Tales of Excess: Chicken fried prime ribeye burger

We fry everything in this country nowadays, especially in the South. Eating head shaking fried food has become the new test of a peculiar brand of manhood. Go to any county or state fair, and you have a litany of preposterous fried items: Snickers bars, bacon, Moon Pies, Twinkies, macaroni and cheese, and Coca Cola all get a batter bath and take their place next to your side of fries. In that spirit, the recently convened Burger Court of Houston, Texas, held its usual private conference to discuss petitions for oral argument. On the menu? Burgers, naturally.

From Meatfest of the Burger Court

When the Burger Court convenes, even for a simple conference, the usual fare is a steakburger made out of ground, USDA prime strip steak or ribeye. In the grinder also goes a bit of bacon or pancetta for added fat and moisture. At the most recent meeting, however, a motion came before the Court that the Justices consider a chicken fried burger. Flour, Kosher salt, and a bottle of Shiner Smokehaus being on hand, the Court -- unanimously, sua sponte, and without written opinion -- elected to engage in open-minded judicial activism and hear the writ of mandamus from a fourth burger patty at risk of being orphaned after three were placed on the grill.

From Meatfest of the Burger Court

The batter consisted of approximately one cup of flour, a fair bit of salt, and the twelve-ounce beer missing two small sips. After a brief coating, the patty went into an iron skillet filled with one-and-a-half inches of grapeseed oil heated to just below the smoke point. Ten minutes and a brief drain on paper towels later? A golden, juicy, gorgeous indulgence. The crust was light and very crisp, adding a nice textural element to the bacon-tinged steak. It retained natural juices well, without being too greasy. It may have been less greasy than many burgers cooked on a griddle. No condiments necessary. But this is probably a burger best split three ways.

Due next on the Burger Court docket: Lankford Grocery.

From Meatfest of the Burger Court

From Meatfest of the Burger Court

From Meatfest of the Burger Court

Wine of the Moment: Remoriquet Bourgogne Haut Cotes de Nuits 2006

They say that, in wine, all roads eventually lead to Burgundy. One might take that as a metaphor for life, since all roads in life eventually lead to death. For the wine-crazy among us, Burgundy can spell the beginning of the end. Perhaps one day you are lucky and ill-fated enough to find your Burgundy epiphany -- a luscious, perfumed, cherry-laden wine that heightens the senses and haunts you. Your first great Burgundy is like reading the Russian masters for the first time; afterward you'll be chasing the high, never to be equaled, for the rest of your life. Love of Burgundy can also be financially perilous. While there is value to be had, prices range from spendy to astronomical. (The current release of Domaine de la Romanee Conti's Romanee Conti, for example, is in the $3,500 to $4,000 range per bottle.)

Still, even the threats of bankruptcy and alienating friends and family seem not to deter someone awestruck by Burgundy. There are options, however, that allow you to feed your Burgundy habit without ruining your life. It's like True Blood for wine drinkers. Most recently, I found Remoriquet's Bourgogne Haut Cotes de Nuits 2006. It's $22.49 at the downtown Spec's. A terrific red Burgundy (read: 100% Pinot Noir) that delivers a touch of funk, loads of sour cherry fruit, bright acidity, and a juicy finish on a refreshing frame. This is just the kind of wine that goes beautifully with the heavy food Houstonians prefer, even in summer.

In re Mel's Country Cafe

EDITOR'S NOTE: Burger Ipsa Loquitur, d/b/a The Burger Court of Houston, Texas, will be a recurring feature on the blog. Sitting by special designation, it brings together three deeply passionate and experienced burger lovers who are driven to find the best burger in Houston. An open-minded attitude drives these Judges, allowing them to focus on the Burger Due Process: strict scrutiny of the patty, bun, and condiments, while considering areas such as side dishes and restaurant atmosphere under a rational basis standard. Enjoy and, as always, comments are welcome.

Before the Burger Court of Houston, Texas

Docket No. 1

IN RE MEL’S COUNTRY CAFE

HEARD JUNE 14, 2009

DECIDED JUNE 17, 2009

Before GUTTING, BRINKMANN, LAHAD.

