SAAM, chef's tasting room at Bazaar, Los Angeles

Alan and I have just returned from a week on the west coast. We split time between Los Angeles and San Diego and ate well in both places. One of our dinners was with a group of Alan's colleagues at SAAM, the chef's tasting room at Bazaar in the SLS Hotel, Beverly Hills.

We arrived early to the hotel to have drinks. If you haven't been to or experienced The Bazaar, its unlike anything I've ever seen before. With five different themed areas all bleeding into each other, it's a dizzying array of colors, sights and sounds. There's Bar Centro ~ literally a bar in the middle of the space ~ packed with decked out LA'ers in couture and tourists watching them. We sat at this long, raised bar table for a little over an hour having drinks and people watching.

Around us there was also two main dining rooms called Rojo Y Blanca decorated as you can imagine in red and whites serving ala carte and tapas.

There's a dessert room with an open kitchen called Patisserie which we were told is where you are "taken" after you finish dining to enjoy evening sweets. Then there's this odd store without walls tucked up in the front of the space called Regalo. And finally, there's SAAM; the private chef's tasting room in the back of the restaurant secluded away from the bustle of the other scenes. SAAM is where we ate dinner.

We had an 8pm reservation and eight people seated against the wall in a lovely, comfortable table with cushy seats and understated decor. The tasting menu consists of 22 small bites showcasing fresh ingredients and the chef's work with molecular gastronomy.

So here we go!
Course #1:  Kaviar Kir Royale; a champagne cocktail with "caviar" eggs made out of liqueur at the bottom of the glass. It didn't have nearly as much flavor as I was expecting.
Course #2:  Beet & Yogurt; a roll of soft beets and creamy yogurt encased in a flaky, simple pastry. Much lighter than expected but not a flavor combination I enjoyed.

Course #3:  Oyster & Jamon and Course #4:  Parmesan Macaron; served together, the oyster was a fresh little bite that went well with the salty ham. The Parmesan dish had herbs in it and both of these dishes complimented the sparkling wine (2008 Schramsberg Blanc de Blanc) we were having with the beginning of the meal.

Course #5:  Seabeans in Tempura; a fabulous preparation of a simple vegetable, the tempura was warm, crunchy and light with a natural saltiness. Seabean is actually Glasswort, a plant growing in Europe in salty marshes and sea coasts.

Course #6:  Jose's Combination; yep, that's prosciutto with caviar and it tasted as good as it looks.

Course #7:  Patatas Bravas (fried potatoes with allioli and chili sauce). I don't think I liked this course very much...it was a little spicy but otherwise pretty bland.

Course #8:  Chicken Skin & Cigala (langostine): this dish was AWESOME. But I mean, come on! It's fried chicken skin (think pork rind only with chicken) with a langostine over it and then a green cucumber foam. What's not to love?

Course #9:  Not Your Everyday Caprese: another knockout course. These mozzarella balls were extremely delicate and you needed to pop the entire thing in your mouth so it didn't break. Then when you did, with some of the tomato and fresh basil puree it was like an explosion of Caprese in a liquid happy bomb. Really amazing.

Course #10: Crispy Nigiri: no picture and can't remember anything about it.

Course #11: Uni & Eel: done like a risotto of eel with Uni on top this was crazy rich and decadent. It made me very happy though a bit heavy on the palate considering we were only halfway through. But loved this course.

Course #12: Chipirones (Northern Spanish style of cooking squid in it's own ink): I'm a pretty big fan of squid thanks mostly to Marea in NYC. This was a nice little course - the squid was pleasantly chewy, especially the body portion which so often is too tough. Nice one overall.

Course #13: Banh Mi (Vietnamese baguette sandwich): Not for me...I didn't like this sandwich at all. It was bland and filling and I didn't finish it. Could have skipped this course altogether.

Course #14: Carrots: Blue Hill at Stone Barns has taught me to never take a carrot for granted. Thank goodness I didn't dismiss this course before giving it a try (since I don't like raw carrots, was a possibility). Really superb. The sweet carrots and bitter edible flowers were simple and complimentary to each other.

Course #15: Mirugai (geoduck or large saltwater clam): I really thought this was some sort of white fish since the taste was rather mild and the texture delicate. To find out it was actually some creepy looking giant clam thing makes me even more impressed with this dish. Excellent taste.

