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2007-01-03

Gary Danko

warning: food review of fancy foods!

last night Monk took me to Gary Danko as a holiday gift (and sort of for our 6 months anniv. but more for christmas!)
This is a big deal, because Monk isn't the foodie I am and getting him to go to the nicer (and usually thus, more expensive) restaurants is rare. It's also a big deal because I love food and I love presentation and it's one of the best gifts you can give me. I was blissed out before we even got there. I've been wanting to eat there for a few years now.

I arrived 25 minutes early for our reservation, so I took a seat at the bar and they poured me a glass of champagne. Monk showed up about 15 minutes later, and they took us to our seat. They poured him a glass of champagne as well and refilled mine (on the house. i like those small touches).

they brought us a small gift from the kitchen... a tiny bowl of chestnut soup with duck confit. hot and very yummy.

We took a long time choosing our menu choices, but finally we both decided to have 4 courses (you have an option of 3, 4 or 5 courses at a set price).
The nice thing about GD is that they allow you to do this in any way you choose. Were you to choose 4 appetizers, they would graduate the portions as you went through the courses, so that one course would be entree sized. You can have all appetizers, an appetizer, fish, meat & cheese.. appetizer, meat , cheese & dessert.. etc etc, you get the idea. (hell, you could do all dessert if you so chose)

we ordered a bottle of pinot noir (also something we don't usually do together. I do it with others, but rarely with him) .. Melville from Santa Maria Valley. 1999. it was really good and went pretty well with everything.

I started with the
Seared Foie Gras with Caramelized Red Onions and Fuji Apples
and Monk started with the
Risotto with Lobster, Rock Shrimp, Winter Root Vegetables and Oregano Oil

My foie gras was pretty much perfection, but i'm a sucker for the stuff.. especially when seared. It was just the right texture.. creamy on the inside and a little crisp on the outside. a mini mouth orgasm with every bite. the apples & onions cut the richness a bit (but not much!). I know it isn't PC, but oh it's so decadently wonderful and lovely. my favorite course made by the chef (to be explained later)

Monk's favorite course was probably his appetizer as well. His risotto was creamy, rich, lobstery and hearty. I also liked this one a lot.

for second course we both chose from the seafood menu

I had
Seared Sea Scallops with Spaghetti Squash, Cipollini Onions, Sour Cherries and Almonds
and monk had
Pan Steamed Shellfish with Thai Red Curry and Jasmine Rice

I wasn't a huge fan of the spaghetti squash and onions, but they did provide a blandness that was weirdly nice with the rich almost sweet flavor of the scallops which were REALLY delicious.
Monk's shellfish was a broth of curry and coconut milk with a nice kick .. with mussels, lobster, scallops and calamari floating around an island of jasmine rice. this was also very flavorful and delicious.

for our third course I ordered quail and hans had squab but we switched plates when we realized we both liked the others food more. (squab is almost like red meat, which he doesn't eat)

the Moroccan Spiced Squab with Chermoula and Orange-Cumin Carrots was medium rare on the rare side.. with a very striking extremely flavorful sauce.. the chermoula? (to me it was couscous) was filled with cumin flavors and amazing wild mushrooms. the meat was very tender and perfect. at this point, i'd been eating such rich food.. I realized I couldn't finish the squab AND eat my next course (which would have been tragic). I was becoming uncomfortable, and since these weren't roman times ..I had to stop eating and take a breather. They packaged up my squab for me.

Hans had the Wild Mushroom Stuffed Quail with Braised Red Cabbage and Butternut Squash Pur�e and ate all of it. (turns out maybe he shouldn't have : ) . .but he found it pretty great. I had a bite, but wasn't as impressed. it was ok. he liked it a lot though, so it worked out perfectly.

our 4th courses: hans had dessert and I had cheeeese. (my favorite course not made by the chef)

the cheese cart guy came around and said I could have a choice of 4 cheeses from the tray of about 20.. and he'd describe all for me If i wished.
I told him I'd like one buttery/creamy, one flavorful hard cheese (preferably sheep or goat), one blue cheese and then to surprise me on the fourth.
oh.my.god. the cheese. i almost cried it was so good.
I"ve checked their cheeselist and I only remember the names of 3.
the Whitestone's Windsor blue was the best of them all.. a strange combination of creamy (spreadable on the bread they gave me), buttery, tangy, and that strong taste that only a blue has.. oof. i wanted to cry it was so good. description from the whitestone website:
judges described it as a creamy blue with a soft buttery texture and a silky smooth mouth feel. It has a unique blue culture that dissects the rich curd and combines to produce a delicate flavour that intensifies with ageing.

the triple cream is the one i can't remember the name of. I'm pretty sure it was Pierre Robert though. .. . it was a very creamy brie with which they had taken off the top of the rind and placed truffles inside and then replaced the rind. this was pretty divine too. in fact very.

the Sally Jackson goat was the only let down, and it wasn't that it was bad. it was nutty and earthy and quite good. It just didn't have the to-die-for quality that the other 3 had.

the surprise cheese was Mimolette
I loved this cheese! it was super hard. very dark amber color.. and full of all kinds of different flavors.
here is their description of the mimolette (made from raw cows milk):
Mimolette:
ours is usually aged in the vicinity of two years. Mimolette is a visual wonder with it's cantaloupe appearance both in shape and interior color. It was created when King Louis XIV banned the import of Edamin the 17th century (Edam is from Holland). Louis felt that the French could do anything better than anyone else, even if it required forcing them to mimic a then French favorite. It worked. The texture is unlike anything else- hard, waxy, smoky, bacon-like sometimes with a hint of sweetness. The color is derived from a natural dye derived from a cousin to the annatto plant. Mmmm.

you can tell i love cheese, i hope.

Monk had the Trio of Cr�me Br�l�e with Cookies
we expected three petite creme brulees, but no.. they were all 3 of them LARGE. a hazelnut, dark chocolate and a citrus creme brulee. I only tried the chocolate (wow wow wow) and the hazelnut (almost as wow) . he ate all of that too.

they gave us a little bag with a gold foil wrapped muffin for the morning as a goodbye. and we got the little cookies they had brought out for free as well. I filled my Mr. Bento with squab, salad & little cookies today. yeehaw

we both went home super uber full and stupid feeling. Monk wouldn't allow me to talk about food because he felt on the edge of sick from so much stuffing himself.
and in fact he ended up not feeling so well for the rest of the night and didn't sleep, because I don't think his belly has the capacity for rich food that mine does. probably a good thing, really.

anyway, I give it a positive review.. that's for sure. and I think i'm glad i did 4 courses, but i might have done it differently.. i needed ONE course that wasn't so rich.. maybe a salad as my second course.

i will dream about that cheese.


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