My reward for spending my vacation with Betsy's family (I like them
all, but still) was dinner for just the two of us at Manresa in Los
Gatos. I had eaten at the Beard House when David Kinch cooked there,
and was looking forward to this evening. Possibly too much, my
expectations were high. Yet they were surpassed all the way around.
There were no lowpoints -not one flawed dish, complaint about service,
and or fault with the space. The food was uniformly delicious, stunning
visually, and interesting. Stunningly good restaurant.

We had the tasting menu. I wish I had taken food notes at the time, but
I was too busy enjoying the meal, the atmosphere,and dinner with my
wife to scribble. I might have something out of sequence and I
definitely missed some sides (which dish had the mushrooms, the lettuce
"gazpacho", the roasted yellow beets and gazpacho of red beets) but
here is my memory:

The amuse bouche parade started immediately:

Red pepper gelee and black olive madeleines

Strawberry gazpacho, with almond

French radishes with tarragon creme fraiche

corn croquettes (little bursts of what creamed corn wished it was)

The final and showstopper of the amuses was an soft barely warm egg
replaced in shell on a chive (?) base and topped with eggwhites mixed
with maple syrup, with a little salt. Amazing

A crisp and yeasty cava accompanied all of these little tastes, I
neglected to note the producer.

Then on the "real" courses. We had ordered the wine pairings.

Double cooked foie gras with green apples,
2004 Amador Foothills Late Harvest Semillon (Shenandoah Valley)
A little lacking in acidity, but pleasant apricot, orange, and baked
apple flavors B/B-

Melon soup with homemade tofu
2004 Naia (Rueda)
Crisp, grapefruit, nice easy wine and a surprisingly good match. B+

Softshell crab and shellfish in a curry sauce
2004 Nora Albarino (Rias Baixas)
More peachy/nectariney, but with good acidity and crisp clean finish.
B/B+

Japanese sea bream
2005 Mas Grand Plagniol Blanc (Costieres de Nimes)
Very perfumed nose, with ok green apple and citrus fruit. A bit short
on finish. My least favorite of dry wines, but not bad, and one must
remember I'm no fan of Rhone whites.
B-/B

Nasturium risotto with nasturium blossoms and unopened squash blossoms
2004 Gerhart Kabinett Trocken (Rheingau)
A lot of depth here, not a producer I'm familiar with. Rich deep fruit,
dry yet not austere, long finish. B+

Porcetta (I remember loving this dish, but can't remember sides-
mushrooms?)
2004 Clape Les Amis des Vins (Rhone)
Probably my favorite wine of the evening. Rich black cherry and
blackberry fruit, with pepper and grilled meat. Maybe not the gravity
of a Cornas (I don't think this even qualifies as CdR), but an
excellent little Rhone with depth.A-/B+

Lamb loin (same)
2002 Mas Grand Plagniol (Costieres de Nimes)
This was also peppery, more Northern than Southern Rhone, though it did
have a Provencal herb note to the nose. B/B+

Staff was accomodating -due to neurosis, I don't eat desserts, so they
brought me a selection of cheeses (faves were Roaring 40s and a
California cheese called Euphoria) while Betsy had her desserts:
spearmint sorbet with warm local berries
jasmine ice cream on warm chocolate muffin
and....something else (chocolately I think)

We had the Warres "Otima" 10 Year Tawny
A pleasant VA lift on the nose, very raisins, with some pecany notes.
I'm not a big tawny drinker but this was nice, and fit in better than
the VPs I'm more likely to usually favor. B+

Fantastic evening. If we did it again, we'd maybe get one wine pairings
and a glass of white for Betsy. The dry wines probably had 3 oz pours,
and a lot was left (she was driving).

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent
wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't
drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no
promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

Emery Davis wrote:
> A friend who recently dined at Manresa had a similarly great food
> experience. Glad to hear it was terrific for you, too. This menu was
> not the same, though.

I too have had a great meal there, which I duly reported here so I won't
repeat myself.

