My girlfriend and I had been planning on going there for dinner for some time, so we made a reservation for the Tavern (as opposed to the main dining room, which had too much cilantro, chipotle chili, arugula, etc. for my girlfriend's miswestern tastes) for Saturday evening. We arrived at about 5:30, and waited until 6 PM, when they opened and which was the time of our reservation. When we we seated, we were told that they had the buffet that evening. Their website mentions that a buffet is available Friday and Saturday, but also gives a menu for the Tavern, which I planned on ordering from. So...we tried the buffet. The hot dishes were just coming out into trays, so we essayed the cold section. First up was a tray of...cold cuts, crowned by pink-grey, sticky, smelly *liverwurst*, which was so gooey it stuck to the tongs and infected everything else with liverwurst effluvia. OK, forget the 'wurst. They did have some deli-level sliced turkey and pork, and a very nice salmon terrine. Great bread and butter. A generic fruit and cheese tray. Back at the table, my girlfriend mentioned that a waitron had been around to ask about drinks. She had ordered an iced tea for me, always a safe bet. It was delivered, with her decaf, and that was the last interaction with the waitron until the bill was presented. Meanwhile, the hot dishes had arrived, so I was pleased to try their salmon, a slice of pork loin, a seafood marinara, some mashed potatoes, and sliced beef. The overall quality was about the level of Lyons or possibly the Peppermill. That is, about two levels below what I expected from the CCC. The mashed potatoes had big hunks of unmashed potato. The saffron rice served with the salmon was good, and the wild rice served with the pork roast likewise. The A-Team had been busy, apparently, in the bakery. They set out eight cakes; I tried out bits of six, and some of them were the best I've ever had, anywhere. In particular the chocolate decadence attained the awesome level of cutting and forking like a cake, but melting into buttery fantasy in the mouth. Since chocolate is so difficult to prepare, being a eutectic mixture of two fats with different melting temperatures, I was really impressed (and my poor girlfriend had to listen to a pedantic lecture about chocolate chemistry for several minutes). The meringues were made with carmelized sugar, brown sugar, and I suspect maple or maltose as well and were the lightest, dreamiest confections imaginable. Her pineapple cake had a layer of perfect buttercream with a pineapple glaze hidden directly underneath it. All the frostings had a perfect suspension of fats and sugars and subtle tastes. So: a memorable experience, but only for the desserts. Service was a 2 on a scale of ten, and the salmon/rice and the salmon terrine were the best items, but could only make it to about 6 on a ten scale. Granted, buffets have 2.5 strikes against them; you can only serve what will hold up on a steam table. However, they had seatings, and cooked accordingly; nothing sat there for more than ten minutes or so before it got consumed. I have a modest kitchen, and I could outdo them in every department but the desserts without breathing hard. I was expecting something on the order of Chez T.J.'s in Mountain View, which is my yardstick for fine dining. On the other hand, the buffet was $15, and Chez T.J.'s is....a lot, I forget. I would love to hear from others who have made the pilgrimage and who have stories to tell about the Tavern or about their main restaurant, the Careme Room. Mike
California
California Culinary Academy Disappointment
Someone wrote: > > My girlfriend and I had been planning on going there for dinner for some > time, so we made a reservation for the Tavern (as opposed to the main > dining room, which had too much cilantro, chipotle chili, arugula, etc. > for my girlfriend's miswestern tastes) for Saturday evening. > > We arrived at about 5:30, and waited until 6 PM, when they opened and > which was the time of our reservation. > > When we we seated, we were told that they had the buffet that evening. > Their website mentions that a buffet is available Friday and Saturday, but > also gives a menu for the Tavern, which I planned on ordering from. > So...we tried the buffet. > > The hot dishes were just coming out into trays, so we essayed the cold > section. First up was a tray of...cold cuts, crowned by pink-grey, sticky, > smelly *liverwurst*, which was so gooey it stuck to the tongs and infected > everything else with liverwurst effluvia. OK, forget the 'wurst. They did > have some deli-level sliced turkey and pork, and a very nice salmon > terrine. Great bread and butter. A generic fruit and cheese tray. > > Back at the table, my girlfriend mentioned that a waitron had been around > to ask about drinks. She had ordered an iced tea for me, always a safe > bet. It was delivered, with her decaf, and that was the last interaction > with the waitron until the bill was presented. > > Meanwhile, the hot dishes had arrived, so I was pleased to try their > salmon, a slice of pork loin, a seafood marinara, some mashed potatoes, > and sliced beef. The overall quality was about the level of Lyons or > possibly the Peppermill. That is, about two levels below what I expected > from the CCC. The mashed potatoes had big hunks of unmashed potato. The > saffron rice served with the salmon was good, and the wild rice served > with the pork roast likewise. > > The A-Team had been busy, apparently, in the bakery. They set out eight > cakes; I tried out bits of six, and some of them were the best I've ever > had, anywhere. In particular the chocolate decadence attained the awesome > level of cutting and forking like a cake, but melting into buttery fantasy > in the mouth. Since chocolate is so difficult to prepare, being a eutectic > mixture of two fats with different melting temperatures, I was really > impressed (and my poor girlfriend had to listen to a pedantic lecture > about chocolate chemistry for several minutes). > > The meringues were made with carmelized sugar, brown sugar, and I suspect > maple or maltose as well and were the lightest, dreamiest confections > imaginable. Her pineapple cake had a layer of perfect buttercream with a > pineapple glaze hidden directly underneath it. All the frostings had a > perfect suspension of fats and sugars and subtle tastes. > > So: a memorable experience, but only for the desserts. Service was a 2 on > a scale of ten, and the salmon/rice and the salmon terrine were the best > items, but could only make it to about 6 on a ten scale. > > Granted, buffets have 2.5 strikes against them; you can only serve what > will hold up on a steam table. However, they had seatings, and cooked > accordingly; nothing sat there for more than ten minutes or so before it > got consumed. > > I have a modest kitchen, and I could outdo them in every department but > the desserts without breathing hard. I was expecting something on the > order of Chez T.J.'s in Mountain View, which is my yardstick for fine > dining. On the other hand, the buffet was $15, and Chez T.J.'s is....a > lot, I forget. > > I would love to hear from others who have made the pilgrimage and who have > stories to tell about the Tavern or about their main restaurant, the > Careme Room. > > Mike I had a completely different experience. I am generally not generally a buffet affecionado but I thought the CCA did a nice buffet dinner when I was there during the winter. The appetisers, salads, cheeses and desserts were out on the buffet. For the main entree courses you picked up a plate and walked through the various stations set up right in the kitchen where the student-Chefs were cooking their specialties. There were about five selections (fish, meat, poultry, vegetarian) which you could try or not as you selected. While I am not that fond of mixing tastes, I really must say that the food we had was far,far above the caliber described by Mike. Evelyn