Course #16: Wagyu & Mushroom Escabeche: Yummy! Is that enough of a review? And the broth was made of bone marrow so double yummy!!

Course #17: Mushroom & Duck Liver

Additional Course #17A: Wild Mushrooms & Black Truffles: this course was probably the hit of the evening for the rest of the table and I really, really, really wanted to eat it and love it. But I had hit the food wall to quote Adam Richman of Man vs. Food. I literally couldn't eat it - it was so rich and I was on the brink of total stomach shut down.

Course #18: Japanese Baby Peaches: no picture and I skipped this one too still reeling from food overload.

Course #19: Dragon's Breath Popcorn: no picture but honestly there wouldn't have been a way to capture the coolness of this course. We each popped a frozen piece of "popcorn" in our mouths and were told to breath out of our noses. The reaction was a stream of "smoke" looking like a fire breathing dragon exhaling. So very cool. The taste itself was not the highlight of this course. Watching each person in turn breath fire was frigging awesome.

Course #20: Frozen Apricot Timbale with Amaretto

Course #21: Desert Dessert
Course #22: Sexy Little Sweets

Summary: I really enjoyed this entire experience. Most of that had to do with the fun group of people and lively conversation. Most of the dishes were interesting enough or downright fabulous to overshadow the few misses they served. The service was attentive and fun and our head server dealt with this rambunctious crowd very well. I loved the intimate feeling of this private room and felt comfortable and not rushed. While I personally had a hard time handling this many courses (unusual for me, but it can happen), I do like it when high end restaurants do lots of little bites or plates. It's worth the trip and probably one of the better truly "foodie" experience to be had in Los Angeles. Final note - at $120 per person fixed cost this comes in as a moderate priced dinner (not nearly as scary as some of the NYC chef's tastings) with a pretty good wine list.

Zagat's Rating: 27-26-25
Jenn's Rating: 92

Arugula Pesto

This past Thursday marked our first CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture) delivery of the season and we were very excited to put together our vegetable-heavy menu for the week.  After determining what we would do with the collards, swiss chard, bok choy, broccoli, lettuce, & radishes, I was left with a bag of arugula and no ideas.  While I've made quite a few different arugula salads of late, I wanted to try something different this time and came upon a number of recipes for a pesto using arugula rather than basil.  The below is the one I tried:

Arugula Pesto Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups of packed arugula leaves, stems removed
• 1/2 cup of shelled walnuts
• 1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 1/2 garlic clove peeled and minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

METHOD

1 Brown 6 garlic cloves with their peels on in a skillet over medium high heat until the garlic is lightly browned in places, about 10 minutes. Remove the garlic from the pan, cool, and remove the skins.

2 Toast the nuts in a pan over medium heat until lightly brown, or heat in a microwave on high heat for a minute or two until you get that roasted flavor. In our microwave it takes 2 minutes.

3 Combine the arugula, salt, walnuts, roasted and raw garlic into a food processor. Pulse while drizzling the olive oil into the processor. Remove the mixture from the processor and put it into a bowl. Stir in the Parmesan cheese.

Aside from the beautiful bright green color, my first impression after tasting the pesto was the immediate strong peppery flavor.  However, the taste it left in your mouth was absolutely fantastic.  As I'm typing this, my 1 1/2 yr. old is downing a bowl of pasta with arugula pesto & meatball!  We plan on using the leftovers later this week on a baked potato.  I believe you can make this ahead and freeze the pesto but you will need to do so before you add the cheese.  I will definitely be making this one again.

Pasta with Asparagus and Scrambled Eggs

From the May 2012 edition of Everyday Food and the kitchen of Martha Steward Living, a super simple recipe that's quick and yummy.

I love trying recipes from the food magazines I get - especially Food & Wine and Bon Appetit. I've also given a go to a few from Everyday Food with not great results. This time however, I'm happy to report that it tasted as good as it was easy to make. The only changes we made to this recipe were to add red pepper flakes to the cooked pasta to give a little more zip. If we make it again we'll also try using a shaped pasta instead of spaghetti.

