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Archive for the ‘Michelin star’ Category
Tuesday, September 27th, 2011
To call this a review would be ludicrous. The meal was perfect. I got to meet Eric Ripert. I was a giddy, squealing ’60s Beatles fan girl. You should have seen me! I maintained for my conversation with him but I was jumping up and down once I got outside. I have met many-a-famous-person. I’m a fan girl. I stay after concerts and booksignings in the off chance I’ll get to say hi and take a picture. Never has a rockstar or author had this effect on me. I think it’s because Eric Ripert does something I would love to do: cook seafood *perfectly*.
We were seated near the kitchen and I immediately asked if I could peek inside. I’ve made the mistake of waiting until after the meal and the multiple glasses of wine to head into the kitchen and I’m a bumbling, drunk idiot. So, sober tour for me this time please!
Unfortunately, Chef Ripert wasn’t in the kitchen yet. But it was such a different space than other kitchens, notably the French Laundry. When we went into that kitchen I felt like if I breathed too loudly, I would ruin a dish. In the Le Bernardin kitchen there was a lot of movement and, not chaos, but constant motion. But the chefs (ranking designated by the blue baseball caps) all looked up and acknowledged us, said hello, looked like they were enjoying themselves.
They’re enjoyment came through in every bite. First off, I have to say how much I loved coming to a 3-Michelin star/4-NY Times star restaurant and being given a SPORK! How awesome is that?! The star of the first 3 bites was the fluke. In On the Line it states they can’t take the fluke away, too many patrons would complain. I agree. I made one of the marinades the other night and it was delightful (I used filet of sole, we don’t get fluke here).
Every dish was magic.
CAVIAR – WAGYU
Nebraska Wagyu Beef; Langoustine and Osetra Caviar Tartare
Black Pepper-Vodka Crème Fraîche, Pomme Gaufrette
Champagne Dom Ruinart 1998
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The *only* complaint I had of the entire meal was the smokiness of the dashi gelee. I only ate a very small percentage of the gelee on the plate. The gelee itself was fine but the ratio was off to me. If I had all the gelee, it would have been overpowering.
TUNA
Ultra Rare Yellowfin Tuna; Spiced Dashi Gelée
Green Peppercorn – Iberico Chutney
Yuki no Bosha, Yamahai Junmai, Akita
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Anytime we go to a fancy-pants place like this, I try to get the waitstaff to relax with us. We aren’t uptight. We’d like this food on a plastic table with folding chairs…I don’t care about ambiance and rituals. Every course that came out required a new set of silverware. Including the trowel-like knife which never got used because all the fish was like butter. Every time they brought a new one I laughed! Finally I said, “Seriously, leave the knife!” And he laughed as well and said, “I can’t, it’s my job security, what do you think they’re paying me for?!” He was great.
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LOBSTER
Warm Lobster in a Rosé Champagne Nage
Currant Tomatoes and Hearts of Palm
Chablis, “Vieilles Vignes”, Domaine Savary, Burgundy 2009
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SALMON
Barely Cooked Wild Salmon; Asparagus “Risotto”, Smoked Pistachio Pesto
Château Grillet, Neyret-Gachet, Rhône Valley 2005
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Every dish that came out was amazing but I think the winner of the night was the black bass. It was so wonderfully salty and the mini pork bun was right out of Din Tai Fung in Sydney (my favorite place there!). All elegance and table manners went out the window for me, I was lapping every drop up with my finger.
BLACK BASS
Crispy Black Bass; Lup Cheong and Beansprout
Mini Pork Buns, Hoisin – Plum Jus
Rioja Reserva,Viña Bosconia, Lopez de Heredia, Spain 2003
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KING FISH
“Barbecued” King Fish; Marinated Mango and Napa Cabbage
Sancocho Broth
Barolo, Mirafiore, Piedmont, Italy 2007
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I cook a lot of fish. At least once if not twice a week. I don’t know how he does it. I could take the same ingredients and they would taste good, but not like this. The fish truly is the star of the plate.
