Executive Chef/Owner - Homaru Cantu
Edible Pita Menu with Pickled Ramps
What a way to start the evening. This highly anticipated first course (?) amuse bouche (?) (is there a name for a course before the beginning of the meal?) lived up to its grandeur. The rice paper menu printed (on both sides!) and then adhered to homemade pita was witty and charming. The pickled ramp was tangy and crunchy, and the artchioke fresh and juicy, but not what I would have expected or would describe as a natural pair to a pita cracker. I must admit that I wish the menu had a bit more flavor but then again, it's all relative, right? Of all the menus I've tasted, this one takes the cake.
Oh and how could I forget the "tweeting" encouragement at the bottom of the menu?
Course 1: Cotton Candy - Gin Soaked Grapefruit with Escolar & Tobiko
We loved the presentation of this course- same dish for each of us, but each styled and plated in a slightly different way on a uniquely shaped plate. Emily's was most picturesque we thought, with her tobiko shaped like the grapefruit. The grapefruit itself was carbonated and infused with gin to give a refreshingly sweet taste. Individually, the components were mouth watering. Together, I didn't feel like they fused well as components. The escolar was very tender and savory, an oily fish hailing from the mackerel family.
Yum! This dish delivered on both creativity and plain yumminess. A play on french onion soup, this bowl was a tantalizing and savory bowl of smooth caramelized onion broth infused with the tiniest bit of water, caramelized onions themselves, a dehydrated onion "shaped like a funyon" and a bruleed gruyere cheese to top it all off. The light broth was naturally sweet from the onion, and the cheese tasted like a hearty cheese spread. The caramelized onions were melt-in-your-mouth tender. Overall, two thumbs up for oniony goodness.
Course 3: Red Bull Paella - Skate Wing, Puffed Rice, Saffron Beads, Red Bull Paella Sauce
The server brought out these plates combined with a small can of Red Bull from which she popped the tab and poured out a deliciously creamy and savory chorizo broth. The skate wing was firm and light, with the puffed rice adding crunchiness. Roasted vieggies, tomatoes and saffron beads added a mouthful of texture to every bite. I felt like the rice overwhelemd the dish a bit, overpowering the flavors with their smokiness. The beads (while an awesome concept) were slightly overwhelming- difficult to taste unless you ate them on your own. Our table wondered why concept of the Red Bull was pervasive throughout the dish when none of the ingredients actually came from the energy drink itself- we ultimately decided that the Skate Wing combination was a play on RB's motto "Red Bull gives you Wings". Don't know if it's true, but we'll take the creative credit for now... :)
Course 4: Phunnel Cake - Braised Pheasant Breast & Pheasant Phunnel Cake
I'm not a big fan of game, and in my opinion, this pheasant dish didn't do the "game world" any favors. The creativity was fun, with pheasant prepared three ways. The slice of pheasant breast was spiraled, and the pheasant stock was emulsified so that it was like a cream soup. The pheasant breast had brunoired vegetables and a very gamey taste. While the meat was slightly dry, the emulsified pheasant was very flavorful and thus the highlight of the dish. The combination of the three even had a surprisingly floral and aromatic aftertaste.
Course 5: Loaded Fries
This is Moto's version of crispy potato skins with brunoired jalapeno and bacon bits and a layered seven year aged cheddar. If you didn't care about your weight or health of arteries clogging, you could in fact down a whole bowl of this quite easily! Thanksgiving dinner- eat your heart out :) The whole dish was topped with crispy potato skin strings - what couldn't be better? These were very rich potatoes with a strong sharp cheddar flavor, making the whole dish savory and creamy in texture. The Jalapenos looked a lot like the chives on a baked potato. All of the ingredients melded well with the crunchiness and crispiness from the potato skin strings.
Course 6: Yellow Snow
We weren't sure what to expect with this dish, but were delighted upon its arrival. After five courses, 'yellow snow' played the role of a palate cleanser, but didn't have the slightest characteristic of boring. The dish consisted of a meringue "snow" with a curry and lemon curd "pee". I know, right? What were they thinking? But the dish had an aftertaste that reminded me of haw chips. The sweet shaved meringue tasted a bit like crushed fruit loops and the lemon curd wasn't too tart with the subtle curry taste punching through right at the very end of the mouthful. Yum.
Course 7: Cigar & Ashtray
Who could use a smoke break? This smoked pork cuban sandwich was the highlight of the night. Both creative and delectable, this was probably the closest anyone at our table would come to smoking a cigar. Moto's genius artfully created a smoked pork cuban sandwich , red pepper coulis, braised collard greens and a sesame seed ash. To top it all off, they wrapped it in Kohiba authentic cigar paper.
