Bodega Aljibes Visits New England

We were fortunate Friday night to be invited to a Spanish wine dinner at Zorvino Vineyard with visiting winemaker Javier Fernandez Sanz from Bodega Aljibes in Spain.

It was our first time to one of Zorvino's events and it was nice to see that there was a healthy turnout. Most of the other guests were first-timers too, so I guess the word is getting out about Chef Philip Carolan. He pretty much runs a one-man kitchen, yet still finds time to do things like blanche and peel fresh cherry tomatoes to go with the seared skewered beef, and bake 70 mini soufflés. He also grows some of his own greens and herbs on the property which I think is just awesome. I know that's pretty standard in other areas but it's pretty revolutionary in these parts.

Javier was kind enough to fly in all the way from Spain just for this event. I admit I did heard him say something about going to New York on this trip too but, I'm sure New Hampshire was the highlight of his trip.

Javier walked us through his selections starting with the 2007 Viña Aljibes Blanco: An entry-level blend of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. This wine was very easy-drinking and a nice blend of mineral and fruit. The acidity really sparkled when paired with a calamari salad. This was followed by the Vina Aljibes Rosado 2007 which Javier explained was developed for the Holland clubbing market (apparently, in Holland clubbers drink Rosé at the disco). The criteria for this market is pink and smells nice which it was and did--like strawberry and pineapple.

Next we had the 2004 Aljibes red: A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot (33%). I wish I had taken notes. Some found it perhaps too rustic for the average palate but, I thought it was quite graceful with deep dark fruit, layers of chocolate, spice, and tannins that tasted more herbaceous than bitter.

Finally, we had a 2006 Cab Franc paired with our chocolate soufflé and banana... Okay, can we talk about this banana for a second? I was expecting your average mushy poached banana but this thing had a delicate crisp caramelized coating, and was warmed through without being cooked to mush. Oh, and the soufflé..? We're supposed to be listening to Javier talk about this Cab Franc, and it was all I could do to not be distracted by the aroma of melty, bakey chocolate sitting under my nose. Some guests yielded to temptation and devoured all traces of the dessert before Javier had even stopped talking. I felt kind of bad for him--I hope the Chef saved him one so he left knowing that the chocolate was to blame. The Cab Franc was a great pairing with the dessert, by the way. The chocolate brought out a nice bright strawberry flavor in the wine.

All in all, a very pleasant evening with some great food and interesting wines. It was nice to have some Spanish wines introduced by the wine maker himself right here in New England...Not as nice as having them in Spain but, this was a pretty good substitute and the folks at Zorvino are fun. I'm going to keep an eye out for the 2004 Aljibes red blend in the local wine shops so I can try it again.

Kitchen Day

The weather is crappy this weekend but, I don't mind. It's giving me a chance to do something I haven't done in a long time--spend the day cooking. Yesterday I baked gluten-free banana bread, and apple-crisp. In case you're wondering what the point of gluten-free banana bread is, let me tell you, it's delicious. I also cut the sugar in the recipe with xylitol so we can eat it completely guilt free. I got the recipe from the Bob's Red Mill GF Mix package. The weird thing is, their website has a different recipe posted, so I'll post the one I used at the end.

Some of the ingredients I like to use are more expensive than regular grocery store items and with the rising cost of food, it can be hard to justify the upgrade to organic or additive-free alternatives. The way I look at it is prices are rising one way or the other, and I'd rather channel that extra money I'm paying toward supporting a more sustainable and healthy way of producing food than to support an un-environmental food distribution system. We're already paying a lot more for food thanks to rising transportation costs, so whenever possible, we can change the paradigm by buying more fresh local produce and maybe even cutting back a bit on processed food which is often actually more expensive when you consider the nutrition you're getting.

Yesterday, was also a good day for watching cooking shows. I was inspired by Lidia Bastianich who was making focaccia with her grandsons (she's such a good Grandma!) and José Andrés who was sipping Alberino and sampling fresh mussels. For lunch, I made a wonderful Tuscan-style cannenelli dish with sautéed diced nitrate-free fruitwood smoked BACON, diced red pepper, grated carrot, chopped garlic, ground sage, and a can of drained and rinsed cannenelli seasoned with paprika, sea salt, fresh parmesan and plenty of fresh extra virgin olive oil. My favorite Olive Oil available here locally is Paesano from Sicily. Of course, I've yet to try Spanish olive oil, and I hope to visit some day so I can try it... I also made a focaccia last night to go with some pesto stuffed lasagna.

