279 replies to this topic

[Orik]

Evelyn already gave a great description of the meal (was there a superb mussel in that tidal pool? I thought there was), but I've been thinking about what made it as captivating as it was other than the company (and I mean captivating enough that many, many hours went by in a breeze, and that Manresa is now reason enough for us to go back to the west coast in well under 8 years, probably 8 months).

Sure, you can compare some dishes to very similar ones served at restaurant X in San Francisco and say, oh, the Manresa caviar and sea urchin comes in a sparkling, delicate aspic vs, the cubes of rather hard jelly at X, or the gargouillou is so much better integrated, or the egg dish proudly admits its origins, or there aren't five different dishes that include a dominant smoked component because restaurant X is so proud of having a small grill... this will all be true but I think it won't explain why restaurant X is just a good place while Manresa is something more.

I think the main point is that Kinch is a chef in the class of Passard, Ishikawa, and a handful of others (I think Achatz is a genius too, but of a very different kind) who is capable of handling everything from sourcing (or growing) the best ingredients to integrating both original and referential ideas in a mature and well thought out manner. Yes, practically everything is technically perfect, but that (like the transparent service) almost seems like a given. Yes, there are Japanese influences but there are no overtly Japanese dishes. You wonder why abalone goes with panna cotta until you try it, you taste the turbot with bone marrow boullion (a Meneau reference?) and at first you think - bland - but then bland blooms into perfectly balanced.


Of course, the cameo appearance by Ishikawa was a nice surprise and resulted in us receiving a gift of seasoned seaweed, sichuan peppercon, and a japanese spice mix to go along with Pim's hand-picked mandarinquat marmalade (I don't know what it costs but you should get some)

Highly recommended.

[Daisy]

That's a very good expression/description of the experience. With the proviso that I have never eaten at an Achatz restaurant, I think Manresa possibly might be the best restaurant in the country. And yes I have been to FL, and Per Se and all the other NYC heavy hitters.

[Evelyn]

Evelyn already gave a great description of the meal (was there a superb mussel in that tidal pool? I thought there was), but I've been thinking about what made it as captivating as it was other than the company (and I mean captivating enough that many, many hours went by in a breeze, and that Manresa is now reason enough for us to go back to the west coast in well under 8 years, probably 8 months).

Sure, you can compare some dishes to very similar ones served at restaurant X in San Francisco and say, oh, the Manresa caviar and sea urchin comes in a sparkling, delicate aspic vs, the cubes of rather hard jelly at X, or the gargouillou is so much better integrated, or the egg dish proudly admits its origins, or there aren't five different dishes that include a dominant smoked component because restaurant X is so proud of having a small grill... this will all be true but I think it won't explain why restaurant X is just a good place while Manresa is something more.

I think the main point is that Kinch is a chef in the class of Passard, Ishikawa, and a handful of others (I think Achatz is a genius too, but of a very different kind) who is capable of handling everything from sourcing (or growing) the best ingredients to integrating both original and referential ideas in a mature and well thought out manner. Yes, practically everything is technically perfect, but that (like the transparent service) almost seems like a given. Yes, there are Japanese influences but there are no overtly Japanese dishes. You wonder why abalone goes with panna cotta until you try it, you taste the turbot with bone marrow boullion (a Meneau reference?) and at first you think - bland - but then bland blooms into perfectly balanced.


Of course, the cameo appearance by Ishikawa was a nice surprise and resulted in us receiving a gift of seasoned seaweed, sichuan peppercon, and a japanese spice mix to go along with Pim's hand-picked mandarinquat marmalade (I don't know what it costs but you should get some)

Highly recommended.

I agree with Daisy. You have nailed it (and I have dined at Alinea ).

[Steven Dilley]

Thanks for the report. I agree with all three of you, and while I don't make it out there often enough, there's nowhere I'd rather eat in the States. Passard's class indeed.

[Lippy]

I think Manresa possibly might be the best restaurant in the country.

I agree.

[SLBunge]

I think Manresa possibly might be the best restaurant in the country.

I agree.

It is the best restaurant where I have dined.

I really enjoyed my meal at Alinea but the experience was not effortless like it was at Manressa. And reading Orik's post makes me remember just how much I liked my meal at Manressa.

I think that Achatz does want the meal to take some effort from the diner so Alinea isn't really going for effortless. He wants the halting weirdness you experience when some of the food is put in front of you to be part of the experience.

But I would choose go back to Manressa sooner than I would choose Alinea.

[Rail Paul]

via Eater:

After three years at Manresa, the two-starred Michelin restaurant in Los Gatos, Jessica Largey recently was promoted to chef de cuisine. At just 26, Largey calls herself a food-industry lifer, who cooked her first meal of scrambled eggs at 5 and dressed up as a chef for Halloween at 8.

Largey grew up in Fillmore, a small agricultural town outside Ventura, and attended California School of Culinary Arts in Pasadena. Soon after that, she interned and became a line cook at Providence restaurant in Los Angeles. In 2007, she landed a gig at Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck in England, considered by many critics to be the world's best restaurant.

Largey returned to Los Angeles and resumed work in some of the city's top kitchens until 2008, when she accepted an opportunity to work with Manresa's chef-owner, David Kinch. Two kindred spirits, they agreed to stay in touch. In early 2009, Largey accepted the role of chef de partie at Manresa; she was promoted to sous chef in 2011. With the recent addition of new pastry chef Stephanie Prida, also 26, Manresa's kitchen is predominantly female for the first time.

more on Ms Largey's philosophy of food at the link


San Jose Mercury News

[aek]

Any hotel recommendations in Los Gatos? Or do people usually come up from SF?

[Evelyn]

Any hotel recommendations in Los Gatos? Or do people usually come up from SF?

Hotel Los Gatos or the Toll House Hotel.

[Adrian]

Toll House is good and has a very NorCal vibe. Easy walk to the restaurant as well.

 

Been thinking about this meal a bit in the context of the last multi-star meal I had last summer at EMP.* Especially after seeing that Manresa is coming out with a cookbook. I'll buy it, but I can't imagine that it'll be particularly useful. One big difference on the plate was that Manresa had a deftness and intuition that EMP lacked. A very talented, very well equipped, home cook could, I think, replicate EMP's food. With Manresa, even with access to the ingredients, I'd hate to say that replicating the food is fruitless, it's more that the genius of what's going on isn't as parsable as it is with other elite restaurants I've been to.

 

*Note that we don't have any of these in Toronto, unfortunately. I mean, okay, Shoto, maybe, but it's different...