Secret Supper | Leap

Last month I hosted my ninth Secret Supper here in Oregon along with my co-hosts Danielle Firle, and Mona Johnson and Jaret Foster of Tournant. This supper was a celebration of new life—the breath of spring had found its way into the bright seasonal produce we cooked with, the beautiful scenery at Mt View Orchards, and into us as hosts, giving us a freshly invigorated sense of adventure, which is leading us to take Secret Supper on the road a bit in the coming year. We are *so* incredibly excited for all the opportunities that are on the horizon for Secret Supper, and can’t wait to share our suppers with you in new secret locations!! We’ll be hosting a not-so-secret supper at Feast in September, and couldn’t be more flattered and excited to be a part of this festival of food, community, and the best of the culinary trade. Tickets for that supper sold out in the first 15 minutes of sales, which was incredibly inspiring and touching. But don’t worry, we’ve just opened registration for our next Secret Supper, ‘Salt & Stone‘, taking place about an hour outside the Seattle metro area on July 15th! It’s our first supper outside of Oregon and we are so excited to share this experience with even more people. I’d love for you to join us for our summer supper adventure, you can read more and register via the link below!

“Hot July days turn into long warm evenings kissed with bright pink sunsets and salty sea air.  Its the perfect time to immerse yourself in the beauty and bounty of the sea. The water is a little more blue, the wine a little crisper and the memories are a little more vivid. We hope you will join us at our tucked away table as we celebrate one of the longest days of the year, the salty sea and all the deliciousness that comes along with it.”

{ Secret Supper Salt & Stone Tickets }

As for last month’s supper, we couldn’t have asked for fresher and more flavorful ingredients to work with after our very soggy spring resulted in a big burst of spring veggies! Mona and Jaret created an incredible menu that consisted of a delicious spring salad  (foraged miner’s lettuce, pea shoots, feta, easter egg radishes, sugar snap peas, pickled rhubarb, sunflower seeds + mint), a hearty braised leeks + grilled asparagus with walnut nettle pesto, preserved lemon vinaigrette + salt-cured egg yolk, and for the man they created an incredibly vibrant and rich green garlic ricotta gnudi with rabbit sugo, sweet peas + carrots, and morel mushrooms. The morels were a mix of those foraged by Foods in Season and some foraged by Jaret and Joe on location at Mt View Orchards just a few feet from the table!

We paired the courses with delicious wines from Willamette Valley Vineyards.  The table was laid with the most beautiful Mercer ceramic dinnerware, Camille wine glasses, Lagos recycled glasses, water hyacinth placemats, and linen table runners from Crate & Barrel (I also put together a little dinner party guide for them you can take a peek at here!) Gwen of Botanically Inspired created the most *insanely* gorgeous floral arrangements we’ve ever had at a supper, and Amy Rochelle Press designed and printed elegant custom menus for our gathering. Upon arrival, our guests were  greeted with a delicious welcome drink Danielle created with a homemade rhubarb syrup, lime juice, and House Spirits Katun rum. Sofia and Alba helped me make braised endives drizzled with Vermont Creamery creme fraiche and topped with fennel chimichurri, crushed pistachios, and edible flowers for the appetizer, and I’d also whipped up some sautéed dated sprinkled with a homemade rose salt I’d made with rose water, dried rose petals, and flake sea salt. This sweet and salty combo made for a KILLER compliment to the assorted tangy-yet-creamy aged and fresh goat’s cheeses we served from Vermont Creamery. For dessert, we served rhubarb chevre buttermilk upside down cake soaked with jasmine green tea syrup, which Stephanie helped me make.

A huge thanks to all of our guests for joining us from near and far and taking a leap into spring with us, your joy, warmth, and excitement is exactly why we do what we do. And an incredibly heartfelt thanks to our kickass Secret Supper team of Lena, Sofia, Stephanie, Gwen, Alba, Wynn, Jeanette, Gabi, Joe, and Jake, for all of their heard work. And a deep thanks to all of our sponsors listed in the post below for making this evening possible through their generosity and kindness.

Thank you to our sponsors for making this gathering possible!

Mt View Orchards | Venue
Crate & Barrel | Dishes, Glassware, Placemats
Amy Rochelle Press | Custom Letterpress Menus
Nicky’s Meats | Rabbit
Willamette Valley Vineyards | Wines
Foods in Season | Morels
House Spirits | Katun Rum
Vermont Creamery | Creme Fraiche, Cultured Butter, Goat’s Cheese
Marion Acres | Eggs

Menu

Appetizers
Braised Endives
with creme fraiche, fennel chimichurri, pistachios, edible flowers

Sauteed Dates
with rose sea salt + Vermont Creamery aged goat cheese
First Course
Tender Miner’s Lettuce Leaves + Pea Shoots
with feta, easter egg radishes, sugar snap peas, pickled rhubarb, sunflower seeds + mint
Second Course

Braised Leeks + Grilled Asparagus
with walnut nettle pesto, preserved lemon vinaigrette + salt-cured egg yolk
Main
Green Garlic Ricotta Gnudi
with rabbit sugo, foraged morel mushrooms,  sweet peas + carrots
Dessert
Rhubarb chevron upside-down cake
soaked in jasmine green tea syrup

































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