The Michelin man roared through the Bay Area last week and proclaimed what many already knew – Ubuntu is a rising star. It is a great honor for the incredible work that has taken place over the past two years.¹ It is one of the country’s most important restaurant as it pushes the boundaries on the meaning of, not vegetarian cuisine, but of ingredients. Alinea may not this country’s El Bulli – it just might be Ubuntu – as it deconstructs vegetables, their constituent parts, and builds a new fine dining language with these, heretofore, neglected building blocks.

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Periodic readers know that Manresa has been instrumental in crafting this blog’s fine dining point of view and voice. Many reviews, particularly lately, reference the ideas, and ideals, that David Kinch strives for. Manresa was my first exposure, first-hand through many meals, to watching a great restaurant, and chef, transform itself from very good to great.¹ My travels have taken me through various quadrants of haute cuisine but I find myself honing in, and enjoying most, restaurants that share similar philosophies to Manresa.²

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Sawa – it is one of the most incongruous high-end dining experiences in America – located in Sunnyvale (re: nowhere) in a strip mall (re: next to Subway.) Menus and prices are not offered, merely discovered. The place settings, irony at its finest, depict the typical pieces of nigiri – none of which will be served. The fish, of the highest quality available in America, can come in such large quantities that one wonders if the ocean might just quit after the meal. The naysayers decry that Sawa strokes its customers’ unchecked egos but, masters of the universe or not, the regular patrons merely celebrate the brilliant seafood hidden beyond that neon Sawa sign.

Raw Scottish lobster, killed seconds before serving

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The first spring lunch at Ubuntu, two weeks before, was a revelation but this meal was fine-tuned to near-perfection.¹ It was an exploration into rarely discussed possibilities of (Napa) springtime vegetables. Forging past the Chez Panisse mold of “simple and fresh”, Chef Fox is committed to a cuisine of the vegetable – understanding, coaxing, re-inventing, and creating. Every dish delved into the essence of the ingredient(s), tugged and pulled with tastes and textures, without the tricks of meat mimicry. Ulterior Epicure described Ubuntu’s food as a “living conversation dictated by the garden“; but I might say it is a “conversation with the garden.”²

vichyssoise chasseur (before pour)

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Despite dalliances with Ubuntu (Napa) and too many pizzas lately,¹ Manresa is still my pick for the best restaurant in the area, if not the country. The rest of America finally saw David Kinch’s star when he defeated Bobby Flay on Iron Chef recently. The preparation and thoughtfulness of his dishes came across emphatically when juxtaposed next to Flay’s – and he was just cooking cabbage! Of course, for those that know Kinch’s food, the ingredient played to one of his current obsessions – vegetables.

Parmesan churro and crispy kale

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