ForkAndPen

Dinner Club #1 - Michael Mina

ForkAndPen is back! Dinner Club is back!

The brave new dinner club ventured into the San Francisco night to dine at Michael Mina. We all chose two expensive places (over $35 dollars per person before alcohol and tip) and two cheap and put them in a bowl. The first dinner was to be expensive and Michael Mina (probbaly the most expensive) was picked.

We all met at the Clock Bar across from the restuarant and had a few pre-dinner drinks (and an awesome soft pretzel). Nice bar - large drink selection. The drinks tended towards a bit sweet but I liked mine--it has a huge name and starts with an H--but mostly I was just excited for dinner.

I have wanted to go to Mina for a long time, it just hadn't worked out until now. We had a 9pm reservation for six. We walked up the stairs and were shown to our table pretty fast. The room is beautiful, but to me it borders on austere and disconnected. But surrounded by friends and the prospect of good food - we were all really excited.

We brought our own wine to save a bit of money and to add a bit of ourselves to the meal. We started with a Medlock Ames Chardonnay 2007 Reserve (which basically just means their favorite of the '07 in a signed bottle). It was tasty, rich, full of fruity flavor, and went well with the amuse that we all started with.

A trio of seafood was brought to us. A perfectly fried salt cod bite, bacon crusted shrimp on top of a asparagus sauce, and lobster bisque with coral powder on it (a new one for me) made up the amuse. To me the shrimp was fine but not as interesting as the other two. The lobster bisque was full of flavor and the salt cod was salty, fried, and amazing.

First Course:

Ahi Tuna Tartare - this is one of Michael Mina's signature dishes. Mostly a disappointment for me. Don't get me wrong, it was a good tartare. Fresh tuna - lots of flavors. It was overpowered by sesame oil, but that isn't even my biggest gripe. It just, well, felt like any other tuna tartare. I kinda wish I had ordered the oyster first course.

Wolfe Ranch Quail - Corn and Truffle. A trio of quail dishes: seared breast with polenta and a quail egg, sweet corn soup with confit leg and red bliss potato, and finally a foie gras terrine, with black winter truffles, and corn bread crumble. Jasmine ordered this and liked the foie gras the best. It was buttery without being too rich. She also loved the corn soup. My favorite was the quail breast - it was a cohesive small dish that I would love to have again and again.

Marinated Japanese Fish - Seaweed - Another great trio. We tried a few pieces off Sam's plate. Each one was gentle, but with lots of fireworks. My favorite was one that was grilled or roasted a small amount, just enough to give it some carmelization, but to still be soft and give a raw fish texture.

Second Course:

We pulled out our other wine for the next course. It was a Benziger Tribute - 2005 (I think). A great big jammy wine. We were bummed that the hostess had forgotten to tell our waitress that it was our wine--they hadn't decanted it. It really needed it. Oh well, it was still great.

California Squab - "Peking" and Pluots - I was looking forward to this course after reading about it on the web, and overall I liked it. There was a smoked breast with dinosaur pluots and pea leaves. The smoked breast was well executed and a good bite. The consomme and shitake dumplings were ok, but nothing that memorable. And finally the foie with steamed bun and tokyo turnips was a nice complete flavor package. The foie was just as good as the one in the first course - they must have some good foie sources - or possibly just the way they prepare it. It coud stand up as a dish on its own.

Brandt Farm Beef - Bone Marrow. The steak was ridiculous--excellent beef cooked well and presented with a bunch of tasty sides. But for at least two of us at the table it was mostly cold. Besides that it was a solid trio. Filet Mignon with brussel sprouts and chanterelle mushrooms was soft and rich but not that innovative. The rib eye surprised me with its flavor - full and perfectly seasoned, and its sides were exciting. The celeria puree was good at cutting through the rib eye, and the bone marrow flan was good at doing the opposite - spread on the rib eye it transformed it to a sinful dish. Jasmine really really liked the flan. I think she is going to ask me to make it one of these days.

Nobody at the table ordered the famous Maine Lobster Pot Pie. We did see it go to a few tabels and it did look pretty amazing. The smell was pretty great coming from those tables. I think Mina is really skilled at seafood. I am a bit sad we didn't get the wild fish course--it was probably exciting.

Third Course - Dessert:

"My brown butter flan was the best - I thought". Jasmine still remembers it. It was part of the Bill Corbett's Dessert Trio. There was also a German Chocolate coconut cake, and a strawberry pavlova. The flan was pretty amazing - great texture. We also got the Root Beer Floats and warm chocolate cookies. I was very happy at the time. Thinking about it now I am critical of it (IBC root beer - really?) but hey - there could be a lot of worse ways to end a meal. I paired it with a Hungarian Tokaji 2005 - that was a bit too sweet for all these sweet desserts. It still was a great wine - lots of orange blossom.

A note about the service - overall pretty good. Our waitress was very attentive and all the dishes were explained well. There was a bit of an off vibe I got once in a while. Not sure what that was - possibly because it was late and we were one of the last tables. It also might be the space. It wasn't as intimate a place as I was expecting (thought it is raised a good bit from the hotel lobby)

So - a good meal, definitely. A great meal - not exactly. Maybe I am nit picking - but something that has been there with me at other four star restuarants just wasn't there with Michael Mina. But the food still stood up and makes me want to try his food again. We found out that you can order pretty much anything off the menu (including the lobster pot pie) at the bar and order a bottle of wine off the hidden gems menu (Tuesday - Thursday). I would like to do that soon.

The best part of the evening for me - the friends that are with me in starting dinner club. Food is important to me, always has been, and it's great to share it with others. Here's hoping for many joyous dinners to come!