At Last, The Food.

Dinner took about 3 hours to complete, but it went by so fast. We never felt like we were waiting for anything. I did go in with extremely high expectations. So my review reflects that mind set. I didn't take any pictures of the food as it was such a gentle and quiet evening that I didn't want the interruptions and just wanted everything to flow and to just go with the experience as we went along.

The menu lists what amounts to a 9 course meal. Well, in reality it was closer to 12 courses!
To start, we were brought 2 tiny Pate a Choux Gourgette Canapes. Filled with a dollop of gouda cheese. They were a warm and tasty bite.

They were followed by Cornets. Mine was a salmon tartar and Cathy's was a red pepper one. They looked like tiny ice cream cones. The cone of the cornet was filled with a creamy cheese filling that went well with the scoop of the main ingredient on the top of the cone. The cone was nice and crunchy and flaky.

Ok, now to the first "official" dish on the menus.
I ordered the "Oysters and Pearls". It was a tapioca sabayon with tiny Beau Soleil oysters and Russian Sevruga caviar. Very delicious. The sabayon was a bit tart and played well with the saltiness of the oysters and caviar.

Cathy ordered the "Ajo Blanco" soup.
It's a chilled garlic soup garnished with slivered almonds and green grapes. The bowl arrives with the almonds and grapes in it and the waiter pours the soup from a carafe into the bowl in a swirling motion around the almonds and grapes. Cathy really liked it.

We both ordered the "Tagliatelle of Hawaiian Hearts of Peach Palm".
The hearts of palm are sliced lengthwise instead of the traditional across wise. So they looked like ribbons. The dressing was a Persian lime gelee with an avocado sauce and cilantro shoots. The lime was perfect with the palm. And the creaminess of the avocado was a nice contrast to the sharp lime flavor.

After this course one of the waiters came around with 2 kinds of butter (salted and unsalted) and a bread that is baked at the Bouchon Bakery that Keller also owns. The bread was a french style bread with a salty top. Tasty.

Next came the fish dish.
Cathy ordered the Sauteed Filet of St. Peter's Fish. (AKA John Dory Fish)
It comes on a bed of pearl onion leaves, globe artichokes and sweet basil emulsion. The bed of the veggies is shaped into a disk and the fish is placed atop it. I sampled it and it was perfect for Cathy. She does ok with very mild fish and this was perfect. She's not a big artichoke fan but the flavor was such that she easily ate it right down.

Ok, now for the first service error of the evening! I ordered the Moneterey Bay Sardines "En Escabeche". They brought me the John Dory dish. Oops! The waiter was mortified. But the correct dish was there in an instant. I think he just grabbed the wrong plate on the way out.
Anyway, the sardines were very good. Something Cathy would not have cared for. As our waiter put it, it's a more advanced dish. The very mild sardines are split in half lengthwise and then poached with the warm pickling liquid. Sort of like Ceviche, but with a warm pickling liquid. The dish is allowed to cool before serving. The vinegar was a champagne vinegar. Not too strong and went well with the oily fish. There were some fine diced peppers and carrots, called "Picalilli" on the dish as well for color and flavor and a bit of crunch.

The waiter who brought us the first bread came by again this time with a basket of 4 breads to choose from. Be careful! You can easily fill up on bread. Anyway, this time we chose a sourdough wheat and a ciabatta to try. Both yummy.

My next dish was the Sweet Butter Poached Maine Lobster "Mitts".
Served on a bed of spinach leaves, toasted almonds, sunchoke puree and madras curry sauce. Let's see. Lobster and butter! What's not to like. Perfectly cooked, the lobster was as tender as the butter. Deelish.

Cathy had the Hand Rolled Garden Basil Agnolotti.
Basically little bitty ravioli. Thin ravioli dough filled with a polenta, basil and pinenuts filling. Served with an heirloom bean ragout. Another delish dish. The filling was basically a delicious Pesto but with the twist of some polenta in the filling too.

