Manresa

For our last meal as Northern California residents, we sneaked in a late night dinner at Manresa after a full day of packing. We were slated to wake up at 6 AM the next morning to drive to Pasadena, but we needed to say goodbye to our favorite Northern California restaurant.

Garden Beignets 

We didn't like the first impression of the newly redesigned interior which made the room feel noisier. Probably the vibe that they were shooting for, but just something we weren't use to. We decided to go with the 5 course tasting for the first time instead of the tasting. As usual, there were some extraordinary courses and others just good ones.

Albacore confit and crispy cannellini beans, potatoes with albacore tonnato

A garden green soup, stone ground mustard cream, herbs and shoots "multi-color"

I don't recall the albacore confit, which probably means its wasn't great. But the green garden soup was classic Kinch. I don't think you can get soups that have more depth of flavor and creativity than from Manresa.  Simply excellent.

Into the vegetable garden....their natural juices

Corn and tomato salad vers 6.1 seaweed, lemon, chia seed

Since we usually do the tasting course, we both get the same salad "into the vegetable garden," always surprisingly tasty.  However, this time we wanted to try something new, so we also had the corn and tomato salad. It was superb. Every bite of the dish popped, the tomato bursting with cold, sweet tart flavor sitting atop corn pudding which was delicious. 

Monterey Bay abalone, cardoons in apple cider, porcini with tomatillo

Black Bass, green tomato water and dill, black radish with sun chokes, lobster

There's always one dish that is absolutely mind-blowing during a Manresa visit, last time it was the pumpkin veloute, and this time it was the monterey bay abalone. We've had a memorable abalone preparation by chef Kinch previously and this one was even better. I think by coming up with two of the best abalone dishes I've ever had is an attribute to his greatness. I'm not sure how he cooks it, but it's tender, packed with flavor (citrus and charred) and delectable. Easily my favorite bite of the night. Contrastingly, the black bass was pedestrian.

Roasted squab with huckleberry soubise, walnut emulsion with chick peas

Saddle of Sika roe deer, escabeche of dried pears, blonde lentils with mushroom fondant

I tend to be more impressed with the front end of our meals at Manresa because the meat courses have been subpar. This pair of savory bites were quite good. I preferred the deer, which was not gamey, well seasoned and tasty. The roasted squab was solid, with a good balance of flavors.

Pears with Brown Butter, Chicory root caramel with maple and sherry

Chocolate fondant with lemon curd ice cream, lemon balm with burnt almond milk

Out of the two desserts, i liked the pears with brown butter more, but both were satisfying. This visit to Manresa wasn't as ground breaking as our last two, but that's probably because we were really tired and couldn't enjoy the meal as much. But it's still Manresa and chef Kinch is still one of the best chef's in the country. We miss it already. 

Black sesame seed and black licorice macaroons

Rating 8/10

October 15, 2011