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Archive for the ‘seasonal menu’ 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 »
Wednesday, July 13th, 2011
Greens
Fort Mason, Building A
San Francisco, CA 94123
415-771-6222
 Spring Rolls A friend and I were meeting up to see Tim Minchin at the Palace of Fine Arts…Brilliant show by the way. We needed food first so she got us into Greens at the last minute. I thought I hadn’t been there but as soon as I parked and started heading past the harbor boats I had a de ja vu. Yeah, I’d been there but it had been years and years and I think we were there for lunch. I really don’t recall anything about the meal then so this was a brand new experience!
 Sampler Plate We ordered a number of things and split them all, starting with the Spring Rolls (with grilled tofu, carrots, jicama, Thai basil, mint and rice noodles. Served with hoisin, grilled shiitake, beech mushroom and radish salad). These were good but I’m going to rename them Mint Spring Rolls…not a subtle flavor.
The sampler was great because we could easily split the things between what I like and don’t like! My friend got the beet salad, olives and marinated Yarra Valley feta, we shared the taboulleh, grilled artichoke, mummous and pita. All very tasty.
 Paparadelle wiht Peas The Green Gulch Lettuce and Little Gems salad (with Hidden Star Orchard cherries, Point Reyes Original Blue, slow roasted almonds and golden balsamic vinaigrette) was lovely and the cherries were a nice addition.
The Pappardelle with snap, snow and English peas, pine nuts, spring onions, meyer lemon butter and chives tasted like spring. I know it’s July but we had winter here through June so we’re just getting our spring! It was wonderful to have pine nuts again. I haven’t had them in ages since there is apparently a shortage although that’s hard to believe when I drive around California surrounded by pine trees! I know, they’re from a certain type of pine…but still! I miss them.
The dishes at Greens aren’t complicated. They aren’t piled with a million conflicting flavors. They are vegetarian. They are flavorful, fresh, seasonal, beautiful. You can’t beat the view—the boats in the harbor with a peek at the Golden Gate behind them if the fog lifts enough.
Parking can be a challenge if there is event at Fort Mason but if there’s not, the large parking lot should have a space available somewhere. I love that Greens set the standard for locally source, vegetarian fare *years* ago and it still going strong. It’s a classic.
Posted in dinner, food, organic, pasta, restaurant, review, San Francisco, seasonal menu, table dance | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011
I host a soup night, ideally once a month, but really it happens when we have a free weekend night. I make a huge pot of soup, customized each time for the number of people coming and the allergies/preferences/aversions of the guests. It’s really, really fun and it gives us a way to actually get together with our friends regularly even when life is hectic. It’s a different group of people each time…and if there is every a time that everyone on the invite list can show up, I’m not sure what we’ll do, our house isn’t nearly big enough!
This time I live-tweeted the making of the soup, just for fun. A sort of step-by-step recipe without instructions! This is enough soup for 16-18 people.
3 onions:
 Onions 4-5 quarts chicken stock simmering on the back burner:
 Chicken Stock Simmering 3-4 carrots (mulitcolored, they looked cool!):
 Added Carrots 1 fennel bulb and 4 stalks celery:
 Fennel and Celery Cooking all that stuff down, entertaining myself with the camera:
 Waiting for veggies to cook down 4 yellow potatoes:
 Potatoes will go in next 3/4 bottle white wine and 6 cloves garlic:
 Added white wine and garlic One bunch kale, somewhat “julienned”…I’d say finely shredded:
 Shredded Kale 6 small zucchini:
 Zucchini Snap peas, halved:
 Lastly, snap peas In there with the zucchini went 3 cans of cannellini beans and then the soup was ladeled over spaghetti that I broke in half before boiling (so it would be possible to eat it with a spoon!)
To serve it was first pasta, then soup, pesto on top of that (basil-walnut-lots of lemon), and for everyone but me, shredded parmesean.
 Topped with pesto for serving Yum.
Tags: soup
Posted in amateur, dinner, flavor, food, organic, pesto, photos, potato, recipe, recipes, santa cruz, seasonal menu, zucchini | No Comments »
Thursday, June 30th, 2011
I thought the last dinner was good. This one was better. Not that there was anything missing from the first one, I just felt that this one stepped it up.
 Arriving and mingling We went with 4 friends and they hired a driver to take us to and from the dinner so much more wine was consumed than at the last event. So much so, I forgot the menu there and I don’t have all the details of this meal! Therefore, this will be more of a photo tour of the evening.
