Blue Point Coastal Cuisine - Restaurant Week Winter 2012

Date of Dining: 1/19/2012
Price: $30 for 3 course Restaurant Week Menu
Location: 565 Fifth Ave, San Diego, CA
website


The Quick Bit:
+ Strong slate of diverse flavor combinations
+ Aggressive seasoning packed full of flavor
+ Great value with full menu (and $30 wine bottles) available during restaurant week
+ Great location in the heart of the Gaslamp Quarter
Δ Loud dining room could have been more conducive to conversation
Δ Dessert courses could have matched the caliber of savory courses

Note: Chef Daniel Barron has left Blue Point Coastal Cuisine as of 1/24/2012

When I last visited Blue Point Coastal Cuisine, I was treated to my first complete meal of molecular gastronomy. While Executive Chef Daniel Barron has a great background with molecular gastronomy, his everyday food is still fundamentally rooted in providing intensely flavored entrees with perhaps a small modern technique twist. Since the last visit, Chef Barron was awarded "Chef of the Fest" for the San Diego Bay Food and Wine festival, adding to his already impressive award cabinet.

Following Chef Barron's twitter account, I found that Blue Point was offering the full menu as part of Restaurant Week. Unfortunately, the same twitter account showed that he would not be in for service when I visited. Undeterred, I set out to see what the regular menu at Blue Point was about.

Note: While I dined with a party of six, I limited the review to courses for two people to provide the best information on items I got to taste.

In addition to the restaurant week menu, there was a selection of about 10 bottles of wine priced for $30 per bottle. We got two of the bottles form that list:

2009 P-L&J-F Bersan Saint Bris, Sauvignon, Burgundy

2009 Martin Codax Albarino, Rias Baixas

 While I didn't have enormous expectations for $30 bottles of wine, the Saint-Bris was more old world white with an even flavor throughout while the Albarino was more of a new world fruit bomb.
Amuse:

salmon tartare - creme fraiche, lemon, chive

 This cold smoked salmon had a large component of oil to carry forth the flavor of the salmon. Creme fraiche added a textural element to smooth out the mouth feel and add an extra element of richness to the dish. The lemon came in the form of the aftertaste where the core sweetness and flavor of the lemon (zest) came through without the sourness. Overall, the complimentary amuse was not bad, but I would have preferred a touch more acid to round out the dish.

Appetizer A:

spicy yuzu oyster spoons - shaved serrano, ponzu air

I recognized this dish as the sixth course of The Experience and wanted to see how it had evolved in the intervening time. While this plating lacked the olfactory element to the pile of foam in the previous incarnation, I enjoyed this plating far more.
This was the second best dish of the night. The oyster was succulent and packed full of flavor. The yuzu foam was still delightful and added the citric acidity needed to balance the richness of the oyster, while the shaved serrano gave the spicy kick to assault the senses. The round out the plating, the spoons were placed on a bed of what I want to say was the tsume (from course five of The Experience). This added bit of sweetness and depth of flavor really added more to the oyster courses. Additionally, having the oysters plated on the spoons made the dish much easier to eat that the previous bowl.

Appetizer B:

pan roasted Mediterranean mussels - coconut, ginger, green curry

The mussels were cooked to an absolute tender perfection. The flavor of the coconut and current were prevalent throughout the dish, but the broth was still the clear, rich seafood broth associated with mussel dishes. This dish also had a nice spicy kick to open the eyes. Overall, the flavors were well integrated and incorporated with each other.

Entree A:

pan seared dayboat Maine scallops - white corn and bacon dumpling, arugula, proscuitto glass

I thought this dish was the best dish of the night. The scallops were cooked perfectly, but the secret to the dish was the large bacon and corn dumpling. The dumpling served as a vessel to deliver sauce to the scallops while adding sweetness and texture from the corn and smokiness from the bacon. The arugula added some bitterness and acid to balance out the rest of the dish.
While it is always a little dangerous to add an additional element of sweetness to a dish containing scallops, the sweetness of the corn really complemented the sweetness of the scallop and didn't overshadow its flavor.

