With prescient planning we decided to have dinner at Mistral with our friends Pavel and Kathleen on what turned out to be the night after our power finally came back on. It was a great way to shake off the indignities of being stripped of the conveniences of modern life. Here’s a summary of our 9 course tasting menu. More details and a scan of the hand-written menu we requested are on my Vox blog.
Bluefin Tuna with watermelon radish, fennel, and celery froth: A nice little starter with a foam of celery sitting on top of the veggies. A refreshing way to get ready for the meal to come.
Seared Sea Scallop with sunchoke and vanilla soup: The scallop was perfectly cooked, crunchy on the ends and tender with the right amount of “give” on the inside. There was a bit of citrus dust on top. This was one of my favorites with the texture of the scallop and the wonderful flavor of the soup.
Black Bass with roast peppers, pinenuts, brussel sprouts, burnt leek and blood orange vinaigrette: The bass had great contrast with a crunchy skin and tender flesh. The peppers were in a small cube dice and very sweet with no bite, like how bell peppers really should taste. There were a few leaves of sauteed brussel sprout, very fresh tasting.
Roast Swordfish, abalone mushroom, bluefoot chanterelle, horseradish puree: The swordfish was nicely done, but I really love mushrooms so those are the flavors I remember from this dish.
Seared Foie Gras with acorn squash puree and passionfruit juice: I remember enjoying the foie gras at Cafe Juanita, but this was more memorable perhaps because the contrast of texture was very striking. The seared exterior and the warm fatty interior — yummy.
Anderson Farms Lamb with fingerling potato puree, thumbelina carrots, red chard: What a lovely rack of lamb that must have been. The meat was dark pink and I believe our server said the exterior was coated with truffle salt. The potato puree was buttery goodness. The carrots and chard were lovely, not a hint of bitterness.
Cheese Course: Pierre du Jaquin, Tomme de Fedoo, Valle de Valdeon, Brillat Savarin, Beaufort. YUM. I LOVE CHEESE. All meals should have a cheese course.
Blood orange granita with pineapple, passionfruit, and orange sorbets: A real winner. There were small shards of pinky red granita on the bottom of the dish and a sorbet quenelle pyramid resting on it (pineapple and orange on bottom, passionfruit on top). The passionfruit was especially strong and striking.
Almond Financier, Vanilla Creme Brulee, Coffee ice cream, Mint ice cream, chocolate croquant: The creme brulee had just the right amount of torched top and tons of flecks of vanilla. The financier was a tasty little mini-muffin. The ice cream flavors held true to their origins with the mint hailing from the herb garden. A flavorful ending to a Mistral experience.