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frobzwiththingzlast wednesday R and I went out to Evoo to try out their tasting menu with wine pairings.
It was yummy. I've never written up a "food porn" report before, so i took some notes as we went along. Good thing too, as i'd never remember everything without them. Not to mention that at even at the tasting-glass size, 8 glasses of wine add up :-) Exiting from the restaurant it was clear that walking around for a half hour or so before driving home was a good idea.
Course 1: pistachio-encrusted fois gras on small crunchy bread-toasts served with a rosemary infused concord grape jelly. The jelly was not as sweet as you would expect from concord grapes; it was almost more like currants. The chef there makes the jelly in the fall and then uses it throughout the winter and spring. I wouldn't have thought of matching this up with fois gras, but it realy worked well. Wine: a spanish sparkling wine called a "cordoniu". (i have no idea what that is). Somewhat like a light champagne. fruity.
Course 2: Fried oyster with goat cheese, served on an apple-bacon slaw/salad with lime wedge nd cilantro leaf. Wine: Radcliff sauvignon blanc (New Zealand)
This was my least favorite wine, not because there was anything wrong with it, but because it had a very pronounced flavor of passion fruit, which sets off my odd "most tropical fruits leave a bad chemical aftertaste" attribute. R thought it was quite good.
Course 3: Sea Scallop with a red curry risotto and thai basil dressing, cilantro, and bacon. Wine: Mortessa Chardonnay (Carneros).
I guess scallops and bacon are sort of like Mac&Cheese. I dont think it was needed here; the curry sauce and dressing worked well enough on their own. The wine was very oakey and heavy; if blindfolded, i probably would have thought it was a red. I *like* oakey wines, though, and wish i took better notes (such as vintage year, eh?). This one i'd like to get a few bottles of.
Course 4: This one was introduced to us as "the scary course". it was called "goats head soup", and while it didnt have any eyeballs or anything, the waiter said that it did have various facial muscle parts, etc, and said that many folk seemed to be frightened of it. In appearance, i'd describe it as looking very much like Dinty Moore Beef Stew with extra carrots, and smaller chunks. R said "no, not D. Moore, Campbells Hungry Man". Anyhow, you get the idea. However, this soup did not require you to have just finished a 5 mile hike up a mountain to your camp in order to taste good. Somewhat like Oxtail Soup, if you have ever had that. Wine: Anapamu Pino Noir (Monterey). Very fruity. Yum.
Course 5: Roasted rabbit confit, on a salad of watercress, cheddar cheese, port soaked cherries, and walnuts. Wine: Hahn merlot (???)
I thought everything about this was great, except for the rabbit itself, which was a bit too dry. The salad combination was excelent, though, and the wine was one of my favorites of the evening, hearty and fruity.
Course 6: OK, the wine is adding up by now. Sozzle... Fried? rack of lamb with potato, a huge single asparagus spear that nonetheless was not at all fibrous, and tomato. I coudn't identify what sort of marinade the lamb was done in, and it didn't appear to be fried, as i though it was introduced as. But it was cooked perfectly, very rare and tender, tender, tender. Yum. Wine: Coppola Cabernet Sauvignon.
Course 7: (dessert course 1): Grilled Bosc Pear with Great Hill Bleu Cheese and sage. (vermont made cheese) Wow. I usually *hate* cooked fruit, but this was just seared, and the pear slce retained all its' crispness while getting slight caramelization on the outside. The cheese was one of the best bleu cheeses i've had. Paired with this was a perfect match: Fonseca Bin 27 Port. Mmm. Mmm Mmm.
Course 8: (dessert course 2): Sticky Toffee Pudding and Prune Armagnac Ice Cream. Wine:
Bonnie Dune Bonny Doon Muscat (correction from Scliff the Editrix :-). A syrupy, sweet wine with hints of papaya and cantaloupe. Papaya is *not* one of the bad tropicals, and i really liked this one. By now, i was rather full, and only managed half of the pudding and ice cream. I had previously given my vote for "better than the Old Bay" to a Prune Armagnac ice cream at a previous Baitcon, but this one may have changed my mind alltogether. Hmm. Tastes change, i guess. The toffee puddng was wonderful, too.
This was followed by a Cappuccino to end it off.
Micro review: Very yummy. Very reasonably priced; ends up at just under $100/pp after tip.