Entree B:

pan seared Hawaiian ono - pineapple fried brown rice, spicy sausage stew, aioli

This dish seemed to be a battle of the surf and the turf. The seared Hawaiian ono represented the elegant restrained austere approach to cuisine while the sausage represented more of the big, bold, rustic aspect of cooking. The pineapple brown fried rice served as the vessel to unite the two juxtaposed elements as the sweetness of the cooked pineapple was highlighted against the spicy bold flavors of the sausage while the sour savory notes of the grilled pineapple were highlighted against the pure flavors of the ono.
Overall this was a very fun dish and it was a nice play to the tastes.

Dessert A:

creme brulee - seasonal fruit

The creme brulee was one of the better creme brulees I've had. While there was enough sugar to formulate the crust for the brulee, the sugar in the cream was restrained, which allowed the flavor of the cream to shine. The texture of the cream was also the correct consistency.

Dessert B:

elephant ear - fried sweet dough, swiss chocolate, salted caramel, whipped cream
strawberries

While I really wanted to like this dish, the donut lacked the airiness and seemed to be a really heavy ball of dough. Additionally, all of the elements of the dish seemed to just scream of sugar. Overall the dish seems to be what an eight-year old child would think of as an ideal dessert instead of what an adult would find to be enjoyable.

Conclusion:
I've been pretty outspoken against Cohn Group restaurants in the past, but my two experiences at Blue Point have completely altered that perception. At the very least, I have full confidence in recommending Blue Point to any diner that visits San Diego and is looking for a restaurant downtown. Chef Barron is really pushing the envelope in terms of combining and balancing various flavor combinations in his food. He also aggressively highlights those flavors with kicks with spice. Additionally, when Chef Barron has already found a winning flavor combination, he doesn't seem to be passive as he is continuing to adapt and improve on dishes on the menu.
While I would love to bump Blue Point to the gigabyte (and it certainly does deserve it on the strength of the savory courses), some other elements did slightly mar the experience. First and foremost, the restaurant truly deserves a great pastry chef to complement the savory menu; this appears to be missing at this time. The ambiance of the restaurant also left a little to be desired as we were unable to have conversations across the table with the loudness of the restaurant. The tables also seemed to be extremely crowded as many people kept bumping against the back of my chair throughout the meal. While the ambiance is probably out of the control of what can be fixed, I hope to have better desserts during my next visit, which will allow me to justify bumping Blue Point up in the awards category.

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Cowboy Star - Restaurant Week Winter 2012

Date of Dining: 1/15/2012
Price: $40 for 3 course restaurant week tasting
Location: 640 Tenth Ave, San Diego, 92101
website


The Quick Bit:
+ Regular menu available as well as restaurant week
+ Not just a place for steak, but great dishes as well
+ Cooking temperature on protein is spot on
Δ Atmosphere could have been a bit brighter
Δ Some items are not on the menu

Note: I will be updating on Monday and Friday this week for restaurant week. This probably won't be a problem since Restaurant Week is generally extended an extra week

Long overdue for a review, Cowboy Star is the go to restaurant I recommend everyone who asks me where to get a good steak in San Diego. During this restaurant week, I was finally able to find some time to check out the restaurant and give a proper review.

Cowboy Star is a combination of a restaurant and a butcher shop. At the butcher shop, one can find the high quality cuts of beef, including grass fed variants of the popular cuts. The butcher shop meat is competitively priced to other specialty meat shops such as Iowa Meat Farms.

Cowboy Star's kitchen is headed by Chef Victor Jimenez. Chef Jimenez graduated from Le Cordon Blue in Paris before being recruited to San Diego by Chef Bernard Guillas to work at the US Grant Grill. Other culinary stops along the way include Dakota Grill and Spirits, Gulf Coast Grill, and Gringo's Cantina. Chef Jimenez opened JRDN before finally opening Cowboy Star.

When we perused the Restaurant Week menu, we noticed that there wasn't a lot of steak options. However, as the complete regular menu was available we decided to share 1 restaurant week as an appetizer and order a full steak as the entree.

Amuse:

pickled sturgeon

The amuse contained a pickled sturgeon on a baguette. The acidity in the pickling liquid of the sturgeon was a good way to open the appetite for more.

First Course:

charcuterie plate - (left to right) duck pate, sopressata, fennel sausage, chorizo salumi
with pickled vegetables and baguette

The entire charcuterie plate was house-made, which seems to be a trend that is become popular in several San Diego fine dining restaurants. My favorite item of the selection was the sopressata; the black peppercorns really brought a nice contrast to the meat to highlight its flavor. Having eaten many a charcuterie plate, I felt the pickled vegetables were a little weak as the strong aggressive pickling liquid flavor was missing to cut the richness and fat of the charcuterie. Overall, the plate was among the better charcuterie I've had in San Diego.

