Morimoto REPORT
For my birthday, John and I went to Morimoto in Napa proper. I've been a big fan of Masaharu Morimoto since he got his start on the original Japanese Iron Chef (which I watched before it was cool, lol). He always seems to have something new up his sleeve and the sheer variety of techniques he displays in his cooking is truly inspiring stuff. :D
I was looking forward to ordering the chef's tasting menu or omakase, which would display a wide range of Morimoto's favorite dishes. John is generally avoidant of seafood, so we asked the waiter if the chef (who I assume was not actually Morimoto, who owns several restaurants around the world) could do an omakase without ANY seafood at all, and... The kitchen indulged us in this rather bizarre request (bizarre since Morimoto's fame is as a sushi and sashimi chef). This was not only very nice of the restaurant, it also gave us more variety in our courses. Unlike the French Laundry, I had no idea what was coming next until it arrived; each course was a surprise. Morimoto was certainly a different experience from the formal relaxation of the French Laundry, but the meal was nearly as impressive and the culinary territory was much less familiar. The omakase could be paired with sake or wines, we went with the former, which was a good choice.
1. Our first course was a block of tartare-chū- and ō-toro (medium and very fatty tuna) for me and wagyū beef for John-in a woodblock panel which was submerged in a bowl of crushed ice. Also in the wood panel was a palette of accompaniments: (from bottom to top) seaweed purée, wasabi, sour cream, chives, guacamole, and toasted puffed rice. We had a shovel with which to scrape up the delicate raw ground meat and then dip it into the cup of dashi soy sauce. Very creative presentation! On the side was a mirin-soaked mountain plum which served as a palate cleanser. This course was accompanied by Morimoto's house daiginjō-shu.
The second course was paired with "Percussion's Child" junmai ginjō-shu, which had very strong creamy vanilla notes. Excellent!
2a. My dish was seared hamachi sashimi "en roulade" with shiitake mushrooms, yuzu shōyu, and micro cilantro. The hamachi was seared on the outside but raw on the inside, providing a nice contrast, and the cilantro was a perfect herbal counterpoint to the silky fish.
2b. John's second course was a lamb carpaccio with minced ginger, Japanese cress, and a ginger-scallion sauce. The lamb was subtly sweet and very tasty.
3. For the next dish we had a "bagna cauda" of infused olive oil (I had anchovy-garlic paste in mine, while John's came with scallion-ginger paste). There were so many tasty items provided for dipping in the bath of warmed oil... to the best of my memory: tempura chicken, tempura squash blossom, braised fennel, brussel sprouts, asparagus spears, pickled cauliflower, zucchini, heirloom radishes, gypsy pepper, and brioche toasts. On the side was a line of togarashi spice blend (chili, lemon, and black sesame). The sake for this course was Morimoto's junmai-shu.
Before the next course came, the waiter brought us each a glass of Morimoto's 10-year aged sake. This was the same color as the Sauternes the night before (a clue!), and the wine was similarly sweet... but the aroma just kicked you back it was so strong!
4a. And of course the next course was appropriately decadent for the sweet smoothness of the aged sake. My fourth course was a foie gras-infused "chawanmushi," accompanied with the tiniest particle of wasabi paste. Chawanmushi is a Japanese egg custard, and mine was very strongly infused with the flavor and unctuousness of duck liver; it tasted totally different with and without the wasabi. Amazing! On top were some fatty pieces of duck (breast?), chives, and a soy and egg emulsion. Flawless in conception and implementation, and probably one of the best things I had all week.
4b. John didn't get foie gras (though I gave him a generous amount, in my opinion). Instead, he was served a roast leg of rabbit, wrapped in veal cheek, and a crust of potatoes and yuzu butter. This was placed on a brunoise of "ratatouille," swimming in olive oil. This dish was a strong contender with mine, and the flavors of the meat evolved as you chewed it, with the herbal citrus of the yuzu finishing off everything nicely. I think the garnish was shiso leaves but I am not entirely sure.
5. Next up was a palate cleanser of watermelon sorbet. On top was a slice of pickled watermelon rind, and a sprig of micro wasabi. Definitely refreshing!