Opinion for the court filed by LAHAD, J, in which JJ. GUTTING and BRINKMANN join.

LAHAD, J. Before the court is the submission of Mel’s Country Café of Tomball, Texas (“Mel’s”). After dismissing Mel’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction,* this court proceeded to taste oral argument regarding the hamburgers at this “family owned and operated” establishment located in the more bucolic part of Tomball. We hold that Mel’s provides an average to above-average hamburger. That is, Mel’s burger warrants a B+ rating.

Background

Set in a wood and tin roofed structure across the railroad tracks on Stanolind Road is Mel’s Country Café. Touting homestyle cooking (read: fried) and weighty burgers, Mel’s serves up everything from bacon hamburgers to Cajun grilled chicken breast. Mel’s legend, however, was built on the Mega Mel Burger: 1.5 lbs of ground beef, 1 lb of bacon, 1/4 lb American cheese and “lots, lots of lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and pickles.” If you can finish the $20 Mega Mel in less than two hours, your name and finishing time will be inscribed upon the wall-of-fame along with countless other gluttons, including one allegedly human man who, it is written, finished this abomination of ground beef in 9 minutes. Yes, nine. Presumably, he watches other contenders try to beat his record – from heaven. The Mel burger, the Mega Mel’s younger and of course more attractive sibling, consists of 1 lb of beef, 1/4 lb of bacon, some cheese if you wish, and the condiments. The bottom-line is that at Mel’s, burgers talk, and everything else walks, or is fried.

From Mel's Country Cafe

The panel tasted three hamburgers: 1) a double cheese burger with all of the trimmings; 2) a Mel burger with cheese; and 3) a Mel burger without cheese or mayonnaise.

The Hamburger

If the burgers were judged on looks alone, the Mel burger would win the beauty contest. The Mel appeared with 3 1/3 lb patties between what looked like substantive buns. The bacon did not overwhelm the burgers appearance, nor did the vegetables hiding under the lowest patty. A large toothpick ran reassuringly through the middle to keep everything in place. But in the end, the Mel’s beauty turned out to be only bun deep.

The Mel’s patties do not appear to be hand-formed. If they are, then great skill goes into making each patty a clone of the preceding patty. The patties were well seasoned and had a nice crust on the perimeter. A nice char or crust on meat is an under-appreciated quality in burgers. Mel’s burgers succeed where many burgers fail: seasoning. Eating some of the ground beef on its own demonstrates that some care goes into seasoning the patty before cooking. Whatever the seasoning – probably nothing more than salt and pepper – it is applied in just the right proportion and preserved during the cooking process. Frankly, it was refreshing.

From Mel's Country Cafe

Speaking of cooking, Mel’s cooks its burgers to medium well. While this may be good for food-borne illness and even cooking time, in this court’s opinion, it dried the patties out. The Mel had three patties that were each too dry for their own good. This synergistic backfire resulted in a burger that was significantly drier than what one wants or expects from a place like Mel’s. This dry patty problem was common to all three burgers indicating a systemic issue, not just an isolated incident caused by a distracted cook. Reducing the cooking to only medium could remedy this.

Of course, one holds a hamburger by the bun. The bun was toasted and appeared ready to survive the meal, but in the end it couldn’t cut the mustard. Half-way into eating the burgers, the lower bun’s structural integrity began to fail. By the end, the lower bun had disintegrated into a soggy mess, probably from the vegetables. The patties were too dry, in this court’s opinion, to do that serious of damage to the bun.

Sides

While the appetizers and sides do not factor into the final calculus, a word should be said about Mel’s. First, they were all fried of course: Onion rings and stuffed jalapeño’s to start and French fries, tater tots, hush puppies, and fried okra to ride shotgun. Cheers to the onion rings – hand-battered and made from noticeably sweet onions. Jeers to the jalapeño’s – nearly expired fare from the nearest Sam’s Club. However, the real disappointed came in a small red basket lined with wax paper: the French fries. The fries appeared so synthetic and overdone as to be unappetizing. Mel’s would come dangerously close to a fair or merely average rating if the fries were a factor. They offended traditional notions of French fries and substantial sides. At some places, the fries are an afterthought. At Mel’s, there was no thought given at all.

