noma crew by foodsnob (one of their best customers)

Last night, Sean Brock won the James Beard best chef for the Southeast. He, too, is more than deserving and congratulations are in order. My meal at McCrady’s, two years ago, was impressive and insightful, a chef maturing and finding his own style. Here was a guy who had been infatuated with El Bulli molecular techniques but applied a Southern sensibility to them. And then he totally went off the map by creating his own bio-dynamic garden, and raising pigs. It’s like El Bulli, Blue Hill, and Manresa rolled into one – sprinkled with some Southern goodness. Sean will become a great name in American cooking.

And then David Kinch won best Pacific chef.

Readers of this blog know the importance I place on his restaurant, Manresa. There is no need to re-hash all of that – read the archives. When Tastybitz ¹ came to town, we decided to share a meal at our mutual favorite – Manresa. So it was and here it is. If there was any question as to why David Kinch deserved his award…

An elemental oyster – a perfect beginning

Geoduck clam in seawater, green apple – followed by another

Pacific mackerel, grilled with yuzu

Mandarin and jasmine tea jelly – one of my all-time Manresa dishes – it really epitomizes the style of dish I love – simple, light, and full of so much subtle complexity. The sweet and floral jasmine played alongside and “cooled” the acid notes of the mandarin. I was served some variation of this on my first Manresa meal (who knows how long ago now) and it remains one of my favorites.

Foie gras and cumin seed caramel – and then this monster comes out – the balance of sweet, fat, and slight pepper was sublime. The texture was impossibly perfect – silky while just slowly dissolving in the mouth – so easy to get lost in the sensation.

Wild sea bream, delicate jus of tuna and walnut

Chanterelles and scallop shards in bonito butter, toasted seeds

King crab and spring peas in olive oil, fumet – Another dish that defied lightness

Into the vegetable garden

Spot prawns on the plancha, vin jaune with truffles – When Monterey spot prawns are in season, rest assured they will appear on this menu. And it will always be a highlight, particularly if one is lucky enough to get the roe. The vadouvan version is my favorite but the vin jaune’s acidity and crispness provided an excellent foil to the fatty, just slighty warmed prawn. The truffles, surprisingly pungent despite it being March in America, were bonus points.

Vegetables and toasted buckwheat, smoked lentils with an abalone bouillon

Halibut with chervil cream, kohlrabi in onion and marrow tears – This sauce, used in a few variations of dishes, is decadent

Braised abalone and morels, a roasted chicken “dashi” – yes, please

Omelet a l’ancienne, roasted asparagus with parmesan “vacche rosse” – Wow

Foie gras spiced with buddha’s hand citron, seaweed croustillant

Spring lamb with turnips, green garlic – A very nice piece of lamb; the others at the table declaring it among the best they ever had

and then dessert…

Deanie Hickox, formerly of Ubuntu fame, has taken over the dessert reigns and blended them seamlessly into the Manresa menu. Her desserts have always began as a bridge – de-emphasizing and deferring sweetness until the very end.

Exotic citrus with honey & tapioca – The best dessert I’ve had in a long time – it just hit every pleasure point while complementing the meal and remaining light. Texture and acidity – while just retaining enough sweetness. It provided a complement to the earlier jasmine tea citrus dish – there are many inside references in these meals. More, please.

White chocolate custard with beet and rhubarb, orange fizz geranium – More experimental, trying to find its way, but the flavors complemented each other quite well; and that custard, despite being white chocolate, was quite delicious

Apple confit with vanilla, parsnip and walnut – not really my style of dessert but still quite good

If there is another meal in America this good, please post a convincing link because I don’t believe it. (Actually, there *is* another meal this good in America – the Manresa meal I ate three weeks later!) Those that have not been have a glaring lacuna on their culinary resume.

And if you have not been, you will want to stay tuned…

- chuck

1 – one of my favorite bloggers but he has fallen in love with Twitter – oh well

picking our own carrots – we had to work too

This was a late October (2009) meal, immediately after the currently-being-blogged Tokyo trip.³ The food is obviously more bombastic when compared to the monkish stylings of Japanese cuisine but the meal provided counterpoint (and différance) to such an adventure. My expectations were as high as always despite the 2-3 week dead (produce) period we found ourselves in. What’s a meal without some sort of challenge? (The challenge now is remembering enough to give you an accurate description of the meal!)

“SUMMER bids adieu”, the final of the trilogy
SHISO, black HONEY, two STRAWBERRIES, mulled TOMATO cider

The shiso and tomato cider pulled back and forth in this refreshing starter. The addition of black honey continued a trend Fox began earlier last year – introducing sweetness early, and consistently, in the meal – as it and the last strawberries of the season rounded out the flavor profiles.

