Pop-Up Pick-up Dinner!

Pop-Up Pick-up Dinner!

Just before the pandemic, the Castle Restaurant in Leicester announced that it would be closing. My partner and I go there every year for Valentine's Day. I was supposed to be travelling during the spring, and I resigned myself to the idea that when I came back to the US in June, it would be gone forever. Of course, my trip was cancelled by the Pandemic - and from early March onwards, we only left the house for groceries. Then we got an email announcing a take-out dinner from the Castle - it wasn't closed after all! This was the first time we got take-out during the entire Pandemic. It was also the first time we wore something other than sweatpants to dinner!It was $79 per person, and the menu was:
1) Roasted wild Queen's choice oysters topped with a sautéed arugula and rich cashew butter and baked golden with a bottle of Gavi 2018 Araldica Estates Piedmonte, Italy

2) Encrusted and sautéed Mahi-Mahi fillet served with a sun-dried apricot, local farm honey, fresh English thyme and a hint of ricotta cheese drizzle, with a bottle of Valtellina Superiore 2015 Nino Negri, Italy

3) The Castle's lemon and shortbread triangles with a raspberry and Massenez creme de framboise drizzle

Maybe it's corny, but I will remember this dinner forever. The email from the Castle announcing this take-out opportunity did more to convince me that we would get through this pandemic than all the announcements from my employer and the state and federal government added together

Aaron Sakulich

05/09/20

Aaron Sakulich

Aaron Sakulich

Photograph

Still Image