Look Out Below + Justifying The 9

It occurred to me that some of you (and by some, I mean all) probably didn't notice last week that I added some new features to the blog. You hit your bookmark, saw the cute picture of The Puppy and moved along to your next time-wasting bookmark, incorrectly assuming there was nothing new. Shame on you! Now scroll down, look at the new content and then come back here. Go on! I'll wait...

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Done? Good. So, now you know that other parts of the blog get updates (like A to Z) even if I don't have some overly-long entry on the Main Page. So, if you do a drive-by, you might miss something and I'm NOT going to post here EVERY time I change something. You have been warned.

So, obviously, the most interesting content is the ranking of Th3 n1n3. And, like most lists it's sure to piss off plenty of people. 'ZOMGBBQ!!! HOW DARE YOU HAVE CYRUS RANKED LAST!!!! U R A N00B!!!!' my comments section would read (if I allowed commenting, that is). First off, this is MY top nine EXPERIENCES and only for THIS year. That doesn't mean that Micheal Mina > Redd > Guy Savoy. It means my experience(s) @ Micheal Mina this year were superior to my visits to Redd and Guy Savoy THIS YEAR. You had different experiences and, six months from now, I could very well have different experiences at the exact same places, but I can only go but what happened to me. Ordering the wrong dish, having a server in the weeds, being sat next to loud/annoying people on cell phones and such can ruin a fine meal at a truly great restaurant. It happens. But enough of my “disclaimer”, on to why I ranked places where I did...

Number one was a no-brainer. There are a lot of little things I like that really help enhance a meal. Extra intemezzo courses, things done tableside, cheese courses, visits from the chef, molecular gastronomy (done correctly – not just for the sake of doing molecular gastronomy) are some of those things and ALL of them happened @ Madrona Manor. Plus it happened to be our anniversary at a restaurant that we had visited on our honeymoon. It was pretty much a perfect meal.

Madrona also shows that, even though my blog is named after the Michelin Guide, I don't pay much heed to their scoring system. I mean, ranking single-star Madrona Manor ABOVE three-star Joel Robuchon and two-star Guy Savoy, Michael Mina AND Cyrus! Sacre Blue! Just keep in mind the Michelin Guide is just that...a guide. While some might view it as a bible, I think it's healthier to view it as a very descriptive map. The difference between a two-star and a one-star is mostly subjective anyways...which brings us to number two and number three.

We've gone to Michael Mina so many times in '09 (mostly because of their ridiculously affordable Pre-Theater Menu) that we practically have our own table. The hostess recognizes us, the mater die recognizes us as does the waitstaff. Needless to say, that is very kewl. Went went to The Dining Room once and had one of the best meals of the year with a-l-m-o-s-t French Laundry type ninja servers. To me, EITHER would make a solid number two but I give the edge to Micheal Mina for consistency.

That a three-star restaurant ranked as “low” as four is a bit weird even to me (and I wrote the list), but I simply had a better time at Madrona, Mina and the Ritz-Carlton. That being said, Robuchon was a VERY memorable meal with courses that looked like each dish had it's own creative director. Number five, Sushi-Zo, was on the opposite side of the spectrum. Tiny plate after tiny plate of fresher-than-should-be-possible seafood and rice with the terse instructions of “Soy sauce!!!” or “No soy sauce, please!!!”. It's a trip and, without a doubt, the best sushi I've ever consumed.

At this point, the list gets a lot more murky. Madrona, Mina, Ritz-Carlton, Robuchon and Sushi-Zo were EASILY the best five places I went this year. They were memorable, had impeccable service and creative, perfectly executed dishes that, to this day, I still crave and probably remember them as being even better than they actually were. I might struggle with who's #2 vs. #4, but they're all Top Five. Picking six though nine was kid of like pulling teeth. I really, really liked Gordon Ramsay BUT that was only for High Tea...so not really a fair assessment. Same is true of Providence BUT that was only for dessert. The Village Pub was truly memorable and left me wanting more but was it really better than Guy Savoy's bread pairing or the Champagne and Caviar Cart @ Cyrus? This is where the list stopped being fun >_<

Redd, like Mina, gets high marks for consistently great food on multiple visits (it's become my Go-To place in Kellerville). Guy Savoy merits number seven for the service, bread and cheese carts. Plus his son, Frank, loved my silver velvet Armani jacket and the Foodie A to Z thing. So, yeah, he knows about the blog too. (Hi Frank!). The Plumed Horse ranks number eight in SPITE of so-so service. It wasn't bad...just nowhere near the ninjalike servers of the restaurants higher on the list. Foodwise though, the tasting menu was spectacular. Tighten up a few things and it moves up the list. Which brings us to number nine, Cyrus. Now MANY people would have you believe that Cyrus is the equal, if not superior, to The French Laundry. I don't see it. Aside from two-renowned chefs cooking in the NorCal Wine Country, I don't see the parallels and, frankly, I think the comparisons hurt Cyrus. With all the hype and fanfare I was EXPECTING a transcendent experience and I got a tasting menu with...two, maybe, three good courses. It was still interesting and memorable, but on the expectations vs. reality scale it really under delivered. Sorry.

But, like I said, six through nine was really a crap shoot, so if it makes you feel any better, go ahead and pretend that you fave was #6 or JUST missed the list because, frankly, you could six through nine in a Yahtzee dice cup and re-number them and I wouldn't have much to quibble about. Redd, Cyrus, The Plumed Horse, Guy Savoy along with the others mentioned above are ALL worthy of being an anybody's Top Ten list.