David Karpf

Review of Manresa Restaurant

I've eaten at Manresa a number of times, and love ...

I've eaten at Manresa a number of times, and love it, but my kids have not. So took my son Josh and his GF Aran for their 25th birthdays, along with my Sweetie Teresa (her 2nd time) on Feb 12th. We all had the tasting menu with the wine pairing, which came to a total (with bubbly and still water, one G&T, and 3 coffees to about $2700 including a $500 tip, which sounds steep but was SO worth it!

Started with 2 Amuse Bouches: a petit fours of red pepper gellee with black olive madeline, and an incredible multi-seed granola "crisp" filled with goat cheese. This was followed by two small plates: iced geoduck clam with kolrabi and turnip, and an exquisite sunchoke royale, with roast chicken jelly and Ossetra cavier. My only small critique of these 4 starters, all of which were both beautiful & delicious, was that they probably would have been even more heavenly if accompanied by champagne. This alcohol-deprivation was soon rectified, however.

The next course was a delicious abalone chowder with poblano chile mouse (sp?), paired beautifully with a 2017 Alzinger Gruener Veitliner "Smaragd - Steinertal" (a somewhat grassy, superb Austrian white.

The "salad" course was a complete knock-out (see photos) - with crunch, savoriness, just wonderful, paired with the same Austrian white.

The next course was fabulous, a Romanesco, Dungeness crab concontion with koji butter, which we all gleefully sopped up with the sourdough (one of three never-ending Manresa-baked bread choices), paired with a superb 2013 Comtesse Bernard de Cherisey Meursault "Genelotte".

This was followed by Kinmedai and squid with grilled onion jus, paired well witha 2017 La Marca di San Michele, Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi "CapoVolto (a grape I've never heard of - delicious!). This squid course, while delicious and satisfying, was probably the most "one note" flavor palate of any of the courses due to the grilled onion jus.

The 1st meat course was another knock-out: roast veal sweetbreads with coffee potato & black garlic, paired beautifully with a 2009 Michael Gros, Vosne-Romanee "Clos des Reas".

The final meat course was the far and away the "meatiest" fowl course I've ever had, and pushed all of my "beef" buttons. It was a roasted (rare) squab breast and a confit squab leg & thigh in an incredible foie gras sauce "Albefera", paired with a lovely Syrah, the 2013 Clusel-Roch, Cote-Rotie "Les Grande Places".

By this point we were all satieted and a bit tipsy, but had room for most of the 3 dessert courses, paired with a wonderful old Port, a 1962 Muse Wines, Banyuls "Pietri-Geraud".
The 1st was Kafir lime with pistachio & squash, combining sweet & savory notes with the citrus of the kefir lime. The 2nd was a amazing tower of roasted pear hidden below a chocolate crisp with fennel, followed by strawberry petit fours with chocolate madeleines, tying into the 1st amuse bouche.

Coffee was excellent, as expected, and happy we all Lyfted there and home. Meal began at 5:30, and ended at 10:15 with a dessert "doggy bag", plus a couple handfulls of their butter carmels and individual clear boxes of their homemade granola for breakfast the next day.

If you've never eaten at this "local" 3 Michelin starred gem, you owe it to yourself to try it for a special occasion. The ambiance, the decor, the service, the presentation, and especially the food, with amazingly contrasting colors, textures, and temperatures within a single dish, are all fantastic and worthy of 3 Michelin stars. To my mind, Manresa is botb closer and better than the French Laundry.