Bay Area Series 6: Manresa(04/15/09)

Manresa was the Michelin two star restaurant situated in Los Gatos, an hour of drive south of San Francisco. Many bloggers had suggested that Manresa was actually the best restaurant in bay area, instead of French Laundry. I made a 8:00pm reservation under a nickname of "David Sun" due to untold reasons. and it turned out "David" was a regular.

Manresa looked like an ordinary house with front porch leading to the door. To fully enjoy the Manresa experience, I went ahead with the 15-courses Spring Garden menu. Chef David Kinch started my dinner with a series of 6 Amuse Bouche, many of which shared striking similarities with the Amuse Bouch at Vetri Ristorante.

Amuse Bouche 1: "Red Pepper-Black Olive"

I couldn't quite taste the Red pepper in the gelee nor black olive in the madeleines. To me, they tasted just like ordinary petit fours at the end of a meal which my brain often tried to filtered out.

Amuse Bouche 2: Crispy Kale and Parmesan Churros

The parmesan churros was crispy and salty. It went perfectly well with the clean and crispy sauvignon blanc I had, though so would a bag of potato chips with cheddar dip .

Amuse Bouche 3: Garden Beignets with Vinegar Powder

Inside the soft Beignet was a mixture of greens such as mustard and kale.

Amuse Bouche 4: Carrot and Mustard Granita
The carrot flavor really jumped out: sweet, sour, and full of spring aroma.

Amuse Bouche 5: Strawberry Gazpacho
The granary salad on the right is composed of the traditional gazpacho ingreidients: onions, garlic, and tomatoes, while surrounding by acidic strawberry soup.
This was my favourite amuse .

Amuse Bouche 6: Aprege Farm Egg

The egg was topped with sherry vinaigrette and maple syrup, followed by the warm runniness of the egg yolk. Though delicious, the aprege egg failed to shine against the Sabayon from Providence or August restaurant.
Course 1: Shellfish in Crab Both
Clams, razor clams, scallops, and octupus(when did octupus grow shells) were floating on cold crab both. The crispy and chewy texture of the shellfish fully brought out the briness of the sea.
This was the best course of the night.
Course 2: Delta Asparagus with Bonito Butter, Toasted Seeds

Thinly sliced Asparagus submerged in a bonito broth with melted butter.

Course 3: Into the Vegetable Garden

The salad was composed of variety of greens from Love Apple Farm where the "black dirt" on right was made of seeds. The foam was generated from vegetable's natural juices. I did not like the dish, the vegetables were chewy and flavors did not match together. The salad at Chez Panisse was much superior.

Course 4: Spring Tidal Pool
The pool consisted of Abalone, Sea Urchin, Foie Gras, Shellfish, Mushroom and foie gras. The broth base was bonito stock with ponzu. It was tasty, but ordinary if one was famaliar with Japanese food. Course 5: Black Cod with Onions and Chervil, Sweet Onion-Marrow Broth

The cod was nicely pan fried with a crispy skin. As the herb butter slowly melt away in the marrow broth, a layer of richness and moisture was added to the fish.

Course 6: Suckling Kid goat with Curds and Whey

In this dish, the kid goat was slow cooked to a texture of pulled pork, while the curds and whey acted lik skin and fat. An interesting combination, but I preferred pulled pork with skin and fat.

Spring lamb, season's first ramps with peas

This dish was ordinary, tasted like sliced beef with spring garlic.

Dessert : Citrus and Fennel Compote, Olive Oil With Arugula
The olive oil ice cream was interesting, exhibiting a different consistency against milk based ice cream due to difference in fat content. The Arugula leave was a better garnish choice than mint leave.

Petit Four: Straberry & Chocolate
Overall, the experience at Manresa was better thanFrench Laundry, but worse than Chez Panisse. At manresa, the seasonal produce took central stage. At Chez Panisse, the seasonal produce played a complementing role with sauces and vingarette in orchestrating a relaxed and satisfiying meal.