Our professional members really knock me out. Their generosity must spring from some yet undiscovered gene that impels them to astonish us by constantly exceeding our expectations. This trait was most assuredly in evidence at our professionals only dinner held at Angelo’s 677 Prime in Albany on Monday, December 1, 2014. As originally envisioned, these dinners would be simple, informal and affordable and limited to our professional members. The Albany Chaine would provide the wine from odd bottles culled from its cellar and the chefs and other professionals would be afforded the opportunity to socialize in a relaxed atmosphere. Well, apparently Chef Rotisseur Jaime Ortiz, the General Manager and part owner of Angelo’s 677 Prime, did not get the memo regarding the simple dinner component as he concocted a menu consisting of 12 courses followed by four desserts. This profusion of food was served family style three courses at a time and was devoured by an appreciative, if stunned, group. Razor clams, bone marrow, sweetbreads, foie gras and beef cheek dumplings, quail, black bass, black cod, veal cheeks and much, much more. It was like one of those all you can eat buffets, except that this food was spectacularly good – so good, in fact, that the next day I was tempted to enlist in a 12 step program run by overeaters anonymous. This was by far our most successful professionals dinner and of the 25 in attendance, 18 were either chefs or food, beverage or hospitality professionals, a majority of whom were Chaine members. If you can find a better meal for a mere $35, please let me know.