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CITRUS
Lime Parfait, Meringue, Avocado Purée, Mint, Grapefruit – Tequila Sorbet
Poire Granit, Pear Cider, Eric Bordelet, France
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CHOCOLATE-TEA
Dark Chocolate Cremeux, Cocoa Pain de Genes, Earl Grey Tea Ice Cream
Pineau des Charrentes Cask No. 2, Paul Marie & Fils
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After the meal, my husband wanted an after-dinner drink so we migrated to the lounge to free up the table. They brought us, what I later found out, is a signature dish of theirs, the chocolate-caramel Egg. It’s in my cookbook but I’ve literally never looked at the dessert section…not my thing. I was so full at that point but the egg was also amazing (tired of that word yet?)
It was then that Chef Ripert walked by…I said hi and that’s when the giddiness hit. I was happy with that but my husband asked the maitre d’ if we could meet and take a photo with Eric. They escorted us back to the kitchen and there he was…just standing there. Squeee! He was so incredibly nice and accommodating. I got to tell him I’m a huge fan, not from Avec Eric or the appearances on Top Chef but from his cook book. Once I started making his recipes I became a big fan. He turned to my husband then and said, “So you get the benefit of this then?” :)
Then he had us move over for a picture so we’d have the kitchen behind us. The photo is now one of my prized possessions. And we got to tell him we’d be seeing him at his Cayman Cookout event in January (on my birthday!). It’s going to be the most amazing birthday EVER!
I know I put the picture at the beginning of the post but it’s worth a second look…it’s me with ERIC RIPERT!!!
Posted in ahi, amuse bouche, chocolate, decadence, dinner, eric ripert, food, Le Bernardin, Michelin star, photos, restaurant, restaurants, review, Salmon, seasonal menu, table dance, tasting menu, wine | 1 Comment »
Monday, April 19th, 2010
 Manresa
320 Village Lane
Los Gatos, CA 95030
I have been wanting to go to Manresa for ages. It seems like it’s harder to plan to go to a place just 20 minutes away over our lovely mountain highway than all the way up to San Francisco. I finally realized, Hey! there are hotels near Manresa too! Just make a weekend of it!. So we stayed at the Tollhouse Inn, which was lovely and comfortable and I would stay there again (next time we eat at Manresa). Oh, did I just give away the ending? Yes, our meal was incredible. We will go back. And now for why…
We were REALLY early for our reservation. They were lovely enough to let us loiter at a table on the patio with the wine list. I passed the time by twittering our wait…what did we do before smart phones? Actually talk to our companions? ;-) Six o’clock rolled around and we were shown in. I listed off my food aversions to the waiter and we ordered the tasting menu with my caveats written in the waiters notes. I’ve decided to make business cards with a list of my dislikes…like a little medic alert card for my taste buds!
The meal started with Orange in Jasmine jelly. It was really tart, refreshing and, well, a little soapy but that’s just my weirdness with jasmine. I used to LOVE jasmine green tea…I’m talking up until about a month ago! Something changed on my tongue and now it tastes like soap. Blargh. But this was still lovely!
Next amuse bouche was Pear Sorbet with an Avocado puree and “yeast crumble”. This did something amazing to the champagne. The yeast on the dish made the champagne less yeasty…not surprising really but a lovely shift in the mouth. The only thing I would have liked on this one was a few more sprigs of the teeny baby mizuna so I could have one with each bite. It reminded my husband of avocado pie but not me because I’ve never had avocado pie!
One of the things my husband can’t eat is sea urchin (Uni). The reason for that is our 2001 trip to L’Arpege in Paris. Something I left out of the review was that my hubby got a wicked case of food poisoning. We’re guessing either from the egg or the urchin…or maybe even something we ate earlier in the day. Either way, the flavor that stuck with him was urchin and the other dish that stands out from that meal was the other risky one: the egg. When talking about our food aversions, he *almost* told the story but I stopped him, why bring that up, right? Well, here’s why!! The next course was, I kid you not, the “Arpege Egg”. The EXACT same dish Alain Passard has made his signature dish. What the hell!?!? What are the odds??? This one seemed a little more poached. We both recall the egg at L’Arpege being raw but when looking back at my notes, it was poached as well. This one was more poached and tasty but I still couldn’t eat it all, I’m not a fan of runny eggs in general, and especially not when it reminds me such experiences!! Don’t let our bad association ruin your enjoyment of this though, I’m sure everyone else loves this to no end!!
