We had quite a fine time during our Persian Rooftop Party for the 4th of July, despite the failures of the elevator and the relative lack of AC in the rented apartment. Our diners who support us at The Green Goddess never cease to amaze me with their kindness, easygoing natures, and enjoyment of our stuff. I honestly feel like one of the luckiest chefs anywhere to be able to count all these cool people as our hungry friends! I know I really enjoyed seeing everybody, and I was glad our balcony had such a perfect view of the fireworks. It's always quite a high when the host of a party feels that everything was fun, and we owe our friends here in New Orleans for the 4th a huge "thank you" for braving the crowds, traffic restrictions, the elevator issues, etc. to celebrate with us in our fledgling restaurant. As Scott, our bartender for the night, said afterwards, "That was more fun than I've had in a long time at any job."

We added some dishes to the banquet that we haven't done for our tasting menu. We did a slew of canapes, perhaps the one that suited the Persian theme best was a tuna tartare with pomegranate powder perched atop slices of cucumber, with a little fresh dill. For the main courses, served with the same exotic rice pilaf we feature on the tasting menu, I was glad to showcase a version of Fensenjan, the classic meatballs in pomegranate-walnut sauce. They were tiny lamb meatballs, no filler whatsoever -- not even eggs, spiced with a little baharat seasoning. Everybody loves meatballs at a party, and it seems that practically every culture has their specific tastes for 'em. I also braised some duck legs with star anise, red wine, dried apricots, and sumac. Then we shredded the meat, made some cracklins from the duck leg skins (which I was happy to see them all devoured by party's end) and stewed that with fresh turkey figs, a bit of cinnamon, and the rich braising red wine broth. It was a new way to "smother" some duck with a Persian flair....

With Tales of the Cocktail headed our way this week, I will devote the upcoming blogs to our new cocktails. I think we have some definite winners to sling during Tales, and it should be quite a lot of fun to finally be able to introduce our booze program into the dining experience at The Green Goddess.