Keith made reservations here to celebrate my belated birthday. We enjoyed the seven-course chef's tasting for $135 per person with the wine pairing for an additional $66 per person. About an hour prior to our arrival, they called to inquire about my dietary restriction and said they would consult with the chef to ensure I had substitutions. Once we arrived, they came over to confirm and had prepared the four-course option for us only, which caused a bit of confusion as Keith wanted the regular full chef's tasting with no substitutions for himself. The team quickly pivoted and it all worked out. Unfortunately, no printed menu was provided so I will do my best to describe each dish based on memory.
To start, we had an amuse bouche of Trout Roe covered in a Vanilla Custard, raw Oyster with pickled blueberries and lemon oil, and Trout Pâté "sandwich". These were lovely, salty, and tart bites to enliven the palate.
The bread course was then presented with a cashew butter.
Next, we enjoyed a bright dish of Granny Smith. Both raw & confit apples were served with almond, vanilla curd, goat butter, and fennel. The textures in each bite were interesting, and I noticed a carry over of vanilla to tie this dish together with the amuse.
A favorite dish was the fresh Scallop Crudo served with a seaweed oil and topped with dehydrated kombu strips -- all to emphasize the salinity even more. We really liked it!
Probably the most unique dish of the night was the Ube "Omlete" served with shiso emulsion, XO, crispy rice, finger limes, and truffle. The ube had a very jello-like consistency, but the fresh XO sauce juxtaposed nicely with the fresh truffle.
Next, we enjoyed the elegant dish of Black Bass with a chamomile butter and honey broth, blue hubbard, lobster oil, and pearl onions. The fish was meaty yet tender and the broth was seductive.
Keith then enjoyed the Dry Age Duck Breast with salted plum sugo, juniper oil, and duck paté. He quite enjoyed the sauce and it paired well with the red wine. (All the prior wines paired so far were various whites. Unfortunately, without a menu or any written notes, I do not have the exact details of each wine. I even asked to take a picture of the bottle, but they did not oblige - out of forgetfulness, not as a mere denial, I believe. Hence, I decided to omit mention of the wine pairings until now.)
While Keith enjoyed the duck, I ate the Blue Corn Tamale stuffed with pork trotters and cockles with epazote and buttermilk emulsion, mezcal and fermented plum salsa verde, and toasted onion powder. This dish was very creative, however I found the tamale to be dry and crumbly. I did not detect any pork at all, but the cockles were dominant.
Course six was an 8-day Koji Strip Steak with fenugreek, beet bordelaise, shiroita battera kombu, and chervil. The flavors were quite earthy and the meat was cooked perfectly.
I ate Langoustine with kumquat puree. It was ok - again, the crustacean was a bit over cooked leaving it chewy and leather-like.
As a pre-dessert we were presented with another vanilla curd with apples (?) that was not overly sweet, but also helped cleanse the palate.
Lastly, for dessert we enjoyed the Lemon Pie, which was not pie at all rather white chocolate sponge cake served with kumquat, lemon meyer curd, and crumble. It was delicious! The citrus flavors shined and tied back to the lemon oil used in previous dishes.
Additionally, I was presented with a birthday ice cream cake, which was fun and also very tasty. A fun sparkle candle was on top, but burnt out quickly before I could get the picture.
At the end of the 3-hour dinner, we were finally presented our check and a box of treats such as chocolate truffles and a passion fruit pate de fruit (one of my favorite candies.) All in all, we had a lovely meal - though new and still working out some kinks, the staff was very attentive and flexible. The chef's creativity beamed in each dish and had a touch of whimsy without being pretentious or unapproachable. We noticed and appreciated the carry over of ingredients from one dish to the next, as a way to weave a thread of continuity within the overall meal. The wine pairings were spot on (again, I wish we were given a menu to take home that listed all the details!), and were a great price for the amount served. I am excited to see how the menu continues to evolve and highly recommend everyone to consider this restaurant for their next celebratory dinner.
Total Rating: 4.28
Food: 4.5, Price: 3, Service: 5, Ambience: 4.5, Accessibility: 5
