Saturday, July 14, 2007
Foodie Heaven
The Boy's birthday is today, so we went out for birthday dinner last night. There is a new steakhouse nearby that has gotten good reviews and it's where he wanted to go. When you walk in, you know that this will be An Experience (not just a meal). The restaurant is formal and beautiful. Waiters in black pants, white tux shirts, tux vests. Wood paneling...in the GOOD sense of the word. Lighting that allows you to see adequately, but is soft enough for everything and everyone to look good.
The wine list had some reasonable choices, some mid-level choices and some not so reasonable price-wise, but reasonable for this kind of place choices. I don't think anyone would open a restaurant and call it a "Prime Steakhouse" and NOT have a Caymus Cabernet, Opus One. I was delighted to see Penfold's Grange as well. Australia really does make some incredible wines and Grange is the leader. Unfortunately, at $300 a bottle, it could not be invited to our table.
The menu itself was one that made me want to say "one of everything". Starters like carpaccio of beef, ahi tuna, lump crab cocktail. Salads like the one The Boy got (caprese--mozzarella, tomatoes w/ a little olive oil and balsamic), an iceberg wedge with blue cheese dressing, tomatoes and bacon, a shrimp and lobster bisque that looked incredible (in a large bowl). The steaks were a simple list, but when you think of it, there aren't THAT many cuts of steak. One very interesting spot on the beef list was the inclusion of Australian Wagyu beef. It's the variety (and technique) of Kobe beef, but just not done in Japan. If it had been, the filet would have been $40 an ounce. Yes, you read that right. The non-beef entrees of scallops, a lamb dish, veal and other things did look interesting, but when there's prime* beef to be had, that's what I'm having.
We got a bottle of Banfi SummuS, which is a Super Tuscan. It was Sangiovese with a little Cab and Syrah blended in. Incredible and even cooler that they decanted it for us.
The Boy's caprese looked quite nice and he said the tomatoes were very good (a critical element in a salad with only 2 primary ingredients). I didn't try any as I had the lovely crab cocktail, which was lump crab with cilantro and diced red pepper served with slices of honeydew, cantaloupe and avocado. The melons were good, but I love love love crab and avocado.
Dinner was steak for each, the bone-in ribeye for me and the Wagyu ribeye for The Boy. The steaks had a crisp crust, yet were perfectly cooked inside (to medium rare for both of us). Mine was the best bit of beef I'd ever eaten until I tried The Boy's. The texture of the Wagyu was just different, even though we had the same cut. However, if I were stuck on a desert island with only "my" steak, I'd be ecstatically happy. His side was grilled asparagus, which looked quite nice and mine was cheese-y stuffed roasted tomatoes. I always think about making these in the summer, but if we have "real" tomatoes, I can't bear to fuss with them too much. The steaks were incredible. There's just not much more I can say about them.
The service was spot on as well. Our waiter, John, knows his wine, knows his food and took incredible care of us (as I did of him when the bill came). We thought it was really cool that he recommended a trip to Valentine's (another new place in town) and a server named Karen. The owner stopped by a few times to see how we liked everything, told us a little about his decision to carry Wagyu from the Aussies as opposed to Kobe from Japan. We talked wine a little and we made sure he knew how much we enjoyed John.
Some of the other clientele surprised both of us. There were folks there in t-shirts and jeans, a cowboy, complete with hat that never left his head (!), a family near us in shorts, Dad had his cell phone earpiece clipped to the collar of his shirt, Junior held his fork like a club. There were (not surprisingly) "the beautiful people". Stunningly skinny girls who could use a good steak, but who probably picked at chicken. Guys in their post-golf wear, women with tons of makeup and jewlery, but not much more. We were dressed up nicely and I'm glad we were.
By the time we were ready for dessert, the wine had opened up to a very fruity nose and finish. Perfect with the dark chocolate cream brulee. The guy who owns this restaurant also owns a few others in town. I don't prefer the way he does cream brulee, but it tasted good, so I hesitate to quibble over technique. For me, brulee should be in individual dishes with the sugar carmelized right at serving so that it's nearly be "broken into". They did large pans of it, pre-sugared, bruleed and put back in the fridge. The berries with it were great and as I said before, the custard was delicious.
