Degustation Wine and Tasting Bar

Holy fucking shit. Yeah, sigh so dinner last night REALLY FUCKING GOOD. Should I stop using profanity? Nah, Last night warrants all the profanity a 19th century scurvy ridden sailor could conjure. So yesterday I was slightly mopey, so to counteract the mope I made dinner plans with my friend Nadine. I had read about Degustation in an interview with Anita Lo of Annisa and decided to try it out. The 5 course tasting menu for $50, was also pretty tempting.

The dining room is simply a bar, maybe 20 seats, behind the bar is the kitchen. The chef Wesley Genovart and two line cooks. Nadine was already there (I'm always late) sipping a glass of Spainish sparkling white wine. Looking over the menu i saw the tasting of five courses for $50, and a ten course tasting for $75. My meager math skills told me teh deal was with the ten course tasting. I ordered a black velvet (guniess and cava) and two ten course tastings. Man was I happy.

Our amuse bouche was a trio of popular tapas there. A croquette of bacon with bechamel on a pimento sauce, a spainish tortilla filled with shallot confit and house cured sardines with parsley. The spainish influence is evident (I believe the chef is Spainish born, and his Spainish is perfect). The amuse was fantastic, my favorite was the croquette (I love fried food!) and Nadine loved the sardine (which was also fantastic).

First course was a crudo of snapper with avocado and parsley. The fish was marinated with olive oil and had a little spice to it. Really light and refreshing.

Second course was whole fried anchovies with and herb tartar sauce parsley and pickled fresno chiles. I love fresno chiles, and anchovies, though I did not eat the heads. Sorry I draw the line at eyes, dont want to eat eyes. The rest of the anchovies were delicious though.

Third Course was an egg. It came in a little egg holder, inside the hollowed out shell were soft scrambled eggs with yoghurt and chives duck bacon and rye croutons. I wish someone would make this for every day for breakfast. So so good. Rye croutons man, can we get married? (Here i ask rye croutons to marry me, i know it's not going to happen)

Fourth Course was a fucking revelation. Prawns with the head (they were some special prawn from Morocco I think), the most sweet and succulent prawn i have ever tasted, done simply with olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Served with amaranth (Asian grain) cooked with blue crab stock and lobster roe. Holy mother of god was this good, it was like porridge of the gods, we were instructed to suck the heads, but once i lifted mine the delcious shrimp head juice ran out and made my shellfish amaranth all the more delicious. This dish was absolutely perfect.

Fifth course (I might be mixing up the order): Rouget with cilantro and mint. Man it's like someone climbed into my brain and was like "what does anasua want to eat?". Basically this. The rouget was served whole, was perfectly cooked and seasoned sat on a spicy yet light chili sauce and cilantro and mint. We polished our plates. Perfection, might have been one of my favorites.

Sixth Course: Uni and Oatmeal Risotto with crisp ham and parsley. SHHHHIIIITTTT. I love me some uni and the textural interplay between the uni and the oatmeal was satisifying and brillant. The crisp ham chips added more texture and a nice saltiness, the parsely puree added a freshness. This dish was awesome. I am officially starting to run out of adjectives.

7th Course: Grilled octopus with confit potoatoes, pearl onions and pimento sauce. This dish is so fucking spainish it makes me want to lisp and drink sangria. The ingredients were so fresh and honest. Really Really good. Octopus was perfectly cooked.

8th Course: Squab with beet puree and pickled white asparagus. Man, well I love squab, I am a huge fan of game meats. Most times chefs try and pair them with something a little sweet to stand up to the gameiness. What I loved is that Wes (can i call him Wes now?, i think i asked him to marry me around the 6th course. He smiled which i think was his polite way of saying um no). The beets were sweet yes, but the pickeled asparagus had a little kick. Apparently the pickling liquid was water, vinegar, all sorts of citrus and thai red chilies. Between the sweetness and the beets and the subtle heat of the asparagus, the perfectly cooked squab and the crunch of the aspargus this dish was perfectly balanced.

9th course: Perhaps my favorite Kobe beef with molasses, red onion marmalade, horseradish foam and sea beans. Yes sea beans! I saw them on my plate i was so happy. This dish made me so happy, happy to be alive. I cannot stress how skillfully the beef was cooked perfectly seasoned and just amazing AMAZING. The sweetness of the marmalade was countered with the horseradish, but because it was a foam the horseradish wasn't overpowering (like freshly grated horseradish can be) or too creamy (like a lot of people do with horseradish). This dish was delightful, so so good I kind of wanted to cry.

The Intermezzo was a tequilla and ginger granita with an apple foam. Consider our palates cleansed, the granita was boozy and hot (thanks ginger) but instantly cooled by the foam.

Dessert. Torija with grapefruit foam. Man, man I missed marsha. Apparently a torija (forgive me if it's misspelled) is a bread pudding of sorts, soaked in heavy cream and then carmelized. I don't know the exact process, long story short i could eat this for the rest of my life. It was so rich and beautiful but not heavy at all. Oh my god. little bits of frozen grapefruit segements and the foam lightened.

In terms of wine they do offer a wine pairing we did a few glasses to pair with specific courses. They sent us a glass of dessert wine, like a muscat (spelling?), but spainish and lighter and paired really well with the dessert. We talked to the kitchen most of the night because you know they are right there. Really friendly, wonderful staff. The service was not pretensious and on point. I think the owner (Jack Lamb?) came over and we talked about places we'd worked and people we know. All in all a super satisifying meal. The portions were just the right size so I left feeling full and not stuffed. A little buzzed but not drunk by any means. Pure Bliss.

We ended the night at Whiskeytown which was around the corner. Owned by George of I used to own a part of Tribe fame, and his brother Justin the bar is nicer than you'd expect for someplace called whiskeytown, really laid back and fun. We had something that Justin had created that night the "Elliot Spritzer", rye whiskey cherries and sweet vermouth. Tasty.