Second Course:

sea scallops - vanilla parsnip puree, meyer lemon sauce, leeks, petite greens

 The scallops in this dish were cooked perfectly, which allowed the natural sweetness of the scallops to be savored and enjoyed. Personally, I was not a fan of the vanilla in the parsnip puree as it seemed slightly overbalanced, but the Meyer lemon sauce was a strong counterpoint that really complemented the flavor of the scallop. The fried shoestring onions added a nice textural contrast to the dish.

Supplemental Course:

40 oz porterhouse for two

Going for broke, we ordered the porterhouse to share. We ordered the meat medium rare, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the meat was cooked to temperature perfectly.

The most impressive part of the medium rare cooking of this particular steak is that usually when the meat is that rare, the ligaments and tendons have not completed the cooking process and often make the meat hard to chew. However, the preparation at cowboy star was absolutely spot on. Having eaten many a steak, I have been consistently impressed by both the quality and consistency of the cooking at Cowboy Star.

In addition to the protein, we received two complimentary sides with the porterhouse.

Third Course:

fromage blanc cheesecake - honey poached pears

The cheesecake was prepared very well and was a nice way to end the meal. The honey that topped the cheesecake really provided a nice flourish to an already well-done cheesecake. I personally was not a big fan of the poached pairs, but enjoyed the tartness the raspberries brought to balance out the dessert.

Conclusion:

While Cowboy Star is mostly known as a steak house, it in fact is a great restaurant in its own right. Ordering mainly non-steak items off the Restaurant Week menu, we enjoyed extremely well-prepared food. The steak ordered was an extremely high quality aged cut and cooked to absolute perfection. For those of you looking for steak on the restaurant week menu, Cowboy Star does offer a petite filet.

For having extremely high quality and consistent steaks as well as being a great restaurant on top of it, I've awarded Cowboy Star the gigabyte award.

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Market Restaurant and Bar - Restaurant Week Fall 2011

Date of Dining: 9/22/2011
Price: Restaurant week, $40 for 3 course menu, $22 for wine pairing
Location: 3702 Via de la Valle, Del Mar, CA 92014
website


The Quick Bit:
+ Consistently High Quality Food
+ Great Service by Front of House, they had steady hands!
+ The Wine Pairings were spot on!
+ Vegetarian Options Available
Δ The desserts could have been more consistent in caliber to the rest of the food
Δ Some ingredients could be perceived as overused


Just as I'm posting my second (and probably last) Fall 2011 San Diego Restaurant Week post, word has come down that (surprise surprise) Restaurant Week has been expanded a second week to cover Sept 25-30 as well. Hurry up and get those reservations (tip: call the restaurant instead of using opentable)!
Market Restaurant and Bar is owned by Executive Chef Carl Schroeder. Chef Schroeder graduated from CIA Hyde Park and worked at Michael Mina's Aqua and Bradley Ogden's Lark Creed Inn before moving to San Diego. When he arrived in San Diego, Chef Schroeder led Arterra Restaurant to much acclaim such as "Top 8 Chefs in Southern California" and "California Chef of the Year 2004". This year, Chef Schroeder was nominated as a James Beard Award Semifinalist for Best Chef in the Pacific Region. Unfortunately, Chef Schroeder did not advance to the finals.
The knock on Market Restaurant and Bar coming into this review was that Chef Schroeder played it too safe with his cuisine. He used largely the same proteins and did very little variation on the menu season to season (and year to year).
I attended this dinner with a large group of friends as sort of the annual Restaurant Week visit. Since we did have a large group, I did have to call the restaurant to work out the reservation details. It is unknown to me whether I became "known" to the restaurant during this process, but as far as I know I remained just another customer (although a demanding one). I really appreciate the level of service and the professionalism shown by the front of house during this process as I had to call the restaurant several times and they courteously handled every request efficiently.

Menu (click for larger)

The restaurant week menu was different from the one advertised on the website; I actually prefer this menu as I'm a huge fan of black cod. I shared the menu with with one other person, so you will get to read about my take on six of the dishes. However, we only had one wine pairing, so those courses were paired to my order.

