The Sellers Dine at Cafe Drake

After a grueling workday, and with David combating a summer cold, Cafe Drake hosted Mr and Mrs Sellers for a school night dinner party, mercifully begun with icy cold champagne cocktails made with ultra-fizzy, bone dry cava and plenty of bitters. Pre-dining snacks included ginger and soy roasted almonds (who doesn't love?) and old skool cocktail fodder of bacon-wrapped dates given the broiler treatment. After a suitably leisurely drinks hour we gathered round ye olde black lacquered kitchen table for DIY dining: sirloin strips in a sweet-sour marinade, red bell and hot chile peppers, onions and Puerto Rican uber-sweet Golden Pineapple slices grilled tabletop on a Sterno-fired grill. Without charcoal or non-stick G. Foreman tat, the three of us seared to perfection our meats, fruits and spicy veggies in a communal and pro-active supper mode, spearing and turning all items to the specific tastes and delectation of each individual. Similarly minded, the beef came off first, suitably rare and tender, while the pineapple and peppers were left to char and caramelize. Sharp notes were provide by the wilted but potent thick onion slices, all washed down with upstate microbrewery ale and a fruity rose wine.

Cheese to follow included a dry-aged Provolone species, creamy herbed chevre, whole wheat baguette slices (toasted of course) and dollops of mango chutney. The Sellers Clan was kind enough to provide dessert from Red Hook's highly esteemed patisserie, Baked: dense chocolate and Coca-Cola bundt cake (so evocative of Cafe Drake's Deep South roots) and a lusciously creamy Sweet and Salty Chocolate Tart. Doses of cognac rounded out a most splendid evening spent with great friends, before they headed home to relieve the babysitter of duty.