Four-Course Meal (that felt like 12-Course) with Chef Giancarlo

This night we were offered the opportunity to have a professional Chef come on-site to prepare a delicious four course meal while we watch, we could ask questions, and sip wine. He based the menu on what he finds delicious at the market that morning to ensure you are eating locally and seasonally.

As we wouldn’t have to drive anywhere, we said YES to this experience even though it was the fourth activity of the day that started with the 6:30am hike. For all that has transpired since then, thank goodness for the hike that morning.

Giancarlo was a PRIZE. His personality alone would have been worth the price of paying for this extra dinner. He was like a caricature of himself and the most enthusiastic chef I have ever seen. He had the same enthusiasm of the little mouse chef in the Disney movie, Ratatouille.

The way he described each dish and then plated and served each course, was beyond belief. We felt like there were even side dishes for each course. As in ‘here is your pasta course’ with a ‘side of pasta.’

Another ‘side-bar’ story to this evening was one of the families that came to dine with us from the other fancy property. It was a Doctor and his wife and their two children. A girl who was 18 and going to be a senior and a son who was 13, and was quite the ‘boy wonder’ for his age. His name was Zach, and he was like a 50-year-old man trapped in a 13-year-old body. From the moment I sat down I found this little Doogie Howser to be an odd mix of pretension and cute young boy all wrapped into one. A conversation with him felt oddly uncomfortable.

‘Hi, I’m Zach,’ he says as he is cooly sipping on Prosecco. I’m like ‘Oh, you are drinking?’ He says, ‘Oh yah, I’m Jewish and this is a very normal part of our culture.’ I don’t know what to say but, ‘Ah, okay, cool?’ Looking at his father who nods in agreement. His father had a big bushy beard with warm physician eyes, and so I think well, okay, he seems to have this under control, I’m not going to worry. Zach continued to drink with us the rest of the night – including wine and grappa. He would take sips and then run over to the swing set to play with the other kids and then come back and sip. It was the oddest thing.

Zach also felt free to offer his opinions on any topic and challenge adults. Dana is a fourth grade teacher, which was a hit of the night. The parents were all intrigued and asking her all kinds of questions about her work except for Zach. Apparently he has issues with the core testing and feels it is too subjective and was pointing out specific sections he thinks are challenging and don’t make sense in a tone that made you think Dana would be compelled to call the school board as soon as we returned to our room. Not so much.

The daughter was another story, very sweet, and clearly under the shadow of her brilliant brother. I couldn’t quite understand what was happening when it took her 3 hours to eat the above pasta dish. It was all she ate that night. She  literally licked each strand of pasta – like a little cat, licking off the pepper, then she would take a little bite. I was so confused, I had never seen this. I could possibly learn from her as I was slurping down pasta on this trip at a much faster clip.

As we listened to Zach tell us about life some more during dinner, I finally asked. ‘Zach, what do you want to be when you grow up?’ I coudln’t wait to hear his aspirations. He replied, ‘A chemical physicist. No, actually, a particle physicist.’ I said, ‘Wow, and what is a particle physicist?’ Everyone at the table was wondering so I went ahead and asked the question. He replied, ‘It is the study of subatomic particles.’ I was thinking, I definitely woke up too early for this conversation and will now shift my attention to the beautiful plate of duck in front of me that I am too full to eat! Somehow I managed though…it was perfectly cooked and delicious to the last bite.

We were absolutely TOAST after this dinner and ready to head straight to bed, only there was Grandpa waiting with the Grappa. The whole dinner Dana was saying, ‘We can’t drink with Grandpa tonight, we can’t drink with Grandpa.’ I was like, ‘Yes, I agree, I’m tired.’

Next thing I know…I hear Dana saying ‘Okay, one glass.’ And we were pulled in – for another 30 minutes. Until Carlo his son came to collect his dad and was talking to him in Italian, ‘It’s late! Please stop.’ You could feel the family tensions rising as Carlo probably has to come collect his dad each night because of his dad’s passion for connecting with the guests and drinking Grappa. He is harmless and you can pour out the grappa when he isn’t looking – so really, to pay respect to him for a few minutes at the end of the night isn’t so bad.

We finally headed to bed and slept the soundest night of the trip. It was a LONG and wonderful day that wiped us out. Possibly haven’t been that tired since my first trip to Disneyland at age 3 or 4.