Saturday, September 01, 2007
Dinner at Manresa, Los Gatos, CA
It's the 2 year anniversary of SeeUsEat and we had to celebrate with a fantastic meal. We had been hearing about Manresa quite a bit recently and when one of our favorite chefs, James Syhabout, left PlumpJack Cafe to go back to Manresa, this time as chef de cuisine (he was previously a sous-chef there), we knew we had to finally try it out. Overall we found our meal at Manresa to be very solid, although we were a tad disappointed to not see Syhabout's molecular gastronomy leanings coming through. We did, however, see his style in the beautiful platings--he loves to use tiny leaves and flowers, arranged to perfectly accent his dishes. The sweet dishes were less successful than the savory. None of the desserts were particularly interesting or memorable and we didn't finish any of them.
While the food was, overall, very good, we found Manresa to be seriously lacking on the service front. It's not that the service was bad, per se, but it was certainly not up to par with other restaurants in this price range. When we're paying over $100 per person, just for food, we expect a certain level of service that Manresa did not provide. Specifically, the waitstaff were not well educated on what was being served. We asked questions about the dishes that they didn't know the answers to (although, to their credit, they did go find and out and come back to tell us). They didn't fully explain all of the components of each dish. They didn't speak clearly or loudly. Furthermore, they failed the water test--Alexis always ordered tap water, as she doesn't like sparkling and Giao always orders sparkling. To us, a mark of good service is when the waitstaff continues to fill our glasses with the correct water, respectively, throughout the night. This didn't happen at Manresa. Also, we found it odd that throughout the night we were served courses by different waiters--we basically didn't have a dedicated waiter. There wasn't really anything wrong with this, but it was a bit weird. And finally, although there was a guy walking around with bread, we were only served bread once, while we clearly saw that he was refilling the bread plates of other diners.
In any case, the food was good, but they really need to step up the service to make this place worth the price. The tasting menu was $125 per person.
Black Olive Madeleines with Red Bell Pepper Jelly
The pepper jelly was a bit odd--it was sweet and had the consistency of a gumdrop. We did like the fact that it was cold, which contrasted nicely with the warm madeleine. The madeleine was tasty but we couldn't really taste the olives.
Tomato Soup with Parmasean Fennel Tuile
The soup, although oddly lukewarm, tasted like the embodiment of summer: clean, tart, just a bit sweet. The tuile was delicate and flavorful, although the fennel was lost in the strong flavor of the parmasean.
Sweet Corn Croquette
This was totally amazing. The crisp exterior gave way to a liquid center. This little flavor explosion was the perfect temperature as well, very warm, but not hot enough to scald the tongue.
Eggplant Puree with Smoked Miso
This dish was like an extremely refined babaganouj. It was super-smooth and very flavorful.
Warm Egg Yolk with Sherry Vinegar Cream and Maple Syrup
Yum. This layered dish was complex and delicious--sweet, savory and very, very creamy.
Foie Gras with a Flower, Dates, Almonds and Salmon Roe
Again, this dish was strangely lukewarm and we are not sure if this was the intended temperature. This was a solid foie gras preparation, but not the most memorable.
Close Up of the Flower in the Above Dish
This flower was totally bizarre. The "beads" you see on the surface exploded as you bit in, and gushed moisture into your mouth. We're not sure if this exists in nature like this, or if it was prepared in this manner, but it was very interesting.
Seafood Salad with White Beans, Golden Raspberries and Mint
This salad was flavorful and tasty, but really didn't need the white beans. Although the dressing was a bit salty, the mint and raspberry cut through the salt well.
Tomatos, Avocado Cream, Purslane and Smoked Roe with Shiso Leaf Smear
Again this dish was not warm and not cold, but it was delicious. The smoked roe were really great. The smokiness added a great earthiness to the general salty flavor of the roe.
Abalone with Broken Egg and Wilted Greens
This dish was very good, all around. The abalone was well cooked. The "broken egg" was like a perfectly poached egg, but the yolk was the same consistency of the whites. We assume that the egg was cooked sous-vide to acheive this structure, but we aren't sure. There were also little crunchy bits of something in this dish that really brought the flavors and textures together.
Black Cod with Mushrooms, Greens "from the garden" and Maisutake Broth
The fish was cooked perfectly and the broth was a flavorful addition. Very simple, yet wonderful.
Whole Roasted Sweetbreeds with Mushrooms, Thyme Butter and Spinach
The sweetbreads were very gamey and large. This dish was ok, but not great. The thyme flavor also got sort of lost in the gaminess.
Lamb with Spice Veggies
This dish smelled enticing, but wasn't as good as it smelled. It was good, for sure, but not stellar.
Concord Grape Soda with Sheep's Milk Frozen Yogurt
The frozen yogurt was sour and cold and earthy and good, but the soda was too sweet.
Ricotta and Spongecake with Raspberry Sorbet and Golden Raspberries
The raspberry sorbet was smooth and tart and very good. The other side of the dessert was flavorless.
Milk Chocolate Mousse with Cocoa Nib Tuiles and Huckleberries
The huckleberries added a nice tartness to the dish and it was certainly the most successful of the desserts, but it wasn't inventive or memorable in any way.
