Well, I can see what you guys were up to while I was away. Good work. Here's what I did last week.
1/27: Water Grill
Wine(s):'01 Patz & Hall Woolsey Road Chardonnay -$65 off list
Paired with grilled French Sea Bass and Stone Crabs.
Wine Notes: Full bodied with rich layers of butter, honey, vanilla, tropical fruits and spices. There was even a hint of Hawaiian Tropic Suntan Oil. Very pleasant wine. Well crafted. Strong recommend.
92 PTS
Overall impression of the restaurant: Very positive experience. Professional service, good quality stemware, (Speigelau) and well prepared, imaginative seafood dishes. This, and Checkers are the best places I’ve been to within walking distance of the downtown financial district.
1/28: Campanile
Wine(s):'00 Brewer-Clifton Rozak Ranch Pinot Noir -$90 off list
and
'97 Spottswoode Cabernet -$135 off list
Paired with Sautéed Trenne, beef Bolognese, peacock kale and shaved parmesan appetizer and braised veal short ribs and horseradish mashed potatoes entrée.
Wine Notes: Brewer-Clifton: Extremely fruity with gobs of strawberry and cherry flavors bursting in the mouth Very sweet, candy-like in the vein of a red lollipop. No earthiness to speak of, but that might develop. If your tastes favor fruit over dirt, you will really fall for this one.
91 PTS
Wine Notes: Spottswoode: Inky purple/black with a huge nose of dark fruit, chocolate and toasted oak. Medium/full body with tannins in check. Good balance and beautifully pronounced flavors that followed the aromatic profile. Drinking well now, and not the least bit “closed” in contrast to many other ‘97s. Will age for at least 7 more years.
94 PTS
Overall impression of the restaurant: Excellent Meal in an attractive setting. Well trained staff despite one curious error. We were brought both Burgundy (Speigelau) and Cab (Riedel) glasses simultaneously, as we asked to have the Pinot first, but wanted the Cab to air in the glass. The server inexplicably began to pour the Pinot into the Cab glass. Probably a harmless oversight. Otherwise he was very professional and knowledgeable. Food was quite good, although I’m not sure that I would order veal Short ribs again. Lilliputian in size, sort of like rib niblets at Applebee’s. But well seasoned and rich.
1/29: Spago
Wine(s):'99 Domaine Drouhin Laurene Pinot Noir -$105 off list
Paired with Mussels in a rich wine, butter and rosemary sauce appetizer and Roast leg of lamb as entrée.
Wine Notes: Really liked this one. Quite a contrast from the B-C the night before. Nose of earthy must. But on the tongue this wine burst with strawberry sweetness. Best of both worlds-Burgundian earth and minerals, and American fruit.
92 PTS
Overall impression of the restaurant: Glad I went to experience it, but I won’t rush back until I check several other places off my list. Dining area seems huge, and is uninterrupted by walls or dividers (probably to add to the star-watching quotient). As a result, it has a sort of banquet hall feel, and is loud. Professional staff and nice stemware. I was seated on time, and despite my reservation for 1 person, I was not seated in Siberia. (Although I was tucked in between 2 tables for two, the first of which seated a bumbling out of town attorney trying to prep a witness for a deposition with all the skills of Barney Fife, and the second of which housed a dufus with no social skills, or any other redeeming quality—at one point he used 2 cell phones simultaneously, one in each ear—much to the chagrin of his date, who had obviously had more chiseling and construction work done on her than Mount Rushmore—I’m pretty sure that her knuckles were original equipment. Beyond that, I doubt it.) As I said, I’m glad I went. Very entertaining evening.
Appetizer was excellent. Huge portion, and very flavorful. The lamb entrée was just OK. Portion was again huge. (Half the patrons left with doggie bags). But flavor wise, the main course did not live up to the appetizer, or frankly the price paid. The dessert of a multi-layered chocolate cake was poor. Tough texture as if it were 2 days old. All in all, I’m glad I went, as I was entertained while dining alone. But from a culinary standpoint, surely there must be better options. Which brings me to….
