Sourdough with Chef Emily Swaine

Hi! Kate here, Chief Bread Officer.

Where to start?! Sourdough number two is a wrap, and it was insane in the best possible way! We really went for it this time with 65 guests - by far our biggest seating to date. I’m blown away by how beautifully everything came together thanks to the all-star team we assembled for this one. I’m going to walk you through the night and showcase all the amazing people and brands who came together to make this dream a reality.

First, the Create Dinners team spent weeks leading up to this behind the scenes. Leah, Talya, Breanna, Adie, Meg and Isabel made sure everything came together, and then followed it up by being the most gracious hosts during the event while also nailing my not-at-all-absurd* request of “dress like a cool piece of bread”. Thank you!

The calm before…

We kicked off the night with a happy hour in the beautiful courtyard of 99 Scott’s Innerspace, with the string lights turning on just as the sun was setting and guests flowing in.

Matchbox Distilling Co. provided us with their Elsewhere Aperitivo for our “Elsewhere Spritz” and Land of The Muses Gin for our “Concord Muse” while Feel Good Booch served up two delicious kombuchas: Turmeric & Ginger and Habanada & Pineapple. They were the perfect evening refreshers, brewed with so much intention. I gave my welcome address, and officially commenced the night by ringing my favorite new purchase - a dinner bell! 

A full house!

Yes, please.

As you probably know, Sourdough is the Create Dinners’ pop-up dining experience and is in large part a platform to showcase up-and-coming chefs. This dinner featured the amazing Chef Emily Swaine, Executive Chef at Forsythia in LES, and her team, Sena and Pruitt. Serving 65 guests is no small feat, but they did it flawlessly!

Carla from Apt. 2  Bread delivered with 12 sourdough loaves that Chef Emily and her team transformed into breadcrumbs for pasta and crostinis that kicked off the night together! From there, things got wild… I mean just read this menu.

first course: roasted pumpkin | treiber farms pumpkin, apple butter, crispy sunchokes , served with Gini 'Vigne Vecchie Contrada Salvarenza', Soave Classico, Italy 2018

second course: poached local fish  | seasonal fish and mushroom , served with La Visciola 'Vicinale', Cesanese del Piglio, Italy 2020

third course: tortellini in brodo | ricotta, dashi, kelp oil 

fourth course: sycamore sungold bucatini   | sungold tomato sauce, onion jam, apt 2 breadcrumbs , served with COS Cerasulo di Vittoria, Sicily, Italy 2018

fifth course: riso buono  | broken risotto pudding, preserved fruit, meringue 

Tableware was curated by Soluca Collections and Wine pairings were provided by One Kourt Studio and took us on a little tour of Italy. A special thank you to Kimberly Cavoores for such incredible selections, and graciously filling our glasses and sharing her knowledge with all of us!

All of the amazing plates were provided by Soluca Collections!

We capped off the night with a pour of Day Trip Strawberry Amaro from Matchbook Distilling, and on the way out everyone grabbed a special take home treat courtesy of L'Appartement 4F. Let’s be real though, they probably didn’t even make it home because their chocolate chip cookies are impossible not to devour immediately!

Cheers!

Looking back through all of these amazing photos by the unbelievably talented Ellie Patterson, I feel so grateful for everyone who contributed to this, as a guest or as a partner.

It’s unreal to see our vision of the Sourdough events coming together like this, and to see our guests genuinely connect with each other over a meal. Sourdough is really just about breaking bread with one another, and getting to share these with everyone is really what fills our heart!

The star of the show.

We’re taking a break for the holidays, so we can break bread with our families, but we’ll be back with more Sourdough dates in early 2023. In the meantime, follow along. We can’t wait to see you around the table!