BRASSICAS a la catalan
PIQUILLO tears, pine nut pudding, MINT, thompson raisin

This dish combines a few elements and trends from my favorite Ubuntu meals: vegetables served in their own light & refined consommes, a more daring use of sweetness, and a variation of the incredible broccoli/pine nut dish I shared with Julot many moons ago. The flavors were light but multi-dimensional – sweet, a hint of spice, mint (used by Fox to consistently elevate dishes to the next level – peas anyone?) Essences…. The type of dish that makes one pause.

CELTUCE parcel
kettle corn, black FIG, parmesan

ale-battered GRAPE LEAF pickles, fresh GHERKIN
GHERKIN ROOT “mayo”, rye crumb, GARDEN picallili

“forono” BEETS with vanilla, LAVENDAR, and almond
local pears, ‘red cross’ BUTTER LETTUCE, shaft blue truffles

The sweetness got heavy-handed and cloying on this dish – the only real miss of the night.

our first MASHUA, roasted and raw
salad of its leaves and flowers, three CARROTS, fuyu PERSIMMON

brioche and mushroom “creme brulee”, burnt with love
CALCOT with maple and BAY LAUREL buds, greenhouse LEEK

The sweetness continued with the intensely caramelized calcot but it brilliantly provided taste & textural contrast to the luscious and fatty leek custard. This dish, certainly a top 10 from last year, more than exemplifies the endless possibilities Fox can map out for later exploration. To taste those intensely sweet calcots, followed by the tremendous mouthfeel of that custard….

crunchy RADISH, crispy potato
APPLE pickle, WATERCRESS, horseradish fondue

a wedge of ‘gem’ avocado
green TOMATO jam doughnut, baby MACHE, spiced citrus

The wild avocado was presented table-side (I guess the camera ate my picture), invoking the most curious of reactions from the other tables. This was not done out of pretension but out of sheer amazement – this avocado dwarfed any notion of your typical market variety. And both its taste and fattiness were also extremes.

CROSNES roasted with nori
miso “bagna cauda”, smoked BORAGE, buddha’s hand

risotto of toasted mature SUNFLOWER seeds
goat’s milk whey and ricotta, young PURSLANE

This is a strong dish that literally encapsulates the philosophies behind the restaurant – seed to stalk. It also succeeds, for me, where many vegetable “risotto” dishes fail because its texture was that of risotto, as opposed to chopped up veggies in a slightly creamy sauce. The intense nuttiness of what could have been sunflower seed monotony was cut by the whey’s tanginess. The purslane rounded out the trio, salty and slightly sour. Heavy enough to finish a meal but light enough to still claim victory.

pumpernickel ice cream
onion FENNEL candied in st george absinthe

What will Jeremy Fox do next? When you look at all the restaurants in the world, there are only a handful in each country/region that are truly visionary, operating at a boundary that others will only discover years later. There are many great restaurants in every country but there are few legacies. It has been my thesis, over eight extraordinary meals in 2009, that Fox has discovered an important space in fine dining that could be influential for many years to come. He just happened to be doing it in an informal restaurant that half serves as a yoga studio.

I would like to see him refine the cuisine more, pare it down to essentials (my Japanese bias coming in), and continue to work with vegetables “off the beaten path.” He has demonstrated in the past that when working within these constraints, he can produce food that is not only inventive but of Michelin 3-star quality:

‘forono’ BEETS and BEETBERRY
red quinoa, charred STRAWBERRY, hazelnut

carta da musica

2X Shucked PEAS and GOLD SHOOTS in consomme of the shells – white chocolate, CHOCOLATE MINT, macadamia

I have not returned to Ubuntu but a return is imminent now that Northern California is hitting its vegetable stride. The new (young) chef has Aaron London has been with Ubuntu since its inception, after stints at Blue Hill at Stone Barns and L’Astrance. KevinEats recently ate there (caught a Z8 in the wild!) and the menu looks similar but clearly different – an easing into a new direction.

Onto the next chapter…

- chuck

1 – I prefer chefs in the kitchen instead of on TV

2 – Although, dreadfully out of context – you’ve never seen The Wire?

3 – I am terribly behind on posts – there will be more Tokyo posts – in due time. Sawada, Koju, & Ryugin.

Summer was coming to an end and this meal gave it an honorable send off. Every dish was a winner – composed and balanced – and the meal really hit the perfect note for me. There was a restraint and subtlety, despite what appears to be a large number of ingredients, in both individual courses and the arc of the entire menu. One could argue that Fox’s focus on just cooking vegetables is allowing him to focus and hone his creativity. The food, like Noma (Copenhagen), has the surprise of the new without (solely) relying on molecular tricks – as Fox uses his “seed to stalk” aesthetic with vegetables many have not heard of in preparations no one has thought of.

San Francisco can have its endless clones of each other – house-made salumi / organic salad / sustainable protein (none of those adjectives a guarantee for quality) – Ubuntu, in Napa, is exciting to me.

The full menu is listed below with pictures. Items in CAPS are from Ubuntu’s own garden. Chef Fox knew I was eating. I was happy.

