It’s been awhile since I’ve posted a proper Manresa review and one will have to wait. Here’s a meal I enjoyed a month ago with a few friends and a decent amount of wine; camera, not pen, in hand. The beginning dishes were served on the patio during a beautiful Los Gatos evening and then our party of six adjourned to the dining room for the remaining dishes. The meal was a six hour journey over sixteen courses or so. It is worth nothing that the desserts were equal to the meal - the highest praise is deserved. The progression of the meal continued its flow - the desserts started slightly savory and ended slightly sweet.

Most, but not all, of the dishes are shown below. The next Manresa meal is the Manresa/Noma (yes, that Noma) collaboration dinner in July - pen and camera will be ready.

Kisu and pancetta, perilla

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In the past, I’ve called The French Laundry soulless - haute cuisine by the numbers. The food is technically perfect; sometimes, so well done, it feels machine-like and cold, a Stepford meal. The quotes, dominating the menu, denoting a postmodern sense of ironic humor, try to downplay the seriousness of the affair and give it some humanity. The restaurant is a necessary reference point for anyone interested in food but the lofty expectations, and the need for culinary fireworks, often lead many, including myself, to question the greatness of the meal. Food for the Thoughtless perfectly captures these conflicted emotions of the French Laundry virgin. Of course, the meal’s expense ($240/pp +) also leave it wide open to criticisms of value. ¹

English Cucumber Sorbet
“Umeboshi” puree, Perilla Shoots and Compressed Cucumber

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Updates will come soon.

Two weeks ago I noticed that traffic dried up. After some digging around, I realized Google had de-listed my pages because of spam. After more digging around, I realized that my blog was probably hacked, thanks to an outdated version of WordPress. And with a touch more digging, I found out that my host (Yahoo) was not updating Wordpress to the current versions.

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