From Mel's Country Cafe

Fortunately, the remaining three sides came to the rescue. The fried okra was fantastic as were the tater tots and hush puppies. In sum, I would join Alison Cook in lambasting Mel’s fries. That is how bad the court found them.

Extras

At $7.95, the Mel burger is a value. The other burgers and each of the sides were also quite competitively priced. Indeed, it would not be a stretch to call the food at Mel’s ‘cheap’. However, if time is money, then Mel’s burgers could be classified alongside Kobe beef burgers from a downtown bistro. Mel’s takes time. It takes time to get there. Once you arrive, you have to wait: wait to be seated; wait to get a server; wait to get your food (again, it would take less time to cook it to medium). Not surprising that one could finish a several sodas or glasses of white zinfandel while waiting for the main event.

Conclusion

In sum, the court finds that while well seasoned, the argument proffered by Mel’s Country Café does not provide sufficient evidence to meet the standard of clear and convincing deliciousness to be rated an A or A- burger. Mel’s dry patties and lackluster bun cannot carry its burden, no matter how pleasing the proportion of pepper (alliteration intended). Accordingly, Mel’s burgers are given a B+ rating.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

______________________

* Mel’s moved to dismiss on grounds that it did not have sufficient minimum contacts with Houston to be within the reach of this court’s personal jurisdiction. The Motion was denied based on substantial evidence of at least minimal, if not significant, contacts with Houston, Texas including but not limited to: advertising, serving several Houstonians, and purchasing raw goods from Houston merchants.

Amuse bouche: The finest ingredients

Beluga caviar. Saffron. White truffles. La Bonnotte potatoes. Domaine de la Romanee Conti. The best comes at a price. Sometimes the best is worth it; sometimes the best is more about hype or scarcity. In rare cases, however, the best can be quite readily within reach. That's the case with the best steak in the U.S. This might come as a shock from someone living in Texas, but the best steak comes from a butcher outside of San Francisco named Bryan Flannery. At Bryan's Fine Foods in Corte Madera, California, you can renew your appreciation for beef. The prices are quite reasonable -- it's better to call and order over the phone than place it online -- and the quality is unmatched. Pictures don't lie:

From Assorted Flannery

From Assorted Flannery

From Assorted Flannery

From Assorted Flannery

Steaks ship fresh on ice packs; even in the peak of summer, second-day FedEx has the meat arrive at your door refrigerator cold.

Review: Glass Wall

Glass Wall opened in the Heights in 2006. That makes it the dean of the recent explosion of restaurants and other hot spots in the Heights and along the Washington corridor of Houston. From the beginning, Glass Wall has been trendy, and so it remains today. Big crowds come from the neighborhood, along with some of those wrap sunglasses-wearing, pinky ring-wearing, blueberry Stoli-drinking hipsters from the Washington scene who are looking for something “old school” like a three-year-old restaurant.

The best thing about Glass Wall hits you immediately upon walking in. It’s a relaxed atmosphere, inspired by chef Lance Fegen’s passion for surfing. A large (what else?) glass wall separates the bar from the main dining area. The room is colored in cool shades of blue, green, and white. The ceilings are high. And the worst thing about Glass Wall hits you at the same time: the noise. When will successful restaurants bother to invest a pittance in a few acoustic panels that would make it comfortable for a table of four or more speak in indoor voices?

In any case, Glass Wall doesn’t let its popularity and trendy reputation go to its head. The staff plays it cool, which is the best part of the restaurant’s personality. Everyone, from the put-together hostess and co-owner Ross Shepard at the front of the house to Chris the excellent bartender and the wait staff, keeps Fegen’s laid back, surfer mentality in mind.

From Glass Wall

The menu changes a couple times each quarter, keeping it in tune with the variety of seasonal produce. But the menu doesn’t have a heavy-handed seasonal overtone, which is emphasized by occasional inconsistency from the kitchen. There tend to be staple dishes offered, with a seasonal bent to them. Appetizers will include a play on a fried junk food; entrees choices will feature pork tenderloin, short ribs, grass-fed steak, and a white fish.