I had a lot of leftover Béchamel from my mid-week butternut squash lasagna that I cooked for visiting family. So, I used some of it for the pesto stuffed lasagna (I threw grated cheese into the rest of the sauce and made macaroni and cheese). My downstairs neighbor is a proud Italian father and cook. He introduced me to a different way of preparing lasagna. Rather than laying out the lasagna in layers, he stuffs and rolls the individual noodles cannoli style. I had some wilting basil and a tub of non-fat cottage cheese laying around so, I made a pesto filling with it and rolled it up into four leftover lasagna noodles. You know; those four noodles that are always left because a pound of lasagna never actually fits into a 9x13 dish?

By the way, try that butternut squash lasagna recipe sometime--it's a fantastic Fall recipe (just beware the leftover Béchamel and four noodles). It's a lot of work, but you can spread it out over two days if necessary. We served it with some simple tossed greens and zucchini and summer squash cut lengthwise, marinaded in olive oil, balsamic, and tarragon, and grilled up on the old GFG (George Forman Grill). Delish.

But, what about the wine? Oh...right... Here is a little rundown of our food and wine pairings this week:

Bruschetta topped with chive chevre & caramelized onions:
Jewell Towne Vineyards Alden 2005


Butternut Squash Lasagna:
Bartholomew Park Merlot 2005


Pesto (stuffed) Lasagna:
Rijckaert Pouilly-Fuisse 2006

Bob's Red Mill GF Banana Bread

1/3 C. Canola Oil
2/3 C. Packed brown sugar
2 Large eggs
1 t. Vanilla extract
1 3/4 C. Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose GF Baking Flour
2 t. Baking powder
1 1/4 t. Cinnamon
1 t. Xanthan gum
1/2 t. Salt
1 1/2 C Mashed ripe bananas
1/2 C. Chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 9x5 inch loaf pan. Cream together oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in large bowl. Add flour, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder and cinnamon mixture to egg mixture, alternating with bananas. Beat until smooth. Add walnuts. Transfer to pan. Bake for 1 hour.

Australian Wine at the Windward Grille, Essex, MA

Spunky Mommy’s husband and I are engineers at the same company. A group of our friends went to a wine dinner at the Windward Grille in Essex, Massachusetts on the 28th of February. The wine portion was hosted by Ross Lochrie of Horizon Beverage Company, Avon, MA. Ross is from Australia so it was fun to get his perspectives on the wine.

Australian wines can be very interesting. We all have seen the mass produced wines from Down Under, but just as with any other region, there are wineries that produce unique wines, some regional and some single vineyard.

The common denominator for all of the wines we had at this tasting was that the growing conditions are tough. The weather is hot, dry and the soils are poor. Grapes produce high quality fruit in these conditions. All of the wines were intense, full of flavor and very bold.

Another common trait I have found is the minty characteristics of many Australian wines. The vineyards are generally near eucalyptus trees which will impart their flavors and aromas to the wine. This is part of the Australian wine scene and adds an interesting layer of complexity that many regions just cannot replicate. I’ve seen this in a few single vineyard wines from California, but don’t expect this from New York or French wines!


To start things off, we were served a baby spinach salad tossed with Portobello mushrooms, roasted red peppers, crispy bacon and balsamic dressing topped with Great Hill Blue cheese. Although this dressing had balsamic vinegar, it was not a vinegary dressing making it compatible with the wine.


Ross served us Water Wheel Memsi White. Ross tells us that the vineyard is planted in red, dusty clay soil and is flooded once in the spring. This is the only water the vines get so the grapes are very concentrated. Memsie is stainless steel tank fermented.

Memsie White
Water Wheel
Vintage: 2006
Blend: Sauvignon Blanc 40% Semillon 30% Roussanne 21% Chardonnay 9%
Alcohol: 12.7%
TA: 5.3
pH: 3.24
Residual Sugar: 11.8

Pale straw yellow, honey, pear, litchi, apple, lemon. Sweet, crisp, with a buttery mouth feel. Long fruity finish. I got a little black pepper in the long finish. This will go well with sea food and white meats. This is a good wine that I would enjoy chilled on it's own on a hot day. The viscous mouth feel is interesting and the fruitiness is refreshing.

