We have recently updated two pages on the site.  The first is the event archive.  We have added events stretching all the way back to our founding on May 20, 2001.  We will add the years 2017 and forward soon. 

Note how our focus has changed through the years as we have branched out to more different kinds of cuisine and have added activities alongside of our dinners.  Our events are more than simply dinners, they are unique experiences!

The second page that we have updated is more significant -- we have greatly expanded our Professionals page.  As you know, the Chaine is unique in that it is comprised of both professionals and non-professionals.  

The Professionals page now includes:

Restaurants run by our Professionals

Caterers run by our Professionals

A listing of all other Professionals

A listing of restaurants still open where we have held events in the past.

Browse at your leisure and remember to patronize our Professionals!

Vive la Chaine!

Did you know that the Grand Chapitre in Baltimore is being planned by a committee that includes your Delaware Valley Bailli?  Input and assistance is being provided by two three Board members as well.  At least two new members will be inducted into Delaware Valley during the Grand Chapitre.  You don't want to miss this event!  Ask your Bailli Matt Karstetter for assistance in your planning.

The appearance of vegetables as the star ingredient in restaurant dishes is becoming more prevalent.  Some restaurants have gone as far as featuring vegetables in most of their dishes.

At Helm in Northern Liberties for example, they feature vegetables prominently and use animal or fish proteins sparingly.  One dish, the snails, is mixed with brussels sprouts and is covered with a sauce so that when you take a bite of an oval shaped thing you aren't quite sure which it will be.  Whimsical and pretty interesting!  And Helm at least is attracting customers from all backgrounds and age groups.

The vegetables trend is a reflection of sophisticated diners' desire to eat lighter and healthier and also try new combinations.  The restaurant owners love it because it lowers food costs but they don't have to charge a lot less for the dishes, thus increasing their margins.  It appears the trend will stay in place for some time to come.

I wrote in February about this topic and I thought it would be appropriate to refer to it here too, and add one more thought.

We are entering a new phase in American cuisine as chefs become more committed to fresh, local, up to the minute ingredients.  Less important are classic recipes, more important is perfect provenance and instant creativity.  Have the TV shows Top Chef, Iron Chef and Chopped contributed to this phenomenon?

Remember our wonderful Mondiale dinner at Bibou?  We had no menu until a week before, no pairing dinner, but we did a fantastic job with the wines and Bibou made sublime food.  This was also the case at Paramour in January.  This new reality means that your Bailliage has become more nimble, more responsive and more able to handle the last minute menus we will increasingly receive. 

A note of caution as chefs chase ingredients -- they must become more nimble too, as the timeframe from delivery of the ingredient to the restaurant and the eventual addition of it to the menu is getting shorter.  But perhaps many like it that way, it is certainly more challenging.

You have arrived at our new website!  It is still in progress, but it is almost done.  Soon you will be able to not only see everything we had on our old website, but members will be able to do the following:

• Change your contact information at any time
• Register and pay for our events right here on the website
• Read this blog often as it might contain interesting news!
• Click the Facebook icon and go directly to our Facebook page
  

We will send an email with specific instructions and changes when we're ready.  In the meantime, feel free to explore and comment.  This website software is very customizable by people like me who know little about technology, so it is very powerful!