“summer hints at autums”
SHISO ice, TOMATO, fall THINNINGS, ‘mutau’ APPLE

Ubuntu, almost by definition, is about seasonality and place. After spending the day racing around Napa, working on a top secret project, during a 101-degree day, a series of refreshing starters helped us ease into the meal. The shiso ice was the obvious cooler but its mintiness further helped stimulate and refresh the taste buds, more so than a basil ice might have, despite the mind thinking tomato/green/basil. The tomato water was sufficiently acidic with just enough apple to give it a touch of tartness too.

RADISH and RATTAIL
creme fraiche with nori, HONG VIT, black salt

Crisp Hong Vit radishes, eat the whole thing, just as you would at the other great restaurants. The nori creme fraiche was quite tasty, giving it an (expected) umami quality. (The trainspotters might note an interesting link to and/or cross-pollination of ideas shared by Fox and James Syabout (Commis) as the latter had a carrot / seaweed dish around the same time.) It is hard to get the perfect proportion of the black, slightly smoky, salt on the radish, but when you do…

‘moon and stars’ melon
preserved rind, ‘mexican sour’ GHERKIN, whipped coconut

The sweetness of this dish was daring at this point in the meal but this instantly claimed a spot atop my Ubuntu favorites. If Ubuntu had the obsession with quotes and irony of the nearby The French Laundry, it may have been called “Fruit de Mer.” The sweet and sour interplay, both near the extremes, pushed and pulled inside the mouth, oscillating between each. The textural interplay between the rind, gherkin, and whipped coconut (and leaves) had a satisfying give. It was remarkably sweet, potentially turning off some diners, but I appreciated the fact that an overly sweet dish does not have to be relegated to the dessert section; it fell in place nicely, the tanginess of the gherkin still providing a refreshing respite from the (hot) day.

a simple ‘black zebra’ TOMATO
BASILS, goat ricotta, LION’S RUN “saba”

This dish was popular, every table seemingly ordering it, and I had hoped we would receive it on the tasting menu – we did but it was my least favorite of the night (that is, of course, relative.) The saba gave the tomato an umami quality as it had soaked into the skinless red tomato; but it seemed a touch heavy after the much lighter previous dishes.

CELTUCE with pine nut and soy milk
‘kadota’ FIG pulp, VERBENA, tiny TURNIPS

‘gem’ avocado and ‘purple haze’ CARROTS
crispy OCA, ‘poha’ BERRY, pickled ‘eisley wax’ CHILI

A distant (taller) cousin of guacamole, the textural components of this dish (mushy avocado, crisp poha berry leaves and oca, crunchy carrots) provided an interesting composition when chewing. The gooseberry and pickled chili gave it a tart kick, replacing the traditional role of lime.

‘forono’ BEETS and BEETBERRY
red quinoa, charred STRAWBERRY, hazelnut

I thought the original six-to-seven interpretations of beet dishes from the Spring were Tanguy-inspired, but there is some Miro in the shapes and color. Nonetheless, the original beet dishes were great examples of exploring an ingredient’s different components (root, leaf, etc) and its personality with different preparations. If that dish was exploratory, this version might be the resulting masterpiece, ranking on par with the masterful pea dish. There are many variables complementing each other in this dish, texturally and tastefully. The beetberries gave it a wonderful tang and provided the right counterpoint to the (beet) quinoa and hazelnut (dirt.) This was a 3-star conception executed at a 3-star level – exciting stuff!

young COURGETTES
pickled ‘delfino’ CORIANDER, vadouvan

A further example of exploring an ingredient with a few preparations – zucchini with vadouvan – and nearly masterful – the Manresa years really show through on this – restraint. This was a progressive contrast from the richness of the beets – strong flavors but light ingredients and small portions – and showed that a menu can weave instead of following a linear path towards heaviness and submission.

CAPSICUM and po delta black rice broth
summer SUCCULENTS, our sevillano olive

Ulterior Epicure has posted a formula for tasting menus that would be funny, if it were not so tragically true. Readers of this blog probably know of my distaste for the “big punch” at the end – the large slab of protein – much preferring a “soft landing.” It could be a function of the ingredients (although Ubuntu has forced me to submit in the past) but this dish provided a sufficiently savory, but soft, end to the meal. The roasted pepper jus/black rice broth was beautiful – refined.

SUNFLOWER ‘barley’ and hearts
arbuckle grits, ‘polka’ CORN, green TOMATO jam

BASIL parfait, silverado strawberries roasted gently, VERBANA meringue, lime granite

Often, “dessert time” at restaurants is almost a binary opposite of the savory portion of the menu, with nary a reference to the meal. Desserts at Ubuntu continue the trajectory of the meal, despite clearly being sweet. The basil parfait and lime granite helped refresh the palate, while potentially referencing the initial dish, and continuing the story. The flavors were crisp and bright.

cornbread pain perdu with BLACKBERRIES
frog hollow peaches, HONEY ice cream, kettle corn

Texture (kettle corn), taste (honey), and temperature (peaches) – this is accomplished. In particular, Deannie Fox’s ice creams are always a (wonderful) surprise.