1/30 Patina
Wine(s):’00 Peter Michael Mon Plasir Chardonnay -Selected by my host. Don’t know price.
’96 Shafer Hillside Select -Selected by my host. Don’t know price.
’98 Dalla Valle Maya -Selected by my host. Don’t know price.
’45 Cossart Gordon Bual Madeira Solera -Again, don’t know price
Ah, yes. It’s great to be the client. And even better when you are treated to dinner by people who know and collect wine.
Pure serendipity conjoined the date of our reservation with a 6 course black truffle tasting menu. Damn. I hate it when that happens. Here’s the menu:
1) Hamachi tartare with shaved celery, Serrano ham and shaved black truffles. I’m not a big fan of raw tuna, but this was quite good. Perhaps rescued by the truffles??
2) Poached lobster with confit of tomatoes, basil and black truffles. Again, quite good, but here the truffles seemed like an afterthought. Would have been fine without them.
3) Risotto of black truffles with Parmigiano-Reggiano and Ligurian olive oil. Wow. A dish like this is why God invented truffles. Why can’t I make risotto this good?
4) Grilled striploin of beef with braised short ribs, romaine and black truffles. Well prepared meat course. Tender and full of flavor.
5) Cheese course. Just OK. A trip to a good market could replicate this with ease.
6) Chocolate cake with hazelnuts, caramel and black truffle ice cream. The cake was one of those molten centered things. Probably had a chocolate truffle squeezed into the batter. Excellent. Not so the black truffle ice cream. No truffle should have given its life for this preparation. I know there was a theme here, but sometimes too much is just that. Everyone at the table agreed.
Wine Notes: Peter Michael: As is usually my experience with these whites, it improved as it warmed a few degrees beyond original serving temperature. Burgundian elegance, full bodied and fat with butter and vanilla hued toasted oak. (Parker didn’t like this one. He must have had a bad bottle, or it has improved markedly in a few months, because everyone at the table really liked this, and as you could tell from the wines selected, my dinner companions know their wines.)
90 PTS
Wine Notes: ’98 Maya: Not decanted, but aired in the glass while we enjoyed the Chardonnay. Total air time-about 25-30 minutes. The first sip of this wine revealed a tannic monster, but the 55%/45% Cab/Cab Franc blend suggested that this might unravel in due time, and it did. But it could have benefited from more than the two hours we had this open. Excellent nose of plum, pipe tobacco, blackberries and cedar. The finish was still there the next morning and couldn’t be brushed away. Powerful stuff, but still lacking that something extra that puts a wine into the scoring stratosphere. A terrific ’98 effort nonetheless.
93 PTS.
Wine Notes: ’96 Shafer HSS: The unanimous winner at the table. Dark, rich, pure Stag’s Leap power. Dark fruit, tobacco, leather, cedar, espresso and oak all present and accounted for. Showed wonderfully, but will certainly last up to 10 more years.
95 PTS
Wine Notes: ’45 Madeira: That’s ’45 as in EIGHTEEN 45. As in James Polk was the U.S. President and Victoria was in the infancy of her reign in England. Color was a dead ringer for the “dark amber” grade of maple syrup. And the flavor wasn’t far off. Think of a teaspoon of maple syrup with a squirt of lime to give it a burst of acidity. No signs of decay. Unmistakable finish of roasted hazelnuts. I really wouldn’t know how to score this because I have so little by way of frame of reference. But my overall enjoyment level says 91-92 PTS
Overall impression of the restaurant: An excellent choice for a wine-focused dinner. The selection of wines as well as the care they are given justify this as a WS Grand Award winner. The meal was uniform ally delicious, save for the truffle ice cream. The risotto was the best I have ever had. Pleasant dining room, despite a curious exterior in an even more curious neighborhood.
Heading home now with purple teeth and a few extra pounds.
|