The next course was a Portobello Stuffed Mushroom. The mushroom was stuffed with crabmeat and topped with mozzarella cheese.

Ross noticed that I was taking tasting notes. Jokingly, he commented, “there is one in every crowd.” “One! Heck Ross, there are four more engineers at this table!” Then he broke out the Longwood 12 Stave Shiraz/Grenache. The Grenache component came from 60 year old bush vines in McLaren Flat. The Shiraz is estate grown at Longwood. All fruit is fermented in 1 and 2 ton open tanks. Ferments are hand plunged three times daily. Wine is basket pressed directly to oak to complete malolactic fermentation then racked 3 times prior to bottling. The wine is aged in French and American Hogs heads and Bariques for a total of 18 months.

Longwood clearly is making a high quality product for the retail of $16.99. The yield is kept down to a very low 2 tons per acre. T-bin fermentation and hand punch downs are very labor intensive and I think the effort showed in the wine. (This style of wine making is in our earlier article.

12 Stave
Longwood
Vintage: 2006
Appellation: McLaren Vale
Varietal: 60% Shiraz, 40% Grenache
Cases Produced: 500
Filtration and fining: Zero fining. Minimal filtration prior to bottling.
Alcohol %: 15.2
Total Acid: 3.58
pH: 3.58
Residual Sugar: 0.8
Color: Garnet

The wine has a mildly smoky nose, cherry, blackberry and elderberry. It has nice tannin structure from the French and American oak combination. Chocolate, mint and eucalyptus. This is a very good wine today and will lay down for up to 8 years. It would be interesting to grab a case of this and taste it over the years.

Next came Lobster Ravioli in an arugala tomato cream sauce. Rather than shredded filling, this ravioli was filled with chunks of lobster. Very good, and remember that we have lobster boats in our front yard, so when I say it is good…

This was a funky pairing. Ross brought out a Craneford “Allison Parsons” Shiraz. An interesting point about Craneford is that they use a old basket press. This is clearly old school but the way it treats the fruit, you get really nice soft, fine tannins. The yield from the sourced vineyards was about four tons per acre which is a good yield for a wine in this price point. The vineyard is located on the edge of the desert resulting in very concentrated fruit. The wine is aged in American and French oak for 12 months.

Allison Parsons Shiraz
Craneford
Appellation: Barossa Valley
Yields per Acre: 4 t/acres
Cases Produced: 2,000
Wood treatment: American & French Oak
Length of barrel maturation: 12 months
Alcohol %: 15.46
Total Acid: 6.95
pH: 3.73
Residual Sugar: 0.51
Color: Dark purple

Summary: Blueberry, strawberry, pomegranate, sandalwood, and eucalyptus. A very flavorful, fruit forward wine that will do well with some aging. The comments from the table were that it was easier to perceive the fruit characteristics without the oak getting in the way. I feel that the oak treatment was spot on with this wine.

The main course was Cranberry Balsamic Duck Breast. Oven roasted duck breast served sliced over butternut ravioli tossed with pine nut, spinach, butter and brown sugar. I’ve tried to cook duck, it has its challenges. This duck was done to perfection, flavorful, moist and you could cut it with a fork.

Ross brought out Tait "The Ball Buster", an inky dark Shyraz blend. Tait Wines is located at the southern end of the famous Barossa Valley, in a town called Lyndoch in South Australia, and overlooks the spectacular Barossa Ranges. The grapes that make up the Ball Buster blend are sourced from different vineyard locations throughout the Barossa. Vineyard sites are chosen to ensure that the resultant fruit is intense and that cropping levels do not exceed 3.5 tones an acre; typically these are clay soils on the fringes of the Barossa. The age of the vineyards that make up the 2006 Ball Buster Blend vary between 7 and 40 years.

The BallBuster
Tait Wines
Vintage: 2006
Appellation: Barossa Valley
Price: $16.99
Blend: 78% Shiraz, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot
Cases Produced: 15,000
Wood treatment: Used (3 to 5 year old) American (80%) and French (10%)
Length of barrel maturation: 12 months.
Alcohol %: 16.0
Total Acid: 6.7
pH: 3.53
Residual Sugar: 1.2
Color: Inky purple

Summary: The first thing you notice about this wine is that it is highly extracted and you cannot see the stem of the glass. The wine is cherry, blackberry, menthol, chocolate and blueberry with spicy clove, lemon zest, allspice, sandalwood tannins. Very concentrated flavors, a real fruit forward wine that would hold up in any Rochambeau contest.

