Manresa Restaurant

Restaurant: Manresa
Location: Los Gatos, CA
Open: Tue-Sat from 5:30pm, Sun from 5pm
Date of Dinner: September 29, 2007
Cost of Dinner: $25 per person, for the tip. Actual dinner would have cost about $250 per person
Recommendation: Even at $250 per person, dinner was worth every penny. One of the best restaurants in the Bay Area.



How do you rate a restaurant that seats you one hour late from your reservation? Even worse, one where you have to drive one hour each way to get to? Dinner at Manresa was supposed to be special as it was for a special birthday dinner, in fact, it was for two special birthdays: one of which was for a friend who just turned 75.

I was at a quandary because the choice was between Manresa down in Los Gatos or Cyrus up in Healdsburg. Because of a problem I had with Cyrus when I made a reservation there in August (they cancelled my reservation when I needed to reduce the party from 6 to 4), I decided that Manresa would be a good choice primarily because of James Syhabout, its chef de cuisine who studied under Ferran Adria at El Bulli as well as at Fat Duck in Bray, England.

Reservation was at 9pm on a Saturday night, quite late for dinner, but good enough for us, even if we had to drive an hour to get there. We arrived at Manresa on time: 9pm on the dot. We were told that we will be seated as soon as our table is ready. So we made small talk with the other two parties who are also waiting for their tables to be available. At 9:15pm, the maitre d' apologized for the delay and offered us (the three dinner parties waiting) champagne. Fair enough. Then a friend chided that we would really be happy if they gave us a trip to Paris with the champagne.

As the two other parties were seated, we are still waiting for our table. By 9:40pm, I complain about the ridiculousness of having to wait 40 minutes when we had a reservation. The maitre d' reasoned that they did not expect the party at our table to have ordered the tasting menu which took longer. It still is unforgivable that our wait is longer than half an hour, whether or not other people ordered the tasting menu.

We were finally seated at five minutes to ten. At this time, we are all starving and practically drunk, thanks to the champagne that they offered us on an empty stomach. Upon being seated, the maitre d' announced that the entire dinner for our party of four is on the house. Wow! And they are offering us the same tasting menu that got us the late seating in the first place. Not only that, we will also get the wine pairing to go with each course. Double wow! Now that is how you turn a bad thing into good. This was a double birthday celebration and it was turning into a disaster, until the very moment we were seated. Now all that is behind us, and we can just concentrate on the food.

Strawberry Gazpacho with Spanish Almonds - The first of our three amuses bouches was a great start to what will end up to be an amazing dinner experience. A shooter of strawberry puree topped with almonds: nice, sweet, and refreshing.

Fall Croquettes with Foie Gras and Pistachios - A second amuse bouche was a revelation, golden nuggets of creamy foie gras and pistachios and the flavor just erupts as you pop them in your mouth. Now how can they possibly top this? And they haven't even gotten to the first course yet!

Arpege Egg - The waiter calls the last amuse bouche "Arpege" egg. Arpege is a commercial perfume for women created by Lanvin in 1927. At the time, its slogan was "Promise her anything, but give her Arpege." And you can pretty much apply this slogan for this particular dish. While I did not think they can possibly top the croquettes, they put the Arpege egg in front of me. The Arpege is a slow cooked egg in the shell with maple syrup, sherry vinegar, and chives. It was simple in description, yet complex in execution. The waiter instructed us to dig deep into the shell and mix all the flavors together. The taste is sweet, creamy, and vinegary all at the same time.

Amberjack with Meyer Lemon Zest, Breakfast Radish and Seaweed - The first course was sushi. Thinly sliced amberjack served carpaccio style with a nice hint of meyer lemon zest. A small mound of breakfast radish and seaweed slivers complete the dish. I have never tried amberjack before and found the white fish lean and quite tasty. What surprised me was how a friend who has a disdain for raw fish not only tried this dish but actually cleared the plate. That, to me, is the ultimate test of how good this course really was. A glass of 2004 Greenhough Sauvignon Blanc was also served. At first I thought that the wine was a little green and tasted of raw apples. However, it went very well with the salty goodness of the sushi.

Handchurned Salted Butter - I don't know if this can be considered a course onto itself, but it was special nonetheless and needed special mention. It was so special that a separate wine was served with this butter. A glass of Jongieux Vin de Savoie fits the bill. Vin de Savoie is usually referred to as skiing wines because these wines are most prevalent near the French Alps. It was certainly a treat to try such an obscure wine and a really good one at that. The Vin de Savoie encompasses both the salted butter and the following prawn dish. But let me get back to the butter. The butter was personally handchurned by the chef with cream from Watsonville. The result was butter so creamy you can pretty much just eat it all by itself and wait for the arteries to clog. Interestingly enough (and this is not a dig or a criticism), it reminds me of Queensland canned butter that my mother always brings back with her when she goes to the Philippines. And trust me, Queensland butter is THAT good! Don't just take my word for it, take his.

Monterey Bay Spot Prawns a la Plancha with Exotic Spices and Wilted Spinach - The prawn was split lengthwise and is grilled on a metal plate (la Plancha) and served with exotic spices, which I guess will remain exotic as I never asked specifically what those spices were. Nevertheless, the dish was spot on!

Roast Breast of Squab with Homemade Boudin Noir - A boudin noir, or black pudding, is a sausage made by cooking animal blood with a filler until it is thick enough to congeal when cooled. Most often, boudins noir are made with pig or cattle blood. While they never specified which type of blood this particular boudin noir is made from, pairing the squab with boudin noir makes for a very bold statement. It certainly would've been even bolder if squab blood is used for the boudin. Unfortunately, I never asked so this will always remain a question. I found this combination very intriguing and satisfying. The squab was served pink and very tender. The nice vinegar flavor of the boudin noir was definitely complementary to the squab. A glass of 2004 Genium Priorat is served to go with the course, a very nice Spanish wine.

Steak Bavette with Assorted Alliums - Alliums are all plants within the onion genus. They include plants such as onions, garlic, chives, leeks, and shallots. The French word, bavette, which means thin steak (or literally "bib"), is also known as flap steak but is often applied to other flank steaks. This type of meat is usually more fibrous or chewy than the traditional New York steak or filet mignon, but they also tend to be more flavorful. The latter description is very apt in this case, made even more flavorful with the addition of the leeks, onions, garlic, and shallots. Served medium rare, the meat was tender and is paired nicely with a glass of 2003 Ahlgren Cabernet Sauvignon.

Pineau des Charentes - Pineau des Charentes, or simply Pineau, is an alcoholic aperitif made from blending grape must and Cognac brandy. While popular in the Charente region of France, it is lesser known in other regions of France and practically unknown outside that country. So, it made our dinner all the more special to be treated to a fabulous glass of Pineau.

Caramelized Figs and Caramelized Brioche with Fennel Ice Cream - A buttery cube of brioche was served lightly toasted, and topped with the sauce from the caramelized figs and a quenelle of fennel ice cream. The ice cream has only a slight flavor of fennel, just a very small tinge of licorice. It accompanies the brioche and figs very nicely without overpowering them.

Chocolate Trifle with Tobacco Ice Cream and Raspberries Soaked in Armagnac - Alternating layers of chocolate sponge cake, chocolate cream, and raspberries soaked in armagnac are served in a single serving trifle bowl. This is further topped with tobacco ice cream. Obviously, the most interesting part of this dish is the ice cream. Who would ever have thought of making ice cream from tobacco? Frankly, tobacco ice cream tasted like a very weak pot brownie. Well, that's what it tasted like combined with the chocolate trifle.