>
> Is this the same as "Vin des Amis?" I bought a case without tasting
> of this stuff a few years ago; think it was a 99. It was truly awful.
> Predominant taste was that of tomato. I ended up using it exclusively
> for cooking. Not that cheap either at US$9 a bottle. (Bought in SF).
> Probably a D- on your scale.
>

No, Emery, it's still Vin de Amis. Dale was probably just conflating it
with the late, lamented "Les Amis du Vin." I am surprised by your
experience, though, as I can't imagine that Clape would release a wine
that bad, nor that he could make a wine that bad in the fantastic year
of '99. My guess would be improper storage at some point in the supply
chain.

Mark Lipton

Yep, my typo!

Mark Lipton wrote:
> Emery Davis wrote:
> > A friend who recently dined at Manresa had a similarly great food
> > experience. Glad to hear it was terrific for you, too. This menu was
> > not the same, though.
>
> I too have had a great meal there, which I duly reported here so I won't
> repeat myself.
>
> >
> > Is this the same as "Vin des Amis?" I bought a case without tasting
> > of this stuff a few years ago; think it was a 99. It was truly awful.
> > Predominant taste was that of tomato. I ended up using it exclusively
> > for cooking. Not that cheap either at US$9 a bottle. (Bought in SF).
> > Probably a D- on your scale.
> >
>
> No, Emery, it's still Vin de Amis. Dale was probably just conflating it
> with the late, lamented "Les Amis du Vin." I am surprised by your
> experience, though, as I can't imagine that Clape would release a wine
> that bad, nor that he could make a wine that bad in the fantastic year
> of '99. My guess would be improper storage at some point in the supply
> chain.
>
> Mark Lipton

On Tue, 01 Aug 2006 14:27:49 -0400
Mark Lipton > wrote:

> Emery Davis wrote:
[]
> > Predominant taste was that of tomato. I ended up using it exclusively
> > for cooking. Not that cheap either at US$9 a bottle. (Bought in SF).
> > Probably a D- on your scale.
> >
>
> No, Emery, it's still Vin de Amis. Dale was probably just conflating it
> with the late, lamented "Les Amis du Vin." I am surprised by your
> experience, though, as I can't imagine that Clape would release a wine
> that bad, nor that he could make a wine that bad in the fantastic year
> of '99. My guess would be improper storage at some point in the supply
> chain.
>

Hi Mark,

Yes, I was very surprised too. Since I bought the case without trying it,
you can imagine I expected good things from Clape. I wouldn't call the
year "fantastic" but certainly good enough.

I opened the first, sent it down the bog. A second, said hmm, perhaps
can cook with it. Forgot about it, and the third much later, was too late
to take it back.

A good example of how sometimes damage can show no external signs
what so ever, the bottles looked pristine, good level etc. Even odder,
I seem to remember it was a Kermit Lynch import, and as you know he's
usually very careful and reliable.

Oh well! Glad Dale got to taste the real McCoy, anyway...

-E

--
Emery Davis
You can reply to ecom
by removing the well known companies

In article . com>,
says...
>
>My reward for spending my vacation with Betsy's family (I like them
>all, but still) was dinner for just the two of us at Manresa in Los
>Gatos. I had eaten at the Beard House when David Kinch cooked there,
>and was looking forward to this evening. Possibly too much, my
>expectations were high. Yet they were surpassed all the way around.
>There were no lowpoints -not one flawed dish, complaint about service,
>and or fault with the space. The food was uniformly delicious, stunning
>visually, and interesting. Stunningly good restaurant.

[SNIP]

Great TN's. I am envious though. We did a quick trip to Burlingame and SF
recently, and I really wanted to add Manresa to the mix. However the time
constraints were too great to get down to Los Gatos, so I had to settle for
Viognier in San Mateo, with Restaurant Gary Danko (thanks Mark L) and Michael
Mina's in SF. While all were great, I would have loved to add Manresa to the
lot. Reading your comments, makes me wish all the more, that I had.

You also do a great job of noting both the dishes and the wine. I envy you
that ability. Unless I can get the sommelier to compile a list and get a copy
of the menu, I'm usually dividing my time between the meal/wine and our dinner
guests. While I do have my fun, note taking is usually precluded. Heck, even
taking the time to reflect on the wine list brings glares from my wife for
ignoring the folk at the table. I guess that that is why she is the "business"
person in the family - she knows how to multi-task better than I.

I suppose that I'll have to make do with vicarious dining at Manresa - until
next time! Thanks for taking me there. Especially nice since Betsy drove <G>.

Hunt