after waiting patiently for literally SIX months, christine & i finally got to celebrate the end of our GSO madness. YAY! and we originally intended to check out bazaar (which i'm still dying to go to), but considering that no dinner reservations were available for the next month, i picked sona instead. and BOY WAS IT THE RIGHT DECISION. b/c i don't think i've had a better meal in months and months and months. yes, i've loved all my other foodie adventures, but this one certainly takes the cake! it may have to do with the tasting menu and the opportunity to try small bites of many dishes. so the next time i have that option, i'm taking it! which pretty much means you should too! ; )
as soon as we walked in for our 7PM reservation, we noticed how quiet and sparse the restaurant was. the decor was a cool blend of gray & white, but there were only 2-3 other parties in the restaurant when we were seated. it was quite startling, considering that i usually like to eat at 6PM, and i always think the rest of the world likes to eat at 7 or 8. for once, i thought i was eating with everyone else, and i was obviously wrong. the place picked up a little later, though it's obvious that the recession has hit fine dining pretty hard. so i'm glad we were there to do our part -- especially with the 6-course decouverte menu!
we started off with super duper long breadsticks. i swear these reminded me of the wooden dowels that teachers used to slap the wrists of bad children. i know i know, morbid thought, but just imagine it! they were too long for the table, so you really had to break them up into pieces. nice and crunchy. and i gobbled up mine in less than 5 minutes! i generally don't like bread very much, but it always seems important to a restaurant meal.
soon after, the bread guy brought around two different breads for us to try: a matcha green tea bread and a cranberry bread made with red wine. i loved the warmth of the breads b/c the butter simply melted right into the nooks and crannies. however, i must admit that i didn't taste the matcha green tea AT ALL. christine mentioned enjoying the sweetness of the bread, but i couldn't remotely make out the flavor. in fact, i thought the cranberry bread was much more flavorful. i could taste the cranberries -- and even the red wine! (no worries, i didn't get tipsy this time.) the bread guy also brought around some wheat bread later, and that was quite good though pretty basic.
before our 6 courses commenced, we received a lovely amuse bouche, compliments of the chef -- a ball of tofu-encrusted duck confit with tiny, salty, crunchy fish on top. i used to hate these teeny weeny fish, but i love the saltiness now, and so i picked up a few with my chopsticks before diving into the ball. this may not have been the best way to go, especially since i only tasted tofu and barely tasted any duck confit. i'm not sure if it just wasn't in there, or if my taste buds were overwhelmed by the taste of the fish. either way, i was a little bummed, especially since i really love duck confit!
i wasn't about to let the amuse diminish my excitement though. our first course consisted of new zealand snapper on asian pear with nori jam. this was probably our favorite light dish of the night. first of all, the presentation was light and fresh, with a few small flower petals sprinkled over the snapper pieces. the snapper on top was a translucent white with a nice chew, and the asian pear underneath was a perfect blend of crispy and juicy. the combination of flavors and textures really elevated the dish beyond its ingredients.
the next dish was the seared foie gras that i ordered in addition to the decouverte menu. christine indicated that she was politically against foie, but that it wouldn't be a problem if i wanted it. considering that i LOVE foie, that the dish came with peanut butter cream and cranberry jam, and that our server said it was the best foie EVER, i absolutely HAD to order it. and i must say that this was probably one of THE best dishes of the ENTIRE meal. i seriously don't think i've had better foie. it came in this large, silky chunk, with the most perfect sear on top. eating it alone was in and of itself AMAZING. but eating it with the peanut butter cream & the cranberry jam was simply ecstasy. OMG. i have no other words to describe the experience. one of the other servers said she's dreamed about this foie before. at this point, i seriously don't doubt it. even christine thought it was quite good when she tried a sliver!
for our second course, we received the monkfish tail wrapped around bacon pieces with an herb emulsion. this is a particularly interesting arrangement, considering that bacon is usually placed on the outside to keep the fish intact and moist. however, seeing that monkfish is a more substantial fish, it could certainly hold its shape during the cooking process. unfortunately, christine & i both agreed that one piece was quite dry and tough (both fish & pork). however, the other piece was significantly more moist, thereby redeeming the dish somewhat. i suppose monkfish just really isn't my kind of fish, especially since i'm not the biggest fan of swordfish, which has a similar consistency and density. that being said, the arrangement was quite unique, and worth some brownie points.
the duck came out as the third course, with peas, a pea emulsion, and a parmesan crisp. (and FYI that duck is my favorite fowl of all time!) the duck was cooked perfectly medium rare, and i made sure to slice the existing pieces into even tinier pieces, so that i could savor every bite. christine is a pea lover, so she certainly enjoyed the pea elements in the dish. i myself am a cheese fan, so the parmesan crisp was simply delectable. the duck had the loveliest chew, which was the perfect contrast to the super crispiness of the crisp.