This review gushes a bit too much but this meal was one of my favorites of the year, eclipsing my previous Ubuntu meals in the Spring. (As I write this review, I have just finished another Ubuntu meal – it may have been even better – how about brioche and mushroom creme brulee? The review may take awhile to publish, considering there are a few Japan posts to come.)

- chuck

1 – Note that this reviewed meal is absolutely two-star quality but the Michelin man has to start somewhere. I do feel their SF ratings are pretty accurate on the 2- and 3-star levels – Michael Mina never deserved two stars; Meadwood is a daring choice that I agree with; and San Francisco proper’s “fancy” restaurants (La Folie, Gary Danko, Fleur de Lys, & Dining Room) are nothing more than 1-star restaurants in fancy digs.

It is a great pleasure to see Manresa alumni infiltrating the (figurative and geographical) edges of the “Chez Panisse mafia” Bay Area dining scene.³ Ubuntu (Napa) has blasted through any traditional notion of “vegetarian cuisine” and is propping itself up as one of the most creative restaurants in the country. Commis (Oakland) recently received a lukewarm review from the big bad local restaurant critic, the main criticisms being price and “cooking only for himself, not for the customer.” After one meal, I would argue that Chef James Syhabout’s problem is in trying to appease the Alice Waters acolytes – the vision is not personal enough!⁴

Comments like that also mark an interesting delineation between this blog and other critics/reviewers – this blog does not aim to review average meals. There are many blogs and people trying to fulfill such roles, conforming to rigorous (and probably unnecessary) codes of ethics, and eschewing any sort of relationship with a restaurant or chef, for fear it will taint their “objective” experience. This blog wants to explore and experience the opposite – the impassioned chef cooking his own personal vision of cuisine – cooking as art.

This was a meal from July 30th. FILO – first in (5:30), last out (11:00) – the pictures that turned out are below (sans captions.) The most remarkable dish was the uni. This prehistoric monster (it measured 8-9 inches) was plucked from the Oregon ocean earlier in the day, still alive minutes before being plated. And it was remarkably – unimaginably – impossibly fresh – possibly the best I’ve ever had.

The full menu read:
petit fours “red pepper black olive”
Lavendar lemonade, spearmint
Corn croquettes
Tomato soup, barely cooked, coriander ice

Brillat savarin and buckwheat, caviar from Iran
Foie gras, gently roasted, “reine claude” with amaranth
Sea bream with green tomato, oil “occhipinti”, shellfish
Young squash shoots and beans in bonito butter, toasted seeds
Chaud-froid of sea urchin, golden raspberry, saffron, cocoa…
Into the vegetable garden
Spot prawns, peaches perfumed with basil and walnut, peach leaf granite
Pumpkin veloute “potimarron”, nasturtium with country ham jelly (benton)
Kokotxas with morels, sweet garlic
Celtuce with chevril, onion, and marrow tears
Wood pigeon with arugula and cepes

Cheeses

Confit of figs “desert king”, perfumed with wild fennel, olive oil ice cream
Assorted plums, both raw & roasted, goat’s milk fromage blanc
Chocolate cupcake
Petit fours “strawberry-chocolate”

You can watch David Kinch on Eric Ripert’s TV show Avec Eric online – it is a solid ten minute feature going over the cuisine, the garden, and a few dishes that have been reviewed here. It is not a ground-breaking video but it helps fill in some blanks for those that have never tried the food.

I am a broken record, spinning endlessly around, repeating the same phrase – “go now.” Get the tasting menu, open your mind, and enjoy a future vision of American cuisine.

(For those that have read this far, I leave for Tokyo in two days – Sawada, Mitzutani, RyuGin, Koju, Sushiso Masa, 7chome Kyobashi, Waketokyuyama, and more. Yum.)

- chuck

1 – Of course, we are talking about the garden.

2 – noma, The Sportsman, Mugaritz, L’Arpege, Michel Bras, McCrady’s, Elements (review forthcoming), and more. The Flemish Primitives, or New Naturals, staged what looked like a great example of this general style a few weeks ago (where was my invitation?)

3 – Ubuntu (Napa), Commis (Oakland), and (possibly) Bonny Doon (Santa Cruz.) Getting technical and nerdy about hope – in complex systems, it is the edges, points of lesser interest, where systemic failures begin and shockwave through the system, dismantling entrenched players. I can dream of a day when a new restaurant opens in San Francisco that does not reference “Italian”, “pizza”, or “market cuisine.” (Do we really need another Delfina or Zuni variation? Why, with umpteen-million pizza places opening, can none rise above and cook something as brilliant as Kesté?)

4 – My meal at Commis was over-priced but my main complaint was that the menu had a jarring schism – exciting appetizers (salad of young carrots with seaweed) and big boring proteins for entrees. I think Syhabout’s food, and potential, would be better showcased by a six to eight course tasting menu where he would have more chances to offer a more cohesive point of view. I will, of course, return, in hopes of experiencing his full potential.

