Cowboy Star - Foiehibition

Date of Dining: 6/29/2012
Price: $90 for 3 course prix fixe (includes fundraiser for CHEFS)
Location: 640 Tenth Ave, San Diego, CA, 92101
website

The Quick Bit

+ great steaks

+ great menu beyond steak

Δ steak seasoning could be perfected

With the Californian ban on selling foie gras starting today, I didn't actively seek out opportunities to gorge myself on foie gras for the prior month even though many might have expected it. Mostly, this was because many of those chefs offering foie tasting menus seemed more about cashing in on the ingredient going away rather than actually supporting and lobbying for foie gras to stay. My friend Rodzilla has a great writeup about this. However as time was winding down, I did feel an urge to get some foie gras again; I just wanted to make sure I had it in a restaurant where the Chef actively supported getting the foie gras ban overturned.

My last post about Cowboy Star was during restaurant week where I covered a menu beyond the standard steaks. For what they were billing as Foiehibition, Cowboy Star offered a special Mighty Moulard Duck tasting menu. The idea was to have a celebration of the entire animal and not just focus on the foie gras. This was perfect for me as while I did want some foie gras, I wasn't ready for another four plus course tasting menu of foie gras.

mighty moulard tasting menu

While ordering drinks, I was directed to a new specialty cocktail that caught my eye:

hog ranch - bourbon, beef consommme, bacon lardons

One amazing part of this drink was the smell; the aromas of the consomme really permeated through the drink along with the smokiness of the bacon lardons. The drink was basically bouron on steroids - all the upfront flavor of the bourbon was there, but the beef consomme completely masked the burn, so that there was an incredibly smooth finish. The bacon lardons were cooked very well and added a nice smokiness.

Amuse

brioche, fig, balsamic reduction, goat cheese

A complimentary amuse is always provided by Cowboy Star. Unfortunately, I didn't think this one was balanced. While I wanted to get a large dose of fig, it was the one flavor that wasn't able to fight through the goat cheese, brioche, and balsamic.

First Course

yellow corn soup - sweet summer corn, watercress pistou

The soup was an extremely satisfying mouthful. While it was a hot soup, I felt this could have worked cold as well. The flavor of the corn was so sweet and concentrated that it was an extremely enjoyable flavor. Further, the mouth feel of the soup was silky smooth.

foie gras - seared foie, hickleberries, toasted brioche, vanilla infused salt

The foie gras was seared and seasoned to perfection. For my last piece of foie gras in California, I was extremely happy to have a perfectly seared piece to convey the purity of flavor that I would be missing. Most impressive was that it was not too oily. I was extremely happy with the pairing with huckleberries as they added the perfect mix of sweetness, tartness, and jaminess.

Second Course

buttermilk fried sweetbreads - apple savoy slaw, crispy potatoe, bourbon sauce

The sweetbreads were fried to perfection, and were a very generous portion. For those who love sweetbreads, these were prepared perfectly. For those that don't enjoy sweetbreads, this simple preparation is not going to win anyone over.

confit - confit of duck leg, frisee, preserved blood orange rinds, duck egg, foie gras crouton

This was my favorite course of the evening. The skin on the duck confit was crisped to perfection and all the elements of the duck were on display - rich gamey meat flavor, crispy savory skin, beautiful duck fat, and of course the foie gras. I'm glad that the croutons were not modified in any way and were merely more of the seared foie cubes. While this dish isn't going to win any awards, it was a great salute to the noble duck in all forms.

Third Course

18 oz cattleman cut rib chop

No visit to Cowboy Star is complete without an order of steak. Choosing to get an item with the bone in, we settled on the rib chop. The portion was extremely generous and the steak was cooked to our specifications. There was not really anything to complain about on the steak as it was very well executed.

roasted bone marrow

We also got an extra side of bone marrow to go with the steak, which we ate happily with the steak. I did think the bone marrow was a bit aggressively seasoned. I would have preferred to have them not season it and bring out a side of salt instead.

magret - pan roasted duck breast, braised turnips, crispy leeks, savory cherry sauce

The duck was cooked beautifully and the plating was done very well. The crispy leeks added a very nice depth of flavor to the duck and the turnips. The turnips were very well done also and contrasted the cherry sauce of the duck. Overall, this dish was a success and a great way to end the salute of the duck. I was actually happy that this dish didn't include any foie gras as it wasn't needed.

Conclusion

As I mentioned in the past Cowboy Star isn't just a great steakhouse, but it is also a great restaurant. I was really worried about gorging on foie gras, but I felt that in sharing the foie gras, I had just the perfect amount to say goodbye. I also felt that the menu to salute the duck was tasteful all around as well as to the idea that foie gras can be served in a tasteful manner. Cowboy Star re-affirmed their gigabyte award.

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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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