September 2007
This was the first trip the JJ and I have taken where the focus has been primarily on eating. While it made for some great meals, getting all those reservations months in advance tends to cut down on the spontaneity. I was very impressed by the quality of the restaurants and the general food culture in California. But even while in awe of such high standards, I was able to better appreciate the things on the Montreal food scene that I really appreciate, like the quality of French bistro cuisine here and the authenticity of a pizzeria like Bottega.
Reviews are in chronological order. Marrakech is next in the food travels section. Enjoy!
1. Zuni Café, San Fransisco
We were told we had to come here and had to order the roasted chicken tossed in warm bread salad. So we did. And how good can roast chicken be? Amazing. A succulent whole roasted bird cut into pieces and tossed with its juices with hunks of toasted peasant bread and fresh salad greens. The dressing from the salad contrasts well with the richness of the chicken and dried currants provide little bursts of sweetness.
The picture does not do it justice but it is well worth the one hour wait it takes to cook it in the brick oven. A rabbit salad with Black Muscat grapes, pecans and frisée, was a tasty appetizer, although the salad was a little on the oily side the rabbit was perfectly cooked. The JJ's Caesar salad was solid as well, though nothing a competent home cook couldn't make. My dessert, a flourless chocolate gateau Victoire with whipped creme fraiche was simple and elegant. The service was excellent and the restaurant is a jewel: a wedge-shaped two level room with soaring ceilings and a big brass bar. I would gladly eat here again. As a side note the Zuni Café Cookbook by Judy Rodgers is really one of the best practical cookbooks I have ever used. The roasted chicken came out great at home, even without the brick oven.
2. Tartine, San Francisco
We woke up early and rushed to the Mission to beat the crowds at this popular bakery. Good thing we did. At 8:45 we were fifth in line. By 9am, when it opened, the line-up had snaked down half a block. Surprisingly, for a place so jam-packed with people, Tartine has a real rustic and laid-back California vibe (or at least that's how it looked to us foreigners). The croissants are beautiful (but a little too buttery for my taste). I preferred the almond croissant and the delicious bread pudding.
The scones we took home were fantastic the next morning as was the mini banana cream pie I ate for dessert the next night. Frankly, everything looked so good, it's shocking that we didn't buy more. This is one place we will definitely revisit on our next trip.
3. The Slanted Door, San Francisco
The Slanted Door offers a nice mix of traditional Vietnamese classics and Vietnamese-inspired dishes made with local ingredients. We tried the ubiquitous spring roll, which was solid but it was the daikon rice cake (pictured) with its beautiful consistency and addictive vinaigrette that got us really excited.
A salad of heirloom tomatoes with pickled green mango, thai basil and lotus chips was bursting with fresh flavours and the stir fried Anderson Ranch lamb with spring onions and dried red chilies was a study in flavour and texture contrasts. While prices might seem high for Vietnamese food, they are pretty low given the quality of the offering. The decor is modern, the setting on the wharf in the Ferry Building is interesting and the food is great. Recommended.
4. Taylor's Refresher, St. Helena
We had planned to eat here for a while and when it was named one of the top three burgers in the U.S. by Bon Appetit Magazine we started to suspect it would live up to the advance hype. While it may not actually serve the best burgers in America, the inventive menu at Taylor's was some of the finest fast food I have ever had. The seared Ahi tuna burger marinated in soy and served rare with wasabi mayo and Asian coleslaw on a toasted egg bun takes the tuna burger to a whole...other....level.
The JJ had a Texas burger which features fresh guacamole, salsa and pickled jalapenos and I settled for the classic bacon cheeseburger. We sat at one of the picnic tables behind the restaurant and ate our burgers, sweet potato fries, garlic fries tossed in garlic butter and parsley and a nice cool watermelon lemonade before grabbing a vanilla shake to share on the way out. I wish I could have eaten more because everything on this menu looks good. Taylor's also may have the most impressive wine list of any fast food restaurant...ever. We talked about this place for days and even ended going back to the San Francisco location. My advice...drive up to St. Helena...it is a much more authentic experience.
5. The French Laundry, Yountville
This was the best meal I have ever had... and second place is not even close. The truth is that I did not expect this meal to be amazing. It's so hard to impress with a 9 course tasting menu that I figured there had to be some off-notes. Naive of me, I suppose. This is the first Michelin 3-star at which I have dined and it appears that the normal rules may not apply at this level.
The French Laundry is a pretty solemn place (at least for California), with a dress code and immaculately polite service. I didn't think it was appropriate to pull out a camera to take pictures of everything we ate, but here it is:
- Amuse-Bouche mini-sesame cone with salmon mousse, creme fraiche and caviar goujonette de fromage
- Oysters and Pearls. One of Thomas Keller's signature dishes: a pearl tapioca sabayon with Beau Soleil oysters and white sturgeon caviar. So delicate and such a beautiful contrast of textures and flavours. The warm, mild sweetness of the tapioca, the cool saltiness of the oysters and the sharp saltiness of the caviar are a heavenly combination.
