Sunday, January 27, 2008
Dinner at Cyrus, Healdsburg, CA
For Giao's birthday we headed to Cyrus in Healdsburg, which has also recently earned 2 Michelin Stars. The decor was warm and very subtle, allowing the food to really shine through. The meal was delicious and, at $120 pp for the 7 course tasting menu, more bang for or buck than the previous night's meal. One thing that we really appreciated about Cyrus was that there was a cheese course included in the tasting menu. So often you have to pay extra for that course and this was a nice surprise.
The meal started out with a selection of 5 canapes, each representing one of the 5 tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. We apologize for the incredibly over-exposed pictures. Also, unfortunately, we don't really remember what each tiny bite contained.
Sweet
Salty and Bitter
Sour and Umami
Goat and Regular Butter
Goat butter is gaining traction. It is a beautiful white color and has a nice, subtle tang.
Amuse Bouche
The meyer lemon in this miso soup added a nice, sweet-sour element and the picked enoki were nice both in texture and flavor.
Scallop Ceviche with Pickled Daikon and Sweet Potato
This was totally amazing in every way. The super smooth sweet potato puree was a perfect contrast to the ceviche.
Foie Gras Two Ways
The torchon en croute was tasty without the croute, which tasted like very dense cake and was unnecessary at best. The seared foie gras, on the other hand, was just awesome. It was sitting on a quail egg toad in the hole. Great combo.
Red Sea Bream with Smoked Soba Noodles, Crab and Oolong Tea Broth
The broth really made this dish. The matched very well with the smokiness of the noodles.
"Chicken and Dumplings"
This upscale play on a down-home dish was quite tasty. It was composed of a paillard with black truffle and brussel sprouts in a thyme jus. The tender on the inside, slightly crunchy outside, dumplings were reminiscent of spaetzle, but much lighter in texture. This dish was equal parts homey and refined.
Meyer Lemon Popsicle
A great little palate cleanser.
Waygu Two Ways
One with cauliflower, one with a wet risotto. Both tasty, but not totally memorable.
Cheese Plate
This was quite a hefty cheese plate...lots of choices. There weren't any totally amazing cheeses that we'd never heard of, however.
Green Cardamom Ice Cream with Pineapple-Yuzu Granite, Ginger and Honey Muscato
The flavors were nice, but this was a bit too sweet for us.
Blood Orange Souffle with Champagne Anglaise and Chocolate Torte
This was the second occasion of the day that proved to Alexis that she just doesn't like souffles. There was nothing wrong with this dessert, per se. We just are not really dessert people.
An Assortment of Sweet Treats
They always send you on your way with a selection of homemade treats. These were pretty tasty. They made us like dessert a little better.
The meal started out with a selection of 5 canapes, each representing one of the 5 tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. We apologize for the incredibly over-exposed pictures. Also, unfortunately, we don't really remember what each tiny bite contained.
Sweet
Salty and Bitter
Sour and Umami
Goat and Regular Butter
Goat butter is gaining traction. It is a beautiful white color and has a nice, subtle tang.
Amuse BoucheThe meyer lemon in this miso soup added a nice, sweet-sour element and the picked enoki were nice both in texture and flavor.
Scallop Ceviche with Pickled Daikon and Sweet Potato
This was totally amazing in every way. The super smooth sweet potato puree was a perfect contrast to the ceviche.
Foie Gras Two Ways
The torchon en croute was tasty without the croute, which tasted like very dense cake and was unnecessary at best. The seared foie gras, on the other hand, was just awesome. It was sitting on a quail egg toad in the hole. Great combo.
Red Sea Bream with Smoked Soba Noodles, Crab and Oolong Tea Broth
The broth really made this dish. The matched very well with the smokiness of the noodles.
"Chicken and Dumplings"
This upscale play on a down-home dish was quite tasty. It was composed of a paillard with black truffle and brussel sprouts in a thyme jus. The tender on the inside, slightly crunchy outside, dumplings were reminiscent of spaetzle, but much lighter in texture. This dish was equal parts homey and refined.
Meyer Lemon Popsicle
A great little palate cleanser.
Waygu Two Ways
One with cauliflower, one with a wet risotto. Both tasty, but not totally memorable.
Cheese Plate
This was quite a hefty cheese plate...lots of choices. There weren't any totally amazing cheeses that we'd never heard of, however.
Green Cardamom Ice Cream with Pineapple-Yuzu Granite, Ginger and Honey Muscato
The flavors were nice, but this was a bit too sweet for us.
Blood Orange Souffle with Champagne Anglaise and Chocolate Torte
This was the second occasion of the day that proved to Alexis that she just doesn't like souffles. There was nothing wrong with this dessert, per se. We just are not really dessert people.
An Assortment of Sweet Treats
They always send you on your way with a selection of homemade treats. These were pretty tasty. They made us like dessert a little better.
Labels: Decor: 1, Food: 2, Michelin Stars, nouveau American, restaurant, review, Service: 2
# posted by Alexis @ 5:30 PM 
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