Frankie tried Saint Germain in Jan. 2023 and was blown away so we’ve wanted to get back here and try it again.  I’m glad we did.  They’ve made some cosmetic upgrades to the structure which makes it more comfortable but more importantly their food continues to be superb.  It’s a tasting menu only with pretty limited seating but well worth watching the reservation program and snagging a place as soon as you can.  Located in an old house, that still has the past occupant’s pizza parlor sign outside, it’s a two-stage meal.  You start at the bar counter with several small plates and then move into the dining room.  It’s a lot of courses but they are small – plenty to give you several bites but not enough to stuff you.  Service is super friendly with good pacing to the meal.  Too often places can’t continue this level of excellence but this team has so I hope you’ll try it and tell them Frankie sent you (no I’m not getting any kick-backs).

Set-Up

 

Food

You are welcomed to your seat at the bar with a small cocktail made with lime, elderflower liquor and green tea.  It was quite tasty.

 

Next is a moist cloth scented with lavender for your hands and the aroma to open your palate.

 

Parmesan Broth was made with 4 year aged parmesan, onion and garlic.  It was lightly warm and delicious.

 

We tried their house martini – L’Apercu made with Japanese gin, fortified wine and onion.  It was a bit mild for my taste.

 

Beet and Kaluga caviar utilized beets that were smoked, made in sorbet and pickled.  Mixed with them was goat cheese and the caviar.  It was a delightful combination of temperatures, textures and flavors.  Great.

 

Basil leaf, saffron emulsion, Meyer lemon gel and dried scallop were presented on a scallop shell.  The Haikkado scallop also was mixed with fried basil and other ingredients I didn’t get written down.  It was light with more lovely textures and flavors.

 

Wagyu and potato was their take on a steak and potato meal.  Only this was Japanese A5 wagyu ribeye alongside a crispy potato topped with yuzu, creme fraiche and wasabi.  It was several divine bites of beef butter, whose flavor was intensified by dry aging, paired with a tater tot on steroids.  On the side was a broth of the beef seasoned with fresh ginger juice and Thai basil.  It was just as good with a touch of spiciness and an amazing depth of flavor.

 

They offered a truffle addition for some upcoming course but we passed.

 

Bread and butter were a couple house made corn cakes with cultured butter that had been aged one year.  The cakes were excellent, tender and lovely in the mouth.  You didn’t really need any butter but it was nice too.

 

Matsutake, sunchoke and gribiche were combined for the next course.  Royal Trumpet mushrooms were alongside sunchokes in a braising liquid with black garlic.  The other bowl had baby mustard frills topped with raw crimini slices on top of the sauce gribiche, which is a cold creamy egg-based sauce.  Both were excellent.  The cooked portion was perfect and very flavorful and the cool part turned into a fabulous salad of sorts.

 

Crab and Rice was made with Koshihikari rice, roasted shitake mushrooms and blue crab meat and then topped with chives.  This one also had an amazing depth of flavor with a very creamy texture.  So savory – yum, yum.

 

Squab and greens was made with squab that was aged 3 weeks and then seared over the coals.  It was combined with mustard greens in a bone jus combined with foie gras.  How could you go wrong?  The squab was rare and tender with a luscious sauce to accent it.  On the side was a bowl of boudin sausage noir with apple sorbet and brown butter apple topping.  The blood sausage was tasty and savory but the big bowl was the better of the two.

 

Aerated chocolate was a transition course.  It was made with frozen dark chocolate, crispy rice and dark molasses.  It was light and crispy with a nice chocolate flavor and served cold.

 

Cheese soufflé was brought out straight from the oven and stuffed with more St. Andrews cheese from France.   This is a triple cream cheese that blended fantastically with the sweetened souffle.  Excellent.

 

You had to choose your spoon for the last dessert, Almond and Cherry.  It had toasted almond oil and last season’s cherries that were steeped in Amaretto.  It was like a peanut butter and jelly contrast of textures with thick sticky and light sweet.  It was a medium almond flavor that was a delightful combination dessert.