The Life of a Silicon Valley Rockstar

The menu looked promising and I got excited about the event. I should have known that was a bad sign. I had high expectations and unfortunately this dinner didn’t live up to them. The menu is below along with my thoughts at the bottom. I will say however, meeting Elizabeth Faulkner was by far the highlight and saving grace of the evening. She came by our table as she was leaving, in street clothes, and was very pleasant and humble.

Onto the meal, but first… cocktails

touch of evil
“The strangest vengeance ever planned” ~1958
  bourbon, mint, lemon juice,
absinthe, rhubarb syrup

I started off with a cocktail. Seemed simple enough and everyone on staff was bragging about the mixologist. This drink tasted like watered down absinthe with a squeeze of lemon. The other flavors didn’t mesh well and were nondescript. Big disappointment as I’m always on the lookout for new mixed drinks with absinthe.

In the Beginning

Sweet Peach and Lobster
grilled peaches and spiced lobster gazpacho

Minted Marble
right gin, manzanilla sherry, mint, lemon, syrup

First

Broiled Hamachi
apricot, smoked pork belly, puffed black rice, togarashi

Fairly Jaded
right gin, kubler absinthe, ceylon tea, pineapple, lemon, mint

Second

Whole Roasted Duck Breast
plum and duck confit tart, peppercress, pistachio

Amber
right gin, aperol, dubonnet rouge

Intermezzo

Summer Snow
white peach and lychee soup, lemon verbena sorbet, kubler absinthe foam

In the End

The Golden Forest
rainier cherries, dark chocolate, cinnamon, kirsch, gold

Smokey Quartz
right gin, smoked cherry syrup, coffee

Executive Chef Elizabeth Falkner

Chef de Cuisine Ryan Farr

Mixologist Jacqueline Patterson

The first course was the sweet peach and lobster gazpacho. Looks GREAT on paper. When it was brought to the table I felt like the guy in the “what is this, elf food?” commercial. It was a very small wedge of peach, thinner than my pinky and a single piece of lobster tail meat the size of a 50-cent piece. To whichthe waiter poured a light gazpacho. It had great flavor, I just wish there was more than one bite. The minted marble was mediocre, forgettable and very disjointed from the dish. Almost a poor attempt at a gin mojito.

The broiled hamachi was good, but there’s no way it was broiled. Pan roasted more than likely but it lacked the crust created when broiling under high temperature. Great taste and doneness just not what I expected from the description. The apricot was outstanding but the pork belly was really lacking. IMO it needed to be cooked longer and better seasoned. The fairly jaded was again forgettable with the anise flavor of the absinthe taking over any other complexity.

Ahhh, my favorite course of the night. The duck breast was cooked perfectly and the confit tart was perfect. I could have had 5 plates worth of this easy. The Amber paired well and complemented the dish. I’d come back for a full portion-sized version of this dish.

The white peach and lychee soup reminded me of the fruit salad dessert often served at japanese restaurants. It was okay, but certainly nothing special.

The chocolate mouse “finger” for dessert was rich and tasty, however the cardamom ice cream was horrible. Second only to the drink that accompanied this course. The smokey quartz was so bad I couldn’t even swallow. I don’t think a tenderloin tranny could have swallowed. Who’s idea was it to ever make tobacco syrup and put it in a drink? Uggh, left a bad taste in my mouth all night, literally.

I might go back sometime but would skip the special dinner. The regular dishes coming out of the kitchen looked quite good and seem worthy of a second visit.