I’m not sure the last time we ate here. Usually it’s when Andrea has a hair appointment in Corte Madera and i go for a long run, but I had various respiratory ailments for most of the second half of the year so I wasn’t running, but I’m finally get back into it again. Not quite in shape yet to do as long a run as I was doing before, but making very good progress. So we just drove to Tiburon and I did an out and back from there while Andrea walked.
It’s still quite early in the year and esp. in the morning, the weather was still a bit transitional so not as sunny or warm (and was quite windy near the bay) as I would have liked, but from the restaurant, it was sheltered from the wind and the sun made it’s appearance more and more as the afternoon wore on.
We started with some oysters of course. The menu had changed a bit since we had last been here so they had an oyster platter called Shells & Pearls which consisted of a dozen oysters (six miyagi and six skookum) along with 3 different types of mignonette – a whitefish roe in champagne mignonette, a trout roe in lemon and chive oil mignonette, and a salmon roe in Japanese dressing. The mignonettes in that order were from mildest to strongest. The champagne mignonette was very mild and was missing acidity. The one with chive oil was Andrea’s favorite and the one with Japanese dressing was my favorite because it had the most flavorful roe and i liked the Japanese flavors with a mild sesame oil flavor. It was good start and we presumably received our US RDA of zinc and B12.
Andrea wanted the Chips and Dip which I though we’d ordered in previous visits, but I didn’t remember this presentation at all. In any case, the dip was served in a repurposed caviar tin with the sour cream onion dip topped with crispy shallots, chives, and whitefish and salmon roe. I have to say their potato chips were very good, they kind of seemed like kettle chips, but not as crunchy as the ones we buy in the store and were perfectly salted. I meant to ask them if they made the chips or what brand they used because I’d want to use those at home.
The menu had changed a bit since we had last been here and was interested in either the Caviar Hot Dog (?!) and the Prime Steak Tartare. The tartare sounded much more appealing, but I’ll definitely give the hot dog a try if it’s still on the menu next time we dine here. We also ordered the Diamond caviar flight which included Siberian Sturgeon, Kaluga Hybrid, and Imperial Golden Osetra.
The caviar flight came out first. The 10g jars of caviar seemed so much smaller than I remember, but they were the same. We were also served blinis and more of the delicious potato chips. The blinis had a touch more sweetness than I was expected so they tasted and looked like mini pancakes. It did make for a nice carrier (esp. with creme fraiche and shallot) for the caviar although in the end, I still preferred the potato chips. From previous experiences, Andrea’s favorite was the Siberian Sturgeon (having more flavor to stand up to whatever carrier was used) and mine was the Kaluga hybrid and we usually found Golden Osetra to be clean, but a bit mild if eaten with anything else (i.e. best consumed as a bump). But today things were a bit different. Andrea thought the Golden Osetra was too fishy today and overall she preferred the Kaluga hybrid as did I. Well, that’s the fun of having a flight…vive le difference!
Then the tartare came out. It was nicely presented in a small pool of olive oil and topped with some kaluga caviar and more delicous chips. Over the years, we’ve had some mixed experience with beef tartare, but fortunately this was excellent. The beef was of high quality and it was beautifully seasoned. I wished there had been more caviar because you couldn’t really taste it with the tartare, but really the caviar was secondary in this dish. Even so, the tartare was delicious all on it’s own.
For dessert, we went with the Basque cheesecake per the recommendation of our waitperson (she’s the same person who’s been here for at least a couple/few years, so it’s nice to see a familiar face). It was a very petite serving, which in actuality was as much as we needed (i.e. just a taste and a couple bites is really sufficient). The cheesecake itself was rather imperfect in it’s shape, but fortunately, the cheesecake itself was tasty. It was topped with a meager bit of white sturgeon caviar and I wished it had been topped with more so I could taste it (compare this to the basque cheesecake we had at Merchant Roots).
All in all, it was a nice day with a run, some sun, and a fun brunch.
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