Like Fine Dining? – Try It Underground!

The Republic of Panama offers many fine restaurants across the country, if we only know where to find them. I would guess the reason for this is the easy availability of fresh fruits and vegetables, abundant poultry, pork and beef products and an atmosphere that attracts diners with sophisticated palates.

We new residents living in Panama have come from all over the world and we bring with us a desire to enjoy enriched life styles, including access to multi-cultural events, products that are available in Panama and some of the finest cuisine available anywhere in the world. It’s difficult to give you any specific examples of what I mean by “fine cuisine”. But, after living in Panama for over eight years, I’ve found some very delightful, 3-star quality dining facilities across the country.

The world-famous Michelin Red Guides have not come to Panama. If they had, they would be surprised at the high quality of fine dining available here. Michelin critics carefully critique restaurants and award 1 to 3 stars, depending on their impression of the cuisine, strictly by the quality of the cuisine.

If I were to award 1 to 3 stars to any restaurant, I would also consider the quality of service, ambiance, creativity and presentation. I would mock Michelin’s excellence stars: 1 for “very good restaurant”, 2 for “worth a detour”, and 3 for “worth a special journey”.

With my new system in mind, I’d go out of my way to visit The Rock in Boquete. I’d “make a detour” over the bridge to get the fine cuisine, excellent service and to enjoy their outstanding and friendly ambiance. I love their Salmon with Risotto, it’s beautifully presented and cooked how you want it. The Rock deserves 2 stars!

If I were wanting a special treat, I would “make a journey” to Panama City to dine at The New York Steakhouse Restaurant in the Veneto Hotel. The creative menu, tender USDA prime steaks, and gorgeous ambiance make this the place to enjoy fine dining in Panama City. This restaurant rates 3 stars from the Boquete Gourmet.

Quickly becoming a fine dining sensation in Boquete is “Underground Dining”, offered by the Boquete Gourmet’s fine host chefs. These dining events are presented at locations unknown until the day prior to the event, and the menus aren’t announced until diners arrive. The cuisine and ambiance are up to the standards of any 3-star restaurant under Michelin’s criteria. This is truly a reason to “make a journey” to experience an evening of fine dining. The experience will thrill you.

Look on the orange calendar at the right, and you may register now for the June 11 Underground Dinner in or near Boquete, Panama.

Hope to see you there,
Cora

Underground Dining with the Stars

It was easy to plan this multi-faceted dinner. The location was overlooking a huge, deep canyon in the highlands of Panama, and the menu was prepared by two very talented chefs.

As the hosts enjoyed their amazing view a few weeks ago, and the stars began to twinkle, the theme immediately became apparent – “Dining with the Stars”. Such a dinner would include dining under millions of bright stars that light the tropical skies over Boquete, as well as with famous movie stars of the past and present.

The gracious hosts, Renny and Austin, opened their home to one of the finest Underground Dinners that has ever been presented in Boquete. The menu included five courses, each building upon the other to make a crescendo of flavors, colors and glamour. To add to the glamour, each guest chose a framed photo of a movie star to mark their position at the table, and to alert the servers as to the entree they were to be served. Red frames were served roast pork and yellow frames indicated grilled white fish. It’s a fun idea that can be used for any such gathering.

The full menu included:
Fusion Consummé
Croistini topped with Eggplant Relish

Green Salad with Shrimp

Intermezzo: Beer-soaked Green Grapes

Roast Pork with Cherry Liqueur Sauce
or
Grilled White Fish with Asparagus-Bacon Sauce
Broccoli & Garlic Pasta
Cucumber-wrapped Zucchini
Fried Black-eyed Peas

Tres Leches Cake with Blackberries & Beer

Chef Renny, assisted by Chef Marvin Pupino, instructor at the prestigious Instituto de Alto Cocina, assembled each dish moments before serving, and plated each course on a unique serving piece. Diners were delighted with the sparkling decor and new tastes as dish by dish appeared before them.

The movie stars added an extra touch of charm to this unique gourmet dinner. It was fun remembering the films, lives and history of Hollywood, even when such a fine dining experience was happening far away in Boquete, Panama, high upon a canyon ridge and under the brightly lit night sky.

More Underground Dinners are planned in Boquete in the near future. The themes will be different and the locations are always a surprise. The lucky diners won’t discover where the dinner will be held until the evening before the event.

Renny and Marvin’s evening of “Dining with the Stars” will be remembered by everyone who attended. It was a most delightful and “star-studded” event.

Thanks very much to the hosts and their entire staff,
Cora

Pacific Rim Cuisine – Underground

The second underground dinner was held in a pouring rainstorm, high on the side of a Volcano in Boquete, Panama. It was a thrilling event, filled with lots of laughter, great food and friendly people. The dinner was overbooked, but everyone seemed to find a seat and to enjoy the 5-course gourmet dinner presented by Bistro Boquete Chef Lauretta. Diners found it to be truly world-class.

Tables were set with tiny shirts, bright flowers and twinkling candles and the affair began with drying off umbrellas, uncorking wine and getting to know each other. Guests were very adventurous, coming to a dinner with an unknown menu at location only disclosed the day before the event. Their excitement was tempered by knowing the chef, renown for her expertise for preparing many world cuisines, and her desire to always bring forth the finest available in culinary circles.