- Salad of Tokyo Turnips. Beautiful arrangement of slightly salty white turnips, balls of Asian pear, slices of red radish, toasted pili nuts and perilla leaves with a black sesame vinaigrette. Likely the least impressive dish of the evening, it could have used a little more color. Seemingly discordant flavours harmonised beautifully. The intense flavour and sweetness of the pears was offset by the sharpness of the radish and the tanginess of the turnip.
- Sautéed Fillet of Pacific Suzuki. Japanese seabass served on an eggplant purée with artichokes and peppers from the French Laundry garden. The fish was, of course perfectly cooked and the peppers had very clean vibrant flavours. The JJ opted for the yuzu-cured kampachi (amberjack) sashimi with cucumber, fennel, ikura (salmon roe) and cilantro shoots. I liked this a little less than my seabass, mostly because this dish seemed out of place in the progression of the menu.
- Maine Lobster Tail. I almost cried when I tasted this dish. I felt like this was the first time I had ever really tasted lobster. Poached in sweet butter and served in a watercress emulsion with cipollini onions and raw apple, the lobster was intensely flavourful and married well with the other flavours on the plate. All the flavours were clean and vibrant. Possibly the most impressive dish of the evening.
- Rouelle de Tête de Cochon. I had to ask the waiter about this one. A pig's head is slow cooked and the tender bits of meat are removed, seasoned, lightly breaded and fried. The result is a hockey puck sized fritter full of succulent pork which is served on frisée and topped with a poached quail egg and gribiche. Very tasty although the meat may have been a tad salty. The JJ opted for the aiguilette of Liberty Farm duck with fried green tomatoes, golden corn and aragula, a contract in colors.
- Snake River Farms Calotte de Boeuf Grillée. The other candidate for top dish. The calotte is the tip of the prime rib which, in this case comes from Wagyu cross-bred with American cattle. Grilled to perfection and served with bordelaise sauce, butter braised ratte potatoes, wilted spinach and whisps of an amazing bone marrow pudding, I could have eaten eight of these. Being from Alberta I take pride in knowing my beef but this dish really blew me away. This may be the best beef I have ever had.
- Blanc de Bleu. A semi-firm goat cheese served with red beets cooked sous-vide, celery branch and black truffle purée.
- Grape Sorbet. Served with a sultana financier, verjus foam and a raisin coulis. Very flavourful.
- Délice au Chocolat et à la Menthe with chocolate mint parfait and mint syrup. Technically impressive but not mind-blowing. The JJ had a fig tart with truffle honey-mascarpone ice cream and fresh figs which was much tastier.
- Mignardises. An additional dessert was brought to us that did not figure on the menu. I had a beautiful perfect pana cotta while the JJ had a creme brulée which was not incredibly impressive as the dish it had been prepared in was too flat (allowing the caramelization to heat up the custard too much). We were also presented with chocolate covered sugar powdered macadamia nuts and truffles. By this point we were ready to burst and it was well past midnight. The friendly staff boxed them up for us with home made shortbread and sent us on our way.
The French Laundry has an extensive wine list including an immense selection of half bottles which are perfect for two people who would like a progression of wines with the menu. We started with a Sauvignon Blanc from Merry Brown, a Russian River winemaker whose wines are notoriously difficult to find outside of restaurants (I ended up buying a bottle from Bouchon to take home). Our second choice was the 2004 Syrah Les Titans from Peay. Both wines were very strong recommendations from the sommelier (although I suppose that when you're dealing with a set menu this is not that dififcult a task).
In addition to the food the service was excellent, very professional and not overly solicitous. Everything about this restaurant screams perfection, from the food, to the service, to the lighting in the bathrooms. At $700 for dinner for two, this is a good thing. While not a bargain by any means, I will gladly return on my next trip to California.
6. Cyrus, Healdsburg
Some acts are harder to follow than others and I doubt I'll ever be able to be truly objective about our meal at Cyrus. Due to the perils of booking restaurants months in advance we ended up eating there the night after French Laundry so a head-to-head comparison was inevitable.
We got off to a good start with a pre-dinner cocktail. The Cyrus bar, supervised by mixologist extrordinaire Scott Beattie has a deserved reputation for quality and innovation. The house cocktail list sports imaginative creations relying on fresh herbs and exotic ingredients. Definitely one of the highlights of the night.
Decorum and solicitous service are at least as much on order at Cyrus as at The French Laundry. Meals start with a pass of the caviar and champagne tray, which we declined. The menu at Cyrus is divided into selections of soups, vegetables, pastas, seafood, poultry, meat, cheese and dessert. Diners can create their own three to five-course meal (or more) from these categories.
