Restaurant Review: Aria

To celebrate the occasion of our mutual fall birthdays, my sister, brother-in-law and I make it a point to go out for a nice, celebratory meal during my week-long Christmas visit. This year, as with last year, we chose to go to Aria in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood. The change for this year, however, is that my brother-in-law Greg secured the private table in the basement wine cellar.

Our visit began with cocktails in the swanky, dimly-lit, crimson-hued lounge while our table was being prepared. Greg chose the Daisy which featured Barsol Pisco, Grand Marnier, soda, lime juice and cranberry syrup. Dani was in the mood for bubbles so she opted for the Berry Splash which was composed of Scharffenberger Brut, blueberry vodka and lemon puree. Lastly, I decided to go with my "spirit of the moment": whiskey. I had the Honey 'n Spice which was concocted with Jack Daniels, Jack Daniels Honey, apple cider, fresh lemon juice, ginger liqueur and ginger ale. Happiness abounded...and no, I did not share.

Once we finished our cocktails, we followed our hostess down the narrow staircase to our wine cellar dining room. The room was crisp and cool (after all, it is a working wine cellar) and lit by only one light bulb and a multitude of candles. The booth/table purportedly seats four people, but I have a hard time imagining a party larger than our three fitting comfortably. Upon looking at the menu, the three of us immediately decided that the tasting menu was the way to go, although we opted to add a couple additional "musts" from Aria's regular menu. Following is the play-by-play:

• Course 1 - Creamless Celery Root Soup [black truffles | parmesan]

Creamless? Really?? This soup was so incredibly flavorful and rich that you would swear there was some sort of dairy goodness within, but no. Smooth, luscious, wonderful.

• Course 2 - Ruby Red and Golden Beets [Sweetgrass Dairy goat cheese | oranges | spiced walnuts | lemon]

The citrus added a wonderful brightness to the sweet beets and creamy goat cheese. The spiced walnuts added great texture.

• Course 3 - Warm Lobster Cocktail [butter poached lobster | broccoli | black truffle potatoes]

We decided to add this dish to our tasting menu experience as it is one of Aria's greatest hits. It was so good. Enormous chunks of butter poached lobster, sitting in a sea of black truffle mashed potatoes and a broccoli puree. It was divine and rich.

• Course 4 - Pan Seared New Bedford Jumbo Sea Scallop [white corn and bacon risotto]

This was one of my favorite dishes of the night. The sear on the scallop was so intense and richly brown that it added an amazing crunch to the perfectly cook mollusk. Atop the risotto was a slice of bacon practically paper thin - like a bacon chip. The bacon within the risotto was reminiscent of a dense, chopped pancetta and paired perfectly with the sweet white corn.

• Course 5 - Goat Cheese and Potato Ravioli [chanterelles | shiitakes | sage brown butter | parmesan]

Two lovely little pillows of pasta, encasing a filling of potato and goat cheese, sat in a rich sage brown butter. Shiitake and chanterelle mushrooms surrounded the raviolis and on top were a few shavings of parmesan salty goodness.

• Course 6 - Seared Foie Gras [Fuji apple | arugula | shallot]

This dish was the second dish we decided to add from the regular dinner menu. I had eaten foie gras before but never had my very own serving of this delicacy. The sear on the foie gras was miraculous. A little sweet, crunchy outside gave way to a luscious, buttery inside.

• Course 7 - Slow Braised Shoulder of Colorado Lamb [salsify, celery & parsley roots | whipped potatoes | natural jus]

By this point in the meal, we were starting to hit the proverbial, gastronomic wall. But we persevered and found this dish to be absolutely delicious. We foolishly picked up our knives in order to dig in and found the lamb to be tender enough to just cut into and it shredded like a slow-braised meat should. The jus and potato made for a perfect bite, unfortunately, instead of Aria sticking to the "tasting menu" size for this course, it was more of an entree size and at this point in the meal, it was just too much.

• Course 8 - Valrhona Chocolate Cream Pie [chocolate sauce | soft cream]

Our final bites of the evening came in the form of a tiny chocolate cream pie, no bigger than 3 stacked Oreos with an amazing cloud of cream on top.

The meal was wonderful and the ambiance really added to the experience. Regrettably, I was unable to take any decent pictures in our wine cellar dining space due to lack of lighting. But trust me, it was a very unique room (just be sure to bring a wrap or jacket). As far as the food is concerned, I certainly couldn't believe that Aria offered a 6-course tasting menu for only $56. Something like that is practically unheard of - especially with products of such high quality. I anticipate future return trips. :-)

Laughter...The Fuel for Life

On May 17th, I lost a dear friend. Three children in Portland, Oregon lost a father and their mother lost a husband. In Petaluma, California, a younger brother lost an older brother and parents lost a son. Beyond that, people around the country lost a friend and the source of amazing amounts of laughter.