what with me ordering the foie gras, christine deserved an extra item as well, and she chose the wagyu beef, which came out with a slow poached egg (that looked like it could've come out of an ostrich), bok choy, and a nice salty broth. christine gave me the chance to sample just a bit of each in a soup spoon, and it was sooooooooooooo good. i swear that our 2 extra dishes really helpd make the meal. the silky wagyu was also perfectly medium rare, and it slid down my throat almost as easily as the decadent egg. the saltiness of the broth really helped to cut through the sinful fat of the wagyu and egg, making the whole bite very well-rounded.
as our fourth course, we received the venison w/tomato paste, roasted brussel sprouts, and artichoke confit. christine & i both LOVE brussel sprouts, so we were thrilled to get them. however, we really weren't sure whether the artichoke confit was a true confit. (food lovers, please define!) nevertheless, they were good, albeit a bit crunchy for my tastes. i also wasn't the biggest fan of the tomato paste, though i found the venison quite fabulous. again, the meat was cooked perfectly medium rare. and the dish wasn't the least bit game-y, which is always a challenge w/venison.
given my penchant for sweets, i was extremely happy to find out that we had two dessert courses waiting for us. both dishes were a combination of several mini-desserts, which made the experiences that much more exciting. the first dessert course was a combination of sencha mousse w/raspberry paper, mint tea gelee with vanilla panna cotta, fresh raspberries, and one other thing which has completely slipped my mind. at any rate, my favorite was definitely the sencha mousse. i looooooooooved the bitterness of the sencha in the mousse. granted, i love everything green tea, but i definitely prefer the real bitterness over the fake sweetness of most green tea desserts. the raspberry paper was quite interesting, and the acidity certainly paired well with the bitterness of the sencha mousse. the gelee and panna cotta was more of a jelly, which was much less interesting. and i seriously have no recollection of what was at the end of the long plate.
the second dessert course was definitely the most playful course of the entire evening. the pastry chef who dropped off our plates rattled off the elements so fast that neither christine & i could recall everything he said. however, we agreed that everything on that plate was absolutely amazing. from the right, we started with the foie gras ice cream, which was sitting on a bed of cocoa/cookie nibs. the combination of salty and sweet was super satisfying. next, we moved on to the white rectangular piece on the plate, which we were totally unable to classify. thankfully, we realized that it didn't matter what it was b/c it tasted delicious w/the chocolate noodle (yes, the chocolate noodle) and, of all things, BACON POWDER. how ridiculously awesome is that?!? they should seriously patent that product. OMG.
as if all these courses weren't enough, our server surprised us with yet another dessert course, this one with several teeny tiny elements. we started w/the maccaroon, which had the most unbelievable cream filling. we then moved on to the "minnesota" oreo (which we heard incorrectly when the server said "mini-sona-oreo"). the next one was the lemon meringue dessert, which totally reminded me of the luscious lemon tart at starbuck's! the last one on the plate was a passion fruit jelly. and even though i'm not into jellies, this one had great flavor infused into it. in addition to a plate full of yummy treats, our server also gave us a bunch of deliciously warm madeleines, which had a light crust on the outside and a nice chew on the inside. i seriously had to hold myself back from eating more than my fair share.
while christine & i both thought we could handle more food, we realized that we were close to maxxing out, particularly after the first dessert course. but considering the extravagance of the meal, we made our way valiantly through our last bites. while i didn't delight in every single aspect of the courses, i was amazed at the creativity of the dishes, particularly the flavor combinations and the artistic presentations. i simply don't remember the last time i was so satisfied physically and visually. in addition, the chefs use fresh, local ingredients AND the tasting menu changes every 2 weeks. what more could you ask for?
sona
http://www.sonarestaurant.com/index.php
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3 comments:
Thank you for staying up late to post the re-cap of our dinner. I did a decent job describing it to Brett, but forgot a number of things that I wanted to tell him.
It's a pretty expensive meal, but the opportunity to try many different things was worth the price. Sometimes when I am spending that much money I make safer choices because I want to make sure I like the food I get. I might have made a safe choice - like the monkfish - for my entree, and would have been disappointed. Instead I was wowed by dishes that would not have been my first choice.
I am eager to try the tasting menu again with the wine pairings - sometime when I am not driving (and have a spare $90).
Part of me would be tempted to do the 9-course menu, but I think that the food was so complex and interesting that I would be totally overwhelmed - I would definitely need you there so that you could memorialize it on your blog.
I also want to add that I thought the service was very good -- super attentive, but not overbearing; formal, but but not stuffy or unfriendly.
Also, bacon powder. I had to know how that was made and found a website that explains it: http://www.starchefs.com/events/studio/techniques/AVasquez/index.shtml
The link to bacon powder didn't show up. Just try googling "bacon powder" and "vasquez" and the first link has the technique.
That's funny, your opinion on monkfish vs swordfish. Glenn and I have not yet had any good swordfish, but we've only encountered it in seared/grilled form when it's irrevocably dry, hard, tasteless and generally nasty. We've found monkfish to be really moist with a nice resistance (more tender than haddock), but it may be related to the cooking method, since we've only had in stews/braises.
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