By the end of my epic meal at Dovetail the other night, I was definitely cooing like a dove. This was possibly the best tasting menu I have ever had. I think I'm in love with chef John Fraser...
We were greeted at the hostess stand by a cold host (at the end of the evening he was even worse in such a way that he let us down after our waiter, the food, and wine pairing had left us feeling euphoric...such a bubble bursting jerk that I would get rid of him in my restaurant...hint hint chef fraser). Okay...sorry but I just needed to have a quick vent about him because besides that EVERYTHING else was spot on perfect.
The restaurant itself is beautiful in an extremely comfortable way. There are a variety of different textures on the walls (there is an exposed brick island in the middle of the dinning room that operates as a waiter station and the back wall has a carpet like paneling). The colors are a calming earth tone that has a homey feel to it. For a restaurant with a sophisticated menu, this dining room has a nice and laid back vibe. Chef John Fraser worked at French Laundry and Compass among other restaurants before he opened this restaurant, his first solo venture.
Since it was big sis's birthday, we opted for the tasting menu along with the wine pairing. First up were individual rectangles of warm cornbread that were crisp on the outside and salty deliciousness on the inside. Next came the amuse bouche. I love when amuse bouches are a multi-part series. I like when chefs want to combine multiple flavors and textures on one plate to show the full depth and a bigger sneak peak of their kitchen's capabilities. The plate contained a shiitake mushroom gelee, shrimp caesar salad with foam, and a small little croquette. I loved all three. If you read this entire post, you'll know that I am obsessed with the quality and flavor of all the gelees that the Dovetail kitchen produce. The mushroom flavor was rich, deep and smooth. I usually hate foam on a dish, but the shrimp caesar salad bite was a pleasant surprise and the salad, dressing, and foam worked extremely well together. The croquette reminded me of childhood and the frozen chicken croquettes my mom always made us (in a good way...I used to love those croquettes!). How could these three bites not be mouth amusers?! I love that wine pairings always start with a champagne because it always makes it feel so decadent and celebratory. Our champagne toast was no different.
We were greeted at the hostess stand by a cold host (at the end of the evening he was even worse in such a way that he let us down after our waiter, the food, and wine pairing had left us feeling euphoric...such a bubble bursting jerk that I would get rid of him in my restaurant...hint hint chef fraser). Okay...sorry but I just needed to have a quick vent about him because besides that EVERYTHING else was spot on perfect.
The restaurant itself is beautiful in an extremely comfortable way. There are a variety of different textures on the walls (there is an exposed brick island in the middle of the dinning room that operates as a waiter station and the back wall has a carpet like paneling). The colors are a calming earth tone that has a homey feel to it. For a restaurant with a sophisticated menu, this dining room has a nice and laid back vibe. Chef John Fraser worked at French Laundry and Compass among other restaurants before he opened this restaurant, his first solo venture.
Since it was big sis's birthday, we opted for the tasting menu along with the wine pairing. First up were individual rectangles of warm cornbread that were crisp on the outside and salty deliciousness on the inside. Next came the amuse bouche. I love when amuse bouches are a multi-part series. I like when chefs want to combine multiple flavors and textures on one plate to show the full depth and a bigger sneak peak of their kitchen's capabilities. The plate contained a shiitake mushroom gelee, shrimp caesar salad with foam, and a small little croquette. I loved all three. If you read this entire post, you'll know that I am obsessed with the quality and flavor of all the gelees that the Dovetail kitchen produce. The mushroom flavor was rich, deep and smooth. I usually hate foam on a dish, but the shrimp caesar salad bite was a pleasant surprise and the salad, dressing, and foam worked extremely well together. The croquette reminded me of childhood and the frozen chicken croquettes my mom always made us (in a good way...I used to love those croquettes!). How could these three bites not be mouth amusers?! I love that wine pairings always start with a champagne because it always makes it feel so decadent and celebratory. Our champagne toast was no different.
No sooner had we finished our champagne then a new glass of wine arrived and a additional course from the chef of an oyster in what I believe was a red wine vinegar sauce. The oyster was a bit more fishy then I would like but it had a good texture to it. I would tell chef that this wouldn't be something I would add to the permanent tasting menu.
Our appetizer came next...I chose the brussel sprouts with cauliflower, manchego cheese, and ham and my sister and her husband opted for the housemade mozzarella, pumpkin panna cotta, and pomegranate seeds. I can't even begin to describe the pumpkin panna cotta. It was satiny and had a toned down pumpkin pie flavor. Chef Fraser's cooking is in a large part a science in making the perfect bite and getting a bit of everything that's on the plate in one bite. The housemade mozzarella was very good and the accompaniments rocketed this dish to extraordinary. Having a bite of the mozzarella, the pumpkin panna cotta, and the pomegranate seeds was amazing. The pop of the pomegranate with the creaminess of the panna cotta and mozzarella was insane. I love brussel sprouts and I really liked the use of the leaves as a salad here. The leaves were served in a vinaigrette as a sort of brussel sprout cheese and ham sandwich. The sprouts were blanched to the perfect texture and the vinaigrette was a nice light blend of seasonings that enhanced the flavor of the cheese, brussels, and ham. Just a great start to the meal.