The pasta and risotto were both amazing. The Gnocchi tossed with fava beans, scallions and bacon and topped with chanterelle froth was right up there with the best dishes I ate on this trip (and indeed in my life), while a truffled red wine risotto with parmesan broth was an example of how risotto should be made. Not too dry or overcooked and with the flavours complementing rather than overpowering the taste of the rice.
Our seafood selections were a little disappointing. The Thai marinated lobster with avocado, melon and fresh hearts of palm is almost a signature dish at Cyrus but it failed to impress with the delicate taste of the lobster being drowned out and the ingredients a little too cold to fully savour. My white shrimp with summer beans and cumin panisse (like polenta but made with garbanzo bean flour) and paprika sauce were well cooked but the paprika sauce was not enough in evidence and the dish as a whole, while quite good, was not inspiring.
The crispy poussin with green eggs and ham was a whimsical dish featuring a supreme of delightfuly crispy fried poussin served with a fried egg from a chicken (Araucana?) that lays a green shelled egg. The egg itself is quite normal looking and the ham comes in the form of a biscuit. Tasty but not amazing. The JJ ordered the roulade of lamb with spiced eggplant and tomato confit in a sangiovese sauce. I found it a bit underwhelming but not disappointing by any means.
We finished with a beautiful cheese plate and each ordered dessert which at Cyrus are trios based on a theme. I chose the chocolate theme and was rewarded with a spiced chocolate flan, cherry chocolate soufflé and mocha torte while the JJ took caramel and was served a caramel brioche pudding with plum coulis, caramel almonds and dulce de leche. The caramel selection was amazing, the chocolate less so. As with The French Laundry, dinner was followed by a whirlwind of mignardises (including truffles and homemade Tootsie Rolls) and a little dessert to take home (in this case a very nice brownie).
The sommelier must be singled out as excellent, both for his knowledge and for his personable approach. The Copain, Catie's Corner, Russian River Valley Viognier was a great choice to match the dishes in quite a varied dinner.
As noted, I'm not confident in my objectivity with respect to Cyrus. It wasn't The French Laundry but, in all fairness, it was about half the cost. Would I go back. Definitely. But my next dinner in Healdsburg will be at Dry Creek Kitchen.
7. The Girl and the Fig, Sonoma
This was the first of the two highly recommended French-bistro inspired restaurants we visited in the wine country. The Girl and the Fig (I must capitalize it even if they do not) is a nice, bright and casual restaurant just off the town square in Sonoma. It offers cuisine inspired from Provence with local ingredients.
I started with the grassfed steak tartare with caperberries and the restaurant's signature lavender sea salt. The taste of the beef was great but the tartare itself was too cold and had not set together well. The salt, being very coarse, had not been absorbed well in the mixture with the end result being bites with very lopsided flavours and generally a very poor tartare.
The veal chop with roasted cipollini onions and mashed potatoes was much better. Nothing fancy here, but solid well-executed bistro fare. The sauce had a bit too much sweetness which I found somewhat off-putting but I could eat another one of these any day. Portions are very generous at the Girl and the Fig leaving me to wonder whether I should take a little nap under the table after lunch. The JJ ordered the croque monsieur with fries and was only moderately impressed by it.
The profiteroles we ordered for dessert put an exclamation point on the end of the meal. Profiteroles are a dessert that are often poorly executed but these were amazing from the crunch of the beignets to the perfect consistency of the ice cream and the not-too-sweet chocolate sauce. Many a Montreal bistro could take a profiterole making lesson from this little California restaurant. Lunch itself was not very expensive and the atmosphere was very warm and relaxing. Would I go back? Possibly, but maybe only for dessert.
8. Bouchon, Yountville
The disappointment of the trip. If you are looking for a taste of Thomas Keller's genius on the cheap, you won't find it here. We were vibrating with excitement at the thought of eating here after our visit to The French Laundry. Bouchon restaurant is an exercise in detail with more than a passing resemblance to a high-end Parisian bistro. We snagged a seat on the little terrace and were looking forward to a wonderful meal. Service here has nothing in common with the other reataurant just down the street as our waitress was neither prompt nor particularly helpful.
Ris de veau was ordered but rillette aux deux saumons was brought (note to waitress -- I am actually saying the names of these dishes correctly so no need to give me pointers on the pronounciation). However, this little mistake turned out to be a godsend as the jar of salmon rillettes made with both fresh and smoked salmon were the highlight of the meal. Silky smooth and bursting with flavour, we fought to finish them off with the crispy toasts and the epi bread. My appetizer of cod brandade with tomato confit and fried sage was solid but unspectacular.