Pasta with Asparagus and Scrambled Eggs

Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:

• Course salt & ground black pepper
• 3/4 pound spaghetti
• 1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 ounces (1/2 cup) Parmesan cheese plus more for serving
• 5 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup Ricotta cheese

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook pasta 1 minute less than package instructions. Add asparagus and cook 1 minute. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water then drain.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in the pot over medium-high heat and add 1/4 cup of pasta water. Add pasta / asparagus mixture and Parmesan cheese. Cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add more pasta water if necessary to create a light sauce that coats pasta.

In a small nonstick skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add eggs and cook, stirring until just set. Divide pasta into four plates, top with eggs, dollop of ricotta cheese, salt & pepper and serve immediately.

Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Pocantico Hills, NY

For the second time we were lucky enough to have dinner at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in lovely Pocantico Hills, NY in Westchester County. Jeff, Dana, Alan and I had been talking about going back since the first night we ate there. It took two years and almost seven months, but this past weekend we made it.

The restaurant is set among a gorgeous collection of stone buildings located on an expansive, working farm right outside Tarrytown, NY (thirty miles north of the city). Along with it's sister farm, Blue Hill in Great Barrington, Massachusetts the restaurant sources all of it's ingredients from these two and a collection of other local farms to offer a true farm-to-table experience.

There are no menus at Blue Hill...just a list of the season's fresh ingredients that will be presented to you to showcase the day's harvest. Though this trip they did give us the cutest little book (printed on recycled paper) called Field & Pasture, a four season journal. It lists many of the fruits, vegetables and proteins harvested in each month of the year from the farm, field, pasture, greenhouse, forest and cellar.

Our reservation (nearly impossible to get) was early - 5:30pm. We were promptly seated upon arrival in the same exact table we ate at in November of 2009. There were already three or four other tables seated as we got settled. Only two decisions needed to be made...how many courses would the table be opting for and would we be selecting wines by the bottle or going with the restaurant's pairings? The first one was easy enough; of the five, eight or twelve farmer's feast choices, we decided on eight. And after a quick conversation with Matthew, our waiter, we ordered by the bottle. Though we don't know what the wines by the glass would have been, knowing that there would be six whites and one red, we though it better to go with bottles so we could do a champagne, a white and a red.

The bottle to start off the evening was one Alan selected - a Cedric Bouchard NV 'Roses de Jeane' Brut Blanc de Noirs. A terrific champagne that our attentive server recommended we drink out of white wine glasses to help showcase it's complexity and full body. I really loved this wine and it went so nicely with the first six starter dishes.

So no menu to jog my memory, I'm relying heavily on the pictures we took to try and recollect the evening's bounty of food. It doesn't take long from the point you are seated and go over any dietary restrictions to the first courses coming to the table. The restaurant, much to our delight, does half a dozen fresh bites first and then starts your eight courses. Here are the fresh bites:

This one is called the fence. Four vegetables for each person it included a baby carrot, asparagus, ficoide glacial (it's a french name for a micro-green that is also referred to as crystalline iceplant) and Easter egg radish. To try and describe the flavor in each of these mildly seasoned, incredibly fresh vegetables is an undertaking my limited vocabulary is not up for. But let it be said here - you'll never encounter anything this unique or this fantastic in a bite of veggie on a stick. Just out of this world.

Other one bites: artichoke puree with parsnip foam shooter.

Whole radish with sweet pea & asparagus dip. Fresh but in general, radish doesn't have a ton of flavor to begin with.

House made sweet potato chips with the best goat cheese I think I've ever had from Pleasantville, NY. Really fantastic.

Warm asparagus tips wrapped in pancetta and coated with sesame seeds. Incredible!

Sweet pea "burgers" on a sesame bun. Chilled and very sweet...good but not my favorite.

Birch cookies with cream filling. Different - you could really get that sense of where root beer gets its flavor from.

And then on to our eight course dinner. First up, the charchuterie platter with mixed greens, peas, speck and asparagus for three of us and for Dana, a gorgeous presentation of beets, micro greens and strawberries.

Our next course was a fresh ricotta cheese (not pictured) made from the dairy of the resident cows. It was served with challa brioche with cracked black pepper and a spread that I just can not remember. The ricotta was amazing - so fresh and warm; fabulous!

