Alumni Club Holiday Dinner
My school's alumni association chapter in the Netherlands had sent me an invite to their second annual holiday dinner. At first I wasn't planning on attending, because it was in Amsterdam and I was worried about getting back to Eindhoven late on a weeknight. Plus it was really expensive - €80 ($120) per person! Contrast this with a dinner in LA with the president of the university, for only $45 per person. Everything in the Netherlands is more expensive, including alumni association holiday dinners.
But the chapter president emailed me offering me a discount for being a young graduate, and that made a big difference. I decided to attend.
It was hosted at a mansion called Huize Frankendael. Really beautiful, and surprising to see in Amsterdam where everything is packed together really tightly.
Drinks in the beginning and dessert at the end were upstairs in elegant reception rooms, while we had dinner downstairs in the rustic carriage house.
Now, in America I can already tell you the menu for this type of event. Salad to start, choice of chicken breast or cream pasta for main, and chocolate cake for dessert. I was pleasantly surprised by the food here, which I presume is catered by the restaurant in the same building, Merkelbach.
First course was wild goose terrine en croute, with a bit of salad on the side.
Main course was pike perch with horseradish crust, parsley, artichoke, and lots of tiny little very tender mussels. The perch was really masterfully cooked; very juicy with a crisp crust.
We finished with a chocolate mousse with pistachio sauce.
Besides the food, I did enjoy meeting the different people at the dinner. It wasn't just alumni from my school, since the invitation was also extended to alumni from other schools in the US and UK as well. There was a mix of Dutch and non-Dutch people, from all different fields, and of all ages. Unlike in Cincinnati where there were always 5 or 6 of us younger graduates who all worked at the same company, with a dozen or so alumni in their 60s or 80s.