For the next course, I choose the salt baked onion with truffles (according to an interview with chef fraser this is his favorite dish on his menu) and my dining companions had the french onion consumme with foie gras, kobe beef, and raisins. Our waiter described the consumme as the chef's take on french onion soup and this description was spot on. The silken and luxurious foie gras with the slightly sweet raisins and cheesy bites topped with the oniony beef broth tasted just like a french onion soup but with more depth and texture than I've ever had. The salt baked onion with truffles, maple brown butter, and hazelnuts was brought as a presentation to the table before it went back to the kitchen for plating. When it arrived and I cut into it, I was astonished by the abundance of truffles inside the onion. Based upon the look of the onion, I thought it was going to be a little undercooked and tough. But when I first bit into it, the caramelled onion layer and truffle melted in my mouth i was in love. The truffle layer despite being generous did not overpower the onion flavor. Our waiter explained that the chef takes each layer of the onion off and inserts a truffle slice and puts the whole thing back together again...well that hard work certainly paid off.
For the next course, I opted for the bay scallops in a coconut curry/gingery broth with lemon grass gelee. Each bite was amazing. The bay scallops with the coconut broth were elegantly enhanced by the little bursts of lemon grass. I loved the texture combination with this broth and gelee. My sister selected the red mullet with fennel, olives, clementines, and chai spices. This was served on the skin and was a nice flavor combination. My sister really liked this and I liked it with the exception of the clementines which I thought were a bit too bitterly overpowering. I did really like the fish on its own with the spices. But I was very happy with my decision to go with the scallops, which were amazing and I have no doubt I'll be craving these soon.
Here is a good time to discuss the nice amount of break time they gave us between courses. We had a good 20 or so minutes before the next course, which when you're eating that much food is very appreciated. I was so looking forward to the next course...I picked the smoked chicken with kumquats, parsley, and mushrooms. John, our faithful waiter, told me that this was like chicken bacon. Wow...He was absolutely right again. The chicken was in rectangles and consisted of a mixture of leg meat and breast meat that was smoked. The flavor was this smokey sweet mixture with the kumquats. I loved it so much that I was rather disappointed that there wasn't more on my plate. The other option for this course that my sister went with was the roast squab with red pepper polenta and pancetta and trevisano. This was fantastic. It was a tad bit on the salty side but I really thought this suited the bird perfectly. The skin was crisped and the meat fell apart delicately in each bite.
The next course had no options...everyone at the table received the veal with roasted potatoes and roasted garlic jam. Unbelievable. The veal was a perfect rose color and a wonderfully lean piece of meat. Each bite melted in your mouth with a nice garlic and rosemary flavor. I could not get enough of this beautiful plate of meat.
That rang in the end of our savory dishes. The palate cleanser from the kitchen was a gorgeous aloe vera gelee with rose petals. Holy cow. I have said it before but I love these little gelees that chef makes. They really have the most fantastic smooth texture and concentrated flavor. I want to start making some of these at home and adding them to my dishes!
To start off our sweet meal finishes, there was a small little dessert amuse bouche of buttered rum pineapple cake. Pastry chef Vera Tong's desserts were very good but not as amazing as Chef Fraser's meals. This little shot glass of cake had the right balance of rum and pineapple flavor. We each choose a different dessert: I had the gingerbread with stout ice cream, my sister had the brioche bread pudding with bananas, bacon brittle, and rum ice cream, and her husband had the pumpkin cheesecake with a gingerbread crust. My sister's dessert arrived with a little white chocolate token that had Happy Birthday written on it and a candle. A really nice touch. Okay so for the desserts: I thought the gingerbread was okay but a little on the dry side but I loved the flavor of the stout ice cream. The brioche bread pudding was very good but I have had better bread puddings. The pumpkin cheesecake was the clear winner of the three. The satiny cheesecake had the priceless fall spices that we all associate with and love about fall. The farewell plate of bites was also fantastic. The lemon pate e fruit with crispy sugar coating was excellent and like a tasty little lemon drop. The hand rolled honey caramel truffles were very soft and rich. Finally, the creamsicle marshmallows were little pillows of heaven. I mean who doesn't love a marshmallow and then to make it taste like a creamsicle...just genius!
Chef Fraser managed to take traditional flavors and add creative and playful layers to each dish. These came in all sorts of forms from crisped squab skin to melt in your mouth gelees. In other words, alot of chef Fraser's creations were plays on textures and working multiple layers of texture and flavor onto each plate. The overall composition of each plate was a work of art that almost always turned out to be a masterpiece with very few that were just below this status. Truth is that there wasn't one thing that we had that I wouldn't want to order again. AND, there were many that I would want again very soon. In a meal of 13 courses, this is quite a feat. I adore a restaurant that makes a birthday celebration memorable and special and Dovetail did just that. We took a look at the bar menu before we left and the pork face sliders might just be what brings me back...well that and the thought of each of the 13 phenominal tasting menu courses.
Until the next time I'm hungry,
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