so we experienced canlis. or so we thought. we learned recently that they hired a new chef, so back on the list it goes.
this night was quite different. aside from dining with a couple of good friends, it was light when we left so we could actually look out the window, had we been seated right next to one, throughout our meal.
as much as it was a steakhouse the last time we were there i'd say it is definitely not a steakhouse anymore. yes there is steak on the menu but there is quite a lot of variety. there was a tasting prefixe menu, too, with flight of wines if you desire. but what gets me is you still feel like you're in a 1970s steakhouse. a high-end steakhouse to be sure, but a steakhouse non-the-less. we were seated in the section behind the piano bar area. there was a pianist performing that night, and while i appreciate live music, there's no way to adjust the volume in a room this large. i felt as if we were almost yelling to converse and straining to hear the conversation. not like we could go up to the pianist and ask him to turn it down some.
but the service is excellent. napkins were folded and chairs were held - if there was a staff present when christa or i returned to the table. otherwise we were on our own. and while they folded the napkins when we left, the Herbfarm is the only place we've been so far that actually gives you a new napkin every time you get up from the table.
we started with the veuve cliquot ponsardin, brut rose, reims, france (no i didn't take a picture of this - it was in a chiller a couple tables away. i guess so we at the table wouldn't be tempted to pour it ourselves.the amuse bouche arrives:
cherry gazpacho: pistachio, cocoa nib, olive oil, port reduction, calendula (that's the flower petal)
yum!
country pate: chocolate, cherry
i know, it sounds like it won't work but it did. pretty tasty, but if there had been even the tiniest bit more chocolate it would've been too much.
dungeness crab cake: cilantro, curry, granny smith apples
quite tasty
foie gras terrine: rhubarb, celery, granola
matt says this was good. i'll take his word for it, i didn't care much for it, but i'm not so big on foie gras terrines as i am for the seared or pate.
canlis salad: romaine, bacon, romano cheese, mint, oregano, dressing, coddled egg
christa swears this is the best salad.
canlis prawns: dry vermouth, garlic, red chilies, lime and nasturtium.
wow. these were chilled to at least room temp. quite tasty! definitely something to have again. and nasturtium is quite good. i actually have had them at the Herbfarm a few times.
but that wasn't good enough. we had to have 2 first plates each.
steak tartare: canlis' recipe with wagyu tenderloin
not bad, but i still like holly's best. think it's just a spice thing. she also uses wagyu. but i think the tartare has egg in it and holly serves it carne cruda which doesn't - i think...don't quote me on that.
lamb: ramps, taggiasca olives, lemon confit
i'm sure this was good, but 4 days later and i really don't have any memory of it!
matt and i both ordered
pork belly: bing cherries, baby fennel, coriander.
yum! i think that was a wine/cherry reduction swirled on the plate.
i should mention that at the start of the meal i was scribbling down a few notes for myself; i've found i don't trust my memory most of the time and rarely do chefs have the entire dish - if any descriptions on the menu. at kai when i was frantically scribbling away they said they'd give us a copy of the menu to take home, but i was glad i scribbled anyway as a few things had been different. at canlis when i started scribbling the director of service was actually at our table and offered, when he found out the pictures and notes were for a blog i write, to write down everything everyone was ordering for the night. fantastic! if it wasn't too much trouble that'd be great! by the end of the night i sometimes have a hard time reading my scribbles (no i'm not exaggerating with that word) if we're consuming wine. anyway, he did - but it's basically what the menu has. so my question to chefs is this: if you are going to serve pork belly with cherries, fennel and coriander, why does the wait staff present to the table a dish of pork belly with bing cherries, baby fennel, coriander and a cherry port reduction? ok, before everyone gets on my case, this dish was used as an example! but the reduction is not on the menu, and i'm pretty sure the waiter told us what it was when we were presented with the plate. if i can't trust my memory i need to know what it is because maybe it was drop-dead fantastic but i can't remember what it was called. if it's important enough for the wait staff to mention it why isn't it on the menu? just sayin'...
as a side we had the truffle fries. 'fine herbs and fleur de sel'. loved the taste of these, but the fries themselves are 'wimpy'. you can tell they're shoestring as opposed to a home fry or country fry cut. i prefer the shoestring. but when a long fry of 3+ inches in length is held upright by 1 end, i want the thing to stand up, not 'wimp over' on me. i had 1 to taste, but when it was wimpy i had no more. it's a texture thing. i get this. i know many people who like those 'wimpy' fries, and that's fine.
wagyu tenderloin: caramelized onion puree, oyster mushrooms (those little white balls on the plate), and foie gras butter.
it's a steak. mind you wagyu is the 2nd best next to kobe beef you'll get so the steak will be darn good. but it's still a steak, so i didn't try it. at least i don't think i did.
lamb chops: israeli couscous, fresh garbanzo beans and tarragon.
matt says this was tasty. i know i tried it but again i can't remember. maybe that's a sign, maybe it's just a very faulty memory right now.
christa had mentioned there was a duck for 2 on the menu that she was tempted to try. i thought it was a divine idea, so we shared. they brought it out for presentation before carving it up. we got the whole duck. you bet it's for 2!
not sure what all that is stuffed in it's ahem. :-) nasturtium and lots of other herbs...
1 half of the duck. really? that's the breast sliced up, leg used for the rillette, but where's the wing and leg? and isn't there a back? oh well.
muscovy duck: morel mushrooms, pearl onions, kumquats
and yes, there's stuff on the plate not mentioned in the menu.
the selection of sugars for our coffee: very fine, fine, coarser and turbinado.
matt and i had the grand marnier souffle with creme anglaise. delicious! never turn down the chance to have a souffle is what i say.
apple pie: creme fraiche and cinnamon. this is definitely not your grandma's apple pie. think of it as deconstructed?
chocolate covered chocolate: molten chocolate cake, cocoa nib shortbread and chocolate-covered salted caramel ice cream.
if there was ever a thing called chocolate overload this is it. there's no way i could've eaten this after a meal here, but if you need chocolate this will cure your fix!
case and point...
thanks, guys!
over all it was a superb dinner. i know there are a bit i can't remember, but i know none of it was negative. i can honestly say i had a great time, and while i'd give the interior a 2010 make-over, i no longer will refer to canlis as a steakhouse, unless they stop serving the variety they had last week. mind you, it was an expensive dinner, but about half was the wine.
the biggest downer for me was when the director of service, who seemed sincere about writing down notes for me, brought them over at the end of the meal. he uttered a comment that maybe he was trying to convey humor but it did not come across as such. if he said it in sarcasm, which is how it was received and ignored by me at the time, then here's me calling you out. be careful what you say, how you say it and who you say it to. you never know who's listening - or reading. when i got home and opened the envelope containing the dinner items, it was wrapped with a note thanking us for dining with them and a promotional (read $$$) book on canlis.
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