This was a fun night with great foods and wines. Taster B and I are happy we made Ross’ acquaintance and will be looking for his wines. All of the wine have Stelvin closures pointing to the retirement of “Old Reliable”.

We ended the evening with Tiramisu and Benjamin Port.

Weekend Wino-ers: Merlot-quacious!

Okay. Everybody whose wine-buying habits weren't affected by the opinions of Paul Giamatti's character in Sideways, hats off to you. The rest of us: Let’s not beat ourselves up about it. Maybe we were naïve; maybe the times made it seem right; who knows. The point is, we can change our minds. After all, it wasn’t Merlot that changed, it was us...


Taster A and I decided it was time to remind ourselves what Merlot was all about with a horizontal tasting of three Merlots from Sonoma County. We opened three very nice single-vineyard bottles, and compared them side-by-side. All had typically soft tannins, plumy nose, and subdued character. Of course, we did wind up with our favorites.

Toad Hollow
2005 Merlot Reserve
Russian River Valley
Richard McDowell Vineyard
Price: $19.99
This was the most oaky of the three but, not offensively so. Slight herbal notes of basil on the nose and bright berry fruit on the palate. The oak fell to the background once introduced to food.

Benziger
2004 Merlot
Sonoma Valley
Rose Ranch
Price: $37
Taster A found the nose disappointing but the flavor redeeming. I had sort of the opposite reaction: Found the nose pretty interesting with plum, floral, earth, and chocolate notes but, found the wine to be vapid on the palate. No acid to speak of. The palate improved with food.

Bartholomew Park
2004 Merlot (blend: 15% Cab)
Sonoma Valley
Desnudos Vineyard
Price: $32
Most interesting of the three: Refined leather and lots of floral notes on the nose; stewed plums, boysenberry, elderberry, etc. on the palate. The scent in the bottom of the glass had Taster A reminiscing of pine boards being ripped by a buzz saw.

We had a fantastic food pairing for Merlot Night: Stuffed Portobello mushrooms with scalloped potatoes and baby spinach topped with a warm bacon-Bordeaux dressing. We talked about the wine throughout dinner. Merlot definitely has some stiff competition for attention among other varietals yet it has a special character all its own: Sort of a quiet beckoning. Can you hear it calling?

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms:
2 Portobello mushrooms
3 T Olive oil
1/3 C breadcrumbs
2-3 cloves of garlic
3 T red wine
2 oz smoked Gouda
2 oz mozarella
2 t. Oregano
Sea salt to taste

Wash Portobellos and remove outer skin if desired. Pat dry. Turn on broiler and rub outside of cap with olive oil. Place on pan under broiler for about 5 minutes gill side up.
Remove pan from oven. Cut stems from caps and set aside.

Dice mushroom stems and garlic. Heat a pan on the stove and add 1 T olive oil. Add breadcrumbs, a teaspoon of oregano, and a pinch of salt. Allow breadcrumbs to brown then remove to bowl. Add another T of olive oil to pan on low-heat, add garlic, pinch of salt, and 1 teaspoon more oregano. Allow garlic to sauté for a few moments, then add diced mushrooms and toss. Pour about 3 T red wine over the mixture, cover and let cook until tender (about 4 min). When wine has reduced remove to bowl. Add about half the breadcrumbs and mix. Place one half of mixture onto each Portobello cap. Top with half Gouda / half mozzarella and remaining breadcrumbs. (Smoked Gouda is a good accompaniment Merlot but, can be too strong. Cutting it with a mild cheese like mozzarella will help keep the flavors from overwhelming the wine)
Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes or until top is melted.

Syrah Pairing: Hearty Minestrone

One of the problems we have is that we generally eat white fish or poultry so we are often forced to open a bottle of white to go with our meal. I like white wine but, this time of year, I just want red.

When we decided we were going to open the Bartholomew Park Syrah, I decided I'd pull some pork spareribs we had on hand out of the freezer just so we wouldn't have to post another "goes good with spaghetti" blog entry. It turned out to be a good match.

The BartPark Syrah has an aroma foundation of tobacco and red berry. When paired with the spareribs, I also picked up a definite cumin note.