Somewhere in this time frame we ordered the next bottle of wine. Wanting a white Burgundy, Alan and Jeff consulted with the sommelier to come up with the 2008 Jean Marc Vincent Auxey-Duresses "Les Hautes" White Burgundy. A spectacular wine with bright acidity, oak aroma and light butter on the finish.

Next up was a split course. For Alan and I, a simple noodle dish made from the immature eggs. For Jeff & Dana, shitake mushrooms. The noodles were crazy good; the mushroom dish was pretty but not a hit with the McIntires.

Continuing with the egg theme, Alan and I were served fresh eggs collected that morning from young laying hens on the property. They brought over some to show us how much smaller the eggs are from hens that are just starting to lay. In a few weeks these chickens will be laying about five eggs a week that are the typical size we see in grocery stores. For these first few days and weeks, they are very small with a very thick shell and a bright yellow yolk. They were served with chicken hearts. I have run out of ways of complimenting these dishes...it was perfection, really.

At the same time, Jeff had the most talked about dish of the evening...the parsnip steak. Creamy, warm with a dense center akin to a potato but a taste all it's own, this was killer. It resulted in a trip back to Stone Barns the next day for the Farm Market to see if parsnips could be bought and taken home. Sadly, these were the last of the parsnip crop for the year. Come late winter next year, you betcha these will be purchased and grilled!

By now the evening hours were blending into each other, having already enjoyed so much wonderful food and exciting wines. I'm not sure when it happened, but the third bottle of wine appeared at some point. Again consulting with a very knowledgeable and attentive sommelier, Alan and he selected a red Burgundy. This was the 1996 Michel Lafarge Volnay "Clos du Chateau des Ducs" 1er Cru Red Burgundy. A wine that wasn't on the list it, it had fruit flavors of raspberry, tart cherry with a maturity and softening of the tannins. Really nice wine - great compliment to the savory dishes.

Our fifth course was fish - halibut to be precise. Served with carrot puree and sweet peas. The fish was perfectly cooked, flaky and moist. The fish, not altogether unusual, didn't have a ton of flavor by itself but the peas were fantastic - with all ingredients put together it was a very nice course.

Our sixth and final savory course was meat. Beef for Dana & Jeff, pork for Alan & I. The beef was medium-rare and melt in your mouth tender. The pork served three ways in a loin, belly and bacon style was so wonderful I didn't remember to take the picture until I was more than halfway through devouring it. They raise tamworth pigs right on premise and the freshness shows. Succulent and super flavorful, this was an excellent dish.

To wrap up the evening were two dessert courses - of which I swapped out one of mine for a cheese course instead. Featuring fresh berries, cream, pears and ice cream, they were light and well blended. A nice cap to a memorable evening.

All in all, this was a fantastic dining experience. The wait staff was organized and efficient; all the dishes were explained with some having a lot of detail (like the eggs and the ricotta cheese). The sommelier is at the top of his game and even remembered the four of us from the first time we were there. The flow and pace of the evening was well balanced. Four hours flew by and I never felt tired, rushed or uncomfortable. The ambiance is quaint yet very sophisticated with all of the special touches to remind the patron that this a restaurant with a purpose...for example, every course is served on a variation of a natural or earthen ware vessel of some kind. No fancy white china to be found in keeping with it's farm roots.

Blue Hill at Stone Barns remains one of our top dining locations with an almost perfect score. I looked back and saw I rated it as a 98 when the four of us were there on November 9th, 2009. In some ways this time was better with the only detraction being something that can't be helped; we didn't have the awe of that first time experience when discovering something so different and new.

Zagat: 28-28-28

Jenn's Rating: 98

Extra Notes: we were so happy with the dinner that we went back the following afternoon to the Farm Market they run every weekend in the summer. While there weren't many vegetables to take home that day (more than 50% of the harvest is still going to the restaurants at this point in the season), we did walk away with bacon, hot dogs, spare ribs and fresh eggs.

Babbo, NYC

On Tuesday night Alan and I met up with Patty and Allison for dinner at the much anticipated, very hard reservation to get, Babbo. This West Village, Mario Batali & Joe Bastianiche establishment has been around for a while (1998) and has garnered pretty rave reviews from people we know who have been and basically everyone on Zagat.