 A rundown from Jim and Leah We gathered around to hear from Jim and Leah and then we headed around the farm to meet the goats and chickens, see the variety of crops and check out the original apple trees from 100 years ago.
 On the farm tour  The source of the goat cheese Surrounding the entire farm is a deer fence. The farm bumps right up to the Soquel hills so without the fence, the deer would destroy the farm. They still have to contend with coyotes, mountain lions and gophers, but at least the fence dissuades the deer!
 Rows of crops meld into the tree line  300 chickens live here We wrapped up the tour and were lead down to an amazing table setting. We sat along the creek, it was absolutely gorgeous.
 The table is set up by Soquel creek The first course featured farm grown spinach and beets and was topped with goat cheese made from the goats we’d just met.
 Spinach with Goat cheese and beets It’s amazing the kitchen setup they have out in the woods. Backwoods gourmet at its finest!
 The smell of the outdoor kitchen wafts down to the diners The shellfish dish was the highlight of the dinner (not that there were any lows!). We got loaf after loaf of bread to soak up the amazing broth the clams, mussels and squid were in. It was heavenly. I could have had nothing but this all night and been a happy foodie.
 Shellfish and squid stew with crusty bread There was a course in between here of perfectly cooked, lick every bit from your finger, gorgeous quail. So good, I forgot to pull out my camera….I would have gotten quail juice on it anyway.
And dessert by candlelight was scrumptious strawberry shortcake.
 Strawberry shortcake for dessert The whole dinner was paired with wines from Testa Rossa vineyards and Corralitos Brewing Company beer. I even enjoyed the pink wine…it was my least favorite of the evening but I still liked it!
Good food, good friends, good times. Life’s mantra.
Posted in dinner, farmers market, flavor, food, fruit, gardening, organic, photos, santa cruz, seasonal menu, spinach, squid, table dance, tasting menu | No Comments »
Thursday, June 23rd, 2011
Charlie Trotter’s
816 West Armitage
Chicago, Illinois 60614
773 248-6228
 Brioche You had me at the bread. Lost me for a bit with the chicken foot but got me right back with the morels.
That’s the meal in twitter format, now for the rest of the story.
 Confit of Ivory King Salmon I have to be totally honest here, the meal got off to a bit of a slow start. The Confit of Ivory King Salmon with Fennel and Star Anise was nice but I thought it needed a touch more salt. There wasn’t anything
wrong with it per se, it just wasn’t revelatory. The salmon was remarkably pale. Poured with this was a non-vintage Champagne Billecart-Salmon Extra Brut. It tasted like Martinelli’s sparkling apple cider. More so with every sip.
 Poularde with Rhubarb and Chicken Foot Then the Milkfed Poularde with Braised Rhubarb, Cilantro and Toasted Sesame arrived…adorned with a deep fried chicken foot….the whole thing was room temperature. I really don’t think it was supposed to be, and if it was, it shouldn’t be. The rhubarb was sweet and I’m not usually big on sweet things with my meat in general unless it’s done perfectly and interestingly. I ate it, foot and all, but did not enjoy the dish. The wine was Greek: Domaine Skouras, Moscofilero, Pelopennese 2010. Very floral…to the point of tasting like hotel soap. With my sample of one Greek wine, at this point, I’m not rushing to Greece for a wine tour. I was worried. Usually restaurants tend to wow me with their first 2-3 courses and lose me with their mains. This was not a good start.
 Halibut with Arugula Blossom, Artichoke I shouldn’t have been worried. Next up was the Steamed Halibut with Arugula Blossom, Purple Artichoke and Wild Caper Vinaigrette. This was beautiful. Perfectly cooked, nice salinity, sauced so well I mopped the last of the sauce up with my fingers. The sauvignon blanc this was paired with (Scholium Project “La Severitaa di Bruto-Farina Vineyards” 2009) was pleasant and crisp and a welcome change from the Greek calamity. It’s an experiment out of UC Davis. A successful experiment.
 Rabbit Loin with Morels The rabbit. OH THE RABBIT!! I am not a big fan of rabbit. I grew up in a 4-H town, lots of people raised bunnies. I never found the flavor very interesting. Usually a bit like chicken but less meat to work with. The Arkansas Rabbit Loin with Morel Mushroom, Endive and Rye was incredible. The morels were the first I’ve had this year so that was a treat to my hard-core food porn self. The demiglace was rich and the cumin crackers should be sold to me in large boxes. Every week, ship me more! This dish was paired with a beautiful, and actually light-bodied, 2005 Vosne-Romanee Maison Champy. I would have thought it would be too light for the richness of the dish but it really worked.