The sushi course was paired with Morimoto's junmai ginjō-shu. This sake was amazingly smooth and went down like water with absolutely no burn-no lie.
6a. My sushi course was very classical: (from left to right) kani (crab leg), saba (Japanese mackerel), sake (sockeye salmon), hamachi (yellowtail), maguro (lean tuna).
6b. John's sushi course was more unusual, on account of his aversion to seafood. (From right to left): wagyū flank steak, pickled cucumber, myōga (Zingiber mioga maybe "woodland ginger"), tamago (sweet omelette), and jamón serrano "inari."
7. The next course was in three parts for each of us. I had a "Surf and turf and turf" and John got a "Turf and turf and turf" (lol):
i. My plate's "surf" component was a chūtoro (medium fatty tuna) and foie gras "Wellington" in phyllo dough with unagi sauce,
ii. John's alternate was a lobe of seared foie gras on stewed apricots,
iii. We both got a veal cheek tempura croquette with sweet corn purée (fantastic!) and pickled red onion,
iv. and an Australian wagyū filet mignon au jus with compressed summer melons (honeydew and ambrosia), romaine, and radish. Not quite as good as the life-changing wagyū filet we had at La Folie in December 2010, but it was pretty fucking excellent.
Each of the three sakes were paired with one of the components, but I forget the order. These were "Seikyō (sacred mirror)" junmai-shu, Dassai 50 junmai daiginjō-shu, and Morimoto's 5-year aged sake (pretty sure this last one went with the toro and foie).
8. We were absolutely stuffed after this last course, but mercifully a dessert sake-"Hime no Kisu (princess' kiss)"-heralded the arrival of tiny individual birthday cakes: Dark chocolate-covered raspberry-vanilla génoise with a crispy black sesame wafer base, ginger cookie ice cream, and milk chocolate sauce. Fantastic, but the ginger ice cream could have been spicier in my opinion, and it was the main part of the dessert oriented towards the Japanese end of the food spectrum (I was hoping for some green tea or azuki bean or something).
All in all, it was an excellent and creative meal, and in some ways was more exciting than the French Laundry because I had very few expectations. These are entirely different restaurants, so it would be foolish to even attempt a comparison. :)
Hurrah for decadent food birthday week! And now the "baloney sandwich austerity program" can begin. :|
--Psyfe
I was looking forward to ordering the chef's tasting menu or omakase, which would display a wide range of Morimoto's favorite dishes. John is generally avoidant of seafood, so we asked the waiter if the chef (who I assume was not actually Morimoto, who owns several restaurants around the world) could do an omakase without ANY seafood at all, and... The kitchen indulged us in this rather bizarre request (bizarre since Morimoto's fame is as a sushi and sashimi chef). This was not only very nice of the restaurant, it also gave us more variety in our courses. Unlike the French Laundry, I had no idea what was coming next until it arrived; each course was a surprise. Morimoto was certainly a different experience from the formal relaxation of the French Laundry, but the meal was nearly as impressive and the culinary territory was much less familiar. The omakase could be paired with sake or wines, we went with the former, which was a good choice.
1. Our first course was a block of tartare-chū- and ō-toro (medium and very fatty tuna) for me and wagyū beef for John-in a woodblock panel which was submerged in a bowl of crushed ice. Also in the wood panel was a palette of accompaniments: (from bottom to top) seaweed purée, wasabi, sour cream, chives, guacamole, and toasted puffed rice. We had a shovel with which to scrape up the delicate raw ground meat and then dip it into the cup of dashi soy sauce. Very creative presentation! On the side was a mirin-soaked mountain plum which served as a palate cleanser. This course was accompanied by Morimoto's house daiginjō-shu.
The second course was paired with "Percussion's Child" junmai ginjō-shu, which had very strong creamy vanilla notes. Excellent!
2a. My dish was seared hamachi sashimi "en roulade" with shiitake mushrooms, yuzu shōyu, and micro cilantro. The hamachi was seared on the outside but raw on the inside, providing a nice contrast, and the cilantro was a perfect herbal counterpoint to the silky fish.
2b. John's second course was a lamb carpaccio with minced ginger, Japanese cress, and a ginger-scallion sauce. The lamb was subtly sweet and very tasty.
