in praise of Manresa

Near the end of our nearly five-hour extravaganza at Manresa, the most talked about restaurant in the Bay Area, I asked my three friends who, on separate occasions, had also dined at the French Laundry the inevitable question: which meal was better?

 

But, wait, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Four of my friends, N and I all dined at Manresa on Saturday to celebrate N's and my thirteenth anniversary and my friend's fabulous new job.

Arriving at Manresa, you feel like Alice (no not that one, this one) must have felt after she stepped through the looking glass. You've entered a world of paradoxes, juxtapositions and incongruities. You've entered chef David Kinch's mind.

The first hint that you're in for an unusual night is the location. Of course any time a city boy like myself leaves the big city and heads to unexplored regions of suburbia, I feel a sense of anxiety (my favorite Roz Chast cartoon from a few years ago depicts New Yorkers driving through the depths of New Jersey nervously exclaiming "Where are we? Are we in a town? Are we between towns? How can anybody live out here? Look! Look at that weird mall!!").

After driving for an hour south of San Francisco to Los Gatos (a suburb of San Jose?), we followed Manresa's own directions to the letter, for, as the website warns, "Google and MapQuest are not reliable." We carefully parked as directed in the bank parking lot, just behind Pedro's Mexican Restaurant.

Although I felt a sense of relief just to have arrived safely at the restaurant, this turned out to be my first lesson of the night: Trust Manresa. Allow Chef Kinch and General Manager Michael Kean and their capable staff to take care of you.

Because one of my friends had previously co-managed Silks Restaurant with Michael, we were warmly greeted and offered complimentary glasses of bubbly (thank you, Michael). This set the tone for a glorious, somewhat gluttonous five-hour feast that lasted until 1 am (sorry, Michael).

Unlike many other celebrated food bloggers, I'm admittedly not often lured into the rarefied air of four-star (or in Michelin land, three-star) dining. I'm probably the only so-called foodie to have eaten all my meals at tapas bars when I visited San Sebastián, Spain, the town renowned for having  more Michelin stars per capita than any other place in the world. As N somewhat embarrassingly commented upon learning that half our table had eaten at the French Laundry and we hadn't, "how come you only take me to Suzu?" Ha ha, isn't she funny! Of course, she was just joking...I think?

Besides the obvious fact that now that I have a food blog I don't want to look like a complete cheapskate, Manresa tempted me because I know that David Kinch is enamored with the cuisines of Spain and, in particular, Catalonia. If you've been reading my blog at all, you know of my affection for the cooking of this part of the world.

So when my friend suggested the idea of going there, I jumped at the opportunity. My only condition was that we all agree to eat the multi-course tasting menu. There were certainly no objections with this group. We all ended up getting the wine pairing as well!

The highlights of our meal were the little unexpected touches: savory flavors when you expected sweet (and vice versa), unusual juxtapositions of ingredients, a pot of hot water when someone started coughing, and the most impressive tea service I've ever seen.

The chef loves to blur the boundaries between sweet and savory. Just as the humble madeleine inspired Proust to write a thousand-page novel, Kinch began our meal with his own take on this usually sweet tea biscuit. He transformed it into his signature black olive madeleine, accompanying it with a wonderfully squishy red pepper gelée. Coming full circle by ending the meal with sweet versions in identical colors (chocolate madeleine and strawberry gelée) was an innovative gesture.

In another amuse bouche, two incongruous Spanish street festival snacks, sweet churros and pimientos de padrón (chiles), were united on one plate. Only here, the sugar in the churros was swapped for parmesan cheese, making the churros into the greatest Cheetos the world has ever seen (pictured above).

There were also surprising flavor combinations and textures, like the vanilla that infused a fried cube of corn gelatin (my friend called it a "hushpuppy on acid") that exploded with juices in your mouth. Or the play on the traditional Catalan mar i muntanya (literally sea and mountain, or surf and turf), where Kinch paired perfectly prepared, tender local abalone with pig's trotters. All were as brilliantly executed as they were conceived.

Two other dishes stood out as highlights for me.

How could I not adore a dish featuring our local sardines? Here a sardine fillet was seared and placed atop a creamy burrata risotto, topped with fried shallots and accompanied by a green tomato. My own personal plate of heaven. It was even better paired with a glass of interesting white wine from Catalonia that was 85% moscato and 15% parellada (forgot the producer's name).

My favorite course of the night drew from the chef's other country of inspiration, Japan. Thinly sliced striped jack (shimaaji?), a relative of hamachi, was topped with paper thin slices of local geoduck clams, julienned radish, chives, shiro dashi and olive oil. The shiro dashi contributed a hint of smokiness that made it a perfect match to the Alsatian riesling that accompanied it.

