Will and I arrived a tad earlier and settled in with a "Here's the Thing" a divine cocktail of Sotol, green chile vodka, bay leaf, banana pepper, Thai bitter, lime and an egg white froth on top (a la pisco sour) which had a nice spice and tasted so refreshing. Our server Chad was super and was fine with us ordering slowly so we could pace ourselves and enjoy our 3+ hours there, and he was also very nice to look at!
Chef Ford arrived and he asked the folks next to us what was good; that always works and he said we have to try the Potato Churros made with Manchego and a romesco dipping aioli that I loved. Our neighbors hit it right with the Crispy Green Tomatoes that were very different from those we know as they were corn-flour battered like onion rings with lemon, basil yogurt sauce, pickled banana peppers and crispy fried basil leaves on top. YUM.
By now we had gone to our first wine a beautiful creamy Viognier from Ilahe in the Willamette Valley of Oregon that the sommelier Becky suggested; she knew her wines for sure, and what a wonderful list indeed.
Sea Scallops were in a ramp soubise with morel mushrooms and house-cured pancetta which I chose as they simply sounded superb, but while not bad, they were probably my least favorite dish all evening.
A beautiful (and complimentary) Summer Squash Salad with grilled and marinated squash, charred onion and yogurt arrived with agrodolce and crunchy Marcona almonds. It was delish but paled next to the amazing Beet Salad with a yogurt-like smoked aioli, amazing crunchy crisp a urfa quinoa, dill, lemon and pickled mustard seed.
Chef regaled us with storied about his growing up in DC first working in a kitchen in Utah in his late teens and ultimately ending up as a hugely decorated chef in St. Louis, while I scribbled notes back to him due to my decreed silence due to nodes on my vocal cords!
Royal Trumpet Mushrooms were also suggested by our table neighbors and these huge grilled Ozark Forest fungi arrived delicately cooked in a not too rich soubise sauce with frisee, sherry vinaigrette and chive oil. Becky arrived back and helped us chose a Broc Nero d'Avola 2023 from Mendocino's Fox Hill Vineyard, California called "The Badger" which we loved. I can't recall seeing this varietal ever grown in the US, but Broc can do it!
It paired spectacularly with our two pasta dishes: CAVATELLI with asparagus, fennel, yeasted saffron butter, piave vecchio (cheese), preserved lemon and garlic breadcrumbs. Some small cherry tomatoes added acidity to the richness, and it was a hit. Even better was the GARAGNELLI with braised pork trotters, jus, pickled ramp and Arugula. The huge pasta sopped up the large shreds of braised meat like a sponge and the flavors just melded with the wine.
There was no room for dessert, so we polished off the wine and headed back to our hotel for some good rest before our three operas this weekend here. How nice to see Chef Ford again and know he is doing so well and hearing about another dining venue (fine dining) he will hopefully open by our next visit!!