Amuse:

Goat Cheese - apples, toasted hazelnut, micro-arugla, apple cider

The amuse was the first indication to me that Chef Schroeder might be playing his cuisine a little less safe. While cheese serves as a great palette cleanser and the acid from the apple cider should serve to refresh the palette, this was a conceptual idea that wasn't fully refined in execution. The entire bite seemed to remind me of a watery apple crumble, which I associate more with dessert. While the dish failed to please in taste, it was pleasing texturally. The goat cheese had a luxurious velvet mouth feel and the toasted hazelnut provided a nice crunchy textural contrast. I was impressed that Chef Schroeder would serve this as an amuse since it is pretty close to dessert - perhaps a sign of things to come?

First Course A:

Moroccan Spiced Sweet Potato Soup & Duck Confit - roasted apples, Pepita Brown Butter, Toasted Coriander

Paired with

2009 Paco & Lola Albarina Rias Baxias

The first thing that surprised me with the soup was that they entire soup was brought out in the bowl. Furthermore, the waiter that carried the soup had very steady hands (the splash on the edge was actually my fault as I was rotating the soup to get the correct angle). Most fine dining establishments these days bring a bowl with carefully stacked/placed ingredients and then bring a small pitcher of soup to pour into the bowl. It was a refreshing change of pace to have the fully plated soup placed in front of me.

The soup had an excellent combination of spice and natural sweetness. This was complemented by the saltiness and richness of the duck confit. The skin of the duck confit was fried perfectly so it had a great crunch. The toasted coriander seeds were also a nice textural contrast. The soup had a very smooth finish a luxurious velvety mouth feel as it was being savored in the mouth (probably from the brown butter). Unfortunately there was a tiny flaw in the soup - it was too thermally hot when it was first brought out. I nearly burned my palette in the first spoonful, but luckily noticed the temperature before it was too late.

The wine had a nice sweet entrance that was a great counterpoint to the spice of the soup. The finish was more on the buttery side and not dry, which complemented the rich mouth feel of the brown butter in the soup.

First Course B:

Foie Gras Pate & Spiced Duck Sausage - shaved apple salad, pickled mustard, cabbage-apple relish, pistachio toast

I felt dish epitomized what Chef Schroeder perhaps has been labelled as - playing it safe. Before I launch into my personal nitpicks on the dish, I was to say that it was excellently prepared and very enjoyable. Five people ordered it at the table and all were extremely satisfied by the dish. I personally thought the shaved apple salad was amazing. It had just the right balance of sweetness, tartness, and acid to transition from the foie pate to the sausage. I also really enjoyed the whole pickled mustard seeds. They were an excellent way of seasoning the sausage. The biggest complaint from the table was that there wasn't enough pistachio toast to fully enjoy the foie pate.

For myself, I felt the duck sausage erred on the safe side. The flavor of the duck was muddled as it lost the slight gaminess in the flavor, and I also felt the sausage lacked some spice. While it was already a spiced sausage, it perhaps just needed a bit more heat and salt to really carry the flavors through. The foie pate was nice and carried the flavor of foie, but it wasn't an adequate substitute for me for an actual piece of seared foie or a nice foie terrine.

First Course C:

Hawaiian Yellowfin Tuna Tartare - tobiko caviar, citrus-soy broth, avocado, marinated cabbage, nort crackers

This was also ordered at the table but I didn't get to sample it. I did find the plating to be very well done and artistic.

Second Course A:

Miso Glazed Black Cod & Housemade Ramen Noodles - Crispy Chicken Skin, Shiitake Mushroom Bok Choy Saute, Hot & Sour Broth

paired with

2007 Mt Rosa Pinot Noir Central Otago New Zealand

I thought this was the best dish of the night. The hot a sour broth was slightly salty for me when enjoyed alone, but it necessary for flavoring the noodles. The housemade noodles seemed to be of the alkaline variety, and were cooked perfectly to have the correct chewy texture for contrasting the soft buttery cod. The crispy chicken skin added a large element of savoriness to balance the umami of the fish, and also provided the crispy textural contrast. The other element that worked great in this dish was the smell; it gave off a very pleasant aroma when it arrived to let its presence be known. Combined with the crunch from the crispy chicken skin, it could be said that this dish was a feast for all five senses. The fish itself was cooked perfectly with the skin and retained a lot of the fat and oils that makes black cod so enjoyable.
The Pinot was more of an old world pinot, which helped in this dish as it did not need all the fruit forwardness. The more tart and subtly sweet flavors of black fruit worked in harmony with the broth. The finish was more of a smooth finish, which worked well with the oils of the fish in the broth.