Our reservation was for 6pm and per our typical, Alan and I went down early to have a drink at the bar. We arrived at 5pm on the dot and were surprised that not only hadn't they opened the doors yet, there was a line of people waiting to get in. This seemed to be driven by the five little tables up front and two seats at the bar that are reserved for walk ins. After a little wait the doors opened and we claimed seats at the far end of the bar. We ordered drinks (sparkling wine for me, Gimlet for Alan) and settled in to observe the goings-on.

The restaurant is pretty small with fourteen tables (seating up to six) downstairs and a large center staircase leading up to a skylight-lit second floor with another dozen or so more tables. We were taken to our table upstairs where the combination of light and layout made for a pretty nice ambiance. Low music playing in the background, woods of light tan and beige mixed well with the white table clothes and central floral display.

Perusing the menu and noticing the attractively priced tasting menus, we decided immediately to ask if we could order two of the pasta tastings and two of the chef's tastings since they were the same number of courses. Our waiter came over and with a resounding NO, informed us that they don't do that. Everyone would have to have the same tasting menu or none at all. And while at first thrown back by the vehement of this statement and waiting for him to crack a smile and say just kidding, it dawned on me that this was not going to be anything like a high end French dining experience and I'd better lower my expectations. So we asked for more time to scan the menu, ordered a bottle of Gatinois Brut Rose NV champagne and pondered his scowl, huff and hasty retreat from our table.

The menu is pretty large so it took us a while to figure out a plan of attack; basically appetizers, pasta and then entree. Patty asked for recommendations and our put-out waiter told her the rabbit and quail were two of the best dishes along with the chops. We placed our order...

I realize I have been apologizing a lot for this lately - yes I once again forgot to take pictures until we were halfway through our first course. Forgive me...hopefully these give some idea. After a small plate of chickpea brioche from the kitchen (eh, not great), the appetizers were served.

Patty ordered grilled octopus with "Borlotti Marinati" and spicy limoncello vinaigrette. This dish was very nice. The pieces of octopus were thick but prepared without any chewiness to them. The vinaigrette had flavor but wasn't spicy.

Alan selected the warm tripe "alla parmigiana". The portion size was huge! It was really too big for an appetizer serving and while enjoying it, there was no way to even come close to finishing the dish. Also, the tripe was swimming in the ragu making it pleasant but hard to discern any real flavor from the tripe itself.

Allison went with an roasted artichoke hearts, goat cheese and toastini. This dish was blah. Nothing noteworthy from the dull color and presentation to the flavor balance. There wasn't anything wrong with it, but it didn't tell a story either.

I chose the asparagus with parmigiana and poached duck egg. The asparagus shoots were super thick and sweet; the parmigiana was shaved all over the plate like tiny shards of snow and the egg was perfect - runny but with definition and fantastic flavor. Great dish.

Next up were the pasta dishes. We took alot of time selecting pastas much to the dismay of our surly waiter. There were so many that sounded so good it was hard to pick. Here's where we netted out:

Patty got the Chianti stained papperdelle with wild boar ragu. The picture isn't showing the odd color of this dish. It came out looking like someone shaved raw tongue on the plate - a dull beet hue to it. While the color wasn't appealing, the taste was fabulous. I thought with was the dish of the night with the boar being so rich and tender and without any gaminess to it. I was impressed by the favor profile here.

Alan tried the beef cheek ravioli with squashed quail liver and black truffles. It was pretty good but the sauce came off a bit sweet which wasn't what I was thinking it would be when I tried it. The texture was on the soft side overall so the dish didn't impress.

Allison ordered the black spaghetti with rock shrimp, spicy salami calabrese and green chilis. This dish was really good. I loved the pasta cooked al dente with that little bit of crunch to it and combination of flavors from the shrimp and salami. I didn't get any chili on the palate so there was no heat to speak of.

I opted for the gnocchi with braised oxtail. The gnocchi was well prepared - light and creamy without making you feel like you just ate a loaf of bread. The oxtail was tender but overwhelmed by the tomato ragu. This one was just okay.

By this time our bottle of 2007 Fattoria Viticcio Monile Toscana IGT was delivered by our now downright hostile waiter who proceeded to spill an alarming amount out and around Allison's glass without acknowledgement or apology. The main courses arrived after a brief but nice interlude of time.