When my phone rang before work on the morning of Tuesday, May 17th, I saw that it was another dear friend from my Sonoma County days: Elizabeth Clary. With arms full of musical paraphernalia for the morning's music concert, I was unable to answer the phone. However, the moment I listened to the voice mail, I knew something was amiss...and for some strange reason, I knew it had to do with Heather and Corey. When I finally connected with Elizabeth, I heard her say the most horrific words: "Actually, Corey passed away last night." I don't know that I have ever been in such shock. By the time I hung up the phone, my entire body was shaking and I felt so disoriented. Suddenly, I realized that my generation is not immortal. For days, I felt disillusioned and found myself weeping at the drop of a hat.

But then, life went on. I continued to think about Corey every day, but in going to Portland to help Heather organize her affairs and give her assistance with the boys, it felt like Corey had just stepped out and would be back anytime. I was confused by the fact that I wasn't as emotional as I thought I would be. Perhaps it was because I was in helping mode, or that I was trying to keep it together so Heather could fall apart if she needed. But I think that more than anything, I felt detached from the passing of Corey because that location wasn't meaningful in my relationship with him.

But then, on June 26th, those of us who were part of Corey's life in Sonoma County, California, had the opportunity to memorialize Corey's life and legacy and suddenly, everything felt real.

"Wait...how come the Bach Choir is here singing some of our favorites up in the choir loft, but Corey isn't with them?"

"How come people are telling funny stories about Corey and he's not here laughing with them?"

"How come our choir director was talking about Corey's dedication to his music, but he's not here to receive the accolades?"

Finally, the emotional scab had been picked and the sore of grief was open to the elements again. Anger and sadness overtook denial. Questioning how someone so full of life could be taken away from his family and friends reared its ugly head again...and there were no answers. Suddenly, my soul started to understand that this was real and that Corey wasn't coming back.

What I will take from Corey's memorial is his outlook on life and personal motto: "Laughter...the fuel for life." I will take with me countless memories and will try to remember to poke fun and laugh at myself more often. Corey was a pro at that...and because of that, he will be remembered by many through laughter.

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Restaurant Review: Town Hall, San Francisco, CA

A recently culinary tour of San Francisco with a couple girlfriends found us dining at Town Hall for a Wednesday night dinner. One of our party had been here before, not long after its 2003 opening, and had remembered it as being something special.

We began the evening with the standard basket of bread (nice and crusty) while we shared a bottle of 2007 Copain 'Tous Ensemble' Viognier.

Then our appetizer appeared: crispy squash blossoms, four cheese filling, basil pesto and tomato vinaigrette. It was perfectly crispy and the cheese nice and gooey. It was a beautiful medley of tastes and textures!

Soon after, we received our soup and salad. The soup of the day was a delectable vichyssoise (a cold, creamy, potato-leek soup) that was topped with a light sprinkling of chopped chives. The texture was silky smooth and the soup itself was exquisitely seasoned. The salad we chose to share was the Chopped Vegetable Salad with English peas, artichokes, Brentwood corn, parmesan and sherry vinaigrette. Again, this dish was perfectly seasoned and the vegetables provided just the right amount of crunch.

When it came time for the entrees, we ordered the halibut, short ribs and gnocchi. The Roasted Alaskan Halibut was served over a serving of corn pudding along with porcini mushrooms, fava beans and bay shrimp salsa verde. The flavors were wonderful and the sear on the halibut was a beautiful caramel color with the slightest hint of a crunch. The Creekstone Beef Short Ribs were served with an array of potato gnocchi, artichokes, carrots, spring garlic and red wine jus. It was very flavorful and tender - just as short ribs should be! Finally, the House-made Potato Gnocchi. It was mixed with Brentwood corn, morels, English peas and shaved Umbria truffles. The marbled appearance of the truffles was beautiful and the flavor of the dish was rich without being overpowering (in other words, no heavy sauce).

Now, although we all had enjoyed our dinner immensely up until this point, the creme de la creme really came at dessert time. Although several dishes caught our eye, one in particular seemed to call to us: the Sticky Toffee Cake. The cake was presented before us and our eyes about popped out of their sockets. It was a beautiful, spongy caramel colored cake swimming in a sea of thick, delicious caramel, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a sprinkling of chopped nuts. It was completely decadent and it was the one thing we found ourselves talking about for the rest of the evening and the next day!

I would highly recommend this restaurant to others, my only gripes being that it was a pretty noisy room and although our server was quite knowledgeable, after taking our orders, we didn't see much of him...

You like me. You really like me!

So, I just had the surprise of my life when I checked my e-mail. I received an e-mail from Yelp.com ("Real reviews, real people") that I had received a compliment. I went to my page and someone had said "Congrats on ROTD for Ella Dining Room and Bar." I was confused. I know what ROTC is...what the hell is ROTD??? Before I knew it, there was another compliment referencing the same thing!