Fegen has a nice flair for the creative, jiving subtly with the surf theme of the restaurant. He’ll toss in a dash of exotic fruit unexpectedly or do something a little wild, like crust tenderloin in jalapeno potato chips. There is a kind of casual fearlessness about the food that jives with the surfer mentality.

At its best, Fegen’s dishes are some of the most imaginative and skillfully executed comfort food around. His oyster beignets on top of a candied bacon pancake with hollandaise and hot sauce syrup from the winter was one of the most inspired dishes in town. Fegen isn’t afraid to take risks with flavor combinations, as the current menu’s chorizo mashed potatoes demonstrate with glorious success. The chicken fried steak — in whatever form it takes on the menu — contends in “best of” discussions. He also makes good use of lesser known cuts like the flat iron, creating solid, tasty dishes that are reliable standbys.

Not every move by the kitchen is a hit, though. The pork tenderloin tends to be overcooked and boring. The recent preparation of short ribs has been dry, a bad misstep for meat that is difficult to overcook; it allows them to be overshadowed by the excellent gouda grits that share the plate.

From Glass Wall

Where Glass Wall tends to be weakest is when it makes efforts to go more upscale. The best example is the bread service. Having someone come over with a selection of bread feels out of place, and the constantly awkward demeanor of the server underscores that. The poultry dishes are more pedestrian, coming off as an exercise in the mundane and seemingly prepared out of obligation to expectant diners.

The wine list is fairly limited but, in comparison with its peers, smartly chosen. The prices are decent; you can usually find something worth drinking. Kudos to them for suggesting a wine pairing with each dish on the menu, even appetizers. These tend to be the most interesting wines they serve. Glass prices are the now-standard $9 to $14 range.

The noise level can be blistering, which makes sitting in the bar an attractive option. It is quieter there, and it’s also a great place to watch sports. Given this, Glass Wall really succeeds in being a better version of Max’s Wine Dive: smart comfort food done in a laid back atmosphere, rather than the arrogantly in-your-face flavors you find at Max’s that are too obvious to merit serious interest. Glass Wall has a terrific ability to cut down your craving for greasy comfort food in the way a great diner does, and it will make you feel slightly cool at the same time. A bit sharper focus and consistent execution on the more complex, ambitious dishes, and it would rise up another notch.

Amuse bouche: What's with the savory desserts?

Everywhere you look at fine dining restaurants nowadays, it seems you run into desserts that flirt with the line between sweet and savory. The extremely talented Plinio Sandalio of Textile may be the current Houston leader in this regard, with some interesting results. But it's a fad that needs to end. They've been doing it at Alinea since the place opened and on Iron Chef for years before that. The sweet-savory exploration has taken longer to throw roots in Houston, as is so often the case with culinary trends. Most of these forays seem to revolve around the interplay of sweet and salty. That's a good but limited medium. It's summertime. We don't need spam ice cream and its ilk. We have a bounty of fresh Texas peaches and scorching heat to squelch.

Foibles of Houston wine service

It’s hard to come up with a more relaxing, enjoyable scene: sit down at a nice restaurant, white table cloth, carefully set table, bustling scene, tempting menu. You look over the wine list, but this is one of those grand days where you don’t want to think too much about it. You want to offer yourself up to your host entirely. Sadly, in Houston, the chances are leaving yourself in the hands of a restaurant for wine selection and service will result in disappointment.

Wine service in Houston is sorely lacking. One might argue service generally, even in the best restaurants in town, is the greatest weakness in this city’s dining scene. When it comes to wine, at least, the situation is annoying but fixable. A few simple rules and an attitude change is all it would take.

1. The pour

This is, without a doubt, the biggest foible and easiest to fix. Almost without fail, waiters and (inexcusably) sommeliers pour your glass too full. Most of the time it’s halfway up the glass, just enough to prevent you from being able to swirl it effectively and unlock all the wine’s aromas. You end up being forced to drink a third of the glass before being able to really appreciate and evaluate it.

Usually this isn’t a huge concern with wines by the glass, which are served out of bottles that have been open for quite some time and don’t always require the same amount of aeration. But when you purchase a bottle, and the server pours the whole thing out in four glasses, it substantially inhibits enjoying the wine. What’s worse is that there is no clearer sign that a restaurant is trying to force you into buying a second bottle immediately. It starts the meal on a rushed note, trying to get you to commit to more wine before the food arrives (if you’ve even ordered at all).