Raw Scottish lobster, killed seconds before serving

Sawa is more like a private club than restaurant, many of the customers fiercely loyal and oft-repeating. Yes, much of the clientele is wealthy and male – many of the conversations revolve around exotic cars and watches – that’s just the demographic of the place.¹ But more so than most places, customers build a rapport and relationship with Sawa, thanks to the intimacy of the restaurant.² It is a continuous journey through the seasons with Steve-san serving as your guide.³ The first-time visitor can be intimidated but if their love of food shows, which should be hard to suppress with fish this sensational, the fish club will be more than welcoming – we are there to eat.

The pictures below were from a five-hour meal last week, enjoyed with three friends (and a few more sitting at the bar – the place is like Cheers.) Not everything is pictured – only the photos that turned out. Note-taking mode was turned off – this is a post to keep your virtual appetite whetted while the Noma, Geranium, and The Sportsman posts write themselves. It was a sensational meal and it has been included in the A1 Best Meals category.⁴

- chuck

1 – If you listen closely at Masa, Urasawa, or Kuruma; you will hear the exact same conversations. If you are fortunate enough to visit Japan, and visit a top-tier sushi restaurant, the men having these conversations (most 45+) are also accompanied by 18yr old women with day-glow fingernails and glitter mascara; again, it’s just the demograhic.

2 – There are rarely more than 5-6 customers at any given time.

3 – I have been on this journey for 10 years now!

4 – A trend that will be repeated with upcoming posts.

vichyssoise chasseur (before pour)

Beginning with my first Ubuntu lunch, and running over what will likely be the next few months, the restaurants being reviewed all share a common loose thread. Manresa, Noma, Ubuntu, and The Sportsman are forging ahead with similar ideas of nature, locality, and fine dining. Others like Coi and McCrady’s are gravitating towards a similar approach. All of the chefs use “molecular” techniques but they have applied them toward expressing the food and season, understanding and exploring the underlying ingredients, instead of promoting a dinner theater. As mentioned in the Manresa post, in reference to Daniel Patterson’s “Carrots are the new Caviar“, a “fine dining” ingredient does not necessarily have to be “luxurious”; but, instead, it should merely allow a chef to fully express themselves.³ Chef Fox’s food is probably the most conceptual when it comes to vegetables (he has an advantage since that is his sole focus) but the pictures will tell the tale. A healthy respect for Michel Bras is served with each dish in each of these restaurants.

The notes for this meal were scarce; and the titles below are not official. At best, they will merely serve as teases that entice you to make a reservation now. The Bay Area bounty is still plentiful and, while some of the ingredients below have passed through their season, an upcoming lunch is mandatory (for me) to discover what new creations await.

carrot & nasturtium

the infamous pea dish (before consumme)

seven degrees of beets

carta da musica

radish stew

savory expression of orion fennel

grits

sweet expression of orion fennel

rhubarb float

- chuck

1 – Yes, Chef Fox knew I was coming.

2 – This reminds me of one of my current obsessions – Deadwood – and the George Hearst character, “Boy the Earth talks to” – though his talent is for discovering rare metals, not cooking. The writing, and acting, on this show eclipse my former favorite – The Wire – and, if you happen to run into me, and if I know you have any interest in literature, you will have to listen to me rave about the show and its greatness.

3 – People are often surprised that my idea of fine restaurants rarely coincides with theirs – theirs being the stereotypical notion of a “fine French restaurant” with heavy doses of cream, fat, diamond necklaces, and stuffy suits. Fish will always be my first love, my workout regime requires an ample dose of protein, but I have learned through my dining adventures that vegetables are often just as exciting.

Parmesan churro and crispy kale

The direction of the restaurant parallels a path described by Daniel Patterson’s (Coi, SF) eloquent “Carrots are the new Caviar”.² Over the past few years, the menu at Manresa has shifted from an international anything-goes-as-long-as-it’s-of-the-highest-quality approach to a far more local approach. The emphasis has been on re-interpretating fine dining with the ample bounty of the area, all in a bid to create a cuisine of “time and place”, as Kinch likes to say in interviews. This is what distinguishes Manresa from the Chez Panisse clones that permeate the area, and place it alongside Noma (Denmark) as part of a loose movement to advance a different approach to haute cuisine. Patterson states in his article that the fine dining trappings are “more important as cultural signifiers than as actual experiences.” The tremendous results Kinch has obtained from weaving Love Apple Farms garden’s bounty into the Manresa menu is proof that “ordinary” vegetables deserve to be showcased in a fine dining setting.

This was my birthday Manresa meal, last March. Not all of the pictures turned out. And, as in the past, the chef knew I was coming.