The bread came next. The BREAD! OMG, the seeded wheat bread!! So, I love me my carbs. I really do. I think the bread platter was my downfall for the evening. I ate too much bread even though I kept saying, “No, I don’t want to fill up on bread.”….I filled up on bread! This will be an issue later.
The L’Arpege egg wasn’t a weird enough coincidence, there had to be another. In 2000 we went to Sooke Harbour House on Vancouver Island. We had a dish that was a caprese-like salad made with geoduck. At the time, I’d never heard of such a creature. I haven’t had it since…until this: Geoduck with watercress gelee. Well, it was geoduck. It is very, wharfy…and salty…and it tastes like a beach covered in seaweed. The wine cut through the wharfiness in a lovely way though!
Now, this next dish blew me away: Sacramento Delta asparagus with bonito butter. This is where the wonderful bread was so incredibly perfect with the bonito butter. And I was grateful I had a spoon. Husband asked, as I was slurping up the contents of my bowl, “You do know that’s butter right?” YES! Fantastic bonito-filled butter. Like a rich, salty soup. Later in the evening our neighboring table said, “It’s like a butter latte.”
I was very excited to see the next dish placed in front of me. I’d read about it, I’d seen it on the Food Forward trailer: From the Garden. A beautiful plate of fresh garden goodness. This plate encapsulates my beliefs about cooking, although it is all raw. Sprouts, leaves, purees. So much flavor and every bite is different. And every day it’s different. The more you eat, the more you uncover in the garden on your plate. This dish made me smile.
The abalone came highly recommended. This was my husband’s favorite of the night. I have no idea how they got the abalone this tender. It was served over smoked lentils which made it taste like there was bacon in the dish. It reminded hubby of my chanterelle-lentil-spinach salad which is one of his favorite things I’ve made…ever. We mopped up this plate with more of the wonderful seeded bread (oh, more filling up! Noooo!). My husband couldn’t figure out why this combination tasted like memories of being in Big Sur…it was an Everything Bagel with lox! The combination of the fishiness of the abalone, the seeds of the bread, the salty of the broth–it was a palate-memory awoken!
I have to say here that at this point in the meal, we have had an insane amount of wine. My notes get scribbly and short. The True Cod with peas and something illegible was beautiful and scrumptious. My picture is dark and I can’t read what I wrote! I do remember it fondly though!
So, one thing I now have on my list of “do not eat foods” is organ meat. I did not stipulate that before this meal. I feel awful about this. The course was Veal Sweetbreads. I thought, “I can do this…I can try it.” Then I cut into it and the texture killed it for me, I could not eat that. So sorry David!!! I bet they were the best sweetbreads ever, to quote my retired-surgeon-father-in-law, “They don’t have a strong organ flavor.”
Then lamb showed up. I managed to eat 2 bites, it was phenomenal…and I don’t like lamb! But I was so incredibly full at this point (told you the bread would be a problem!). I tried to eat more! I really did! I couldn’t do it!! I think I have a savory-fullness level I hit and can’t surpass. Luckily the lamb was the last savory course and we just had sweet to go.
 Rhubarb and Fennel with Brioche Sorbet. There was something about this that was reminiscent of pineapple upside down cake from childhood. It was a caramelized-cakey-sugary flavor. Excellent.
I wrote down a quote of my own from the evening at this point that sums up my headspace at this point, “I’m having troblems”. Yes, I was trying to say I was having a hard time writing down info about the meal…”troblems.” Yay wine! ;-)
The finale: Yuzu sorbet, chocolate sorbet and candied citrus, including Buddhas hand, which I looked up and it looks like some sort of creature from Star Wars or Star Trek. Crazy fruit! But a lovely candied treat.
As we were stumbling out, praising the meal, the manager asked if we wanted to see the kitchen. This is really something I would love to do again sober! I wanted to have an intelligent conversation with Chef David but was a slurring mess! Drunk on food and wine. An amazing experience all around. I’m already looking in my calendar to find out when we can go back!
Don’t walk..run! And don’t drive! Get a driver, stay at the Tollhouse (6 short blocks away!). But go to Manresa immediately.
