A Delightful Dinner
***re-post from www.TonyaJoneMiller.com
I thought I'd share my review of our dinner at Castagna last night so you can see what a little miss foodie I've become...
***re-post from PortlandFood.org***
Castagna for New Year's Eve dinner last night...
Foie gras nature on gingerbread
This was the course I was most apprehensive about, as foie gras does not always agree with me. H thought the gingerbread was an odd pairing, but I liked the intensity of the flavor to balance the creaminess of the foie gras.
Lobster, blood orange and mâche salad
Wonderful and light. Never had mache before and thought it was a nice accompaniment to the lobster. Lots of flavor undertones in the salad that didn't jump out at first but lingered after a bite or two.
Cauliflower soup with Dungeness crab Creme Fraiche Caviar Cloud
H and I were both surprised by how much we liked this dish. The flavors of the soup were very subtle and mixed perfectly with the generous dollop of creme fraiche. There was just enough caviar to include a few bursting pearls with every bite.
Crépinette of duck and dried cherry with frisée
Best way I can think of to describe this is a deconstructed duck slider minus the bun. Not usually big on duck, but I loved this. It was a bit crumbly but served with a tangy mustard to add moisture. Spicy and not too fatty. The frisee, roasted cherry, and pickled carrot sides provided three different tart flavors to intensify the duck.
I opted for the Ossobuco alla Gremolata with potato purée for my entree. I'd never had it before! But I had enough faith in the kitchen (based on word of mouth and PF.org reviews) to take a risk. I figured it was a good precedent to set for 2008. :) The meat was fall apart tender and the sauce very complex. H didn't like the fruity/sweet element of it, but I thought it was a wonderful foil for the rich meat and marrow, not to mention the exquisitely buttery potatoes.
H got the Rack of lamb with sauce Valois, potato-cardoon gratin and carrots. I don't like lamb, but H devoured it and was thoroughly satisfied. My discovery of the night? Cardoon is yummy. H is just not a vegetable guy, but I scavenged what he left on his plate. Cardoon looks like big flat stalks of celery but tastes like artichoke heart. (I am already building a ton of recipes around it in my head. Wonder where to buy it.) The sauce was some kind of herb-vanilla bearnaise and I'm sure would have complimented the lamb nicely had I tried the meat.
I got the Dobos Torte with rum ice cream for dessert. Thought the torte had a strong hazelnut flavor nicely balanced with semi-sweet chocolate. It was a wee bit dry, but the extremely alcoholic ice cream and dollop of chocolate sauce made up for it.
H chose Chocolate soufflé with brandied cherry ice cream and seemed very happy with it. I thought it was well-executed but a little too lightly flavored and textured for me. I've never really been a souffle girl though- I prefer a chocolate mousse. I think it was probably perfect for what it was.
We opted to bring a bottle of nice champagne and pay the $15 corkage fee (instead of springing for the $45/person wine pairings), and our waiter was great about pacing the pours so that our glasses never went empty but the bottle lasted through our entrees. Overall, service was wonderful. I appreciate that EVERY staff member that passed our table took care of us if necessary. I'd say at least six different servers came to our table over the course of our meal to refill water, bring bread, serve courses, remove empty plates, and just in general ensure that we didn't need anything. No one was exactly warm and friendly, but I attribute that to the "performance" aspect of a special meal like this one and the high volume holiday crowd. The service was respectful, efficient, and nearly invisible. The best of its style in town that I've come across yet.
Cost of our meal was $175 before tip and worth every penny. It's not very often I'm pushed to try so many new things in one sitting and end up liking them all. A wonderful way to end a year of eating enthusiastically!
P.S. My new chef crush is the tattooed, shaved-head hottie I caught glimpses of in the kitchen...Yum!
I thought I'd share my review of our dinner at Castagna last night so you can see what a little miss foodie I've become...
***re-post from PortlandFood.org***
Castagna for New Year's Eve dinner last night...
Foie gras nature on gingerbread
This was the course I was most apprehensive about, as foie gras does not always agree with me. H thought the gingerbread was an odd pairing, but I liked the intensity of the flavor to balance the creaminess of the foie gras.
Lobster, blood orange and mâche salad
Wonderful and light. Never had mache before and thought it was a nice accompaniment to the lobster. Lots of flavor undertones in the salad that didn't jump out at first but lingered after a bite or two.
Cauliflower soup with Dungeness crab Creme Fraiche Caviar Cloud
H and I were both surprised by how much we liked this dish. The flavors of the soup were very subtle and mixed perfectly with the generous dollop of creme fraiche. There was just enough caviar to include a few bursting pearls with every bite.
Crépinette of duck and dried cherry with frisée
Best way I can think of to describe this is a deconstructed duck slider minus the bun. Not usually big on duck, but I loved this. It was a bit crumbly but served with a tangy mustard to add moisture. Spicy and not too fatty. The frisee, roasted cherry, and pickled carrot sides provided three different tart flavors to intensify the duck.
I opted for the Ossobuco alla Gremolata with potato purée for my entree. I'd never had it before! But I had enough faith in the kitchen (based on word of mouth and PF.org reviews) to take a risk. I figured it was a good precedent to set for 2008. :) The meat was fall apart tender and the sauce very complex. H didn't like the fruity/sweet element of it, but I thought it was a wonderful foil for the rich meat and marrow, not to mention the exquisitely buttery potatoes.
H got the Rack of lamb with sauce Valois, potato-cardoon gratin and carrots. I don't like lamb, but H devoured it and was thoroughly satisfied. My discovery of the night? Cardoon is yummy. H is just not a vegetable guy, but I scavenged what he left on his plate. Cardoon looks like big flat stalks of celery but tastes like artichoke heart. (I am already building a ton of recipes around it in my head. Wonder where to buy it.) The sauce was some kind of herb-vanilla bearnaise and I'm sure would have complimented the lamb nicely had I tried the meat.
I got the Dobos Torte with rum ice cream for dessert. Thought the torte had a strong hazelnut flavor nicely balanced with semi-sweet chocolate. It was a wee bit dry, but the extremely alcoholic ice cream and dollop of chocolate sauce made up for it.
H chose Chocolate soufflé with brandied cherry ice cream and seemed very happy with it. I thought it was well-executed but a little too lightly flavored and textured for me. I've never really been a souffle girl though- I prefer a chocolate mousse. I think it was probably perfect for what it was.
We opted to bring a bottle of nice champagne and pay the $15 corkage fee (instead of springing for the $45/person wine pairings), and our waiter was great about pacing the pours so that our glasses never went empty but the bottle lasted through our entrees. Overall, service was wonderful. I appreciate that EVERY staff member that passed our table took care of us if necessary. I'd say at least six different servers came to our table over the course of our meal to refill water, bring bread, serve courses, remove empty plates, and just in general ensure that we didn't need anything. No one was exactly warm and friendly, but I attribute that to the "performance" aspect of a special meal like this one and the high volume holiday crowd. The service was respectful, efficient, and nearly invisible. The best of its style in town that I've come across yet.
Cost of our meal was $175 before tip and worth every penny. It's not very often I'm pushed to try so many new things in one sitting and end up liking them all. A wonderful way to end a year of eating enthusiastically!
P.S. My new chef crush is the tattooed, shaved-head hottie I caught glimpses of in the kitchen...Yum!