Corvino Tasting Room is under the roof of the Corvino Supper Club, all run by Chef Michael Corvino, who has won numerous awards.  The Tasting Room is open Thursday to Sunday for one seating at 7:00 pm and offers only a 10+ course surprise tasting menu.  Optional beverage pairings are available. (We opted for a glass of sparkler and then a bottle of wine).  You enter in the Supper Club, where live music was playing and then are escorted into the small room with a large window into the kitchen, that cooks for you and the main club.  The tasting menu takes about 2.5 hours.  While they can make some adaptations with advance notice and they do offer a vegetarian menu they cannot accommodate  vegan or gluten-free menus.  It was refreshing that there were no options for upcharge items.  There are 4 tables for 2-4 and 2 seats are at the plating counter, that separates the dining area from the kitchen window. Lighting is dim in the room but spots help for each table and the kitchen window adds light.  Portioning is light and pacing is prompt.  No dedicated parking is available so allow time to search if you go.  They do give you a copy of the menu when you leave.  It is worth a visit.

Set up

 

Tasting menu

Everyone started with a cocktail of dry vermouth, yuzu, pineapple and Thai basil.  It was served in an interesting glass – like one that is insulated.  It was a sweet and tart drink with lots of fruit flavor.

 

Three snacks come first for food.   Chicken fried snail and black garlic was heavy on the chicken fry of the snail.  It was crispy but the coating dwarfed all other flavors.  Oyster and Asian pear was light and wonderful.  Shiitake toast with salted plums was like an English muffin half topped with mushroom and plum.  It was a contrast of salty and sweet, with good flavor.

 

Tuna aguachile, hibiscus, cucumber, basil was in the form of alternating slices of tuna and cucumber in a good sauce.  It was a fine dish but not groundbreaking.

 

Uni with buckeye beans, lemon oil, miso and dill was more interesting.  The uni was from California and the beans were very fresh tasting.  This was an excellent pairing of ingredients where they were better together than apart.

 

Kaluga caviar, buckwheat dumplings, onion butter and egg yolk were combined and then topped with chives.  This one had great flavor and texture.  The dumplings were mini-sized and wonderful.  There was a subtle elegance to this dish.

 

Black cod was gently poached and combined with shimeji, cream dashi, pickled onion and kale oil.  The kale oil gave the broth a wonderful color that contrasted nicely with the white fish, onion and mushrooms.  The perfectly cooked fish was delightful especially with the other delicious ingredients.

 

Roast chicken, lion’s mane and farro verde were next.  The chicken roulade was a moist combination of the dark and white meats wrapped in a crispy skin and served on top of a creamy sauce that contained the farro verde.  Some caramelized fennel added to the savory flavor here.

 

Spinalis, huitlacoche and maiitake mushroom were lined up for the next course.The beef cap meat had been triple seared and brushed with saki and soy.   It was fine as was the mushroom, but I didn’t care for the corn smut preparation.

 

Polenta sourdough and raw butter were served with the beef.  The small round loaf was nicely crusty and you could see the yellow polenta in the doughy interior.  The butter was softened and dotted with salt.  Both were wonderful.

 

As the sweet courses start they offered a selection of complimentary coffee/tea and extra-charge drinks.

 

Donut with parmesan and lemon marmalade was the first dessert.  The donut was made with a fried brioche filled with lemon marmalade.  It was tart but made a good transition into the sweet part of the meal.

 

Goat milk sherbet was topped with paw paw and bee pollen.  Paw paw has a ‘rind’ taste to it that was moderated with lemon olive oil and bee pollen.  It was a perfect match with the very sweet sherbet, that was totally smooth.  Fine combo.

 

Milk chocolate, black malt, caramel, malted milk combined for the last dessert.  Soft sweet cream made the exterior that held inside a rich chocolate custard and cake.  It was topped with thin crisp sheets of caramel and a touch of salt.  It was a heavy dessert but luscious with wonderful textures and flavors.  Not too sweet but very satisfying.

 

With the presentation of the bill and the menu was a plate with orange and vanilla sugared gel and chocolate truffle bon bon marked with the raven (translate to corvino in Italian)  that was also on the napkin.  It was yummy good.

 

They also brought a gift bag with an apple butter financier to go.  It was quite nice even a few days later.