Overprized disappointing food

Posted by New Year's Eve  from Woodland Hills, CA  on January 2, 2009

My 1st visit was new years eve.
the saddlepeak lodge offered a special tasting menu. having heard good things about the regular menu and comparing it to the regular menu, i was not overly impressed with the tasting menu, but decided to trust in the chef.
i was also intrigued by the wine pairings, and the wine pairings were absolutely fantastic.
unfortunately the menu lived mostly up to my expectations = 2 disappointments, 2 good dishes, 1 wow dish. for a special menu at this price point, there should be no disappointments.
the dinner started with an amuse bouche of tomato soup - good, straight forward but no twists.
the 1st course was caviar...nice but again nothing innovative.
the 2nd course was a lobster risotto. this was one of my concerns. i love risotto. i learned to appreciate risotto in italy. this was not risotto. it was watery lobster bisque with mushy rice. unfortunately, my search for decent risotto in the us continues.
the 3rd course was the star of the menu. quail on a bed of couscous with cooked cherries. the quail was perfect with a spicy crispy skin. the couscous was fantastic. i am normally not a fan of couscous. this couscous was better that the couscous i had in morroco. the sweet taste of the cherries was the perfect counter punch to the spicy quail. and the wine stood up to the spicy quail and supported the cherries. this was the wow dish.
the 4th course was venison, one of my personal favorites. we ordered medium rare. we got somewhere between medium and well done and ended up sending it back. the second try was medium rare. it was good, but nothing in the dish made it stand out over other venison dishes i have had before.
the 5th course was dessert and was another of my concerns. it was a trio of strawberries – shortcake, sorbet and consommé. strawberries were not in season and for a restaurant renowned for its coffee soufflé, i thought that this was not ambitious. it made me think that the dessert chef was on vacation. after tasting this, i know he was on vacation. the shortcake was a 5 day old roll that was so hard; you would need a jack hammer to break it up, slathered with some defrosted/microwaved strawberry preserve. the sorbet was your basic grocery store sorbet. the consommé was melted sorbet. the only saving grace to the dessert was the muscat dessert wine pairing. maybe they had several pounds of strawberries in the freezer that were about to go bad and they decided to foist it off on the new year's eve crowd. this dessert made me think of all the whining on top chef that chefs never know how to prepare dessert. if you are not comfortable preparing dessert, finish the meal with a cheese dish.

Nice to hangout

Posted by knock  from la, CA  on September 26, 2008

Hangout