The green below continues to progress, looks like some soil amendments and more seeding. Also the rockfall continues to fill in ... an astounding amount of work going into this small area.
Once we quit gawking at the scene below, we returned to our usual division of labor ... Linda and Claudette set out in search of poolside chaise lounges, and I avoid the sun while doing some culinary tasks. I was delighted that our charming concierge was able to deliver on his idea of bringing us SPANKING fresh cream. He had frozen it overnight, both for freshness and ease-of-transport, and the two sturdy bags were quite enough to make a proper recipe of pots de creme. It's so easy, and so remarkably good ... perfect dessert for a complicated menu plan executed in a small kitchen environment. (And oh YES, it DOES taste different ... so fresh and smooth!)
After a while, Linda and Claudette returned, having walked almost the entirety of the estate in search of a perch. Gotta be an early bird to get these worms, it seems. It was as well, since tonight was our turn at the Culinary Tour of four different restaurants on the grounds.
We ran a little early and had (another) margarita in the lobby bar,
where our first Tour stop was scheduled. As more people arrived (there
were nearly 30 in all) we moved out into the area prepared for the
presentation of a welcoming cocktail and a duck rillette.
The tour is led by a gentleman responsible for "food presentation"
throughout the couple-dozen restaurants and snack bars on the grounds,
so you know we would see some innovative stylings. We liked the
bunny-rabbit effect here.
Moving along, we ambled over to the specialty-hamburger place, where you can get just about anything made into a tasty patty. Here, we enjoyed an artichoke & spinach dip...
lobster "burgers" for Linda and Claudette ...
and a very tasty beef burger for Carolyn (shellfish just don't like her).
At Epazote, the only restaurant featured in both the Wednesday and Friday tours, we enjoyed a sea-bass filled tamale.
Then a long trolley ride (complete with celebratory spin around the traffic circle, to the delight of most on the vehicle) to a beachside steakhouse. We started with a lovely presentation of breads and compound butters...
...and moved happily into petite filets garnished with lobster, asparagus and Bearnaise (hold the lobster for Carolyn)One more boistrous trolley ride (and another spin around a traffic circle) ... La Bamba blasting on the loudspeakers and everyone joining in at volume ... don't know if we were a good advertisement for the tour or just scary. But clearly we were having a good time.
We arrived at the French restaurant in the same building as the little grocery (and the chocolatier, bakery, deli, wine, cheese, flower, and apothecary shops). Here was the highlight of a highly-competetive evening ... a shatteringly-crisp lemon tube garnished with strawberry slices and filled with basil-inflected ice cream. May we please have another??
The tour guide was trying to herd us all back to the trolleys (we had two or three, variously, throughout the evening) with limited success. We wound up exiting through a back door known to a couple who've made this their winter home, and who know the restaurant well. That took us to our favorite traffic circle where it was easy to hail a regular-route trolley back to our Tower Four.
Really a great value; lots of excellent dishes, a fair amount of walking to settle it all, and a solid four hours with a variety of enjoyable fellow-diners. We did NOT eat the chocolate on the pillow THIS night!
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