It was another successful Supper Club Saturday, albeit a bit of a different one. We took over the warehouse space of Wine on the Way, the Internet wine-selling business, in the Winter Park Business Center. The wines were from our friends and Vibrant Rioja, and the food came from chef Bryce Balluff and his crew at Fork in the Road food truck, including a first course, above, of cured king salmon with preserved citrus, herb creme fraiche, baby arugula and frisée drizzled with smoked olive oil. Perfect with the El Coto Rosado. (Photo: Fork in the Road)

Instead of a sit-down dinner, Supper Clubbers mingled throughout the room and helped themselves to the bottles that were set up on the tables down the center of the warehouse. We were all on our good behavior and did not grab any of the bottles on the warehouse shelves — though it was certainly tempting!

We also “borrowed” a couple of picnic tables from a nearby business and pulled them inside for some seating space.

The Fork in the Road truck pulled right up to the warehouse loading door, and chef Bryce worked inside the truck plating the food.

The second course was amazing, Mangalista pork belly, crispy polenta, edamame & corn succotash, with pickled Florida peach and a glaze made with Rioja wine. The recommended wine with the extraordinarily thick fat cap of this hard-to-come-by pig was the Rio Madre Graciano, a luscious wine with bold fruit flavors, including black cherry and blackberry.

The third course had crispy sweetbreads on porcini barley risotto with nettle pesto, shaved fennel and yuzu, a Japanese citrus. For some attendees, it was their first taste of sweetbreads, and no one I spoke to was disappointed, especially when they paired it with the Bodegas Riojanas vina Albina Reserva with its classic tempranillo characteristics. 

Dessert was a slightly savory ricotta parmesan gnuddi with truffle honey, dried pomegranate, crispy basil and nasturtium, sprinkled with duck crackling. The Mont Real Reserva was a terrific pairing.

There were some raffle prizes of Vibrant Rioja umbrellas, and Fox 35 showed up to shoot a segment. 

I’m already planning the next Suppper Club. I can’t tell you where it’s going to be just yet, but I can give you a clue: Cask & Larder. Ooops, that just slipped out. As always, the folks on the eletter list get first crack at the tickets, so if you’re not on the list you can sign up here.

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