Posted in amuse bouche, avocado, chocolate, dinner, flavor, lentils, Michelin star, restaurant, review, table dance, tasting menu | No Comments »
Sunday, September 20th, 2009
Trevese
Just found out Trevese has closed its doors. Guess my scathing review was a little late!
 Our 10 year wedding anniversary snuck up on me somewhat. We’d gone on vacation, had been preparing for our son to start kindergarten, and summer was just flying by. But at the last minute I found a babysitter and did a little Googling and found that Trevese had a Michelin star and we hadn’t been there. I hired a car to drive us over windy Highway 17 and we had our evening booked.
We quickly vetoed the tasting menu as it had too many things we wouldn’t enjoy (pork, lamb, cheese). The vegetarian tasting menu seemed like a joke. The chef has got to be mocking vegetarians. On the vegetarian tasting menu is Tofu TarTar, Granola Rice Roll and Potato Tot… seriously?!? I wanted to order the Tofu TarTar (note, not “tartare”) just to see what the heck it was! But I didn’t.
The first thing to arrive was a shot glass of heirloom tomato and strawberry gazpacho. It was the inspiration for my own gazpacho shooters. A wonderful balance of sweet and tangy. A great start while we were perusing the menu. We did finally settle on what we’d order and it started off well.
The Crispy Quail with Polenta Cake, Smoked Cherries and Chard was finger licking good. The quail had a fried chicken quality and not in a bad way. In an “I want to suck on the bones and lick my fingers” way. The greens were excellent along with the polenta cake. I didn’t have the cherries because I don’t like fruit with my meat but my husband liked them.
To accompany the meal we had a bottle of 2004 Domain Leflaive, “Clavillon,” Premiere Cru, Puligny-Montrachet. It seemed versatile enough to match most of our courses. The wine list was quite interesting. What was most striking was the entire page and Brunello di Montelcinos. There was no other (especially Italian) wine that took up so much of the list so we inquired about this and found out that one of the main investors in the restaurant has a huge collection of Brunellos and sells them on consignment. Brilliant! This gets wine that has been properly aged onto the wine list without the exorbitant markup you can get by trying to find 10-15-year-old Brunello on the retail market. But back to what we actually drank! The Puligny-Montrachet went beautifully with the quail.
Next up was the Sweet Gem Lettuce with a Sweet Onion Dressing, White Anchovy, and Kalamata Olive. This had a very good Caesar salad flavor so it surprised me that it had no cheese on it—of course I was happy with that! It was served with what really tasted like our favorite quick appetizer: Dinon white anchovies. The other salad we ordered was the Asparagus Salad with Juniper Berry and Basil Vinaigrette and Fennel. This was seasonal and fresh. It was a challenge to get on a fork but we managed. It had something they were calling “asparagus flan” which I think would have been better if they’d not called it a flan. It had the texture of a butter more than a custard or flan. Great flavor in it though, just inaccurately named.
So the first courses were great. And then the, unfortunately, all too familiar happened. The main courses came and were disappointing. I see this in so many fancy pants restaurants it seems. The firsts and desserts are great but the mains fall short. Sometimes it’s because of too many ingredients, this time it seemed like it was because of the wrong ingredients.
First up was the Mer Rouge—Prawns, Couscous and Shells Simmered in Marsala Tomato Sauce. This dish was prawny. That’s all there was to it. To quote Janice in Chef, “The prawniness borders on the vulgar to be frank.” I had about three bites and left the rest. And unfortunately the wine emphasized that flavor as well. Blech!
The other dish was Skillet Seared Loch Duart Salmon with Herbed Rice, Fennel Salad and Basil Saffron Broth. The rice in the basil broth was good, the salmon was cooked well (more cooked than I tend to prefer but not overcooked by any means) and then they smothered the salmon in overpowering mustard sauce! It obliterated the fish and anything it came in contact with. Sad.
I decided to have a simple dessert and got an assortment of sorbets and ice cream which were all very good. The texture was wonderful and the flavors were interesting. I wish the openers and desserts stuck with me as much as the mains did. I’m still perplexed by the Michelin star. Was it an off night? Maybe. The first courses were lovely though. Service was impeccable and the sommelier knew his stuff. The evening wasn’t a total loss by any means but not the 10th anniversary extravaganza I was seeking.
Posted in Michelin star, restaurant, review, table dance, Trevese | No Comments »
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