Destination Wedding Dinner in Monterey

 

Talk to any one who has been around a while about weddings and sit back and let the stories flow. There are the stories about people, places, costs and surprises, both good and bad. Now any event can be tough to get to go as planned, but a wedding just ups the stress level to make that happen as well as the number of things that can go differently (read wrong from a brides point of view).

Here is a story of one wedding that went very well and was by all accounts quite cost efficient by wedding standards without sacrificing anything but volumes of people. It is hard to understand the complexities of planning a wedding and the amount of work that goes into it unless you have been intimately involved in doing it. This is one well executed, being well planned, with great help and awesome vendor partners.

Decide on your venues early. Six months out is probably too late. At twelve months out try to at least have it narrowed down to your top two or three and decide as quick as you can. After looking at dozens of options one place kept coming up in conversation. For this destination wedding reception in Monterey California it was the Library Room at Tarpy's Roadhouse with a meal created by Chef Todd Fisher and crew.

Trying to get a quality meal with choices (including the gluten free and allergic crowd) is no small task. After meeting with and talking options with a number of vendors there seemed to be few who could offer the number of choices and the quality of food that were found at Tarpy's Roadhouse. Combine the great food options, lovely room and décor combine that with a very very competitive price and there seemed only one thing to do. Keep the Bride happy and seal the deal.

Next up was to narrow down the choices for the big evenings meal. After reviewing the menu options and selecting a variety to taste it was time to book a tasting date and finalize the menu. After what was a fabulous tasting session the final menu selections were made.

These are the selections that were made;

There were three passed hors d'oeuvres, a  flat iron brochette with chimichurri, grilled prawns wrapped with applewood smoked bacon in a tequila-honey glaze and Castroville artichokes.

The salad course was an Iceberg Wedge with smoked bacon, toy box tomatoes, creamy gorgonzola.

For the main course the three selections chosen were  Herb Crusted Sterling Salmon with rice pilaf, roasted cauliflower & Brussels sprout leaves, lemon beurre blanc and tomato relish. Roasted Chicken Breasts with spring vegetables, crispy fingerlings and harissa and salsa verde. Maple Brined Pork Chop with smoked apple mash, sweet corn grits and roasted cauliflower.

All the guests were gushing with complements for the service and staff and to quote a few "the most amazing food". There were also a number of custom orders and all were served perfectly including the grooms request for mashed potatoes in lieu of the grits.

The wines were selected from the wine list of local wines and all were enjoyed. There were a couple special bottles just to add some extra choice and the bubbly used for the toast was enjoyed by all.

There was a Joyce Vineyards Steel Chardonnay, a De Terra Pinot Noir and a McIntyre Merlot and the groom brought along a bottle of Bargetto La Vita as a symbolic drop and a few bottles of Ventana Vineyards Le Mistral. Lovely wines all and by the amount consumed very much enjoyed.
Great price, great choices, beautiful setting, wonderful staff, awesome food, lovely wines and a night to remember thanks to the great crew at Tarpy's Roadhouse.

Happy Wine / Life Adventures,

Cheers,

 

WineWalkabout