Saturday, January 25, 7:00 P.M.
Members $85, guests $110

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!

No, we are not a month late. We're right on time to celebrate the birthday of Scotland's most beloved bard, Robbie Burns. True devotees know that the famed New Year sing-along quoted above and most often associated with Burns, save for the perennial favorite, "Ode to a Haggis," is not a Burns original at all. "Auld Lang Syne" is an ancient folk song that the poet supplemented with a few verses of his own, then included in the Scots Musical Museum, a six-volume book of Scottish song and music he catalogued in the last years of his life. Burns' own contribution to the Scottish canon of lyrical verse is extensive; he is most admired for creating verse in the language of the commoner. His fellow Scots embraced him because they identified with his poems—they're mostly about love, self-reliance, and the pleasures of food and drink. Yes, that Burns fellow would have loved a seat at the table in Jim's house. And by night's end, he'd have strung together a verse or two celebrating the hardworking lad or lass in the kitchen.

And what might he have said about his countryman, Scott Connor, who will be preparing our Burns Birthday bash? Perhaps he'd versify on Connor's journey to distant Bermuda, specifically the Seahorse Grill at the tony Elbow Beach Resort. It's a place known for its shark hash, rockfish with jalapeño-ginger crust, and beguiling hibiscus vinaigrette—surely not the kind of fare Burns ever encountered. And while we're unaware of any verse that sings the praises of the menu—on the contrary, many a diner has been rendered speechless by the Grill's superb, Portuguese-inflected contemporary island cuisine—we do know that the Seahorse Grill snapped up local awards for Best New Restaurant and Best Hotel Restaurant. That's poetry to us. A graduate of the Glasgow College of Food Technology, Connor has hung his toque at the Craieendarroch Hotel & Country Club, the Landmark Hotel in London, and Bermuda's Plantation Restaurant. Immediately before signing on at the Seahorse Grill, he headed up Food 4 Thought, a full-service catering company.

Each course of the menu will be indulgently paired with both a wine and a whisky, selected by Master Sommelier Richard Dean of The Mark Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York, who will be on hand to present the libations.