It was an incredible meal and a wonderful experience. However, I'm glad The Boy only has one birthday a year....we'd be bankrupt if we ate there more than a couple times a year.....
*Prime is a grade of beef that indicates the highest level of intramuscular fat. Only about 3% of the beef in the US are certified prime. (Thanks to Wikipedia)
The wine list had some reasonable choices, some mid-level choices and some not so reasonable price-wise, but reasonable for this kind of place choices. I don't think anyone would open a restaurant and call it a "Prime Steakhouse" and NOT have a Caymus Cabernet, Opus One. I was delighted to see Penfold's Grange as well. Australia really does make some incredible wines and Grange is the leader. Unfortunately, at $300 a bottle, it could not be invited to our table.
The menu itself was one that made me want to say "one of everything". Starters like carpaccio of beef, ahi tuna, lump crab cocktail. Salads like the one The Boy got (caprese--mozzarella, tomatoes w/ a little olive oil and balsamic), an iceberg wedge with blue cheese dressing, tomatoes and bacon, a shrimp and lobster bisque that looked incredible (in a large bowl). The steaks were a simple list, but when you think of it, there aren't THAT many cuts of steak. One very interesting spot on the beef list was the inclusion of Australian Wagyu beef. It's the variety (and technique) of Kobe beef, but just not done in Japan. If it had been, the filet would have been $40 an ounce. Yes, you read that right. The non-beef entrees of scallops, a lamb dish, veal and other things did look interesting, but when there's prime* beef to be had, that's what I'm having.
We got a bottle of Banfi SummuS, which is a Super Tuscan. It was Sangiovese with a little Cab and Syrah blended in. Incredible and even cooler that they decanted it for us.
The Boy's caprese looked quite nice and he said the tomatoes were very good (a critical element in a salad with only 2 primary ingredients). I didn't try any as I had the lovely crab cocktail, which was lump crab with cilantro and diced red pepper served with slices of honeydew, cantaloupe and avocado. The melons were good, but I love love love crab and avocado.
Dinner was steak for each, the bone-in ribeye for me and the Wagyu ribeye for The Boy. The steaks had a crisp crust, yet were perfectly cooked inside (to medium rare for both of us). Mine was the best bit of beef I'd ever eaten until I tried The Boy's. The texture of the Wagyu was just different, even though we had the same cut. However, if I were stuck on a desert island with only "my" steak, I'd be ecstatically happy. His side was grilled asparagus, which looked quite nice and mine was cheese-y stuffed roasted tomatoes. I always think about making these in the summer, but if we have "real" tomatoes, I can't bear to fuss with them too much. The steaks were incredible. There's just not much more I can say about them.
The service was spot on as well. Our waiter, John, knows his wine, knows his food and took incredible care of us (as I did of him when the bill came). We thought it was really cool that he recommended a trip to Valentine's (another new place in town) and a server named Karen. The owner stopped by a few times to see how we liked everything, told us a little about his decision to carry Wagyu from the Aussies as opposed to Kobe from Japan. We talked wine a little and we made sure he knew how much we enjoyed John.
Some of the other clientele surprised both of us. There were folks there in t-shirts and jeans, a cowboy, complete with hat that never left his head (!), a family near us in shorts, Dad had his cell phone earpiece clipped to the collar of his shirt, Junior held his fork like a club. There were (not surprisingly) "the beautiful people". Stunningly skinny girls who could use a good steak, but who probably picked at chicken. Guys in their post-golf wear, women with tons of makeup and jewlery, but not much more. We were dressed up nicely and I'm glad we were.
By the time we were ready for dessert, the wine had opened up to a very fruity nose and finish. Perfect with the dark chocolate cream brulee. The guy who owns this restaurant also owns a few others in town. I don't prefer the way he does cream brulee, but it tasted good, so I hesitate to quibble over technique. For me, brulee should be in individual dishes with the sugar carmelized right at serving so that it's nearly be "broken into". They did large pans of it, pre-sugared, bruleed and put back in the fridge. The berries with it were great and as I said before, the custard was delicious.
It was an incredible meal and a wonderful experience. However, I'm glad The Boy only has one birthday a year....we'd be bankrupt if we ate there more than a couple times a year.....
*Prime is a grade of beef that indicates the highest level of intramuscular fat. Only about 3% of the beef in the US are certified prime. (Thanks to Wikipedia)