After you get over the novelty of the cigar, there's a great smokey flavor to the sandwich cut by the slight bitterness of the braised collard greens. The ash- salt/pepper/ground sesame seeds is addictive and adds a slight nuttiness and unique texture to the overall blend.
Course 8: Forrest Roll
This forrest roll maki was a play on sushi- "all forest and no sea". The "sashimi" was made of a poached rabbit tenderloin colored with beet juice to make it look like fish. There was mushroom paper instead of seaweed, arborio rice, brussel sprouts, all-spice aioli and green peas instead of wasabi. Radish was used instead of pickled ginger to top it all off.
A fun play on words, this dish was not what you would expect in the first bite because of the sushi deception. There was a saltiness and strong garlic flavor from the aioli and the rice was mushy to resemble sushi rice. The rabbit was so tender and melted in your mouth. The brussel sprout in the middle of the sushi added a nice firm texture and the peas/"wasabi" were a little powdery since it was mushed and dried. The mushroom earthiness was very pronounced as a flavor in the maki roll. It was an interesting concept and presentation, but didn't impress in flavor.
Course 9: Maitake & Pork Belly
The pork belly was prepared "Knockmut" style- a method of thai preparation. There was a garlic, ginger and lemongrass which were pressed, the liquid reduced, and then thai chiles in the skin. The mushroom was made of deconstructed mushrooms and then put back together to look like a mushroom. Go figure! Who ever would have thought of that? Then the chef put gailan greens sauteed with chinese broccoli and mushroom puree with sauteed maitake mushrooms to complete the dish.
The sauce was a little bit sweet and spicy with some bitterness. The thick caramel style reduction surprisingly didn't overpower the pork with its syrupy texture. The pork belly was extremely tender to the bite.
We asked and found out that the deconstructed mushroom was made by taking mushroom consomme, aerating it, and then dehydrating it into a mushroom shape. Genius at work.
Course 10: Deli-Style Pasta
This course came out of order for us- it was a reuben with swiss cheese, a caraway seed pasta, corned beef brisket, sauerkraut, a dill potato chip, thousand island dressing and fresh dill in the fork. The caraway seed pasta was tasty- very pungent. The chip had a sour note to it (that made Danny cringe) and the sauerkraut was surprisingly undetectable. The corned beef was a little stringy (perhaps a bit too dry??) and the thousand island dressing was light and creamy- a good complement to the drier sandwich. Overall, a heartier course that we could really sink our teeth into. Surprisingly, the dill in the fork provided the dish with a unique aromatic flavor. Its strong scent pervaded its way through the pasta, permeating our every bite. Course 11: Shabu-ccino
This dish is a take on a cappuccino with seared kobe beef, edamame, carrot, potato and a truffle oil "sugar cube". The "creamer" is made from potato bisque and foam. The "coffee" was a veal stock with fermented black garlic and soy sauce. The coffee stock was very salty and overpowered the potato foam bisque and the truffle foam despite our best efforts to combine everything to bring the saltiness down. The Kobe beef was nice, but easily eaten in one bite. This was a cute spin on a coffee idea, but no a great execution of flavor.
Course 12: Duck & Mole
This dish contained a mexican canolli with mole and braised duck. The canolli is a fried tortilla shell and the mole took three days to make. There are also two types of powder - a yellow freeze dried powder and white jalapeno powder. The corn powder had a distinct sweetness, but there was a little too much 'lime sour cream". Crunchy pepitas were a nice touch. The freeze dried powder emulsified in your mouth for a creamy cheesy texture. The smokiness of the mole sauce cuts through the tanginess of the lime sour cream and pepitas, but it doesn't have nearly as many layers as our dinner from two nights before @ Topolobompo (they had a slightly unfair advantage having just come from mole King, Rick Bayless)
Course 13: Crepes that are Cheese
This dish was an extremely fun play on words. The "cheese" (left side and right side of plate) were actually made from crepe batter, and the "crepe" (middle) was actually made of cheese. The right side of the plate features a "blue cheese" - a crepe mousse with blueberry puree and a caramel and dehydrated crepe mixture. The "havarti style cheese" is actually a crepe mousse with a raspberry puree. The crepe in the middle is made of a smoked gouda with a grand marnier and apricot chutney.
The rasberry-havarti and crepe were my favorite. There was a little bit of "cheese-cakiness" to the cheeses with the crepe mousse texture. The apricot chutney delivered a great zing of citrus to the tasting. A phenomenal twist to a transitional cheese plate. Now onto desserts!
