotta’s Lake Park Bistro for the 20th time. The restaurant, 3133 E. Newberry Blvd., is hosting its annual Black Truffle Dinner on Thursday, Jan. 18.
Priced at $250, the dinner costs roughly the same as 7.7 ounces of Perigord black truffles — the same first-rate fungi that will star in each of the upcoming meal’s five courses, prepared by Executive Chef Amanda Langler.
To start, guests can expect a terrine de lapin au foie gras: a dish consisting of rabbit pâté, foie gras torchon and black truffle, served with apple mustard preserve and brioche toast.
The second course will include pan-seared Saint Pierre fish with sunchoke, blood orange, brown butter and black truffle, followed by a third course of pithivier de pigeonneau, or slow-cooked squab wrapped in cabbage and puff pastry and topped with black truffle-Madeira cream sauce.
A final savory dish will feature a filet mignon medallion with cepes mushrooms, bone marrow crust, pommes aligot, veal jus and black truffle.
Truffles are also incorporated into dessert — a Basque-style cheesecake — with the earthy flavor playing off of the accompanying fromage blanc and black currant compote.
The five-course dinner will be paired with five wines selected by sommelier Mariana Popescu.
Perigord black truffles are named for the French province from which they are sourced. The truffles, which resemble small lumps of charcoal or hopelessly rotten avocados, are harvested from December through February with the help of truffle-sniffing pigs and dogs.
Truffles have a complex umami flavor that’s described as earthy, musky and pungent. Typically found in France, Italy and the U.S.’s Pacific Northwest, truffles are notoriously hard to cultivate. But the practice has become increasingly popular in recent years.
Not quite a mushroom, truffles are edible spores that grow underground. Due to their hefty price tag, truffles are often infused into salt, olive oil and other products to preserve flavor and increase accessibility.
Tickets for the upcoming Black Truffle Dinner are available to purchase online.
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