Pouring doesn’t need to be like this. Indeed, it isn’t always. There are a few notable exceptions in Houston, namely Ibiza, Catalan, Voice, and Hugo’s, Backstreet Café, and Prego, where wine service falls under the tutelage of Sean Beck, easily the city’s best sommelier. These are restaurants where proper service show attention to detail and enhances the atmosphere of a meal, and it is an easy standard to live up to.

2. Poor stemware

What difference does the glass make? It can make you think one wine is actually two completely different ones. Proper stemware allows more surface area of the wine to be exposed and a well-designed glass funnels the bouquet to your nose, allowing your olfactory to maximize its essential role in tasting.

Perhaps more disconcerting, good stemware is relatively inexpensive. You don’t need the Riedel Sommelier Series to enjoy any wine. The Vinum series is great; Schott Zwiesel and Spiegelau both make excellent and affordable glasses. While some of the design intricacies, such as creating special Oregon Pinot Noir glasses are going overboard, good and basic glasses for white, red, and sparkling wine are essential.

Fortunately, for the most part, Houston’s better restaurants have invested in adequate stemware. But several exceptions are shocking; when that’s the case, go ahead and bring your own glasses or forego wine altogether. Yes, what you drink your wine out of is that important.

3. Lack of knowledge

This is a two-pronged issue. First, servers far too often are completely at a loss when it comes to wine. It’s not general wine knowledge they need; it can be fine if they lack that. But wait staff needs to at least have familiarity with the restaurant’s wine list. They must grasp some fundamentals about some bottles that will complement the menu, and it is a poor reflection on the chef and sommelier when waiters don’t.

Lack of server knowledge perhaps is forgivable because they should have been trained better. And this is the second problem: sommeliers in Houston with disheartening regularity come off like novices. This is particularly evident when they recommend wines that supposedly work with the restaurant’s food and in their ability to translate a customer’s articulated preferences to wines on the list. A sommelier needs to be able to take a description of a wine and match it to something she has available. This is a difficult but necessary skill; it is the hallmark of a wine professional.

Perhaps this is too harsh a critique. It is possible that restaurants are just responding to what their clientele demands. Maybe the Houston wine consumer is too unimaginative to allow restaurants to come up with great wine lists, leaving us with a proliferation of boring Chardonnay and Cabernet. Even Ibiza, one of the best and most creative lists in town, is stocked with loads of Napa Cab that doesn’t suit its menu. Even if this is the case, however, sommeliers should be doing a better job of teaching. They should be providing more variety and better pairing possibilities.

Again, there are exceptions worth noting. Despite that head-scratching Cab-heavy list, Ibiza always offers a few interesting and crisp Spanish whites. (They easily could expand their New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc selection.) Catalan is marvelous in pushing grower Champagne, as well as the occasional Savennieres or lesser known Spanish wine. Voice deserves kudos for its thoughtful wine pairings to complement excellent tasting menus. And the aforementioned Sean Beck is a true master of finding wines that work with difficult cuisine. You only need to sample a few of his extraordinary Pinot Noir pairings with the Mexican food at Hugo’s to see he has a complete understanding of the intricate dance between the flavors in wine and food.

As Houston’s food scene matures, with more professional service staff and more sophisticated palates on diners, the knowledge gap can be closed rapidly.

4. Briskness

Speed is also a misstep that is easily addressed. Too frequently, servers refill your glass after you’ve only had a few sips. This inhibits seeing how a wine evolves in a glass. It messes up the temperature of white wine. It destroys the pacing of the meal, subtly trying to get you to speed up. For what? The restaurant wants to sell you more wine.

That, in essence, is the true failure of the Houston restaurant wine scene. Wine and other alcoholic beverages, as a general rule, are seen as profit centers. If they get you through one round of drinks, they can move you on to another. Of course, that opens a massive can of worms: the ridiculous price of wine in restaurants, but that is worthy of in-depth discussion at another time. For now, it is sufficient to say that subordinating an essential part of dining enjoyment is not in a restaurant’s best interest.

