Last week Tasha and I had the privilege of experiencing an intimate and unique dinner party that would feature food prepared by a private chef and his kitchen staff from Silva’s Bar and Grill. What truly made this experience unique was the location where we would be dining. The four course dinner would take place in one of Orange County’s most luxurious rental properties that the head chef, Rick Silva personally resides– Astoria at Central Park West. The evening started in one of the two bedroom models where we were greeted with craft cocktails from a bartender and a peek at what the units looked like. The kitchen was absolutely stunning; it made perfect sense why Chef Silva chose to live there– its a chefs dream come true! Besides the beautiful kitchen, the living space was wide open, with tons of natural light that seemed to radiate perfectly off of my beautiful bride. 
After some mingling during cocktail hour, our group headed downstairs to one of their event spaces that is available for tenants to reserve. The space comes with a beautiful dining table and a fully functioning kitchen; along with many other amenities to create a cozy/comfortable vibe. ** note: the smell leading us to the dining room was outstanding. The chef and his team were hard at work in the kitchen prepping everything for us, and it was heavenly**
The first dish that was waiting for us when we arrived was their ‘Hamachi Ceviche’ that came with the tastiest tarragon-crostini. Each dish was paired with a cocktail prepared from one of Orange County’s best mixologists. For the ceviche, we were given a Passion Fruit Caipirinha that was just as delicious as it was beautiful. 
After that we dove into one of my favorites of the night, which was a ‘Rutabaga Mash’. It was basically a scrumptious mashed potato (but not potato) dish that tasted like truffle and heaven. It was paired with a Brandy Alexander–sorry, there aren’t any pictures of either because it smelled so good that I instantly inhaled it before I could realize what was happening *Blacked Out*. It truly is a sign of amazing food when a food blogger skips the pictures to devour it.
Next, came the ‘Market Greens” which included candied walnuts, pickled red onions, olives and parmesan. The salad was killer, and we love when chefs are generous with our best friend, Mr. Parmesan. 
The final dish, and the one that we were smelling 5 stories above that drew us in like a fly to the light, was the Picainha. This was a split-roasted sirloin, over a spinach-pea mash and a phenomenal chimichurri sawwcceee. A flavor explosion wouldn’t do this dish justice, and I don’t think I can properly describe how tasty it was, so just know that I was literally licking my plate clean to get every last drop of the chimichurri. This dish was paired with Silva’s Old Fashioned and it was the perfect way to finish the 4-course meal.
Aside from the food, the company that we enjoyed this meal with made the dinner party extra special. The guests we were seated with kept us laughing and smiling all night. Getting to know some of the people who worked behind the scenes to set up the dinner, and others who work for Astoria at Central Park West, made our night a blast. We always enjoy getting to talk about what goes into creating such a beautiful evening, and chatting with people who aren’t food-bloggers or social media influencers is a breath of fresh air at times ( sorry all of you foodies out there, we still love you too)
Continue to keep it classy, Irvine
-Buddy
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