Seafood is what hooked me first at Manresa, thanks to both the impeccable quality and Kinch’s restrained preparations. The local bounty has limitations so Kinch sources fish from Japan, among other places. When local treats like Monterey Spot prawns or abalone are on the menu, they will often be among the best dishes. Nearly all chefs serve a crudo-type course, or two, these days but the results suffer from fish quality or heavy-handed Nobu-like recipes; at Manresa, there is often a minimalism at play where the flavors of the fish are lifted and complemented.

The Spring Tidal Pool seems to be a divisive dish among diners for its liberal use of salt. This could arguably be a case where art and concept might be sacrificed slightly to accommodate a wider range of tastes. Usually appearing around the 3/4 mark of the menu, I find that its salinity helps invigorate the taste buds for the upcoming cooked fish and/or meats. The dish also has emotional tugs for those who grew up near oceans and it provides a reflective moment before embarking on the last quarter of the journey.

Kin-medai, sashimi style, with olive oil and chives

Shellfish, a tapenade of toasted seaweed with yuzu-sea salt snow, buckwheat honey

Spot prawns, stewed onion, sorrel and corriander

A spring tidal pool

Sea bream, bone marrow and vegetable tears

The vegetables dishes are fresh, thanks to the garden, but it is the conceptual nature of the dishes that lift them into rarefied territory. Into the Vegetable Garden has quickly become an iconic dish in American fine dining, with variations at other restaurants. They all pay homage to Michel Bras’s infamous Gargouille – if you’ve never had that dish, it alone is worth the trip. Into the Vegetable Garden is a known surprise – it will appear on the tasting menu but, because of the season, its composition is unclear until it is served.

Cabbage and caviar

Into the vegetable garden…

Root vegetable risotto without rice

With each successive meal (anywhere), I grow more and more tired of that “big (meat) hit” at the end – rarely does it live up to the accomplishment of previous dishes. Manresa is not immune to my criticism here but the meat dishes are often better, in part to the superior sourcing.

On this night, to my utter disbelief, Suckling kid goat, curds, and whey was clearly the best dish of the night – astonishing. The goat, growing in popularity, was braised and there was textural magic between it and the curds and whey. The textures were similar but just slightly distinct – the stringy goat provided just slightly more bite than the stringy curds. The goat’s melting quality complemented the creaminess of the dish, with the curds providing just the right note of acidity to offset the richness.

Suckling kid goat, curds and whey

Spring lamb, slowly roasted with leeks, anchovy

The only thing left to say, after at least 15 meals, is “go” and “get the tasting menu.”

- chuck

1 – Pizza in San Francisco is pretty good, though not Pizzeria Bianco (Phoenix) good. On some days, you can have an enjoyable pie at Delfina, Beretta, Pizetta 211, Gialina, Pizzeria Picco, San Marzano (Oakland), and more. My only gripe is that all of them are too inconsistent for their lofty reputations (and, often, waits.) I have not tried Flour+Water yet but the pictures look good.

2 – The two chefs are friends and I’d speculate there is a steady exchange of thoughts and ideas between the two.

Crisp Chickpea & Flowering ROSEMARY sphere – stuffed with romesco

I have made a habit of stopping in quarterly, though blog entries are less frequent, to check out new dishes. Last year, Julot: Ze Blog and I went and he proclaimed it one of the most exciting US restaurants he had visited on his trip. I agreed but it was not in my top tier – it had hints of greatness but often settled for casual comfort-type food. Subsequent meals saw the menu changing, creeping ever so upscale with each return visit, but still fractured between comfort and haute, stuck in a minor identity crisis.

And then there was this meal, pictured below ² – tight, cohesive, near pitch perfect – springtime Napa on a plate – a Michelin two-star meal in my book. (Ingredients in ALL CAPS come from Ubuntu’s bio-dynamic garden.)

Cool “forager’s chowder” – NETTLE ice and condimento, WOOD SORREL

A cool essence of nutty nettles – a great beginning to a sunny Friday afternoon in Napa. The ice did not dominate and null the taste buds as is common in dishes of this type; the “chowder” sufficiently blanketed the ice to prevent this.

Tiny D’Avignon Radishes – ‘goat’s leap’ hyku layered with nori, black salt

2X Shucked PEAS and GOLD SHOOTS in consomme of the shells – white chocolate, CHOCOLATE MINT, macadamia

A genuinely Michelin 3-star dish that is balanced, delicate, and sublime. The peas have a remarkable natural sweetness that is enhanced by further hints of sweetness, courtesy of the broth. From there, the salt from the macadamia kicks in before another round of creamy sweetness from the white chocolate. As the white chocolate taste rescinds, along with its slight coating, the chocolate mint has a quick bright burst at the end. This is accomplished, easily one of the best dishes in America, available for a remarkable $12 from the a la carte menu.