The old liquor store in Chicago, Zimmerman’s, used to have a sign that read, “Drink fast and hurry back!” It’s a chuckle-inducing sentiment but, drunk driving concerns aside, one that doesn’t have a place at the dinner table.

Amuse bouche: Any escape from the heat?

This week has been a jarring reminder of the wickedness of Houston summers. Is there any way to escape the heat? Can't someone invent some sort of cooling unit that will allow us to enjoy patios even in the throes of this swamp, like an air conditioned or ice-lined shirt? Apparently none of that is in the cards in 2009. So that means we're left with the traditional standbys: cold beer in frozen glasses; bottomless pitchers of margaritas; chowing down on Five Guys with your feet dangling in the pool; and doing anything possible to avoid setting foot outside to begin with. Summer is a great time to familiarize yourself with how to navigate downtown Houston's tunnel system. Anyone with novel ideas on how to beat the heat?

Wine of the moment: Joseph Swan Pinot Noir Russian Rivery Valley Cuvee de Trois

Simply put, you will not find a better Pinot Noir for the price than this wine. The price is $28 direct from the winery. You can pick it up at Spec’s in downtown Houston for $31.82. The 2006 is the current release, but the stunning 2007 is around the corner. Each year, this wine epitomizes the profile of the Russian River Valley: elegant, filled with red and black cherry fruit, bright acidity, and a gentle baking spice/cinnamon component. It's a refreshing style of wine, lovely on warm (read: muggy and unbearable) Houston summer days and also the perfect complement to food.

Full disclosure: Rod Berglund and the folks at Joseph Swan Vineyards are good friends. You can check my tasting notes on Swan wines here. This is unambiguously delicious juice.

Review: Tru

This is the last in a trio of Chicago reviews from the spring, and after consecutive nights at Topolobampo and Alinea, it’s hard to imagine a third restaurant being able to compete for a place in memory in such lofty company. Tru, however, was more than up to the task on this, a second visit in three months. In fact, the Chef’s Collection menu was the perfect way to cap off a weekend in a perfectly classic, creative manner.

Tru hasn’t lost its edge since opening a decade ago. The space is modern, with gorgeously tall ceilings, long black drapes, attractive art, comfortable chairs, and large tables. It is a dining room that evokes, in a twenty-first century sense, a grand feasting hall from the days of Beowulf. The décor provides a striking contrast to the cuisine but only if you fail to contemplate the menu’s larger design. The food at Tru, the brainchild of Rick Tramanto and now showing strong influence from hard-working executive chef Tim Graham, is classically French in orientation. For the most part. This is classicism reinvented in the best way, but there’s also a flash of Asian influence and a pinch of Tramanto’s skillfully executed Italian food.

Two amuse bouche started the evening. The first, a dollop of red wine gelée with duck confit on a raw leaf of a Brussels sprout. After that, a delightful tête de cochon complemented with a lentil salad and white truffle powder.

As usual, the meal started on an Asian note, with a trio of sashimi-grade fish served with both regular and a white soy sauce, which provides a more mellow edge and allows the fish — as fresh as it gets — shine through. The breadth shown in these first three small courses showed the care of each creation. And it set the stage for the stunning array to come.

Next came a frog leg, crusted and fried, balanced on a cube of finely cubed carrot. Inside the bowl were dollops of roasted garlic puree in which the servers poured a watercress soup. It would be easy to miss the whimsical presentation of this dish: with the roasted garlic “eyes” poking out of the green soup, it simultaneously evokes a frog staring back at you and a lily pad. It is a light dish that drives home the creativity of the kitchen.

From Tru

A second soup follows, and it is one of the most inspired, pure dishes you’ll find anywhere. Fundamentally, it is French onion soup, but it is reinvented here in the best tradition of culinary imagination. In the middle of the bowl, a scoop of gruyere custard that rests on top of a puree of caramelized onions. Jutting out is a translucent slice of toasted bread. This is bathed in a sea of beef bouillon that has a subtle gruyere flavor to it. A common, always-comforting dish takes on a refined quality with deeply concentrated flavors.

