Last night after the Helen hayes Awards nominations were announced
Will and I headed over to THE SOURCE in the Newseum (http://
www.wolfgangpuck.com/restaurants/fine-dining/3941), the well known and
sadly a bit too noisy dining emporium of Wolfgang Puck where chef
Scott Drewno reigns and does a pretty good job with a modern take on
Asian fusion.
We waited almost 10 minutes after being seated before anyone
approached the table with menus. I was surprised and this only
occurred when I caught the eyes of one server and kind of shrugged.
We ordered a bottle of superb STEINIGER "Loisium" Gruner Veltliner
from Kamptal in Austria, listed as vintage '07 on the menu, but '08
came. It had a superb dry apricot flavor hinting that this grape might
be superbly suited for a Trockenbeerenauslese sweet wine if harvested
late!
An amuse of SPICY TUNA TARTARE in a Sesame Miso Cone was divine and
then a second amuse of Szechuan Green Beans with Toasted Sesame Seeds
and Candied Walnuts was a perfect blend of medium spice for this
traditional dish with the slightly sweet nuts (Will did not like
them).
The appetizers here are large portions, especially those with wontons
or dumplings.
I had the SCALLOP & SHRIMP SUI MAI with Shanghai Lobster Curry-Uni
Emulsion and a Spicy Slaw and Fresh Cilantro on top. The 6 dumplings
were stuffed with fresh shrimp and scallop and the sauce was divine, I
wished for only a dribble more to coat each tasty dumpling.
Will started with the HOT & SOUR LOBSTER Egg Drop Soup with lobster
Wontons and Crispy Shallots which he asid was quite spicy, although we
both liked it. Again filling with the wontons. Instead of a main
course, he opted for a second starter with the GARLIC-CHIVE DUMPLINGS
with king Crab and Pork, again a large filling portion...so two
starters do easily make a meal here.
I had the CRISPY GLAZED QUAIL with Garlic Chili Sauce, Mizuna Salad
and Rice Sticks. There were no rice sticks so they brought another
salad with the sticks which were merely some rice cellophane noodles
on top. It was nice of them and the salad was great, but the quail was
slightly spicy and a superb preparation. I had switched to nice
Palacios Remondo "La Vendima" Tempranillo 2009 from Rioja (served by
the glass for $10) which was quite nice.
The BERRY CRUMBLE with SALTED STREUSEL and Vanilla Ice Cream was nice
but won no awards.
SOURCE is nice, but try to go when it's not crowded and maybe the
service and noise level will improve as the food is well worth the
visit.
