The Burns and Carter Dinner

Both currently in between jobs, chef Jay Carter (@Notjcarter) and chef Daniel Burns (@chefdburns) teamed up this past weekend for a much anticipated three-night-only dinner party (April 27, 28 and 29). For $100 and 30 guests each night, I was told there was over 1,200 names on the waiting list for the event. Not surprising given the chefs' impressive pedigree.


Carter and Burns met and became friends at Susur restaurant over 10 years ago. Carter left Susur to run the kitchen at Lee and has recently left his position as executive chef at Centro. From Susur, Burns went to St. John and The Fat Duck in England where he was a senior chef de partie (it was also during Burns' 18 months there that The Fat Duck earned its third Michelin star). He has also headed the pastry department at Noma in Cophenhagen and ran Momofuku's food lab in New York as the company's research and development chef (he left the position earlier this year).  A remarkable duo, to say the least. 


I was one of the lucky 90 guests to experience the #burnsandcarter dinner on Sunday night. It was held at Mitzi's on College (which closed in February of this year). Two long tables with candles and potted herbs transformed the simple space into an intimate setting. The night's menu was written on the brown banner on the wall surrounding the room. 

 Brooklyn Gin Negroni served at the bar.

The evening featured snacks (potato crisps and crudités), three savoury courses, two desserts with wine pairings. 

Here's a recap of what I had:


Thuet Bread with Whipped Butter.

Course 1: Shellfish - Warm Lobster Salad w/ Endive, Daikon & Cucumber Vinaigrette

Chef Burns with the mushroom broth.

Course 2: Mushroom - Roasted Maitake w/ Mushroom Broth, Artichokes, Sorrel & Yarrow

Course 3: Kid - Grilled Goat w/ Peas & Fava Beans

Course 4: Yogurt - Rhubarb Ice w/ Beet Sauce, Beet Tuille & Rhubarb Gel

Course 5: Chocolate - Chocolate Malt Ice & Celery Root Mousse with Chocolate Ganache, Chocolate Crumble, Apple Purée & Dry Vinegar Meringue.

Flødeboller - Elderberry w/ Thyme Cookie

A note from the chefs themselves:

Marvelous dinner. My favourites of the night were the goat course and the two desserts. The goat, which was sous-vide then grilled, had a slight charred, smoky flavour...simply delicious. Perfectly done at medium rare, the yogurt-marinated goat was meaty, tender and juicy. The desserts really blew my mind. The rhubarb yogurt with beet sorbet and the chocolate gelato with apple cider meringue were both incredibly beautiful. Adorned with a combination of textures and flavours, they were possibly the best desserts I've had in a long time.


Thank you chef Carter, chef Burns, and the rest of the chefs that made the event possible. Kudos to you all!