A Julia Child lunch

Until yesterday, I don’t think I’ve ever attended an event that Facebook proposed.  Alumnae yoga (in Baltimore)?  Sorry, can’t make it.  Pac-10 networking night?  Pass.

But a few days ago, one event caught my eye immediately: a four course lunch inspired by Julia Child, featuring Joan Reardon, the woman who compiled Julia’s letters into the book “As Always, Julia.”  And at Naha, no less!  (Yes, I’m Naha’s Facebook friend.)

My sister gave me “As Always, Julia” for Christmas, and I’m halfway through it.  As she knows, I’m a big Julia Child fan – I loved her show with Jacques Pepin, I own a couple of her French Chef DVDs, her memoir “My Life in France” is one of my favorites.  The movie “Julie and Julia” is great too (as long as you fast-forward the Julie portions).

So I clicked my way through to buy two seats at the lunch, and yesterday D and I made our way to Naha.  It was jam-packed, and we were 1) the only ones who seemed to be under 40, and 2) the only ones wearing jeans.  Oops.  While D ordered some sparkling wine at the bar, I got my book autographed.

Then we headed into the dining room for our lunch – salad with egg and foie gras toast, scallops provençal, duck, and baba au rhum.  The first three courses were very good (I especially appreciated the truffles shaved on the salad), but baba au rhum tends to frustrate me.  I’m invariably drawn to it, since I love the idea of a rum-soaked cake, but in reality it’s usually too dry for my taste – needs more rum!

At any rate, it was a fun way to spend an afternoon (and we had a nice Italian white wine, as well, whose name I’ve sadly forgotten).  In addition to the food and the book signing, we heard some interesting behind-the-scenes stories from the food industry types at our table.

Thank you, Julia Child!