3. For the next dish we had a "bagna cauda" of infused olive oil (I had anchovy-garlic paste in mine, while John's came with scallion-ginger paste). There were so many tasty items provided for dipping in the bath of warmed oil... to the best of my memory: tempura chicken, tempura squash blossom, braised fennel, brussel sprouts, asparagus spears, pickled cauliflower, zucchini, heirloom radishes, gypsy pepper, and brioche toasts. On the side was a line of togarashi spice blend (chili, lemon, and black sesame). The sake for this course was Morimoto's junmai-shu.
Before the next course came, the waiter brought us each a glass of Morimoto's 10-year aged sake. This was the same color as the Sauternes the night before (a clue!), and the wine was similarly sweet... but the aroma just kicked you back it was so strong!
4a. And of course the next course was appropriately decadent for the sweet smoothness of the aged sake. My fourth course was a foie gras-infused "chawanmushi," accompanied with the tiniest particle of wasabi paste. Chawanmushi is a Japanese egg custard, and mine was very strongly infused with the flavor and unctuousness of duck liver; it tasted totally different with and without the wasabi. Amazing! On top were some fatty pieces of duck (breast?), chives, and a soy and egg emulsion. Flawless in conception and implementation, and probably one of the best things I had all week.
4b. John didn't get foie gras (though I gave him a generous amount, in my opinion). Instead, he was served a roast leg of rabbit, wrapped in veal cheek, and a crust of potatoes and yuzu butter. This was placed on a brunoise of "ratatouille," swimming in olive oil. This dish was a strong contender with mine, and the flavors of the meat evolved as you chewed it, with the herbal citrus of the yuzu finishing off everything nicely. I think the garnish was shiso leaves but I am not entirely sure.
5. Next up was a palate cleanser of watermelon sorbet. On top was a slice of pickled watermelon rind, and a sprig of micro wasabi. Definitely refreshing!
The sushi course was paired with Morimoto's junmai ginjō-shu. This sake was amazingly smooth and went down like water with absolutely no burn-no lie.
6a. My sushi course was very classical: (from left to right) kani (crab leg), saba (Japanese mackerel), sake (sockeye salmon), hamachi (yellowtail), maguro (lean tuna).
6b. John's sushi course was more unusual, on account of his aversion to seafood. (From right to left): wagyū flank steak, pickled cucumber, myōga (Zingiber mioga maybe "woodland ginger"), tamago (sweet omelette), and jamón serrano "inari."
7. The next course was in three parts for each of us. I had a "Surf and turf and turf" and John got a "Turf and turf and turf" (lol):
i. My plate's "surf" component was a chūtoro (medium fatty tuna) and foie gras "Wellington" in phyllo dough with unagi sauce,
ii. John's alternate was a lobe of seared foie gras on stewed apricots,
iii. We both got a veal cheek tempura croquette with sweet corn purée (fantastic!) and pickled red onion,
iv. and an Australian wagyū filet mignon au jus with compressed summer melons (honeydew and ambrosia), romaine, and radish. Not quite as good as the life-changing wagyū filet we had at La Folie in December 2010, but it was pretty fucking excellent.
Each of the three sakes were paired with one of the components, but I forget the order. These were "Seikyō (sacred mirror)" junmai-shu, Dassai 50 junmai daiginjō-shu, and Morimoto's 5-year aged sake (pretty sure this last one went with the toro and foie).
8. We were absolutely stuffed after this last course, but mercifully a dessert sake-"Hime no Kisu (princess' kiss)"-heralded the arrival of tiny individual birthday cakes: Dark chocolate-covered raspberry-vanilla génoise with a crispy black sesame wafer base, ginger cookie ice cream, and milk chocolate sauce. Fantastic, but the ginger ice cream could have been spicier in my opinion, and it was the main part of the dessert oriented towards the Japanese end of the food spectrum (I was hoping for some green tea or azuki bean or something).
All in all, it was an excellent and creative meal, and in some ways was more exciting than the French Laundry because I had very few expectations. These are entirely different restaurants, so it would be foolish to even attempt a comparison. :)
Hurrah for decadent food birthday week! And now the "baloney sandwich austerity program" can begin. :|
--Psyfe