Second Course B:

Cabernet Braised Prime Beef Shortrib & Ribeye Cap Duo - Sweet Onion Potato Puree, Braised Collard Greens, Roasted Baby Beats

The beef dish is another dish that could be considered safe for Chef Shroeder, but it was just impeccably executed. The short rib had the telling glaze that signaled its goodness, and the rib eye cap (my favorite part anyway) was cooked to a perfect medium rare as requested. The beats, collard greens and onions all enhanced the flavors of the beef, and apparently I don't hate potato purees. This particular puree was very airy and creamy.

Dessert A:

Chocolate-Espresso Ice Cream Sandwich - malted milk chocolate ice cream, banana caramel

paired with

Ramos Pinto Quinta do Ervamoira 10 year Tawny Port

The chocolate-espresso cookies were made to almost resemble macaroons in the texture of the cookie. I thought this was a big win as I'm actually a fan of a well made macaroon. Unfortunately, I thought the malted milk chocolate ice cream didn't really offer enough contrast to the cookie in flavor. The entire ice cream sandwich seemed a little boring flavor wise. The banana caramel was very well executed, but I didn't get the pairing of banana and espresso.
Fortunately I didn't order dessert for the actual dessert as much as the port pairing. I was extremely happy with the port and it was a perfect way to cap off the meal.

Dessert B:

Creme Fraiche Panna Cotta - Green Apple Sorbet, Pomegranate Molasses

By the time this course rolled around, I was getting very weary of apples. They seemed to occur several time throughout the menu and it seemed to be lacking creativity to have apple appear so many times. Although we didn't have an entree with apples, the Jidori chicken entree did include some apples, which just seems to be wrong in being able to order all three courses and the amuse to contain apples.
I enjoyed the panna cotta, but found the apple sorbet to be too tart for my taste. The females at the table absolutely adored the tartness of the apple sorbet though, so perhaps this was just my taste. I did enjoy the pomegranate molasses and jello.

Dessert C:

Spiced Toffee-Date Cake - Carmelized Pears, Marscapone Mousse, Spiced Candied Cashews

This was the best dessert of the night. While I felt the other two desserts were weak, this one did contain all the elements of sweet, spice and texture that I tend to enjoy. Unfortunately, I only got one bite of this dessert so that's about all I can contribute.

Conclusion:
Overall, I was extremely impressed by the restaurant week experience I had at Market. Even though Market is one of those restaurants that totally changes the menu for Restaurant week from their normal menu, I was extremely impressed by caliber and refinement of the dishes I was served. I hope that Chef Schroeder continues to step outside the box and develop more interesting dishes.

My experience at Market is enough to award it the megabyte award. While I did taste six seven dishes, I did not get to sample enough savory courses to elevate market to a higher award. I feel like it is definitely worth a re-visit to try Chef Schroeder's tasting menu at a later date to see if Market can ascend the award ranks. Additionally, since my wine pairings were done so well, I've decided to award Market the oeno-byte award.  Again, three wines is perhaps not enough to give this judgement, but consider it a probationary award until I sample the wine pairing with the tasting menu.

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Whisknladle - Restaurant Week Fall 2011

Date of Dining: 9/18/2011
Price: Restaurant Week - $40 for 3 course menu
Location: 1044 Wall St., La Jolla, CA 92037
website


The Quick Bit:
+ Meat Temperatures were spot on
+ Some dishes were truly inspired
+ The London's Burning cocktail is a must get
+ Desserts were well balanced and enjoyable
Δ Pasta dishes could have been more balanced
Δ Some entrees could be more refined.


