Piccolo - November 18, 2015
(If you’re looking for a different meal from an Instagram post, please check the archive)
Last month I mentioned that I was hoping to get into this wine dinner as I usually prefer reds and the southern Rhone is rife with them. A couple of fortuitous cancellations meant there was room.
If you’re familiar with the book “1984″ by George Orwell, and even if not, you might be aware of the concept of “doublethink;” that is, the acceptance of or mental capacity to accept contrary opinions or beliefs at the same time. I suffer from this when it comes to menus at tasting menus. As someone that tries to avoid spoilers, I don’t like the menu, but as someone who’s started to chronicle what they eat, I like having a written record. Corner Table doesn’t provide a menu, Travail seldom provides a menu, Birdie provides a hand written one, and Piccolo provides an ever evolving menu that is working towards a really good form. I think I’d prefer getting the menu at the end of the meal instead of the beginning. (I now realize I can do this myself by turning it over before I have a look, I might inadvertently hear the other diners discussing it, but it that’s out of my control. Let’s be honest too, it’s not a huge deal in the grand scope of things, just one of my peculiarities.)
An example of the menu evolution. On the left was last month’s Alsatian Wine Dinner, on the right was this month’s Southern Rhone. On the right the dinner name is replaced simply with “Menu,” the stock of the paper is much heavier, the dishes are in bold, the wines are still in italic, and the notes about each wine are included on the menu for reference. I really like where it’s going.
Fried Jerusalem artichokes with oysters, dill and cream (Chateau de Beaucastel Cotes du Rhone Coudoulet Blanc 2011): These east coast oysters were poached, some of their poaching liquid reserved and used in the foam. The Jerusalem artichokes were fried, then cooled, halved, hollowed, mashed, and the mash was reintroduced into the cavity. The oysters were cool and still slightly briny. The sunchoke had a sweetness and starchiness that complemented the foam well. In the most complimentary way possible, these made me think of the best incarnation of a potato skin. The wine helped cut the foam and starch.
Duck liver tortellini with herbed breadcrumbs, bresaola, and charred cabbage broth (Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc 2010): Good tooth on the pasta, great flavor on the filling, nice textures, the bresaola was a great salty component, and the breadcrumbs provided a great crunch. My only concern was that the servers didn’t exercise good portion control on the broth, a few diners received a great deal of broth, and some of us received very little. What broth there was was very tasty. The wine was a good pairing, and something I’d look for.
Rabbit with hay baked apple, celery root, and burgundy black truffle (Chateau de Beaucastel Cotes du Rhone Coudoulet Rouge 2011): The rabbit loin was wrapped in caul fat before preparation, the root pureed, the sphere was a fried ball of rabbit forcemeat, the sauce contained a great chestnut honey. The wine contained some of my favorite varietals, and worked better than I would have expected with the rabbit. Great textures and flavors throughout.
Aged Rohan duck with onion and comté tart, prune, and juniper (Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape Rouge 2009): The prune, like the previous fowl portion of the meal was the surprising star. The rest of the dish was great though. The sweetness of the onions against the funk, and salt of the cheese was great against the fruit of the wine. This wine also had some of my favorite grapes, including Mourvedre. Great combination.
Chocolate cake with black truffle, candied cacao nibs, and chocolate/reggiano gelato (Chateau d’Orignac, Pineau Des Charentes, France NV): This was an interesting dessert. I know “interesting” is usually used as a code word for “I didn’t like it” but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. This was a great combination of ingredients that don’t look like they’d work together, but did they ever. The salt and funk from the cheese against the bitterness of the chocolate and the loaminess of the truffles allowed for an alchemy of flavor that is almost indescribable. The wine’s sweetness helped cut through that conflux and yield a very enjoyable experience. I’ll be thinking about this one for a while.
One of the great things about dinners like this is you’re likely to meet people that have the same interest in food and libation as yourself. The conversations begin to range from where you’ve been, what you’ve eaten, and you find yourself gathering recommendations. Sometimes those recollections and recommendations begin to span the width of the cities, the state, the country, or even the world.
Somehow one half of the table became fast friends and we lingered after the meal to enjoy some post meal wines and the aforementioned discussion, and the other half left near immediately after the meal. During this period of libation discussion went from wine to beer, specifically sour beers. I mentioned I had some of Russian River’s great Consecration, which the gentleman that was the fan of sours had never had, since his party had ordered the post meal wines and shared, I felt it was a fair trade to get a bottle to him. (I did so today, I’ll update with his feedback when he gets a chance to try it.)
Another great thing about staying late, but probably not from their point of view, is that sometimes you get to talk to the chef outside the context of the meal. Doug Flicker is a great chef, and I’m a fan of what he does, so it was great getting to talk to him. I specifically wanted to ask him about what it was like being one of the few restaurants that the world famous chef Ferran Adria ate at when he came to town for a talk and event at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Mia for short). Short answer, he was stoked. Another diner asked if the recent and soon to be shuttered, La Belle Vie and Vincent’s respectively, were an indication of some weakness in the local food scene, his answer was that wasn’t what bothered him, he’s more concerned about the sudden frequency of similarly themed restaurants opening so quickly, which is very similar to the concern I’ve voiced.
I also asked him what restaurants on the horizon he’s excited about, his most anticipated is the same as mine, Erik & Jamie’s Brut. I get the sense he thinks it might change the game in town, after the few pop-ups I’ve been to for it, I couldn’t agree more.