Tuesday Tasting Menu April 17th

Tuesday 3-course - April 17 - Bay of Pigs

The infamously failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba was on April 17, 1961, with the intent of overthrowing the Castro communist regime. It was originally proposed by Richard Nixon, planned by Dwight Eisenhower, and approved by John F. Kennedy. It was a disaster.

Kennedy ordered a full investigation of the failed operation. The controversial Inspector General's report concluded that ignorance, incompetence, and arrogance on the part of the CIA were responsible for the fiasco. It criticized nearly every aspect of the CIA's handling of the invasion: misinforming Kennedy administration officials, planning poorly, using faulty intelligence and conducting an overt military operation beyond "agency responsibility as well as agency capability."

Aside from being a major victory for the Cuban Revolution and a major embarrassment for Kennedy and the CIA, the attack at the Bay of Pigs set the stage for the nearly catastrophic confrontation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union: the missile crisis that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.

The only good news is that we used the Bay of Pigs invation as our excuse to feature the incredible Fox Valley Bershire Pork in our menu this evening.

Last September the Heide family visited the farm - see the details in the restaurant blog here.

Tuesday 3-course menu - April 17

Fox Valley Berkshire Pork

3-course dinner $25, wine flight $10 additional

First Course

Braised Fox Valley pork shoulder and feta ravioli
with wilted spinach in a citrus brown butter

Second Course

Grilled Fox Valley pork chop with smoked potato purée and charred asparagus. Topped with lemon herb compound butter.

Dessert

Fox Valley bacon apple crumble
with vanilla ice cream and brown sugar bacon caramel