At the advice of Pyang, I asked our server if we could do a tasting menu to be paired with the wines we brought in.
We brought:
'95 Dominique Laurent Vosne-Romanee Beaux Monts 1er
'95 Chateau Certan de May
'95 Chateau d'Yquem
The GM, Nick, came over and asked what we would like. I told him that I had spoken with Pyang (you should have seen Nick jump to attention
) and that Powell said the chef might do a tasting menu. I told Nick that I would like the chef to pair courses with the wine. He asked how many, and I basically said to tell the chef to go for it. I also told him that I wanted to start with the pork belly and a Reisling, and then whatever the chef felt appropriate. After an amuse bouche, the first course came:
Pork belly with poached D'Anjou Pear and orange marmalade. It was paired with glasses of '04 Wegeler Geisenheimer Rothenberg Auslese and '04 JJ Prum Berkasteler Badstube Spatlese. Both DnVsMom and I loved it with the Wegeler, but weren't as high on it with the Prum. If you eat at n.v., you must have the pork belly.
Second course was a roasted beet and goat cheese Napoleon with micro beet greens and beet paint. I will first say that I am not a fan of beets. I cleaned my plate. With the burgundy, there was an earthiness and harmony that was fantastic.
Third course was a five spice marinated quail salad with watercress, red cabbage, and fried shallots. Beautifully seasoned and married quite nicely with the burgundy.
The fourth course was certainly a stunner. Grilled foie gras with sliced apricots and blackberry compote. It was DnVsMom's maided Yquem voyage (and only my second time), and it was sheer bliss. The apricots were a little on the tart side which provided a nice contrast, but the foie was perfect. I really wanted to ask for another, but I figured we had a few more courses coming, so we just finished sipping on the glass of Yquem.
The fifth course was a sake glazed cod with "forbidden rice" and hen-of-the-woods mushroom broth. The glazed cod seemed a little strong for the burgundy, but the rice and mushroom broth worked fantastically.
Then came the Sonoma duck breast with fresh figs, rainbow chard, and balsamic port reduction. Wow. Cooked to a beautiful medium rare, the duck was wonderful with the Pomerol. The skin was crispy with a saltiness that I really enjoyed (although it was a bit salty for DnVsMom). Highly recommended.
The seventh course was a beef short rib with carrots and onions on a "potato foam". Another great choice to go with the Certan de May. It was a great ending for me, although a little heavy for DnVsMom.
Melissa, our server, asked about dessert, but with more Yquem in the bottle, we decided to pass.
Service was extremely attentive without hovering, and it was a wonderful place to have an anniversary dinner. When the check came and DnVsMom asked how much and I said, $400, she didn't even flinch, so I know that she fully enjoyed the evening. When I told her the real cost (a little more than half of that), she simply laughed and smiled and asked when we would be back. Even though the restaurant has a two bottle limit corkage policy that is waived with purchase from the list (we asked later in the evening), we brought three bottles in and weren't charged corkage. We left some of both the red wines in decanter for Nick and his staff, and he had some of the Yquem as well.
We retired to the lounge while awaiting a cab, and DnVsMom had a glass of '01 Shramsberg Sparkling Rose and I saw '93 Yquem by the glass, so I had to go for it. It was nice, but nowhere near the class of the '95. After about three hours in the restaurant, we were getting ready to leave and Pyang and Ttepper came into the lounge, so we stuck around, had a cocktail and chatted for awhile before moving on to The Bounty Hunter for a final final final....
As have others before me, I highly, highly recommend n.v.
Ahhh....
We have a neighbor who is an 80 year old Italian man, and he grows the best tasting tomatoes I've ever had. So we usually buy 5-6 pounds from him every week. So last night, I cooked up some penne pasta. I sliced up two huge tomatoes, chopped 1 clove garlic, finely chopped 5 basil leaves, and chopped up 4 sundrued tomatoes. I tossed it in to the pasta when it finished cooking, and stirred in some evoo. It was a very nice, light summertime meal.
