There is nothing like waking up at 6:00AM after a night out with drinking.  

Last night, my culinary and consumer electronics worlds collided again when my friend Lee Anne (chef) invited me to a celebrity chef fundraiser for the Gohan Society (an organization dedicated to Japanese/American culinary education).  I RSVP'd for three, as I planned to bring my colleague SungIn (just moved to the U.S. from Korea and Emily (who, aside from my account, has spend her career in food and lifestyle PR).

However, we have some additional guests visiting from Korea this week for meetings with my team and they asked me— last minute —if they can join us for dinner.  So, after some behind-the-scenes drama to work out the details, my Korean colleagues— Hyosun and Bumjoon— accompanied us to this event.

They served four separate appetizers the first one was a delightful little shu mai.  The remaining three were canapés of kobe beef, duck breast and lightly seared tuna.  Each prepared with a dollop of wasabi in sushi-style.

Of course, I immediately noticed the hot young chef from Jean Jorges (Johnny).  He, however, honed in on my colleague SungIn.  Of course, Emily— being the food-pr professional she is— worked the room, meeting every chef and every journalist covering the event (including Food and Wine).

I ran into the Chef Boulanger (bread-baker) for Danielle, whom I met last fall at the Gourmet Institute, where he demo'd some phenomenal breads.  I also met the home-makeover producer for HGTV (great business contact); and a food and wine reporter.

After the cocktail hour, I ran into a journalist-friend I have worked with in Consumer Electronics for many years, Gary Krakow, who's the technology columnist for MSNBC. It turns out; Gary's wife is the PR professional that pulled the whole event together.  We quickly scooped Gary up and brought him to our table.  He was happy to have like-mined people to talk to and entertained Hyosun, SungIn, and Emily all through dinner.  

We tasted four different cold Sakes; going from light and smooth to bold and distinguished. Each of the sakes surpassed its predecessor.  The food that accompanied each glass also pleasantly surprised us:

***Amuse-bouche of shrimp and sake aspic, which they cubed into a small dice

***A really beautiful array of salmon, tuna, toro, angelfish (fantastic), shrimp, yellowtail sashimi that they presented so beautifully that we had to photograph it

****Next came a very flaky black cod that melted in my mouth.  They served the cod with a deep-fried lotus root and assorted Japanese mushrooms.

****Our finale arrived as sliced, seared beef that was so soft, it too melted in my mouth when I tasted it.

By the time the beef landed on our table, my Korean guests were both drunk and tired and our car-service arrived to take us back to New Jersey.  Our handsome friend stopped by to visit us as Hyosun, Bumjoon and I were leaving.  SungIn and Emily stayed until the dinner's end.