Turns out, the review I had written about Ella Dining Room and Bar a week and a half ago was voted by all Sacramento users as today's Review of the Day (ROTD...duh). So today, and today only, if you go to the following website: Yelp! Sacramento you will see yours truly! For someone that has always had a secret desire to be a writer, this is a total rush!!

I just had to share... :-D

Dinner at Ella (Ella, Ella, ey, ey, ey, dinner at Ella, Ella, Ella, ey, ey, ey...)

On the evening of Tuesday, June 3rd, my buddy Stephanie and I made our way over to Randall Selland's newest culinary venture: Ella Dining Room and Bar. After depositing my car with the able-bodied valets, Stephanie and I made our way into the dining room at Ella and were immediately impressed by the décor. Immediately in front of you is a cold bar, chock-full of ice which is chilling the days selection of Oysters, marinated olives, and ceviche. On the ceiling and some of the walls are rustic, multi-colored wooden shutters. Very warm.

We began our evening by ordering a Cucumber Martini and an Elderflower Gimlet - both were smooth and oh-so-enjoyable! This was paired with the olive oil, citrus, garlic and rosemary marinated olives. They were EXCELLENT!

Happily, the restaurant was booked (strange for a Tuesday) and when our server inquired as to whether we had any time constraints, we were happy to tell him "no. We'd love to just take our time!" After enjoying our olives, we ordered two small plates to share (actually, we shared everything the entire evening) as well as a yummy bottle of Chenin Blanc from Mulderbosch Winery in South Africa. The first small plate we received was the Pan-Seared Diver Scallops with Mushrooms and Coconut Broth. There were two scallops on the plate and they were HUGE. Cooked to perfection with a nice caramel-colored sear, the scallops were cut-with-a-fork and melt-in-your-mouth amazing... And the broth? We wanted to lick the bowl. The second small plate we tried was a fabulous serving of Gnocchi with Broccolini, Parma Prosciutto, Organic Cream and Shaved Parmesan. Oh. My. God. The gnocchi were perfectly light and fluffy little clouds of love and the sauce? Wow. I want to cry just thinking about it...

After these two small plates, we continued perusing our way through the menu and ordered a vegetable dish: Roasted Baby Beets with Pistachio, Watercress and Olio Nuevo Olive Oil. The beets were sweet and perfectly roasted. The pistachios and watercress, although not plentiful, provided a wonderful contrast in texture and this dish was also heavenly.

Two entrées were then shared by Stephanie and I: Raviolis of Mushrooms and Fresh Goat Cheese with Leeks and Black Truffle Butter and Pan Roasted Halibut with Giant Rock Shrimp, Dill and English Pea Tortellini. For the first entrée, four giant, triangular-shaped raviolis adorned the plate with a naughtily-delicious black truffle butter and topped with a few dollops of goat cheese. The pasta was cooked to a perfect (yep, there's that word again) al dente and the mushroom filling was definitely enhanced by the flavor of the truffle butter. The halibut, like the scallops enjoyed at the beginning of the evening, was seared to a beautiful caramel color and the fish itself, even without the buttery dill sauce on the plate, could have been described as buttery. The sear provided an excellent crunch, the rock shrimp were tender and delicious and the filling of the English pea tortellini was a vibrant green that made you think of peas fresh-picked from the garden. All-in-all, each plate that was placed in front of us was...heavenly.

Stephanie and I closed the evening by sharing a glass of Michele Chiarlo Nivole Moscato d'Asti from Piedmont, Italy as well as the Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Bombe. And yes, you saw this pun coming, the Bombe really was........wait for it.........the bomb. We were very impressed with this restaurant and look forward to more trips back (especially when Dani and Greg visit again! :-) ) . From the decor to the excellent service to the remarkable food, everything was wonderful and perfect. Even the ladies' room...

A surreal lunch

So, I recently got home from the most surreal of outings. The beauty of the Internet, to me, comes in the form of social networking sites like MySpace and facebook. I've been able to reconnect with some band geeks from back in the day and today, three of us met up for lunch.

Good ol' Forrest Cicogni started the planning, but the guy lives in Brooklyn! Not exactly easy to plan a lunch reunion. Anyway, things finally fell together and I ended up meeting Forrest, his mom, class of '95 Karen (Churchill) Garcia and our favorite band director, Mark Tulga. I had run into Mr. Tulga (I don't care how old I get, I just can't call him Mark!) last summer as he was playing in the pit band for Music Circus in downtown Sacramento. Just an aside.

So, I came fully prepared with embarrassing pictures for all and we had a great time catching up. It was amazing to me that Mr. Tulga still remembered names and people from the one year he taught at Bella Vista. All in all, it was a good get-together. The turn-out could've been a bit more stellar than a whole THREE people, but it was good...