Local eateries love to go off-menu for special events

The Spanish word for saffron is Azafran. A member of the iris family, saffron is harvested from the Crocus sativus flower. The deep-red stigmas are collected and dried as a seasoning and food coloring. It takes about 210,000 of those stigmas to yield a pound of saffron - which retails anywhere between $2,000 and $10,000 per pound. And it is a required ingredient in traditional Valencian paella.

So, last Saturday evening at Café Azafran in Rehoboth, it was somewhere between $90 to $120 worth of the spice that chef/owner Richard Steele casually sprinkled onto the sizzling contents of his 48-inch diameter paella pan at his first wintertime paella dinner. Steele's midsummer reservation-only paella feasts are the stuff of Baltimore Avenue legend, and they're almost always sold out. So he decided to give it a midwinter try. It sold out in less than a week.

There's always an element of delicious drama when Rich fires up the jet-engine burner and the oil starts to shimmer. (By that time, the guests are well into their second cocktail, so it shimmers more for some than for others.) As he builds his signature dish, guests are invited to stand by and watch the panoply of colorful veggies, calamari, chicken, sausage, mussels and spices slowly morph into the aromatic center of attention.

Arborio rice is stirred in, eventually followed by plump dayboat scallops and shrimp.

Mere moments later, heaping plates of the impossibly fresh concoction are distributed to all in attendance.

Richard was so pleased with last week's turnout that he scheduled another event for Saturday, March 10. If you've never been, give it a try. Reservations are a must. If the paella were any fresher, you'd be eating it right out of that 48-inch pan.

One of the auction items generously offered to local charities by SoDel Concepts is a group dinner at one of their 11 restaurants. Last Monday I was honored to be among one of those groups at the new and still wildly popular Bluecoast Rehoboth. Atlantic Liquors' big boss Dale Lomas called out the winning bid, and the ultimate result was an amazing wine dinner presented in the quiet and comfortable library room at Bluecoast. Executive Chef Jason Dietterick was at the helm, ably assisted by veteran server (and wine guy in his own right!) Eric Overman. Both of these guys outdid themselves.

The feast began with a sparkle, delightfully provided by Conti de san Bonifacio Italian prosecco. The light and not-too-sweet wine was paired with three oysters on the half shell, decorated with lemonade lemons (sweeter, not quite as tart) and blood oranges. Oysters never had it so good!

The meal progressed with a French burgundy that stood boldly nose-to-nose with some of the biggest scallops I've ever seen. They lounged happily on a bed of smokey, buttery grits accompanied with fresh-out-of-the-oven cornbread. We could have stopped there, but now really ... what purpose would that have served!? So we moved on to crispy duck and an amazingly tender bistro steak surrounded by a rich and flavorful soubise (an onion-based sauce) laced with white cheddar. The velvety French 2015 Cote du Rhone and the softly bright California Cabernet were the perfect companions to the duck and the steak.

Chef Jason elicited a laugh from the crowd when he introduced his "fallen" flourless chocolate soufflé. He went on to say that the soufflés would probably fall anyway, so he didn't want anyone complaining about it. Well, they didn't fall, and after attending his short tutorial covering the addition of the cream and Luxardo cherries, nobody complained. Thank you, Mr. Lomas, for a delightful evening!

We have a pretty good time around here when the vacationers aren't looking, huh? Keep an eye on Cape Gazette and CapeGazette.com for more fun stuff.