San Diego Restaurant Week is a bi-annual affair where many restaurants in San Diego offer discounted three course menus for $20, $30, or $40. Being the analytic cynic that I am, I generally consider Restaurant Week the the two four weeks of the year to NOT eat out (it's four weeks because they always end up extending it into a second week). However this year (probably cause I have the blog now), I have two restaurant visits lined up on the docket. Whisknladle is the first restaurant and was chosen because it is one of the two restaurants that offers its entire menu (unchanged) for restaurant week. 
Whisknladle is a farm-to-table concept that focuses on comfort food. It contains a mix of Southern American and Italian flavors using local produce. Whisknladle's kitchen is headed by Chef Ryan Johnston. Chef Johnston is a graduate of CIA Hyde Park and has worked in Cafe Chardonnay, Darrel & Oliver's Cafe Maxx, and Bouchon in Yountville, CA. At Bouchon, Johnston worked under the tutelage of Thomas Keller. Prior to arriving at Whisknladle Chef Johnston showed his prowess for restaurant menus by consulting for and providing menus for Bizou, Tonno Rosso, Blackhorse Grille, and Fresh[er] Restaurant. When Chef Keller recently visited San Diego, he had dinner at Whisknlade and thoroughly enjoyed the meal.
To take full advantage of Whisknladle's restaurant week selection, I dined with several others including Bobby at Gourmand's Review. We took the strategy of ordering different things and sharing all the dishes with each other, so we were able to taste most of the menu.

Appetizers:

Flatbread - porchetta, currant, gruyere and rosemary

The flatbread was a perfect way to start off the meal. The porchetta was enjoyable with the little bits of fatty pork goodness, and the currants provided an element of restrained and sophisticated sweetness that elevated the dish.

Steak Tartare - Cornichon, Farm Egg Yolk, Capers, Shallot & Dijon with Brioche

The tartare was a nicely balanced dish flavor wise, but it lacked a few qualities for me that would have made it a true winner. The part that would have taken the dish over the top for me was the texture; I thought the cut of the steak was a little too fine and it seemed to resemble ground beef to some extent. While I respect that some diners may not find large chewy pieces of raw beef palatable, this was simply my take on an otherwise nice dish.

Local Venus Clams - Tomato-Clam Jus, Merguez Sausage. Charred Rapini, Preserved Orange & Grilled Bread

I thought this clam dish was great! The first thing that I noticed was that the Tomato-Clam Jus had an amazing flavor; I just wish there had been more of it. The next surprise came while slurping down a clam; the preserved oranges had been cut into small cubes and mixed in with the clams. This added a nice element of acid and really brought out the flavor of the clams. The final surprise was the Merguez sausage. This Merguez appeared to be mostly lamb and the gamey flavor of the lamb really provided a nice meaty contrast to the clams. This was surf and turf at its finest.

Chorizo Date Fritters - Local Medjool Dates & Moroccan Tomato Sauce

I didn't think I was going to like this dish, but I was pleasantly surprised. The chorizo and date paired extremely well as the dates brought a tiny bit of sweetness to the chorizo. The deep fried batter was well done and provided both the textural contrast and serving vessel to pair with the spiced tomato dipping sauce.

Pasta:

Tagliatelle - Spicy Pork Sausage Sugo, Pepperonata, Housemade Ricotta & Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

There was nothing wrong with this dish, but there was also nothing spectacular. While I did enjoy the pepperonata, this dish was mainly "familiar" Italian flavors that did not excel past similar dishes in other Italian restaurants. I also felt that this dish was hurt the combination of a really thick pasta and very tiny cuts of sausage.

Potato Gnocchi - Brown butter ale creme, gratinee of brie de Meaux & Chives

Our server explained that gnocchi tends to be boots or pillows - these were far on the boot side. The restaurant offered to replace the dish (+service!), but we thought the next batch was likely to have the same problem so we passed.

Squid Ink Linguine - Fried Basilica Chiles, Garlic Confit, Lemon & Shaved Bottarga

This was the best of the pasta dishes, but it was not without its flaws. This dish really lacked acid - a small squeeze of lemon into the pasta really unlocked the flavor of the pasta and made it a wonderful dish. The Bottarga was also initially heavy and added too much salt to the dish (the lemon balanced this as well). I'm a sucker for fried chiles in general and these were no less enjoyable than usual.


Seafood:

Maine Diver Scallops - Chilled Green Curry, Roasted Squash, Tinkerbell Peppers, Spunach & Capelin Roe

This was one of those "Wow" dishes that you remember for a very long time. The scallops were cooked perfectly and had a great succulent sweetness to them. Instead of playing it safe, Chef Johnston added the capelin roe to the top of the seared portion. The roe provided an extra element of the sea as well as the textural element of the popping in the mouth while eating the scallop. If that wasn't enough, the aroma of this dish upon arriving was completely mouth watering. I had to do everything I could to restrain myself and actually take photos before eating. The curry sauce had a strong element of seafood infusion which made it extremely successful as well.

