Monday night The Blue Point restaurant in Duck hosted their 4th pop-up dinner and we were lucky to attend. We dined and sipped with 30 of our “closest” neighbors and friends. I had no idea what to expect with Monday nights normally a night they are closed. We arrived at 6pm and were welcomed to the bar, which offered two signature cocktails for the evening – a ginger Tom Collins and a Chinese five spice dark and stormy. We mingled for a bit with the chef serving three small bite options, which were delicious. The first appetizer was slice of house made lamb sausage, sauerkraut and raisin mustard on pretzel roll – it was amazing. The second was tuna confit served on focaccia bread with olive tapenade, again it was outstanding. The third and final appetizer was shrimp toast topped with benne seeds, a lovely final bite. We were then asked to be seated at the 30 top table, at this point we still wondered the inspiration or theme for our dinner. The place setting for our four-course meal gave away a hints with chopsticks and a duck spoon included.
Once seated, we were greeted by Executive Chef and Co-owner Sam McGann. Sam explained the theme for our meal – The Olympics with our appetizers giving a nod to Germany, Mediterranean countries and China. The food selections were also paired with two wines selected by The Blue Point’s sommelier and bar manager, Simon Kauffman. The first course arrived as a cold plate soba noodle bowl with miso dressing and king crab. The noodles were cool and delicious with a slight hint of heat and the sweetness of king crab, so good. This course was paired with a lovely, dry Huber Grüner Veltliner Terrassen and this pairing continued to the next course. The second course was introduced by Sam as a red miso soup, served in a teacup. We all know traditional miso soup with tofu, but this one had a delicate replacement for the tofu…scallops, yes, scallops they were buttery and delicious along with the broth, shiitake mushrooms and scallions. The scallops were such a pleasant surprise. Our next course was introduced and had many of us curious – shrimp and pork ramen broth with pork belly. This course was surprisingly rich with a tasty shrimp broth, fried ramen noodle garnish and a slice of pork belly. The wine pairing for this course was a Famille Perrin Côtes-du-Rhône Réserve. The fourth course arrived next, which was fun and unexpected. This course was a duck fried rice with duck liver, cabbage, cracklins, egg, scallion and duck breast – I mean this one was a knock your sock off winner. As we were all reaching full; a delightful, simple and light dessert arrived, vanilla frozen yogurt with lemon curd, strawberries in syrup with a benne seed cookie garnish – absolutely wonderful.
I feel so lucky for this experience and thankful The Blue Point offers this unique dining opportunity. This experience is a reminder why The Blue Point has delighted locals and vacationers since 1989. The pride, hardwork, quality of ingredients and attention to detail that goes into the preparation of each dish is absolutely amazing. So, thank you.
Cheers to pop-up 5.0 and sunset cocktails with pimento cheese on the lawn, I’m ready.