A fair amount of time between courses, which worked out very well (about 2 hours or so).
Joe Bob says "check them out".
It was yummy. I've never written up a "food porn" report before, so i took some notes as we went along. Good thing too, as i'd never remember everything without them. Not to mention that at even at the tasting-glass size, 8 glasses of wine add up :-) Exiting from the restaurant it was clear that walking around for a half hour or so before driving home was a good idea.
Course 1: pistachio-encrusted fois gras on small crunchy bread-toasts served with a rosemary infused concord grape jelly. The jelly was not as sweet as you would expect from concord grapes; it was almost more like currants. The chef there makes the jelly in the fall and then uses it throughout the winter and spring. I wouldn't have thought of matching this up with fois gras, but it realy worked well. Wine: a spanish sparkling wine called a "cordoniu". (i have no idea what that is). Somewhat like a light champagne. fruity.
Course 2: Fried oyster with goat cheese, served on an apple-bacon slaw/salad with lime wedge nd cilantro leaf. Wine: Radcliff sauvignon blanc (New Zealand)
This was my least favorite wine, not because there was anything wrong with it, but because it had a very pronounced flavor of passion fruit, which sets off my odd "most tropical fruits leave a bad chemical aftertaste" attribute. R thought it was quite good.
Course 3: Sea Scallop with a red curry risotto and thai basil dressing, cilantro, and bacon. Wine: Mortessa Chardonnay (Carneros).
I guess scallops and bacon are sort of like Mac&Cheese. I dont think it was needed here; the curry sauce and dressing worked well enough on their own. The wine was very oakey and heavy; if blindfolded, i probably would have thought it was a red. I *like* oakey wines, though, and wish i took better notes (such as vintage year, eh?). This one i'd like to get a few bottles of.
Course 4: This one was introduced to us as "the scary course". it was called "goats head soup", and while it didnt have any eyeballs or anything, the waiter said that it did have various facial muscle parts, etc, and said that many folk seemed to be frightened of it. In appearance, i'd describe it as looking very much like Dinty Moore Beef Stew with extra carrots, and smaller chunks. R said "no, not D. Moore, Campbells Hungry Man". Anyhow, you get the idea. However, this soup did not require you to have just finished a 5 mile hike up a mountain to your camp in order to taste good. Somewhat like Oxtail Soup, if you have ever had that. Wine: Anapamu Pino Noir (Monterey). Very fruity. Yum.
Course 5: Roasted rabbit confit, on a salad of watercress, cheddar cheese, port soaked cherries, and walnuts. Wine: Hahn merlot (???)
I thought everything about this was great, except for the rabbit itself, which was a bit too dry. The salad combination was excelent, though, and the wine was one of my favorites of the evening, hearty and fruity.
Course 6: OK, the wine is adding up by now. Sozzle... Fried? rack of lamb with potato, a huge single asparagus spear that nonetheless was not at all fibrous, and tomato. I coudn't identify what sort of marinade the lamb was done in, and it didn't appear to be fried, as i though it was introduced as. But it was cooked perfectly, very rare and tender, tender, tender. Yum. Wine: Coppola Cabernet Sauvignon.
Course 7: (dessert course 1): Grilled Bosc Pear with Great Hill Bleu Cheese and sage. (vermont made cheese) Wow. I usually *hate* cooked fruit, but this was just seared, and the pear slce retained all its' crispness while getting slight caramelization on the outside. The cheese was one of the best bleu cheeses i've had. Paired with this was a perfect match: Fonseca Bin 27 Port. Mmm. Mmm Mmm.
Course 8: (dessert course 2): Sticky Toffee Pudding and Prune Armagnac Ice Cream. Wine:
This was followed by a Cappuccino to end it off.
Micro review: Very yummy. Very reasonably priced; ends up at just under $100/pp after tip.
A fair amount of time between courses, which worked out very well (about 2 hours or so).
Joe Bob says "check them out".
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no subject
Date: 2005-04-20 02:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-20 03:20 am (UTC)i love love LOVE their tasting menus.
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Date: 2005-04-20 12:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-20 01:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-20 04:33 pm (UTC)I had a fantastic seven course meal with five wine pairing at 231 Ellsworth (San Mateo, CA) a few years back with Z, and we had to stroll for an hour afterwards before even thinking about driving.
Sounds like it was a great meal.