R.T.B. opened last May and was considered a pop up. They have taken on a permanent space, though, and are gradually making it into their own. A 2 story place, it’s still really small – 4 tables up and 4 down. Background music plays, the lovely finished wood tables with comfortable chairs, candlelight, minimal decorations and nice large cloth napkins along with the friendly service contribute to the cozy, comfortable ambiance of the place. Pacing was wonderful and personell were knowledgeable about what they were serving. They serve only a tasting menu with some supplements available and there is no written copy. They offer wine pairings but we chose to order our own wines. They have a large selection of champagnes.
To start we enjoyed a cup of warm broth of toasted grains and burnt onion to warm us up from the cold evening. It had a wonderful flavor and was a great appetite wake-up call.
Trout roe was served with grilled cabbage, buttermilk and horseradish. It was not fishy but instead had a good, strong flavor with a touch of tartness. Alongside was crisp sunchokes that had been cooked to a good crispness with some parts being thicker to add to the taste. It was quite good.
Horse mackerel was seared on one side and served on top of preserved citrus with mustard green oil. It was very fresh and wonderfully tender with nice flavors. All good here.
Grilled oysters were plated with mashed potatoes in Meyer lemon, cauliflower and grilled leek broth. Good textural variations and tastes worked together here. The lemon was a strong flavor but a good fit.
A Danish pancake of grilled broccoli was topped with mayo and deep fried shrimp. Doughy on the inside you could see the broccoli. It was a milder taste but still nice.
Monterrey black cod was grilled and served in lobster broth with espellet pepper and coconut. The velvety fish went perfectly with the spicy sauce. This was a dish packed with flavors – in your face kind of flavor. I loved it, well seasoned and very good.
The chef brought by the caviar available as a supplemental course but we passed on the option. Here’s a picture of the caviar.
Koshihikari rice mixed with grilled lobster and black truffle and then topped with Spanish ham was a gift from the chef. It had milder flavors but was really good, comfort food to say the least. The lobster was barely cooked and the rice cooked perfectly all in a nice state of creaminess. It was the perfect follow up to the previous spicy dish.
Tortellini were filled with cultured butter and mushroom and plated with smoked foie gras in a roasted garlic skin broth. These had a liquid center and needed to be eaten whole. Perfectly cooked pasta in another amazing broth. Delicious.
North coast lamb had been dry aged 45 days and then was served with abalone, cardoons and ono (seaweed). The cardoons tasted a lot like artichoke and some pickled chilies complimented the nicely rare lamb that was amazingly tender. All the elements really worked together and I think the seaweed was fried which added a fun crisp texture. Yes!
The cheese course was a cheese pecan pie which was pecan pie filling topped with parmesan and honey in a buckwheat crust. This was really good and nicely different. The crisp crust was great with the cheesy top and slight sweetness of the honey. All finally adorned with some fresh thyme. Thumbs up.
Dessert was a persimmon cake with white truffle anglaise. It was amazingly good with fun textures and great taste. It had a wonderful crispy edge and a perfect amount of sweet in the dense cake. Served alongside was burnt chestnut and coffee ice cream topped with crushed cocoa. Lots of flavor, smoothness and good sweetness. Wonderful ending.
