Best Meal of My Life

Last night, I went to a restaurant called Trattoria Lucca in Charleston. I have never had a meal so wonderful in my entire life (sorry mom). I didn't want it to end, despite the fact that I was insanely stuffed.  Chef Ken Vedrinski was accompanied by Chef Fortunato Nicotra, from the restaurant Felidia in New York. Chef Nicotra has battled Iron Chef Morimoto on the Food Network's Iron Chef. I can't wait to watch it, by the way! Anyway, I am going to talk you through the menu; you may want to have a seat because you might get weak in the knees.

First course:

Raw blue fin tuna wrapped in a thin sheet of raw swordfish served with extremely fine diced (brunoise) red and yellow peppers, jalapenos, and pine nuts. It was SPECTACULAR.

Second course:

Quinoa asparagus "risotto" served with shrimp. The best risotto I've ever had, to say the least. I am definitely going to try to recreate the recipe. I'll let you know how it goes! Wish me luck...

Third course:

Perfectly seasoned sea-bass, cooked whole, served with wild mushrooms and celery root.  This was probably my favorite dish of the night, though the first course was right up there with it. I am not even going to try to recreate this dish, for that would be culinary suicide.

Fourth course:

Sauteed duck breast with sauteed red cabbage and golden raisins, caramelized pearl onions, a red wine reduction, garnished with fried duck skin, and served with creamy polenta. By this time, I had become a bottomless pit. There was no way I wasn't going to finish and savor every last bite.

Dessert course:

Gorgonzola gelato atop a filo-dough apple pie, served with a cherry reduction. The gorgonzola gelato was a little too rich for my buds; there was too pungent of a gorgonzola flavor for my liking. However, the apple pie was out of this world and the cherry reduction was perfect. 

Moral of the story? The only way to end this meal was with a cigarette and a naked nap. Too bad I don't smoke...

P.S. I took pictures of a few of the courses. Some of them did not turn out well. When I upload them I will post the best one.  The lady across from me said, "Oh my God, you're taking pictures of the food?? You really need a boyfriend!" I replied, "Listen bitch, I have a boyfriend!" Just kidding... I said, "Listen bitch, I'm a lesbian."

*Update: The 2 photos are the duck and dessert dishes.