 Lamb with Porcini Before showing up, I’d given the restaurant my list of aversions. I was beginning to think they browsed this site and found my favorite things to substitute. The Elysian Fields Lamb was made NOT for me. It was supposed to have Smoked Red Pepper, Chickpea Pannise and Kalamata Olive. BLECH! Mine came out with a pristine, fresh porcini! IN JUNE! Apparently from Oregon…craziness. The substitution couldn’t have been more spot on.
The palate cleanser was Prickly Pear Sorbet with Nopales and Campari Jelly. Man, was the campari bitter! One little bite of that stuck with me for a while. The sorbet was lovely but I couldn’t shake the bitter jelly taste for a good long while.
 Chocolate Brioche with Maple Ice Cream and Caramelized Popcorn The Chocolate Brioche with Reduced Maple Ice Cream and Caramelized Popcorn was great. I wouldn’t have called it a brioche, it was more dense than that but that wasn’t a problem. There was some sort of foam on top…not a fan of foam, looks like spittle bug goo. I could have done without it, it didn’t add anything to the dish. The popcorn was good and crunchy and not too stick-in-your-teethy.
 Cookies and treats My favorite part of the dessert courses though was the tiny little marshmallow on the cookies plate. Lots of vanilla flavor, wonderful texture, so fresh and beautiful.
My husband (Disclaimer: he roasts his own coffee beans and has become a huge coffee snob) got a cappuccino and was disappointed in the over-roasted bean flavor. I got green tea and that was nice :)
Overall we had a wonderful meal. I would definitely go back. We sat next to two Navy sailors in their dress whites (Hey! They didn’t have to wear a jacket!). They were so far from the stereotype of sailors. For one, they were at Charlie Trotter’s and secondly, they were discussing Chinese Opera with the waitress. Loved it!
The waitstaff was all very attentive without being stuffy and hover-y. We visited with the woman at the bar after our meal while we were waiting for our ride and had a wonderful conversation about Mexico, mexican food, various alcohols and traveling. I never know what the attitude of these places will be when we go, especially when there is a jacket required, but it was a lovely evening.
Posted in dinner, flavor, restaurant, restaurants, review, seasonal menu, table dance, tasting menu | No Comments »
Thursday, May 12th, 2011
I was very excited for my first Outstanding in the Field dinner. I tried to get tickets last year and it sold out too quickly, I missed out. This year I booked 3 events to make up for it! I wish I could do more but our calendar is not cooperating with that idea.
So, we arrive at the event, get dropped off by a shuttle and walk through the farm and up a hill to a beautiful view of the bay and the farm. They’re wandering around with appetizers that they are preparing in front of us as well and pouring Soquel Vineyards Sauvingon Blanc…a beautiful wine after a warm walk.
The crab appetizer was my favorite: Dungeness crab with Companion Bakers sourdough crackers (it had asparagus..and other yumminess!). My husband raved about the Marinated beets with Almond ash.
 We chatted with some of the other diners. Planted ourselves near the prep table so as to nab appetizers when they came out…sneaky we are ;-)
After a few announcements and introductions, we split into groups and headed out on a tour of the farm. Apples, grapes, veggies, pigs, chickens, they’ve got it all. The chickens control pests and provide fertilizer for the soil as well as eggs and meat for the CSA. They have a house full of cute little chicks and rotate the areas the full-sized chickens graze in. The pigs get moved around as well and right now the priority is shade. Poor HUGE Daisy is pregnant and looking for all the shade she can find! We continued around the farm getting the lowdown on the crop rotation, the benefits of the animals, the variety of vegetables and fruit being grown and a preview of things we were about to get on our plates.
Then we headed to the apple orchard that had been converted into a fine dining experience. The tables looked amazing. The view was breathtaking.
The other tour groups straggled in, we picked our seats and began to visit, eat, drink, question, chat, advise. We happened to end up sitting at the table with the farmers which was, of course, lovely. We learned a lot and just had fun with them in general.
The first dishes to come out was grilled green garlic with artichokes and wilted fava leaves, charred shallots, and smoky fava beans. All really wonderful. I especially enjoyed the wilted fava leaves since this is something you normally don’t get unless you grow favas.
 
Next out was squid with black butter (not squid ink, brown butter pushed past brown…but not bitter or burnt flavored. I don’t know how they did that), peas, asparagus, marinated green strawberries and wood sorrel. I always push the peas aside in dishes. I like peas by themselves and raw but usually don’t like them in dishes. I ate every last one of these.