This night was extraordinary, not only because of the lavish menu, but it rained and the dinner was held on an open patio, deep in one of the finest coffee plantations in Boquete, Panama. The atmosphere was cool and cozy with the fire roaring.

Lauretta presented her menu beautifully, serving course after course in perfect rhythm. This was her menu, including dishes from six countries around the culinary “Pacific Rim”.

PACIFIC RIM – UNDERGROUND
Sushi California Rolls with Spicy Mayonnaise and Wasabi

Thai Coconut Ginger Chicken Soup with Fresh Mint

Chinese Noodle Salad
Sesame Peanut Dressing

Hawaiian Grilled Fish Filet with Asparagus
Basmati Rice

Korean Barbecue Pork Chops
Hot Pot Vegetables

Green Tea Mousse with Sake-marinated Dried Plums

Country cuisines represented from the Pacific Rim were Thailand, USA, Japan, China, Hawaii and Korea.

The Green Tea Mousse with Sake-marinated Dried Plums was a dish from Ming Tsai’s “Blue Ginger” cookbook, an example of “where east meets west”, as Ming says. Lauretta’s twist on Ming’s recipe used dried plums instead of dried cherries, as the original recipe prescribed. This photo shows Lauretta plating these luscious, rich, little desserts.

You can see how beautifully the patio at this famous coffee plantation was decorated, but you must have been there to truly appreciate the fine food, impeccable service and friendly atmosphere of this second-ever underground dinner in Boquete.

If you’d like to enjoy one of Lauretta’s extravagant, gourmet, 5-course dinners, please let me know and I’ll send you an invite soon.

Happy dining!
Cora

My 100th Blog Post – A Milestone!

As a new blogger, I’ve had lots of fun writing about what’s important to me, living and growing in Boquete, Panama. Eleven thousand, eight hundred fifty (11,850) visitors have opened my site. It’s really astounding!

Thanks to all of you for peeking at our lives here in Boquete, it’s an amazing place in which to live. The rainbows are spectacular, the air is clean, and coffee grown here, is the best in the world!

In a nutshell, the first 100 posts were mostly about the people I know and love, the folks I see every day, and the neighbors who give so much to our community. There have also been fellow food bloggers and readers from around the world whom I call friends, although I’ve never met them face-to-face. I’ve mentioned lots of famous people who have impacted my life in some way or another. The nearly 100 people named in my blogs are named again below, and I really appreciate the contribution each person has made to my life since moving to Boquete, nearly 8 years ago.

Would you like to guess the most popular article of the 100 blogs I have written? How about guessing the average amount of time each visitor spends on the site at each visit? The answers are given below.

Thanks so much to the real stars of the past 100 blogs! By name, they are: Lauretta Bonfiglio, Sharon James, Juan Linares, Renny Kranich, David Kent, Jon Day, Kurt & Norman, Erik Carrera, Charlie Collins, Alison Holst, Anne Necker, Maritrini, Joyce and Nick Newton, Tom and Caroline Bot, Richard Detrich, Tammyjo Eckhart, Danilo, Jerry Wager, Elvin, Dorothy Lamour, Jorge Ortega, Liz Lees, James Cagny, and Tova Speter.

Thanks to Nelson, Calixto, Belisario Torres, Kelly Herring, Jim and Cindy Eickhoff, Julia Quiroz, Cesar, Doris Day, Idu, Papa Ricco, Giovanni, Carrie and Jonathan, Violet, Patricia Martinelli, Carlos Williams, Amy Adams, Greg Henry, Gobbles, Clyde and Phyllis Stevens, Ruby McKenzie, Eddie Cantor, Marian and Ethan Becker, Hershel and Mikey, Grandma Gates, Zorida, Lee Zelter, Axel Schob, Kirsten Peck, Judy Garland, Gale Cellucci, Drick Perry, and Anayansi Menendez.

I so much appreciate David Necker, Eric and Jane, Lori Lynn, Dave and Erin Ross, Groucho Marx, Rachel White, Martine Heyer, Richard Meyer, Mickey and Squirt James, Frederic Chopin, Mario Batali, Edgar Castillo, Vasco Numez Balboa, Irma Rombauer, Julia Child, Craig Claibourne, Barbra Streisand, Michelangelo, Diego Rivera, Bill Streit, Bing Crosby, Emeril Lagasse and Steven R. Covey.

You can still guess the top blogs, these photos will give you a hint. The top, broad category is “Boquete Living”, including blogs about daily living in the Highlands of Panama.

The #1 blog in my first 100 articles, is “My Fiestaware Collection”, written October 8, 2009. The blog you visited almost as many times, at #2, is “Panama’s Coffee Cup – Cafe Duran”, dated January 8. The #3 blog is “Hollywood’s Golden Age of Dining”, written January 3.

At each visit, the viewer stays on boquetegourmet.com site an average of 2 minutes, 37 seconds, quite an amazingly long period of time, especially when there are millions of other sites to visit.

I’m so very grateful to all of you for your time these past several months, and I hope to make my second hundred articles even more interesting and fun! If you’d like to suggest a particular subject, please let me know. Thanks again for your support!

Hugs,
Cora