Monday night was another infamous get-together called "Chef's Lounge", where food pros, foodies and the occasional purveyor come together for an informal night of food, wine and conversation. It's a nice and light-hearted evening of some networking, some wine and/or beer drinking, sharing dishes, sharing lies and all-around fun. We do this on the first Monday of the month (Monday nights are good for chefs, usually a day off) and we had a nice turnout of about 20.

These events are the brainchild of Todd Spanier. Todd being the "King of Mushrooms", not just a fancy title but a wonderful business that searches out and provides quality mushrooms and fungus to Bay Area Chefs and Markets. The "Lounge" was provided graciously by Chef Abe of City Beach in Fremont, a fun venue that offers a huge rock-wall climbing experience, plus other athletic activities and an nice restaurant and bar.

My housemate and I made Fish Tacos, with some butterfish, a cabbage slaw dressed with a citrus vinaigrette, pico de gallo and cheddar mixed with queso fresco. Why am I still on a Mexican food kick? No matter. Sorry no pics of our dish, it was scarfed down as fast as we put it down. YAY!

Todd provided a unique fungus called Lions Mane Fungus. Doesn't it look like a blonde Lion's mane? It had a lovely truffle aroma, the stark white close tendrils formed the "mane". The piece pictured is about 3/4 of a pound and was about softball sized. Todd noted that it came off a larger piece that was about 15 pounds, he had foraged from under a maple tree on the peninsula of the bay area. He had the kitchen prepare it by dusting it with a bit of flour and salt & pepper, and then deep fried. WOW! A very subtle and delicious flavor. It was eaten faster than our fish tacos!

Our friend Ingrid Rohrer brought some stuffed squid in a squid ink sauce. These black beauties were very tasty and a wonderful stark looking presentation on the table. Neil Marquis (who took most of these pictures) shared a key lime pie that was made with Bearss Limes from his tree. These are sweet limes not unlike the qualities of a Meyer Lemon. Also known as Persian limes or Tahitian limes, they have less acidity than key limes. It made for a very sweet pie.

A great spread of cheeses was supplied by US Foodservice, where they offer restaurants and stores a selection of wedges for display and sale. This works great for smaller venues that would not necessarily need or want to buy full wheels of these cheeses. Also on hand, an assortment of Beers from Manneken-Brussel Imports, and wines from J Lohr..

To end the night, Ming Rachael Adler brought a trio of gelatos for us to sample. Pistachio, Ameretto and a vanilla gelato with chocolate bacon. One of Ming's clients, Leslie Wong of Sweet Orchid Desserts in Fremont made this unusual gelato by frying bacon crisp and rendering all the fat out. Then she dipped the bacon in a chocolate coating, chopped it and folded it into vanilla gelato. Topped with a Fabbri cherry. Awesome!

Definitely a wonderful night. I'm planning on interviewing both Todd and Ming for upcoming podcasts, so I'll keep you informed.

Links:

• Recipe: Stuffed Baby Squid in Ink Sauce
• Website: The King of Mushrooms