The winner of the night thought was the smoked chicken. I get chicken from my CSA every two weeks and cook one the night I pick it up. I know how much better fresh chicken is. Then add to that the chef skills of these wonderful OTF folks and it is so…chickeny! I think people have forgotten what chicken is supposed to taste like…it’s this.
Then it got dark…no more pictures. And it got late. And we had our son at the neighbors on a school night. And we still had dessert. Luckily the dessert were scrump-diddly-umptious ice creams cones from Penny Ice Creamery and we could grab one and bolt to the shuttle to get our car and head home. We got one of each flavor: rose petal and strawberry pink peppercorn. I thought the rose petal was great…until I tried the strawberry! It was even better! They really make *the* best ice cream. We were stuffed and had no problem finishing both of these!
I can’t wait for our next Outstanding in the Field event in June!
Posted in chicken, dinner, farmers market, food, gardening, organic, potato, santa cruz, seasonal menu, table dance, tasting menu | No Comments »
Thursday, May 12th, 2011
This is basically the springtime version of my fall mushroom salad. Subtract chanterelles, add green garlic. Voila!
Easy: Spinach…wash it, put it on a plate
Lentils…cook them with a clove of garlic and some thyme. Choose your preferred liquid to cook them in, I use chicken stock.
Green garlic dressing…recipe featured here.
To plate…well, spinach, then spoon some lentils on top, then drizzle some dressing on that. You didn’t need me to spell that out did you? Oh, and if you like, crumble bacon on top. To pretty it up, I added some julienned turnips and chive flowers.
Posted in amateur, bacon, dinner, food, lentils, recipe, recipes, seasonal menu, self pleasuring, spinach | No Comments »
Sunday, November 7th, 2010
Some friends came over for dinner last night and I decided I would go all out and make a multi-course extravaganza. We’ve been touting the excellence of Mark Bitterman’s new book, Salted: A Manifesto on the World’s Most Essential Mineral, with Recipes , to anyone who will listen so I made sure to highlight salts in the meal.
 To get people started, just a little plate of nibblies: prosciutto, olives, Mt. Tam triple cream brie from Cowgirl Creamery and some walnut levain.
Then we got serious. My ever popular and damn good Ahi Tartare that I have made countless times at this point. It never fails to impress those who have never had it though. I think I finally figured out the right balance of shallots, herbs, lemon, salt. I’m happy with this nearly every time now. I used Shinkai Deep Sea Salt in the tartare and topped this with Turkish Black Pyramid salt.
Thanks to the huge number of pomegranates I got from my dad, I came up with this salad: Butter lettuce with shaved fennel and apples (from our tree) and pomegranate seeds. I made a dressing with just minced shallot, salt, champagne vinaigrette and olive oil. I let the shallots soak in the vinegar and salt for at least an hour or maybe two so they were soft and the flavor permeated through. I topped the salad with a sprinkle of Murray River Salt. Simple and delicious.
I got a huge squash from my CSA this week so into the oven it went for squash soup based on this recipe. The only difference was the squash type and I used leeks in addition to onion. The squash, according to my CSA newsletter was a Orange “sunshine” Kabocha. It was a “thicker” squash when pureed into the soup. I think it has a bit less water in it that a butternut which produced a thick, creamy soup. I fried up some king trumpet mushrooms in butter and topped the soup with those for a roasty, nutty addition. This one I topped with some Big Sur Fleur de Sel that we picked up somewhere locally. Any semi-coarse sea salt would work well, I just wanted something that wouldn’t just dissolve in the soup but give a little crunch every few bites.
Nevermind the main protein course. I had an epic fail with my meat thermometer and over cooked the beef. It was still edible, but very much well done and not how I like my cow. So disappointing. But we had already had so much food it really wasn’t a complete disaster.
Instead we moved on to the dessert which is the spawn of too many apples on our tree and me not liking to really bake. Simple apple crisp with, guess what, POMEGRANATE! I made the syrup last week and have it in a squeeze bottle in the fridge for just such occasions. To make the crisp, just slice apples up, put them in a baking pan and top them with a mixture of:
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup chopped pecans
Bake at 350° for 1 hour. Serve warm (I baked it ahead and put it back in the oven for 15 minutes before serving it). Top with some pomegranate seeds, a generous drizzle of pomegranate syrup and your favorite vanilla ice cream.
It was a stellar evening, much good wine was also consumed of course. Champagne with the tartare and salad. Burgundy with the soup. Solera with the apple crisp. A happy night was had by all.
