Foodies Unite: 1/15/10 The Herbfarm "Truffles"

Truffles! yes, those stinky little black and white things that require pigs, dogs, and the rare other creature to sniff out so you can dig it up. that was the theme of this dinner. at some point i need to go through all our 'programs' [menus] and see which dinners we haven't made it to.

i had a hard time getting psyched up for this dinner. our reservations were on friday and not saturday, which is what we usually book. so i spent the day a little out of whack i guess one could say. the good news was matt says to me at one point that afternoon.
"hey, i got a phone call from the herbfarm."
me- "really? what about?"
matt- "they said the group that had booked the library bailed and wanted to know if we wanted to eat up there"
me- "no shit?!?"
matt- "no shit!"

we had dinner in the library for the first time. i actually sneaked up there the night of the 100 mile dinner and took some pictures, so you can look back to that post for them if you want to see more of the library. during the garden tour, we took our seat on the couch over behind the desk where they serve up the punch as you enter. Christa and Christopher were with us. carrie was giving the tour and while i never paid attention i know i've heard her say the following. "we'll seat you by table, so take your time lining up, unless you're with the people on the couch by the window."

it was also especially fun up in the library because angela was our (almost) dedicated server for the night, and we knew we'd see michael as we requested a very special wine for the cheese course.

angela leads us up the stairs after everyone else was in the main dining room. she gives us a brief tour of the small room. but something i didn't find when i was up there earlier was it has it's own dedicated loo! i had specifically worn shorter heels because i was thinking ahead of the stairs every time i had to go to the bathroom, and now i know i don't have to worry about that! it's a teeny little room but big enough to take care of all you business.

but on to dinner! before angela took off to grab our 1st plates, i asked if it'd be possible to get a picture of a black and white one, and she does better than that, she brings up a plate with a lot of them on it. after a few minutes with 'the plate' she giggles and says she better get it back to the kitchen before chef nakamura realizes it's gone. :-)

at 1 point carrie came up and i let her know that if she ever decided she wanted a break from doingthe garden tour that i thought matt could do a pretty good job of it, seeing as how we've been honored to enjoy it so often. "oh yeah? think he could do a good job?"
matt- "ron has developed an addiction (pause) to ebay..." and everyone, including carrie just cracked up laughing. angela was all "he even got the pause!" LOL

now settle back and let me tell you a story. a story about

Truffle Treasure

In the beginning...

Confit of Local Albacore Tuna with Caviar and Creamy Cauliflower Creme Fraiche

Half-shell Lopez island Oyster, Pickled Sea Beans, and Sesame-Carrot Froth

Sunchoke Panna Cotta with truffles, Beets, and Micro Sorrel

served with:

Capitello Oregon Brut with Choice of White Truffle Sake or Black Truffle Port Elixirs.

matt got to enjoy my oyster. i just couldn't do it. in the past i've been able to cut it in half and at least taste it, but this time i think the foam threw me. but never fear, he really enjoyed helping me there.

as for the sunchoke panna cotta with beets, i thought that was great! to me that was the star of the plate. there was none of that dirt taste beets often have.

it was at this point in the dinner that i realized something...

our table had no tablecloth on it! TBH i kind of like it! it was a great wood table, and the plates and glasses were really shown off.

Cured Scallup and Quinalt Steelhead

Cured B.C. Weathervane Scallop on Wasabi Sauce with Smoked Steelhead Roe

Mi-Cuit Quinault River Steelhead with Compressed Kohlrabi

served with 2008 WillaKenzie Estate Pinot Blanc, OR

i let matt have most of my steelhead. it was served cold, which was fine, but i wasn't expecting it. i thought it would be hot, and the surprise sort of blew it for me. as for the scallop, it too wasn't hot, but it wasn't cold. however the preparation of smoking leaves the scallop with a different texture than searing, and it just wasn't my favorite. i did however, eat enough of the scallop to enjoy the roe and truffles! - haha matt got none of that.

Crab and Chitarra-Cut Spaghettini

Potato-Leek Broth and Chitarra-Cut House-made Spagettini with Fresh King and Snow Crab, Oregon White Truffles, Chives, and Leek Chip

served with

Sommelier's blend of (60%) 2008 L'Ecole No. 41 Semillon, Columbia Valley, WA and (40%) 2008 Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling, "Cabinet", Columbia Valley, WA

yes, you read that right. michael took 2 wines which stand pretty good on their own and mixed them together, bottled and labeled it, then served it to us. what's kind of sad is, it actually worked! it was a really good pairing with the pasta crab dish!

O.M.G. i think this was the *best* dish i have had at the Herbfarm! and that's saying something since we've had the good fortune to sample quite a few of the menus, including the pork menu and i love that pork! but this dish was absolutely amazing. the spaghettini was perfect. the blend of king and snow crabs divine, the addition of truffles heavenly.

24-Hour Braised Berkshire Pork Cheeks

with Hierloom Bean Ragout, Black Bread Streusel and Oregon Black Truffles

served with 2008 Broadley Vineyard Pinot Noir, Reserve, Willamette Valley, OR

Duo of Northwest Beef

Oxtail Terrine with Black Trumpet Mushrooms and Horseradish Froth, perigord Truffles, Our Farm's Swiss Chard. Painted Hills Oregon Grass-Fed Ribeye with Local Black Truffles, Red Wine Truffle Sauce, and Winter Parsnip Cream

served with 2006 Andrew Will Syrah, Annie Camarda, Columbia Valley, WA

another cold dish, the terrine. i have always had issues with 2 things regarding food.
1- if it's supposed to be served hot it has to be hot. the same for cold dishes.
2- texture. mushrooms and sushi fall into that category. and properly cooked beef/meat. i can't seem to eat a piece of meat that's been cooked to less than medium well. it's totally a texture issue. so of course the rib-eye i didn't eat the centers, but matt enjoyed them. that's one thing i love about him. if i want to order something i've never had, and it turns out i don't like it, he'll most likely eat it, enjoy it, not fuss at me, and let me order something else.

Oh, Deer and Cheese

Dried Fruit-Venison sausage Mincemeat with Mt. Townsend Cirrus Cheese, Wild Yeasted Bread, and Truffled Herbfarm Honey

served with

1983 Chateau D'Yqueim

gorgeous color, don't you think? and the cork had pretty amazing color and aging. christopher even gave the wine it's respect. when angela brought our food we asked her and michael to have a little with us. she was so excited to have a taste of the wine she just jumped up and down. :-)

at one point nearer the end of dinner patricio came upstairs to say hello to us. he had found out we were up here and stopped up to say hello. that, and i had emailed him the pic of him and ma from new years' eve earlier that day, and wanted to thank me for it. he had shared it with some of the servers. i thought that was very sweet. matt and i thanked him again for sitting down and playing her favorite piece for her.

The Douglas Fir and Its Truffle

Douglas Fir Yogurt Sorbet with Quinine Elixir and Cheese Puffs with Truffle Salt.

and below some of the chefs plating this dish

so yes, when you visit your personal little loo up in the library, the staff still try to play games with you. but i spied the stash of napkins! they don't catch it as often as they do in the main dining room, but down there i swear they tag team to get a new napkin on your plate within seconds of you leaving the table.

Malted, Melted, and Truffled