I guess my overly long headline pretty much says it all. Every Thursday evening, by reservation only, foodies gather at Café Vincenzo, which is located on the ground floor of newly constructed Gateway Community College in downtown New Haven, for a weekly $20 prix-fixe meal cooked by students of its hospitality management program.
According to our gracious tablemates, veterans of many of these dinners, the spacious new quarters are a tremendous improvement over the prior Long Wharf location.
Certainly, our table setting looks inviting.
The friendly staff is kind enough to take care of our every need.
The dinners are BYOB, so we have brought a nice Rioja that we had lying around. The staff opens the bottle for us.
We get off to a great start with a plethora of freshly baked rolls
and rosettes of butter.
Our first course is a mulligatawny, an Indian soup commonly based in chicken stock and curry, given a mild but delicious interpretation on this occasion.
Our next course is a nice fresh salad full of plenty of goodies.
The centerpiece of the meal is slices of tender pot roast served with gravy, mashed potatoes and delicious roasted vegetables.
After we have eaten to our hearts’ content, it’s time for dessert. We’re brought good coffee
and then the dessert,
which is kind of a pretty chocolate mousse piped onto a cookie base.
Afterwards, chief instructor Daniel “Chef Dan” Palmquist addresses guests.
We end with a tour of the impressive new facilities.
Café Vincenzo, Gateway Community College, 20 Church Street, New Haven, 203-285-2269, www.pabrams@gwcc.commnet.edu