Posted in ahi, ahi tartare, amateur, apples, butternut squash, dinner, food, leeks, mushrooms, photos, proscuitto, recipe, seasonal menu, self pleasuring, tuna tartare | 3 Comments »
Friday, October 15th, 2010
JoLe
1457 Lincoln Avenue
Calistoga, CA 94515
707-942-5938
We used to go to Calistoga just about every year. We’d go in February, off-season, rainy, cheaper, but just as tasty and relaxing. Since our son was born six years ago, we’ve only been twice. This trip makes three times. Every time we go, I say, “We need to make this happen more often!” The main reason I said that this time is JoLe. 
I honestly can’t remember exactly how I found JoLe. I was looking for somewhere new to eat in Calistoga. We’ve done All Seasons Bistro and Calistoga Inn multiple times. Somehow I stumbled upon this wonderful farm-to-table restaurant and knew I had to try it.
We spent the day at the spa: mud+jacuzzi+massage=body-jello. I’m sure that contributed to my overwhelming drunkenness by the end of dinner! Still, I enjoyed every bite and every sip. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
JoLe does a tasting menu but it is unlike most tasting menus out there. You get to choose whatever 4, 5, or 6 courses you’d like from the menu and it’s not for the table but per person. That works well for picky me! We started with Forni Brown & Welsh Mixed Greens: Cherry tomatoes, avocado, bacon . Translation? BLT-Avo without the bread. An Atkins BLT if you will. So, so good. The bacon wasn’t too smoky, which I don’t like, it was more just salty and porky and there was the perfect amount of it for the salad.
The next course held a bit of a shocking win for the sommelier. He brought me pink wine. I don’t drink pink wine. Maybe it’s the goth in me, I just can’t do it. I don’t even like Domain Tempier Bandol Rosé. This one was called Lorenza. It was from Lodi. None of these things were going to make me like it more. It was paired with Bobby P Tomato Salad: Heirlooms, ricotta, pesto. Well, firstly, I left of the ricotta and they put the pesto on the side which I didn’t eat either because it had cheese in it. So, I had my gorgeous plate of tomatoes drizzled with some balsamic. No complaints here, I only eat tomatoes in season and I know that in the very near future they will go away and I’ll be tomato-less for at least 9 months. A bite of tomato, a sip of PINK wine….wow! Most wine doesn’t clash with tomatoes but not many actually pair with them. This one did. The tomatoes gave the wine a tomato-water flavor. It was incredible. I’ve never had anything like it. Kudos to Dan the sommelier!! (After far too much wine, my husband actually high-fived him…My husband doesn’t high-five…embarrassing now but it felt justified then!).
The next dish, Pink Snapper: Melted leeks, salsify, red wine reduction was beautiful. I make a lot of fish and we have, to quote my husband, a stupid amount of Pinot. So we pair fish and pinot all the time. We go against the grain you know, fish and red wine–shocking! I like them together and it was no exception here. The thing I fail at is getting the fish skin to crisp up. The waiter informed me that I should start with a cold pan (like with bacon). It makes perfect sense. I always start with the pan hot and it doesn’t render the fat under the skin and it gets soggy.
The Black Cod Croquettes: Chick pea, spinach and chorizo stew was a huge win. I’m not big on deep fried stuff. Fries, done right, are way up my list of favorite things, otherwise I’d rather have it pan-seared than deep fried. The exception being these amazing croquettes. The weren’t at all greasy, they were perfectly cooked through, they were complimented well with the spinach and chorizo. A surprising favorite of mine.
You may notice that the wine descriptions are disappearing and the food descriptions may get a liitle vague. To be honest, the whole evening gets a little vague. I remember clearly my pure bliss in eating the Quail: Broccoli rabe, figs, balsamic brown butter…however I don’t really remember why. I raved about both the quail and the wine pairing. What that wine was and why I loved it so is forever lost in a wino haze. Occupational hazard really.
 Now we’re to the point in the evening that I know happened. I have photographic evidence. I know I thought the sorbets were great. I even remember favoring one over another. What flavors were they? Wouldn’t you like to know!! I guess you’ll have to just go to Calistoga and have them for yourself. Of course, they’ll be different flavors depending on the season but I’m sure they’ll be just as good.
I think this is still considered an ”up and coming” new restaurant. I think it will go far. We were completely bowled over by the food and the talent of the sommelier. I hope we can get back up to Calistoga again before reservations for JoLe become too hard to come by! And next time maybe I’ll get the 5 courses instead of 6, I was more full and drunk that I really ought to have been…yum.
Posted in avocado, bacon, beef, dinner, restaurant, review, seasonal menu, table dance, tasting menu, tomatoes | 1 Comment »
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