500K dinner. Droooollllll

I've been bad and haven't been writing so I will revive my absence with a very worthy post. I work at Facebook. I have tried to not mention this before because I feel like anytime I say I work there, people either ask me for a job, or they freak out. Sometimes, they don't care, which I kind of appreciate now and then. Nonetheless, I am very proud and happy to work for such an amazing company that invests in its employees, and whose employees always put their best foot forward.

Our cafe, headed by Chef Josef Desimone, has a tradition of offering a custom- made five course meal to one lucky winner when the number of people coming through the cafe hits a specific number. This time around, it was me and the winning number was 500K. 500,000 people have gone through the amazing Facebook cafe and I was number 500,000. Surprisingly, as big of a foodie I am, I didn't even know that they were counting winners the day I won. My coworker, Jon, came by and told me that they were getting close so my other coworker and I, Marisa, made a pact that if one of us won, we'd take the other. (If you win, you can take 5 people with you). So we walk in, and Josef looks at me and says "you are soooo close." Sooooo Marisa and I decide to walk around a bit and go back in line. And then....I won!!!! It was amazing. I jumped up and down like a little schoolgirl and received what looked like a huge publishers clearing house million dollar check. Except mine was a large congratulatory sign (you can see pictured). I felt like I had just won the lottery. =)

So I took 4 friends/coworkers and my roommate, Vik. It was VERY hard to decide who to bring. And you might be wondering why I am pictured with all dudes. I am wondering the same thing. I didn't even realize I would be eating with all boys until the day of the event. Some of my original guests got sick or were out that day so I substituted with the next people in line. They called themselves "Team B and Team C" haha. But everyone is Team A in my book! And yes, I do have female friends at work. I just happened to somehow decide to invite boys. Oh well. Their company was good and the food still tasted scrumptious!

Anyway, below are pictures of a very hearty and satisfying meal. Five courses. All made for me. All paired with a different glass of wine. I sat down with Josef a few weeks prior to discuss my likes and dislikes (mostly my likes since I eat mostly anything) and then he devised the menu. And here were the winners:

Amuse: Micro crab cake

Course 1: Hamachi carpaccio with yuzu, thai basil, fleur de sel, olive oil and cucumber, carrot and daikon noodles

Course 2: Seared butterfish with chanterelle and morel mushroom ravioli with a black truffle broth and crispy leeks (I started getting drunk right about...now).

Course 3: Seared foie gras and confit duck atop a black pepper biscuit and wild huckleberry compote and point reyes bleu cheese fondue 

Intermezzo: Blood orange champagne granita

Course 4:  Apple braised pork belly with vanilla pecan sweet potato puree

Course 5: Braised short rib with caramelized brussel sprouts and pancetta and roasted veal bone marrow

Dessert: Chocolate caramel pot de creme and a dark chocolate mint truffle

At the end of the meal, I was very very happy. Not only did I have about 7 glasses of wine by the end of the night, I was with friends and was surrounded by good food. Was there food there? YES...a ton of it. Definitely a night to remember. Thanks Josef and the Facebook culinary team!

 Me and Josef