Patty took the waiter's (we should have known better) recommendation and tried the trio of rabbit (front leg, back leg and loin) with brussel sprouts, parsnips, pancetta and carrot vinaigrette. Patty didn't like this dish. When I tried it I remember commenting that the rabbit itself was nicely prepared - tender and moist with good flavor and no game. It was the rest of the dish that didn't seem to compliment the meat.

Alan went with the waiter's second recommendation of grilled guinea hen with pumpkin fregula and black truffle vinaigrette. I know I tried Alan's entree and thinking it was pretty good but I can't remember any of the flavor palette or texture.

Allison tried the grilled lamb chops. Prepared medium rare and attractive on the plate, I wasn't a fan of the lamb chop. I got too much of a mint, rosemary combination and not enough experience of the lamb itself. I'm also not usually a fan of lamb so I could be biased.

I ordered the special grilled veal chop with roasted porcini mushrooms and black truffle vinaigrette. I don't know if I've ever ordered veal in a restaurant before this and have no idea what possessed me to do so other than always enjoying the stolen bites from Alan when he orders it. I was thrilled with this chop. Other than being big enough that I knew there was no way it was getting finished, I really enjoyed the simple preparation and taste. It was nicely cooked and moist, tender and pink. I thought the accompaniment of mushrooms was a perfect choice and really would have finished every last bite if I weren't already past the point of full.

A few other notes about our evening at Babbo. At some point during our pasta course the lite, pleasant background music became an out-of-place, loud selection of alternative & classic rock that made it hard to hold a conversation. While the rest of our service crew were very pleasant, our waiter was downright rude, inattentive and pissy. He put a damper on the evening that is impossible to overlook.

The food was hit and miss with a third of the dishes being great, a third okay and a third being not appealing. Not a good showing at all ~ especially to have so many of them recommended to us and then still not living up.

Overall I was disappointed. A bright note and one that influenced my rating was that the bill was downright cheap for a dinner of this supposed caliber in New York City. I think it was $150 a person for the three courses and two bottles of wine. That explains the rather young crowd and overall popularity.

Ratings:
Zagat: 27-22-24
Michelin: no stars
Jenn: 84

Blue Ribbon Bakery Kitchen Wine Dinner

Various times throughout any given year we attend wine dinners. Sometimes they are showcasing a particular varietal; sometimes a specific winery and in the case of our dinner earlier this week, an individual wine maker. Alan, Susan, Rich and I jumped on the opportunity to spend an evening in the city with a wine expert we've come to all like and respect very much, Celia Welch. Named Wine Maker of the Year in 2008 by Food & Wine, Celia owns her own label, Corra Wines (www.corrawines.com), as well as consults to or is the winemaker of record for a number of small producer labels in Napa Valley. We've had the pleasure of drinking our way through the majority (if not all) of the wines in her portfolio and collectively consider her one of our favorites! 

This year the wine dinner featuring Celia and her wines was being held at a tiny establishment on Downing Street in New York City's West Village called Blue Ribbon Bakery Kitchen. The Blue Ribbon family of restaurants was new to the four of us so our expectations weren't predetermined.

We arrived downtown a little early to meet for drinks across the street at Blue Ribbon Downing Street Bar. A teeny, tiny little place with great ambiance and neighborhood feel, this establishment was originally opened as a holding place for guests waiting for their reservations across the street. It's grown to have a following all it's own.

After a glass of libations we scooted over to the bakery for dinner. My first impression walking in was how small the restaurant seemed (and pretty empty at 6:30pm). But we were warmly greeted immediately with a glass of 2010 Keever Saugivnon Blanc and within minutes escorted downstairs to a private section of the restaurant near the namesake, 135 year old brick oven. My spirits rose instantly! Quaint and intimate, this felt like a wonderful space to focus on great wines and hopefully, good food.

Unlike other wine dinners we've been to, tonight's had staggered seating times. We weren't sure how this would play out. Pleasantly surprised, it gave the evening a sense of relaxation with the kitchen being able to prepare and serve the courses at their pace as opposed to having to serve dozens of plates at the same time, usually to the detriment of the food. When we arrived there were two tables of the eight or so filled.