From Tru

Tramanto’s Italian side shows in the third course, a potato gnocchi with the texture of pillows, complemented by sautéed spinach, a hint of caraway, and a mustard crème. The supporting ingredients are relatively subtle, allowing the triumph that is gnocchi perfection shine through.

From Tru

The next three courses were remarkable for an interesting reason: the one that stood out, on paper, was the most pedestrian. First, a diver scallop topped with a slice of seared foie gras. Foie gras needs a sweet complement, which the scallop provides naturally. It’s a marvelous combination, given earthy undercurrent from white bean puree and bubble of smoke gel.

From Tru

Second was the standout: poached salmon. That’s right. Salmon. The fish was cooked in olive oil and displayed none of the dull flavor and pasty texture of farm-raised salmon. It came with long shavings of daikon radish and a star-shaped piece of granny smith apple. It sat in a refreshing, light broth flavored with granny smith apple and a touch of coconut milk. It was a delightfully uplifting dish, perfectly prepared, that cut the richness of this trio of courses. Smoked trout roe added a salty touch, giving a final confirmation that this preparation was one of the most delicious and creative ways to present fish in recent memory.

From Tru

Third came an easy crowd pleaser, executed beautifully. It was a piece of rib cap — the fatty, marvelous outer edge of the ribeye — wrapped in prosciutto, served on top of a finely cubed Yukon gold potatoes prepared in a risotto style. The sauce was a simple reduction, enhancing the more delicate flavor of the rib cap, that provided a smoky edge (common on this meal) from paprika. On the side, a bit of whipped raclette that, when eaten with the potatoes gave the impression of a terrific gratin.

From Tru

The remainder of the meal was a bit of a winding down, trying to balance the intensely rich main courses. But that soft landing commenced only after the cheese course, which arguably is unmatched at any restaurant in the country. Each person gets to choose a handful from a selection of about a dozen cow’s, sheep’s, and goat’s milk cheeses. They’re marvelous examples of craftsmanship, each delicious and refined. It is a course to be savored and celebrated. Tru’s generosity in presentation and service is laudable.

From Tru

To cleanse the palate came a “kir royale” in the form of a champagne granite and cassis gelée. It set the tone for a refreshing end to the meal. The dessert, not the expected chocolate decadence of Gale Gand, was a marvelous ode to passion fruit, featured in a sorbet and sponge cake and complemented by white chocolate, two small slices of naval orange, and a touch of vanilla. As an added bonus, the kitchen sent out a root beer float. No gimmick, no interpretation. Just a plain old root beer float that was terrific, sending you into the mignardises refreshed and surprisingly not feeling heavy.

From Tru

From Tru

To close, a special note on the wine. Chad Ellegood, the wine director, has a gift when it comes to the most difficult job of a sommelier. He can translate descriptions of wines the customer likes into a bottle on his list that matches both personal preference and the menu. It’s no easy feat. On this night, Chad outdid himself, pairing a subtle, stony white Burgundy with the first half of the meal and a stunning, remarkable red Burgundy with the second.

From Tru

The Maison Leroy Meursault 1er Cru Charmes 1999 steamrolled across the palate but maintained a distinct elegance about it. This enabled the wine to complement the lightness of dishes like the frog leg and watercress while providing enough power to stand up to the strong flavors. It was a white wine with balance, class, and strength. A masculine sensibility in a feminine profile.

The other wine was Domaine Leroy Clos Vougeot 1999. From the very first whiff in the glass, it was a treat and one of the best wines I’ve ever drunk. The elegance, balance, and stunningly velvety texture rode a wave of immense power. The red cherry fruit, sometimes veering toward cherry pie, lit up the palate, carving a boulevard down your tongue that allowed a world of complexity to follow. The long finish left a wake of fruit from the wine that twirled again into the sea of complex flavors. There was nothing simple about this wine, yet it was so eminently drinkable.

Both these bottles served as a stark reminder of the remarkable compatibility of food and wine. They are indispensible table mates, as at ease with one another as Joe Morgan and Dave Concepcion turning a double play. The entire experience at Tru is one of practiced ease. Eating there allows you to be in the presence of people who are good at what they do, know it, have practiced it, and retain their passion for it.

From Tru