Six Degrees of FORONO BEETS – hazelnut “soil”, avocado, WATERCRESS, rhubarb pickle

How many ways can a beet be prepared? In one dish? The “dirt” is a favorite device of irony for chefs creating vegetable-centric dishes but this dish was not an imitation, or parody, of any other. Each bite was filled with similar, yet different and contrasting, flavors and textures of beet. In some bites, the flavors might be a touch muddied but this is a remarkable dish that could be on par with the peas with a bit more tinkering. Its appearance obviously takes nods from El Poblet or Noma, which often remind me of the strange landscapes found in Yves Tanguy paintings.

Carta da musica, Our crisp Sardinian Flatbread – topped with the SPRING GARDEN, truffled pecorino

The garden on a plate. Each bite, of mostly raw vegetables, was a medley of flavors and textures. While the pea dish was the best in composition, this dish showcases the freshness of the garden’s bounty. If one dish could change one’s view on nature and food, this might qualify. Can one can eat all of the weeds and flowers on this plate? The truffled pecorino was surprisingly aromatic and its truffle flavor lingered with each bite of the salad. A stunning dish that should not be missed in Spring.

Rosecoe’s Asparagus, Terrine of Black Trumpets & Brioche – “Virtual Egg” flavored with saffron, SYLVETTA ARUGULA, preserved lemon

“Blood Sausage” Slider – PURPLE VIENNA KOHLRABI stalk frites, violet mustard and CHARD STEM dripping sauce

This was the only mis-step of the meal and it showcases where my ideal of Ubuntu potentially differs from the restaurant’s vision. The previous dishes that celebrated vegetables and their essences are what elevate Ubuntu from “vegetarian restaurant” to a top-tier restaurant in America. Dishes, like this, meant to resemble meat dishes, bring the caliber of the food back down to “vegetarian restaurant.” The original mantra of the restaurant was “a celebration of vegetables, not vegetarianism” but the meat-facsimile dishes make the case for the latter instead of the former.

BORAGE Gnudi in Brown butter with flowering SAGE – preserved SHITAKE, meyer lemon, AGRETTI, and tender SEED PODS

Pane Frattau… An Interpretation of a Sardinian Classic – slow-scrambled egg, three FENNELS, three-day strawberry soffrito

The SPRING FLOWER POT – LAVENDAR custard, bee pollen crumble, rhubarb

The flow from savory to sweet was seamless, with the gorgeous presentation providing an exclamation point to the already easy-on-the-eyes lunch. The lavendar custard was not terribly sweet, which I appreciate, but the bee pollen crumble added sweetness and texture. The rhubard provided some acidity and counter-point to the copious amounts of lavendar greatness. The meal could not have ended on a better note – a perfect integration.

Mini Vegan CARROT cupcakes - “cream cheese” frosting, tiny candied PURPLE HAZE CARROTS

Some critics complain that the restaurant will never warrant multiple stars because it does not serve meat. It seems like an arbitrary distinction as to what constitutes good and great – one can have a three-star meal without, say, seafood (or vegetables for that matter.) There was no reason to serve meat in this meal; it was completely unnecessary in the progression of plates. What I do wish Chef Fox would do is focus more on vegetable dishes and their essence, as opposed to vegetable dishes that resemble meat dishes. There is great potential in a meal of this type where the tastes and textures greatly outnumber a more traditional meat-based tasting menu. This meal, which had such a quality, would rank high in the list of international meals available on that day. The bar has been raised considerably from last year and it will be interesting to see if the momentum continues throughout the remaining seasons.

Spring is the time to go; if you can not go now, my second lunch from a few weeks ago will be posted shortly.

- chuck

1 – Boring in the context of what Chef Fox is capable of creating. There are better pizzas out there; and there is better pasta. What there is not better are vegetable-centric dishes that push our traditional notions of taste and texture.

2 – Yes, the chef knew I was coming for lunch.

How would Redzepi’s cuisine translate to the Bay Area, and Manresa? Would the Redzepi dishes be facsimiles of his restaurant’s dishes? Or would there be changes to account for the Bay Area bounty? Would new ideas, and ingredients, be integrated into older dishes?

How would the collaboration between chefs play out during the meal? The last collaborative dinner I attended, the Passard / L’Arpege dinner, was not so successful. The menu jerked back and forth, between the two styles, and neither of the chef’s immense talents surfaced – an average instead of a product.

The menu with pictures and descriptions is listed below. (RR) designates a Rene Redzepi dish. I did not receive my usual (lit) Manresa seat so the pictures did not turn out as well as I would like, but I will still include most of them. It is a shame because the food was beautifully plated. The meal also took place a few weeks ago so my memory may be forgetting certain tastes and/or details.

Amuses
Kincho melon and sparkling coriander
Garden radishes w/ brown butter emulsion (RR)
Aji w/ ginger, a lettuce and cucumber gazpacho
The amuses started off uneven. The kincho melon and sparkling coriander was borderline abrasive – the ’sparkling’ component dominated. The garden radishes seem to be a traditional amuse for both restaurants. The aji redeemed Kinch’s first amuse – pristine fish with complementary “green” flavors – despite my dislike of cucumber.