Last night we finished the bottle with some homemade minestrone--another satisfactory pairing. Somewhere between the soup, and the dark chocolate, I took a whiff of my wine and got chocolate-rasberry! We have a few more bottles to 'lay down' (ha ha) and see how they progress. We are also facing the reality of needing to do something about our wine storage... More on that in future posts.

A Time of Bounty, Palmer Vineyards Cabernet Franc

Christmas dinners can be tough for a wine to keep up with. You have a wide variety of aromatic foods with cinnamon, allspice, sage, rosemary and thyme. The traditional sweet potatoes baked with orange slices, cinnamon and clove add another layer complexity. This may all be served with turkey, ham, roast beef or all of the above. Let’s face it, this bountiful time calls for wine that is versatile and complementary.

As much as we all love wine, this meal is not about the wine. It’s about sharing with family and friends. The wine should be good but we all have a dirty little secret. We are not about to open that very special bottle knowing that Aunt Millie and Uncle Harry have been know to put ice in their box wine at home.

Looking across the table you see the cranberry sauce. I make mine with whole cinnamon, allspice, clove and anise. I put thinly slice oranges in the bottom of a glass bowl. (Okay, people rave about my cranberry sauce. My second holiday dirty little secret...it is quick, simple and looks like I fussed for hours. Take one cup of water, one cup of sugar and bring to a boil. When I’m feeling wild and crazy, I’ll add the juice of one orange. Add one bag of cranberries. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15 or 20 minutes with the spices mentioned above. Put in a glass bowl with thinly cut orange slices for looks. Set aside to cool.)

Now you have a meal that is a real challenge to pair wine with, sweet, sour, savory and pungent. Do I hear someone knocking at the door? It's Aunt Millie and Uncle Harry with a cheese platter, Brie, Blue, Jarlsberg and Havarti. Oh my! Let’s not freak out.

Here’s what I’d do. I’d pull out a Cabernet Franc, a Sauvignon Blanc, and a Merlot. All these wines are inexpensive, easy going and pair well with just about anything on the table. But the bottle I’d keep close to me would be the Cabernet Franc. We found a nice New York State bottle that just shined through a meal like this. There is just enough hint of spiciness, red current, cherry, earthiness and just the right acidity to go with everything on the table.

Merry Christmas, and may your wine pairings be flawless in the coming New Year.

Cabernet Franc
Proprietor’s Reserve
Palmer Vineyards
Long Island, New York
Vintage: 2003
Alcohol: 12.5%
Price: $14.42

Color:
Intensity: Meduim
Aromas: Cherry, earth, rose, spice
Flavors: Cherry, red current, cranberry, pomegranate,
Body: Medium
Acidity: Moderate
Sweetness: Moderately dry
Finish: Medium

Summary: This wine will compliment a festive meal without dominating it. The balance of earthiness and fruitiness played off of the turkey, sweet potatoes and cranberry. It went well will with both white and dark meat.

Green Salads and Wine

Vinegar can compete with wine. It’s been a problem for me all my life, getting through the salad course so I could enjoy my wine with my meal. Rule: If you are going to serve a salad with a wonderful vinaigrette, simply do not serve a wine with the salad course. That is all there is to it. Or try a dry German Riesling with you salad course. It will work with many good dressings.

Here are two dressings that will help with the problem if you use good quality white wine vinegar. You can give your wine a chance to stand up to a dressing if you include the wine in the dressing. These are for your favorite green salad. Shown above is a salad Taster-B made with spinach, feta and quince.

White Wine Vinaigrette
3/4 cup of dry white wine
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup wine vinegar
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
Fresh ground black pepper and sea salt, to taste.

Blend together and store in a covered jar in the refrigerator.

Fennel and Wine dressing
Here is a dressing that I have been experimenting with. I like the Sauvignon Blank because of the bright citrus notes.

3/4 cup of Sauvignon Blank
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of fennel seed ground in a mortar and pestle
1 teaspoon of dry mustard
1 teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon of honey to taste
Sea salt to taste

This works well if you prepare the dressing ahead of time. I like to freshly grind the fennel seeds to a fine powder. I place all into a mason jar with a lid and shake it until it emulsifies. If you have the patience to clean your blender, this works better. Refrigerate overnight to let the fennel do its magic or use straight away.

Magic Food, Sometimes you have to Pull a Rabbit out of a Hat.

No, I’m not making hasenpfeffer, it is late, there is next to nothing left in the pantry and I’m hungry. Taster B is coming home from work at 7:30 and although she doesn’t expect dinner, I like to let her know I’m thinking of her.