We both ordered the steak frites, the true test of any bistro being its ability to prepare this most simple of classic dishes. The flatiron steak was immense for a lunch steak but was ordered rare and arrived at what I would (I think quite charitably) call medium. The maitre d'hotel described on the menu was on the steak but so was a disturbingly thick layer of brunoised onion sauce which was not mentioned in the menu and which did not add at all to my appreciation of the dish. The fries were well cooked but much too salty. I rarely lose interest midway through eating a steak but this was the case here. Really not very good. Unlike the Girl and the Fig, desserts were not able to save the day at Bouchon. A Paula Deen-sized wedge of lemon tart was eminently forgettable and was left unfinished. Not a place I will be visiting again, although the Bouchon bakery just a few steps away churns out some great little chocolate bouchons, cookies and bread.
9. Pancho Villa Taqueria, San Francisco
This one was a cop-out. One of the local foods I had been recommended was the Mission burrito most of the purveyors of which are in...the Mission. While Pancho Villa Taqueria was a name I had heard we had planned to go to a couple of more authentic spots which were more highly recommended. A visit to Alcatraz meant that a return trip to the Mission for authentic style burritos was not in the cards, so when I saw that there was a Pancho Villa outlet on the Embarcadero I jumped at the chance to give it a shot.
The immense line-up stretching forty feet out the door was a good sign, as was the fact that it was nearly impossible to get a table. My red snapper burrito, complemented by a range of the salsas available, was a real winner washed down with an agua fresca (Mexico's answer to lemonade). I bit too much of a fast food vibe but I would definitely eat here again, preferably in the Mission next time.
10. A16, San Francisco
A16 had been described on a number of occasions as serving authentic Italian cuisine. A tasting of three types of prosciutto (American from Iowa, Berkshire and speck) got us off to a good start with the quality of the cold cuts being irreproachable. I followed with the neapolitan tripe, braised with onion, tomato and white wine. A solid dish and one that would be a little too authentic for a lot of restaurants. The JJ's roasted eggplant with heirloom tomatoes, prosciutto cotto, basil and ricotta salata contained vibrant and clean flavours. Thumbs up to A16 on both of the appetizers.
The JJ ordered the margharita pizza and I had the special pizza of goat cheese and chanterelle mushrooms finished with lardo. In both cases there were way too many toppings for the pizza to be authentic Italian. In addition, my pizza was very heavy and lacked any real acidity to counterbalance the fat. Not a winner. The service , however, was fantastic from our enthusiastic "alternative" waiter to the very knowledgeable and helpful sommelier who suggested a Capiaux Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2005 to accompany our meal. Although a bit of a disappointment for the food the overall experience was fun and I would be glad to give A16 a second shot.
11. Ferry Building Farmer's Market
Come here on a Saturday when there is an outdoor farmer's market to complement the high end boutiques inside. This is where how much better San Fransiscans have it than us foodies in Montreal really struck me. I live beside Jean-Talon market which is admittedly a very nice market but the variety and quality of produce, baked goods, fish, meat, cheese and all things in between at this market was simply staggering. Anyone who snickers at the eating habits of our southern neighbours should be forced to spend an hour here. Granted, San Francisco is surrounded by fertile farmland and is blessed with a mild climate, but the interest people take in the source of their food and in promoting organic or heirloom production is second to none. I was struck by how many of the farmers and artisans manning the booth were young people who were really excited about what they were selling. A number of stalls are set up to serve everything from breakfast to burgers. I settled for a crabcake sandwich but could have literally ate my way through the place.
12. Chez Panisse, Berkeley
A great ending to a foodie trip is a visit to this legendary restaurant that helped create California cuisine and inspired a generation of local chefs. Coming to this beautiful, leafy old house was in many ways just as exciting as The French Laundry. The restaurant serves a set menu every night downstairs but you can order à la carte in the café upstairs. We sat in the restaurant near the windows by the street and were charmed by the very genuine and friendly servers who brought us an aperitif of sparkling wine with quince syrup and were so helpful with wine selections.
This is food that every home chef dreams of making. No fussing about with foams and immersion circulators or making shortcake out of seaweed, this is just a few great ingredients expertly prepared. It is making the extraordinary out of the ordinary. How else could simple salmon carpaccio, a little cucumber and basil, a splash of olive oil, a couple of wedges of tomato and a few herbs tossed in dressing be so beautiful and taste so good?
The salmon was followed by plump ravioli stuffed with zucchini and ricotta and tossed with chanterelles and fresh sage. A main course of rack, loin and leg of lamb cooked to a beautiful rareness and served with a cannelini beans and eggplant alla romana (in tomato sauce) was the highlight of the meal for me and we finished with a dessert that captures the essence of simple, beautiful cuisine: a delicate olive oil cake with zabaglione and elephant heart plums.