Settled in and ready to go, our first course appeared. And please forgive me, half the time I was so excited with the evening and chatting with great friends that I forgot to take pictures before we'd all torn into the dishes. If they don't look beautifully plated, it's my fault for not capturing them ahead of the flying forks!

This starter course was served family style in the middle of the table. Brandt Family Reserve Bavette with watercress, Japanese sea salt and Feather Ridge Farm Egg, it was paired with the 2009 Keever Cabernet Sauvignon. Along about the time we were discussing at length how FREAKISHLY AWESOME it was to be given an appetizer of MEAT, an engaging young man came by to see how we were doing. Turns out he's Sean, the general manager. He kept us informed throughout the night, answering random questions we had. Starting with, what is bavette? Turns out, it's also referred to as flap steak.

To help explain, from the web site: http://menuinprogress.com/2008/11/uncommon-cuts-bavette-steak.html:

One huge advantage of purchasing meat from an independent, full-service butcher or local beef producer is the availability of less common cuts. We are lucky to have a couple of excellent sources in Siesel's Old Fashioned Meat & Deli and Brandt Beef. Brandt sells their beef at our local farmers market, and lately our favorite offering of theirs is Bavette Steak. Also known as "flap", it is a small cut from the bottom part of the sirloin that has a character much like flank or skirt steak. Given a quick, hot sear and then sliced across the grain, it has an intense meaty flavor and a surprisingly delicate texture. So, the next time you are in the mood for a steak, don't settle for that tired old chunk of filet from the supermarket - look around and I'm sure you'll be able to find more interesting options.

This dish was out of control fantastic. There's nothing like perfectly prepared steak, right? Right up to the point in time you serve it with fresh farm egg that is. Absolutely decadent and melt-in-your-mouth tender. What a great, great dish. Paired so nicely with the young Keever Cab, there was nothing left but memories within minutes of this being served.

The second course up was Beef Marrow and Oxtail Marmalade with toasted Challa Bread and accompanied by a 2008 Kelly Fleming Cabernet.

Oh my, what new heaven is this?!? Scooping out the marrow, spreading it across the toast points with the marmalade all on top was ethereal, to say the least. I loved, loved, love this course. It was not filling from a portion perspective but boy did it satisfy.

Next up on the menu was the Braised Beef Tongue and Veal Cheek served with perigourdine style grits. Yes, I needed it explained to me that perigourdine means basically, "with truffle".

Definition From Epicurious:

French for "as prepared in the style of Périgord," referring to dishes garnished or flavored with TRUFFLES as well as those served with PÉRIGUEUX SAUCE. The term is derived from France's Périgord region, which is famous for its black truffles.

This was another hit. The cheek had the consistency and fullness of favor of a braised short rib and the tongue was chewy in a pleasant, pork belly sort of way. The Kelly Fleming cab showed really well against this dish. Being a rather feminine style wine, I thought it held it's own against the richness of this dish without either one being compromised.

So we're on a roll now when out comes...Brandt Family Reserve Prime Strip with wild mushrooms (morels, in this case) and foie gras. Served with the 2009 Corra Cabernet.

Served family style, I about dropped off my chair from sheer happiness when this dish was presented. Seriously?!? MORE MEAT? Yum, yum, yum. This was another case where I completely forgot to take a picture when first served so you're seeing a hastily put together representation on my plate. So good that I've run out of ways of describing these dishes. The meat was so well prepared that I'm thinking this is the best meat I've had outside of our home or the Lahey home that there's no reason to eat steak anywhere else. It was that good.

And there's no doubt that Corra is my favorite when it comes to this line up of unique, small producer wines. The terrior of the three vineyards making up this 100% Cabernet wine must be some marriage made in heaven. Showing was I consider the best of California, this is wine that's big and fruity but elegant and drinkable. I appreciate that it has a softer side that can be paired with food or just consummed by itself. What a great way to finish up...happy to linger over the last drops in my glass.

Finally, to wrap up our meal, I appreciated no sicky-sweet dessert that I just won't enjoy. Instead this well thought out menu concluded with Misty Mountain Camembert with fig compote, bread and 1999 Casa de Santa Eufemia Port. This course was fine - not fabulous ending to an overall spectacular meal.

I can't wait to go back and try just ordering off the menu at this lovely little Village restaurant to see if the magic holds up on any random Tuesday night. Until then...cheers!