So there I was, standing in front of the fridge for 5 minutes thinking, "I have nothing to work with". The pantry was missing the emergency tomato sauce. That saved my butt last night. I pride myself on always being able to pull a rabbit out of my hat when it came to matters in the kitchen, but I was ready to give up and to run up to the corner for a pizza. (Oh, that bottle of Super Tuscan is starting to sound good.)

Then out of the corner of my eye, I spied a bottle with a bit of white wine. I’m SAVED! I grabbed two carrots, a handful of kale, two medium onions, two sticks of celery, a finger of ginger, some fresh parsley and got to work.

The vegetables were rough-chopped and put into a five quart pan, covered with water and the remains of two bottles of white wine saved for cooking. This made about two or three cups of wine. The kale is cut fairly fine in long strips. The onions were caramelized in a frying pan with some olive oil and two cloves of garlic while the other vegetables were boiling like mad in the stock pot to which I added some marjoram, rosemary, a half of teaspoon of cayenne pepper, ground black pepper, sea salt, a big cube of peeled ginger, and dill.

I had some frozen gnocci that we bought from a local Italian deli. Oh, this is going to be good.

Cook the veggies until they are done (I mean really done). I let this boil hard, covered for 20 minutes. Usually, I’ll simmer for a couple of hours. Your vegetable stock should be ready now with the color extracted from the kale and carrots. Remove the vegetables (most would have you pitch the veggies because you just want the flavor--I’m going to put some rice vinegar on them and serve them as a salad tomorrow).

Now bring the stock back to a boil and put the gnocci in and cook for five to seven minutes. Oh, this came out perfect. The white wine gave it a citrus flavor, with the ginger in the background and slight taste of cayenne.

Pair it with a New York State Chardonnay and you’ve got a gourmet meal. Save a little for the photo props and you have your snack set aside for later. I'll talk about the Lamoreaux Landing Chardonnay in the near future.

El Dorado Kitchen is Tops

We gathered many restaurant recommendations before our trip, and continued to receive them after we arrived as well. Since we aren't the last of the big spenders, we did not try any of the haute cuisine establishments such as the French Laundry, Mustards, etc, etc.

What we did try was one restaurant that was not recommended once by anyone we spoke with, but which we thought was far superior to the much-touted The Girl and the Fig which everyone recommended (ok, 4 out of 4 people recommended it--3 unsolicited recommendations). The El Dorado Kitchen has an inviting atmosphere, great acoustics, and the food was divine. I had plain old free-range chicken and it was impeccable. It was served with ricotta-stuffed gnocchi and braised leeks in a butter sauce. It also had the figs so who needs the girl with the figs anyway? Taster A had a beautiful rabbit dish, and I also had the chevre appetizer and we shared a dessert. Wine? I don't remember the wine...but, thanks to the magic of the Internet, I have retrieved that data from the restaurants wine list online: I had the hyde de villaine “de la guerra” chardonnay from Carneros, and Taster B had the molnar family "poseidon's vineyard" pinot noir, also Carneros AVA. Both were excellent accompaniments to the food we ordered. We will go back again.

Not so much on our "will return" list is The Girl and the Fig. Perhaps a case of inflated expectations. We had a rave review from a patron on the night that we went to EDK: I believe he was french. He kept saying "It's tops." He even told us that the chef was a prick but, that he still had to eat there because it was so good. He had just had the duck confit and it was kiss-your-finger-tips (good). So, the next night, that's where we went. Besides the fact that we were seated on the laps of the couple next to us, and the server gave us 'tude, the food was so-so. Generally, everything was over-salted. I had the duck confit which was served with an arugula pesto. The duck was good (if a bit dry and salty); the pesto was good (again salty); but together, they were yucky. Same with the nice fennel and celery root soup: It was good soup but for the cut-grass flavored chive oil it was doused with. It sounded good but, it didn't work. Overall, we felt the menu was too contrived and dishes were ill-mated. If the food at El Dorado Kitchen was a harmonious symphony, The Girl and the Fig was like trying to listen to Classical while your roommate is blasting Jazz: Like 'em both but, not together (and not with so much table salt--oops, I said that already). If they had just used sea salt instead of table salt, I would have probably found the food much more to my liking.

Read the Wine Spectator's Review of El Dorado Kitchen.