They say surrounding yourself with good people will make you happier, but have you ever tried surrounding yourself with people who win a lot of Instagram contests? Hear me out. My friend/ fellow food blogger Sydney is the Queen of social media, especially Instagram. She entered this contest on Instagram from Food Fire Knives and won us a 3 course meal cooked by a private chef in my very own home! I was mostly included in the deal because my house is more central than hers, but obviously I jumped on board. We had a great night and I felt like a fancy bish having a private chef in my very own home!
chillin’ at home with private chefs nbd
We prepared for the evening by buying a bunch of cheap wine and settling in on the couch. We definitely needed the wine because having a stranger in one’s house always stirs up a little nervous energy, but we figured if we got murdered in search of good food, it would be the appropriate way for us to go. The founder and president of Food Fire Knives, Michael Casciello and his assistant Alessandro set up quickly and my kitchen was smelling amazing within minutes.
The founder and president of Food Fire Knives, Michael Casciello, is originally from Philadelphia and when he came to Charleston, he was told that he had to cook Southern food or people would reject him. Sydney and I explained that we have seen a lot of local restaurants trying to break out of the typical Southern box and that isn’t necessarily true. That being said, Michael cooked us an Asian fusion meal, with a sprinkle of Southern.
bring on the food, fire, and knives
Our first course was a shrimp salad between two fried green tomatoes (that’s the sprinkle of Southern). The shrimp salad had a kick to it from the Chinese mustard, which is more of a horseradish flavor than a mustard flavor, so I really enjoyed it. The fried green tomatoes were in a tempura batter, which made them light and crispy. I really couldn’t get over how the Chinese mustard elevated the dish and gave it such a kick.
Our second course was Bimbimbap, which I had to Google how to spell multiple times during the night. Bimbimbap is a Korean rice bowl topped with ingredients that pack a punch of flavor. For Michael’s Bimbimbap, he started with his homemade sushi rice. Whenever I go to a Japanese restaurant, I order a side of sushi rice because I’m obsessed with it. I would’ve been fine just eating a big bowl of that rice, but Michael had another thing in mind.
Next, Michael added grilled, marinated pork to the bowl. The southern flare to this dish was the black vinegar braised collard greens. The collard greens brought acidity, saltiness, and a little funk to the dish. He then garnished it with togarashi-marinated spicy cucumbers, pickled carrots, enoki mushrooms, and cilantro.
Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, he topped it all off with a fried egg . Every bite of this dish was a new adventure. One bite would be super spicy from the cucumbers, another would be crunchy from the carrots, and it was so fun to eat. The egg yolk toned down the spice, resulted in a perfect balance of sweet, salty, spicy, and tangy.
It was hard to follow the bimbimbap, but Michael whipped up a dessert unlike any one I’ve had before. He made bread pudding with lychee (texture of a pear and slightly sweet) and steam buns instead of bread. The texture of the steam buns was a little weird, but the flavor of the lychee had a floral note to it that I really enjoyed. It wasn’t a typical overly sweet dessert and I appreciated that.
check them out!
We had a great time hanging out with Michael and Alessandro and their food was phenomenal! If you want to have them come cook for you, check out their website! They are also doing $100 off any cooking classes booked before August 31st, so jump on that awesome deal. I would highly recommend them and the best part is they leave your kitchen even cleaner than they found it!
