Foodie Digest

Happy new year! Clearly I have a resolution to revisit foodie digest, so here we go.

New Year’s Eve/New Year’s day let me try 3 new to me places. We went to:

Thermidor for New Year’s eve dinner

Mission Chinese Food for New Year’s day brunch

Cotogna for New Year’s Day dinner.

Sure, it’s a lot of eating. It’s the holidays; time to be excessive.

First pleasant surprise was Thermidor. I say a surprise because New Year’s eve is risky any where. Thermidor had same day reservations, and the atmosphere stayed relaxed and calm most of the evening.

We started the night with cocktails, including a stellar Old Fashioned.  This was so well made that when our friends joined us for dinner, one of them ordered it right away.

Because it was NYE we had a prix fixe menu to choose from. Because there were four of us, we got to taste many things.

First course

Choice of:

• Oxtail Croquettes These were served 2 to an order and basically were mini-corndog size croquettes filled with, surprise, oxtail. It was a really interesting presentation, hearty and flavorful.
• Crab and citrus salad A huge portion of fresh dungeness crab with a great balance of citrus and fennel. This was my dish but declared by other tasters as the winner of the course.
• Lobster bisque I didn’t try this but it appeared to be enjoyed. Bisque along with chunks of lobster.
• Goat cheese and pear napoleon Nobody at our table ordered this so no comments.

Next course, choice of:

• Sweetbreads coated in panko bread crumbs and lightly pan fried. I liked this but it wasn’t my favorite. It was the favorite of the diner who ordered it.
• Crab and artichoke newburg My course and my favorite. This was very delicate and not overly creamy. The presentation was lovely; served in a scallop shell.
• Salsify “pasta” with mushrooms Nice umami flavors but lacking the promised mushrooms.
• Pork belly I think I tasted this but don’t remember it. Still, we enjoyed all of these four courses.

Main course had 4 choices, but we skipped the veggie course and and the duck a la orange. We had:

• Butter poached lobster, scallop and shrimp Prepared well and tasty but not overly inspired.
• Filet mignon served with braised short ribs and potato puree This was good BUT they needed a second chance. One of our filets was a beautiful cut of filet mignon; the other was random end pieces (and decidedly not tender). We asked nicely for a replacement and the freshly fired steak was tender and perfectly prepared.

A bit of comedy when the new steak came without the short ribs, but the comedy ensued because it followed a glass of champagne dropped and shattered by the server. All good natured and resulted in the restaurant buying us a round of cocktails. We requested a house-made egg nog which was boozy, not creamy with just a touch of egg white at the rim.

The meal was really overall very good until dessert. There was a choice of 2 and both fell flat.

Milk n cookies was a vanilla bean panna cotta with fresh baked cookies. This was OK. I wouldn’t go out of my way to order it but it was the final course included in the meal

The other option was a chocolate parfait that had an overwhelming coffee flavor.

All in all it was a great night, fun company and friendly service.

Next up, Mission Chinese Food