Course 14: Pina Colada Cereal
This dish is neck and neck with the cigar ashtray for top course. The "pina colada" contained rum infused coconut milk with rice flakes and dehydrated pineapple. The liquid nitrogen kept the rice flakes crunchy as the coconut milk flavor infused the rest of the bowl. We loved the refreshing qualities of this dish, combining the light sweetness of the pineapple, and the fact that it cut through the salt content from the last few dishes. (it was so good that it brought Andrew's appetite back!) This reminded all of us of a big bowl of cereal for which you would be happy wake up any morning of the week .
Course 15: Rainbow Sprinkles
To be honest, this dish isn't for the faint-hearted. The idea of a goose liver cupcake traditionally doesn't yield delectable thoughts, but our dinner table couldn't wait to sink our teeth into it. The foie gras cupcake was fortified with foie gras fat whipped in batter with a creamy foie gras mousse inside. The "sprinkles" were made from pistachio gold lentils which were died with beets to give them a bluish hue, similar to that of tiny sugary jimmies. On the other side of the plate is a more traditional variation of foie, which is seared and served atop a blueberry gastrique.
This dish was very unexpected, and as our group tried to decipher what "rainbow sprinkles" could possibly mean, we didn't even come close. The seared foie was creamy and delectable, and the blueberry gastrique, delicious- giving a sweet balance to a savory bite. The cupcake had a very strong foie flavor with the mousse inside and savory sprinkles that still had the overall sweet "cakiness" quality, despite having none of the similar ingredients of a traditional cake.
Course 16: Snow Ball
"Snow Ball" is a carrot cake on a base of cream cheese that is dipped on White Chocolate with a carrot cake puree inside and a topping of cherry flavored coconut. As you cut the "snow ball" open, the puree lusciously spills out of the cake, giving way to a cinnamon-y and gingery pool of goodness. The orange sauce on the outside of the snowball (seen in the picture above), is made of carrot cake and ginger puree, with apple/walnut and orange vestibule pieces providing a bit more texture.
Overall, the ginger was subtle and the white chocolate flavor paired with the carrot cake puree without going overboard on the sugar levels. The bits of orange/apple/walnut strewn about on the side of the snowball were a great complement, giving an aromatic and floral sense to the overall dish. Great balance, but pina colada still tops the list.
Course 17: Banana Split
"Banana Split" was served to us as a game of Battleship! Who told us we shouldn't play with our food? The plate consisted of ramen noodles that are actually made from a banana sorbet. Roasted cocoa nibs, roasted almonds and maraschino cherries provided a crunchy topping, and inside each of the three pipettes was maraschino cherry syrup, caramel syrup and chocolate syrup, respectively. This dish was both fun and interactive- battleship was certainly the right way to put it. But instead of wanting to sink the other players ship, I seemed to have eaten my best players. G4.
I sunk my own ship and it was delicious.
Course 18: Acme Bombs
This highly anticipated dish did not disappoint. Upon serving, the marshmallow fluff "fuse" was lit, and the smores bomb inside was active. There was a liquid graham cracker center with a marshmallow fluff bed of which once the "fuse" "detonates", the whole bomb tastes like a campfire smore. How is the liquid center made you might ask? Well, the master minds in the kitchen blend milk, graham crackers and seasoning in a blender and then freeze it. Once frozen, they dip it in a luscious layer of chocolate and put it in a refrigerator so that the viscous liquid can melt and become a pool of goodness just waiting to be detonated. The fuse toasts the center so that it burns to create the smokey flavor in the middle.
Course 19: Chocolate Truffles
Truffles that are truffles- the inside is a combination of 1/2 black truffle mousse and 1/2 beet mousse. Beet mousse? That might sound strange to some, but it really made for a sweeter balance to the overall rich chocolatiness of the dish. Cocoa nibs provided a crunch exterior coating. The "dirt" is made of cocoa powder, cocoa nibs, hazelnut, freeze dried beets and chocolate ice cream. How's that for a mouthful? The beets in turn, bring out a deeper darker chocolate that you wouldn't otherwise taste. The mousse isn't surprisingly as sweet as you would think, but our table gave a thumbs down for the overall presentation. Truffles just have a likeness to something that you don't want to eat...
Course 20: Root Beer Float
Ahhhh...what a great way to cross the finish line. This root beer float contained a vanilla "packing peanut" in nitrogen to give it both a crunchy and smokey effect. The peanut is full of air and smokes itself when you bite into it. The root beer is sweet and not too carbonated, but provides a refreshing finish as you finish the meal.
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