One Market

Wednesday, Novermber 20, 2002

I had earlier bumped into William Rohr at the Nordstrom men’s shoes department, and was having a cup of coffee with him when his phone rang. It was Michael Hickcox. Jeff had managed a table at the restaurant, and it was going to be special – the Chef’s Table, right in the kitchen.

It was going to be a treat! One Market offers the Chef’s Table as a booth, seating up to 8, right in the middle of the kitchen. The degustation menu which was presented looked incredible. So onto the wine first!

	Whites, with tasting notes from Jeff Kingston: 90 La Moutonne Grand Cru Chablis domaine Long de Pacquit. This is a monopole grand cru chablis. La Moutonne straddles two grand cru vineyards: Preuses and Les Vaudesirs. This 90 was a stunner: very rich honeysuckle nose and oaky toasty flavors marked the wine. The oak overtones are remarkable because the wine is not oaked at all! That is natural to this vineyard. Next was a 90 Meursault Les Vireuls domaine Guy Roulot. This wine was very ready. The flavors were of roasted hazelnuts and citrus. A nicely mature wine which should be drunk now. Good for us! Mike Disher: 2000 Ferrari-Carano Reserve Chardonnay (Carneros). Ferrari-Carano's Carneros vineyard sits atop the line between Napa and Sonoma Counties, at their southernmost points. Cool breezes from the San Francisco Bay allow the grapes to mature slowly. Often described as a classic California Chardonnay, this wine exhibits a deep golden color. The nose is citrus, with lemon predominating. This is a rich, lush, complex and well-structured Chardonnay that will improve with age. Once the chill is off, this wine is supple and creamy in the mouth, displaying flavors of honey, pear, vanilla, apple, butter, and toast. The fruit and oak are in excellent balance. The long finish brings a hint of butterscotch.
	The reds, with tasting notes from Jeff Kingston: 88 Vosne Romanee Clos Reas domaine Jean Gros. Here is a good demonstration of a great premiere cru beating a grand cru (the Clos de Vougeot). This wine was much darker and concentrated than the Clos Frantin. It had a very spicy, smoky nose with wonderful berry flavors and a vanilla finish. It worked particularly well with the venison. 97 Clos de Vougeot domaine Clos Frantin. Under the same ownership as the Chablis (Bichot), this was a bit on the light side but an excellent example of the roundness and fullness one expects from a Clos de Vougeot. Strawberry and vanilla overtones combined in this middleweight wine (the weight is characteristic of most of the red burgundies of this vintage). We never did open the Saviez Zinfandel…we had another unusual bottle compliments of the sommelier, more later.
	Our chef for the evening – Richard. This man fussed over us all evening. And has a great touch on his cooking.
	The First Course: Shaved Foie Gras and Hazelnut Salad. Duck liver brioche, with frisee, red oak, cherry port syrup. This dish was winner! From the unusual shaved Foie Gras, to the wonderful syrup sauce. It want very well with the Ferrari-Carano, which had all the ripeness and richness one expects from great California chardonnay. Happily it had the structure that often is lacking of region.
	Not to be outdone, the second course was Nantucket Bay Scallop Creviche, a sweet and sour marinated pumpkin, olive oil and tart apple salad.
	The soup course was delicious, as it was great to look at. Organic Chantenay Carrot Soup, with cumin and green peppercorn caramel.
Then the surprise! We had a tour of the kitchen facilities, and the manager on duty, who was also the sommelier, brought us into the cellars, and served us this unusual wine. Jeff: 99 Murrieta’s Well Vendimia. A blend of Zinfandel, Merlot and Syrah. Quite unusual as I have never seen Zinfandel blended before. It was quite Rhone like--spicy, exuberant, fruity. It comes from the Livermore area (which is a rather hot valley lying between the Bay Area and the central valley--all this well south of the Napa Valley). I think that there were a couple of other grapes in it as well; I just don't remember them. I did like the wine quite a bit. Made me want to go back for a reprise!
	The sous chef, seen with our waitress and Jeff. She served the fish course.
	One of the table’s favourites – the Petrale Sole Souffle. Served with a lemon-caper butter and organic mache, it tantalized our tastebuds. Tied for the best dish of the evening, this fish dish was one to remember. The Meursault was a perfect compliment. Jeff: It was an extraordinary dish, with a base of solid fish and a top filled with the soufflé. The trick of course was how they cooked it to get both components to come out right--neither over nor under cooked! The butter caper sauce was simply perfect. p.s. the picture shows three servings.
	The fourth consisted of California Squab, with corn and fig stuffing, braised greens and sweet-sour chanterelle glaze. Jeff: The squab was remarkable. I was a bit worried from the description that there would be too many things going on: herb stuffing, figs and chanterelle glaze. Yet it all came together and the bird was cooked perfectly rare.
	And Number 6 was another wonderful dish! Ties with the sole as the best dish for the evening. This was Seared Medallions of New York State Venison Loin, with spiced red cabbage, sweet potato dumplings and bitter chocolate sauce. Initially, the chocolate sauce seemed an oddity, but it complimented the venison perfectly, as did the Vosne Romanee. I did find the cabbage a little odd, but William thought it was great. Jeff: The venison for me was the winner. There was only a overtone of chocolate in the sauce. It really came across as a spicy game sauce that played off the orange zest which accompanied the venison. All too often restaurant venison is both dry (even cooked rare) and lacks spice. This meat was simply fabulous, succulent, spicy, racy. Some of the best venison I have ever had. The sweet potato which came with it was a perfect counterpoint.

	And the dessert to beat all desserts! See if you can catch the specialty…J
	From left to right: Jeff Kingston, John Kelmanson, Mike Disher, Michael Hickcox, William Rohr, Peter Chong

I think Jeff summed it best with these closing words:

All in all this was an extraordinary meal. I am embarrassed to say that even though this restaurant is in my building, that I haven't eaten dinner here in years (perhaps 10 years!). This chef is new and he has brought extraordinary sophistication to the cuisine. I think I shall be "going out" on the town by "going down the elevator" more often!