We both ordered the Sirloin of Devil's Gulch Ranch Rabbit.
It's wrapped in applewood smoked bacon that didn't compete with the mild rabbit one bit. It was a great compliment to the rabbit. Served with the tiniest 3 bone rabbit rib and half a rabbit kidney. It comes with a polenta cake and a Sweet 100 cherry tomato ragout. The meat was slightly pink and moist. Kidney was very mild. Cathy isn't an organ meat eater so I got her kidney too!

Ok, now for my absolute fave part of the meal so far!
We both ordered the Snake River Farm "Calotte De Boeuf Grilee"
Basically the cap of the prime rib. It's the thin section of meat that is separated from the rest of the rib eye by the layer of fat in the ribeye. So it's the best part of the best part. So full of flavor. I asked for seconds. Laugh. The beef is a hybrid Black Angus and New Zealand Kobe. Extremely tender and very flavorful. Prepared a bit rarer than Cathy cared for but she ate all but one bite. (which I gobbled right down) She liked it anyway. The meat is served with a Fricassee of corn, mushrooms, peas. With a black truffle oil jus reduction and a Yukon Gold potato mousseline. These had to be the smoothest potatoes I've ever eaten.

Ok, now to my least fave dish of the meal. The cheese course.
"Pleasant Ridge Reserve"
I don't know why, but sometimes extra sharp cheese has crystals in it. I don't want crunchy cheese. Anyway, this cheese was very sharp and was served with peach slices and a marinated savoy cabbage salad. This was also the second service error. It was supposed to be served with a slice of a sweet type quick bread. The waiter who was bringing breads around got to us about half way through our cheese course. We chose the walnut quick bread and it really helped with the sharpness of the cheese. But it was kind of late. Another minor thing in the scheme of the meal though. My bigger disappointment was the crystals in the cheese.

Then the palate cleanser.
Silverado Trail Strawberry Sorbet with Pavlova and Chantilly Cream.
This is what strawberries are made for. Such an intense strawberry flavor in the sorbet. Delish and perfect to clear all those rich flavors of the beef and cheese. I've had Pavlova before and it's been weepy. I've asked a guy at my work who knows about Pavlovas and he said they should be weepy. This one was hard and crunchy like a meringue crisp. I'm not a Pavlova expert, but this was just egg whites with sugar baked until pretty hard. The chantilly cream was perfect.


Dessert, and the last "official" item on the menu.
Valhrona Araguani Chocolate Tart.
Served with a caramel ice cream and Butterscotch crunch.
Now the birthday part comes into play. He put a candle in my tart and allowed me to blow it out before describing the dessert. Wow! What an intense chocolate. 72% bittersweet chocolate. Yum! The ice cream and crunch were a nice counterpart to the chocolate.

Then..........
Just when you think you are done and can't eat another bite.......
More stuff!!!

Coffee was offered and accepted. Of course!

Then a group of 4 items were presented at the table. Cathy got a Creme Brulee. I got a Peach Pot de Creme. Both in tiny dishes. Also there were some chocolate coated WHOLE macadamia nuts and the same pate a choux as the beginning of the meal but shaped like butterflies (Papillon) and dusted with coarse sugar.

Then, he brought a tray of chocolates. I tried the licorice one. The chocolate was delish, but the licorice flavor was too subtle for me I think. I think I convinced myself it had some anise flavor but I can't swear to it. The chocolate itself was silky and delish.

Then, to send us on our way he brought 2 packages of 4 pieces each shortbread cookies and one package of 4 chocolate bars with the same butterscotch crunch in them as what was on the plate with the tart. He said the bars were also for my birthday. How cool!!

So, was I satisfied and were my expectations at least met? Absolutely! An amazing meal. Delicious food. Service was great even with the 2 hiccups. In the big scheme of things they meant nothing but did deserve to be mentioned. The crystals in extra sharp cheese may be a normal thing as I've had it in other brands of extra sharp cheese, but then again I've had extra sharp without crystals in it. Just a preference thing on my part.

All in all a wonderful birthday present. I have the best wife ever!!!!
Thank you and I love you.