Geoduck clam, green strawberry juice and frozen buttermilk (RR)
Kinch and Rene may have made a pact – we each have to throw something quite challenging into the meal. In that imaginary pact, this was Rene’s answer to Kinch’s sparkling coriander. The green strawberry juice was intensely acidic, nearly to the point of being entirely unpleasant. The frozen buttermilk was fleeting – its taste was but a suggestion – but it had that insubstantial texture that I generally dislike in “frozen” haute cuisine items – akin to El Bulli’s Parmesan foam. At this point, I was a little worried – a failed attempt to take off and fly.

Tomatoes, both raw & dried, smoked roe w/ roast tuna juice, golden purslane, avocado
Again, in my imaginary world, I wonder if Kinch knew some of the previous dishes might be a bit difficult; and, after jarring us out of our comfort zone, brought us back to one of his classics. The smoked roe and tuna juice salt the tomatoes perfectly, and complement their meatiness. We were back on track – all systems go.

“Vegetable field” (RR)
Into the Vegetable Garden is Kinch’s masterpiece, the crowning achievement of his bio-dynamic garden project, and he boldly handed its spot on the menu over to Rene’s own Vegetable field. The dish was radically different from Kinch’s and, yet, it was intimately familiar – an intersection and difference of the chefs.

It was served on a hot stone (foraged earlier in the Santa Cruz mountains), a bed of mashed potatoes, various veggies, and a malt crumble. The dish could be described as an extension of nature, as opposed to a plate of vegetables that approximate nature. There was a certain amount of non-representation inherent in the dish, whether intentional or not. It reminded me of El Poblet’s “Into the Woods.” We have blast off.

And a few pictures of Kinch’s Into the Garden for compare and contrast:

Sea bream perfumed with green garlic, abalone in a seaweed persillade
The vegetable quality was at its peak but the meats may have stolen the show. This was the best tasting piece of cooked fish I’ve ever eaten – it was the ocean. Everything else on the plate was a distraction because that fish was absolutely spectacular. If anything, during this highly conceptual diner, it served as a reminder that good food starts with excellent ingredients.

Tartar of ox, wood sorrel, juniper and oyster emulsion (RR)
This is a Noma signature so it was fitting to see it on the menu – but it wasn’t just stuck in somewhere – it belonged here, exactly. I don’t know long the ox tended fields, if at all, but the meat was aged for 48 days. The flavor was gamey, deep, complex, and long-lasting. That alone would have been enough but the other ingredients grounded it (literally?) and connected the meat back to its environment. And to further the connection? Eat with your hands. This was the climatic point of the meal – everything before it had built to this point.

Another better picture from Very Good Food.

Rack of veal, slowly roasted, corn pudding and morello cherry, some different vegetables
After the sea bream and ox, I could not imagine this dish maintaining the highs. Oh so wrong. The veal was near-drowning in its own juices, flanked by generous portions of fat, and it tasted of milk. The softer flavors provided a nice landing after the ox but this dish capped the meal with an exclamation point.

Sheep’s milk yogurt mousse and sorrel granite (RR)
Blackberries and bitter chocolate, caramel popcorn croustillant
As usual, no matter how hard I tried, the desserts did not get the attention they deserve. The sheep’s milk yogurt mousse was perfect – tangy, acidic, with just a hint of sweetness – the sorrel granite a bright herbal palette cleanser.

The meal was a resounding success; if not for the initial mis-steps, I would classify it as an A1 Meal. The dishes had a momentum and flow, a purpose in the context of the meal, despite alternating between chefs. It was a crescendo that climaxed with the ox, and gently let down afterward. Their approaches looked similar on paper, but the meal was a synthesis of their differences. Where Kinch takes great pains to deliver a “sense of place”, Rene seems to take great effort to connect the food back to “the place” – different approaches to a similar end.

Besides Tokyo and its many counters of raw fish, Noma sits atop of my must-try places. My next European trip will route through Copenhagen. And it will consist of at least two Noma meals.

- chuck

1 – Here’s a Noma review that probably took place once the chef returned from his California adventure:
http://amedamaonthegogo.typepad.com/amedama/2007/06/hijacked—and-.html

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

Golden purses

Crispy mussel w/ nasturtium

Carrot “white satin” and foie gras royale

Sea bream, sashimi style, sesame, and olive oil

Horse mackerel with ginger, seaweed, and citrus ice

Mar y muntanya: sunchoke and wood ash, caviar

Spiny lobster with young garlic, basil

Abalone with algae emulsion, oyster tartar

Red tile fish and ramps on the plancha, button ceps

Kobotxas and stewed smoky white beans, ham fat

Wood pigeon baked in salt, asparagus “achillea millefolium”

Roast saddle of lamb with turnips

Carrot pudding cake and pomelo sorbet, pistachio praline

Spring apricot with fig leaf ice cream, noyau milk

Chocolate and coffee creme with cherries

- chuck