While the food was, overall, very good, we found Manresa to be seriously lacking on the service front. It's not that the service was bad, per se, but it was certainly not up to par with other restaurants in this price range. When we're paying over $100 per person, just for food, we expect a certain level of service that Manresa did not provide. Specifically, the waitstaff were not well educated on what was being served. We asked questions about the dishes that they didn't know the answers to (although, to their credit, they did go find and out and come back to tell us). They didn't fully explain all of the components of each dish. They didn't speak clearly or loudly. Furthermore, they failed the water test--Alexis always ordered tap water, as she doesn't like sparkling and Giao always orders sparkling. To us, a mark of good service is when the waitstaff continues to fill our glasses with the correct water, respectively, throughout the night. This didn't happen at Manresa. Also, we found it odd that throughout the night we were served courses by different waiters--we basically didn't have a dedicated waiter. There wasn't really anything wrong with this, but it was a bit weird. And finally, although there was a guy walking around with bread, we were only served bread once, while we clearly saw that he was refilling the bread plates of other diners.
In any case, the food was good, but they really need to step up the service to make this place worth the price. The tasting menu was $125 per person.
Black Olive Madeleines with Red Bell Pepper Jelly
The pepper jelly was a bit odd--it was sweet and had the consistency of a gumdrop. We did like the fact that it was cold, which contrasted nicely with the warm madeleine. The madeleine was tasty but we couldn't really taste the olives.
Tomato Soup with Parmasean Fennel Tuile
The soup, although oddly lukewarm, tasted like the embodiment of summer: clean, tart, just a bit sweet. The tuile was delicate and flavorful, although the fennel was lost in the strong flavor of the parmasean.
Sweet Corn Croquette
This was totally amazing. The crisp exterior gave way to a liquid center. This little flavor explosion was the perfect temperature as well, very warm, but not hot enough to scald the tongue.
Eggplant Puree with Smoked Miso
This dish was like an extremely refined babaganouj. It was super-smooth and very flavorful.
Warm Egg Yolk with Sherry Vinegar Cream and Maple Syrup
Yum. This layered dish was complex and delicious--sweet, savory and very, very creamy.
Foie Gras with a Flower, Dates, Almonds and Salmon Roe
Again, this dish was strangely lukewarm and we are not sure if this was the intended temperature. This was a solid foie gras preparation, but not the most memorable.
Close Up of the Flower in the Above Dish
This flower was totally bizarre. The "beads" you see on the surface exploded as you bit in, and gushed moisture into your mouth. We're not sure if this exists in nature like this, or if it was prepared in this manner, but it was very interesting.
Seafood Salad with White Beans, Golden Raspberries and Mint
This salad was flavorful and tasty, but really didn't need the white beans. Although the dressing was a bit salty, the mint and raspberry cut through the salt well.
Tomatos, Avocado Cream, Purslane and Smoked Roe with Shiso Leaf Smear
Again this dish was not warm and not cold, but it was delicious. The smoked roe were really great. The smokiness added a great earthiness to the general salty flavor of the roe.
Abalone with Broken Egg and Wilted Greens
This dish was very good, all around. The abalone was well cooked. The "broken egg" was like a perfectly poached egg, but the yolk was the same consistency of the whites. We assume that the egg was cooked sous-vide to acheive this structure, but we aren't sure. There were also little crunchy bits of something in this dish that really brought the flavors and textures together.
Black Cod with Mushrooms, Greens "from the garden" and Maisutake Broth
The fish was cooked perfectly and the broth was a flavorful addition. Very simple, yet wonderful.
Whole Roasted Sweetbreeds with Mushrooms, Thyme Butter and Spinach
The sweetbreads were very gamey and large. This dish was ok, but not great. The thyme flavor also got sort of lost in the gaminess.
Lamb with Spice Veggies
This dish smelled enticing, but wasn't as good as it smelled. It was good, for sure, but not stellar.
Concord Grape Soda with Sheep's Milk Frozen Yogurt
The frozen yogurt was sour and cold and earthy and good, but the soda was too sweet.
Ricotta and Spongecake with Raspberry Sorbet and Golden Raspberries
The raspberry sorbet was smooth and tart and very good. The other side of the dessert was flavorless.
Milk Chocolate Mousse with Cocoa Nib Tuiles and Huckleberries
The huckleberries added a nice tartness to the dish and it was certainly the most successful of the desserts, but it wasn't inventive or memorable in any way.
Chocolate Madeleines with Strawberry Gelee
It was an interesting touch to end the meal with a sweet version of the amuse bouche that started out the meal, but this wasn't really very tasty. The madeleines were not particularly chocolatey and the strawberry gumdrops were too sweet and lacking in complexity (and much needed acidity).
It was an interesting touch to end the meal with a sweet version of the amuse bouche that started out the meal, but this wasn't really very tasty. The madeleines were not particularly chocolatey and the strawberry gumdrops were too sweet and lacking in complexity (and much needed acidity).
Ratings:
Food: 2
Service: 1
Decor: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
Decor: 1
Labels: Decor: 1, Food: 2, nouveau American, restaurant, review, Service: 1
# posted by Giao and Alexis @ 6:20 PM 
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