Local Line Caught Albacore - Sweet & Sour Beets, Mustard Creme, Braised Cucumber & Celery

The albacore was truly fresh and wonderful, but it lacked some season. I think the conception of the dish is to dip the albacore into the mustard as the seasoning, but I would have liked the light sear on the outside of the albacore to contain some more aggressively seasoned crust. The beets were well cooked and enjoyable as well, but I didn't really understand the conceptualization of the braised cucumber and celery.

Tribal Caught Keta Salmon - Flageoulet Puree, Braised Gem Lettuce, Buerre Monte & Radicchio Marmalade

If you remove the flageoulet puree, this dish would have been a winner. The beans were surprisingly strong and flavor and completely overwhelmed the flavor of the salmon. There was also a little too much bean puree on the plate. The salmon was wonderfully cooked and the marmalade added an interesting sweet and sour effect to complement the fish.


Land:

Note: We were served a burger, but it has been redacted from this review for the burger shootout

Fulton Farms Chicken - Sweet Pickled Lacinato Kale, Piquillo Peppers, Lemon Chicken Jus & wild rice

 The dark meat portion of this dish was cooked wonderfully, but unfortunately that meant the white meat was a little dry. The kale and piquillo peppers were a nice complement offering some bitterness (from the kale) and sweet spice (from the peppers), but the surprise was the wild rice. The rice was cooked "al dente" and had a real nice textural contrast that paired well with the meat.

Prime Meyer Ranch Striploin - pommes Sarladaise, Haricot Verts & Chanterelles

The beef was cooked perfectly as were the chanterelles and the haricot vert. However, my arch nemesis (the potato) reared its ugly head as these potatoes were really hard and heavy. Ignoring those, this dish was an excellent and satisfying steak dish.

Grilled House Made spicy sausage, Salty Rib, and Pork Belly - Grilled Treviso, Black Eyed Peas & Pickled Okra

This dish was the huge surprise of the night; it would have been the best dish if not for the scallops. The pork belly (the bacon thing between the rib and sausage) was cooked extremely well to convey all the flavors of the Berkshire pork. The sausage contained an excellent and complex spice mix that made it extremely enjoyable as well. Finally, the black eyed peas cooked with a sweet barbecue sauce rounded out the flavors nicely. As I'm usually a hater of beans (ask the flageoulet puree) I was completely surprised to love the black eyed peas in this dish. Oh yeah, the rib was good too, but was outclassed by the sausage and pork belly.

Dessert:

Apple Upside Down Cake - Rum Raisin Ice Cream, Walnut Streusel

This was my favorite dessert of the set. The cake was soft, warm, and contained a nice balance of flavor to sweetness. The Rum Raisin ice cream was perhaps on the sweet side as I commented it tasted more like a maple syrup ice cream. The walnut streusel added a good textural and savory contrast to round out the dish.

Dark Chocolate Pots De Creme - Salted Caramel, Roasted Banana Cake

This was perhaps our least favorite dessert. The salted caramel on top of the banana cake was good, but the pots de creme didn't really work for me.

Tiramisu Semifreddo - Mocha Sauce, Chocolate covered Espresso Beans

The tiramisu was refined and had a nice coffee flavor. What really struck me about this plate was the plating as I liked the black on white plating of the tiramisu against the mocha sauce. What really worked in this dish was the mocha sauce as it added that strong coffee flavor that some restaurants seem to shy away from in tiramisu these days.

Ice Cream and Sorbet duo - Chocolate, Cheesecake, ? ice cream, Coconut, Raspberry, Tamarind Sorbet

These ice creams and sorbets were a nice way to finish off the meal. The chocolate ice cream was very rich and decadent. The sorbets were the stars as the tamarind was actually a little spicy and was a nice surprise. My personal favorite was the raspberry.
Overall, we had a great meal at Whisknladle. If all restaurants can set the bar this high, then perhaps it is smart to go out to eat during restaurant week. In the meantime, Whisknlade will provide one alternative for eating in during those four weeks of the year.
On merit of the scallop dish alone, Whisknlade gets the megabyte award. While I would have loved to award it the gigabyte, there were a few dishes that were just not refined enough to carry it to the next level. It will definitely warrant a revisit to see if it can get to the next level though.

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