If you're interested, to the best of my recollection (I didn't take notes) here's a comprehensive list (with links to photos or click here for a slideshow) of our meal and the wines paired with them:

Amuse bouche (with champagne)

• black olive madeleine & red pepper gelée
• parmesan churros & pimientos de padrón
• chilled tomato soup with parmesan and fennel tuile
• vanilla-infused corn fritter (with liquid inside)
• soft-cooked egg with maple syrup, sherry vinegar, chives and cream

Main Courses

• fresh strawberries, key lime granita, hibiscus gelée (sparkling pink cabernet franc, Loire)
• chilled crenshaw melon soup with almond tofu, fried Marcona almond (chenin blanc, Loire)
• striped jack sashimi, geoduck clam, radish, chives, shiro dashi, olive oil (riesling, Alsace)
• sardine, buratta risotto, green tomato, fried shallots (moscato, Catalonia)
• black cod, salmon roe, cucumber, butter (chardonnay, Chablis)
• abelone, pig's trotter, parsley, red wine reduction (pinot noir, 1er cru Burgundy)
• squab breast and confit leg, zucchini mousse, raspberries, huckleberries (syrah, near Santa Cruz)
• beef bavette cooked in own fat, wilted little gem lettuces, mushrooms (zinfandel, Napa)

Desserts

• trio of sorbets in little cones: watermelon, strawberry, peach
• caramel soufflé, white chocolate quenelle, praline, banana
• chocolate tart, cinnamon ice cream, fig (10-year old Madeira)
• chocolate madeleine & strawberry gelée

Tea

• choice of eight looseleaf teas, mostly low caffeine greens, whites and herbals served in glass teapots. N and I chose different types of white teas, one with rose and one with chrysanthemum. Exquisite.

 

Oh, lest you had thought I'd forgotten, all three of my friends who had also dined at the French Laundry unanimously agreed without hesitation that they preferred this meal at Manresa hands-down. Sorry, Thomas.

Myself, I would place it on par with the many meals I've enjoyed at Chez Panisse (see, I'm not a complete cheapskate...although most of those meals came when I worked there) and my meal at Ca' Sento. While very different in style, all three restaurants share an obsessive focus on showcasing the best regionally available ingredients.

Would I go back to Manresa? In a heartbeat.

Comments

[Melissa]

Wow. I don't know whether it's a curse or a blessing to be able to experience that meal vicariously through your site! Hey, maybe we can make a deal, say watermelons in exchange for Manresa doggie bags? ;) Oh, and happy anniversary!

[Lisa D. Walker]

Can I please marry David Kinch? Nothing would please me more than to sip on his oh-so-delicate tomato soup and spoon soft sweet spoonfulls of crenshaw and almond into my mouth my every waking moment. Manresa is a place where "hushpuppies" make you cry and red pepper gelees silence you. Now, I know I'm being a bit dramatic but September 17th is now a magical evening set in my mind, and thankfully set here on this incredible blog, for good. Brett, thank you for your awesome attention to detail. The photos are as beautiful as the food and your writing is lovely. So, when's the next Saturday Night Fever?

[fiona kennedy]

Damn my husband for relocating us to Los Angeles! Brett- your desrciptive powers are as vivid as ever- maybe they should come up with a superhero with food writing powers! Oh wait, his name is Johnathan Gold. Curses!!! I am so mad/sad/frustrated that I could not join you guys at your fabulous dinner! Thank you for letting me enjoy it vicariously through your blog. Happy Happy Anniversary and keep eating!

[Brett]

Melissa, thank you for the anniversary wishes. Alas, there were no doggie bags (we cleaned our plates), so I suppose I'll have to fumble my way through choosing my own watermelons.

Lisa, yes, that was a magical meal! Thank you for your kind words. Where shall our next adventure be?

Fiona, I wish you could've made the trip from LA, too. I'm so glad you enjoyed the peep-hole onto our meal I've provided. Thank you also for the anniversary wishes. Who knows, maybe we'll all eventually join you in LA?

[cookiecrumb]

Oh, darn. I don't know how to be hungry enough for a meal like that. I almost fainted during lunch at the French Laundry, and the server suggested I take a little walk through the gardens to refresh myself.
But now I'll have to try.
(Brett: We're on our way to Bryan's in Corte Madera in a few minutes to pick up the SARDINES he special-ordered for us... )

[Brett]

Lucky you, cookiecrumb. Is that Bryan's owned by the same people as the wonderful Bryan's on California in SF? (if so, you're doubly lucky!) How are you planning to prepare them?

[cookiecrumb]

Yes, Brett, Bryan also has the SF location... but he's always in Marin, lucky us.
You can hardly possibly believe how they came out. Having dined in Spain, as you have, maybe you can, but it was really life-changing for me. We planned at first to bake them, Roman-style, with bread crumbs. But we fired up the Smokey Joe instead, with shreds of alder wood, and grilled them briefly (gutted and deboned), then smacked 'em on top of toast smooshed with roasted garlic and showered with chopped parsley.
I'll be blogging about this tomorrow, but people: It Was Religious. You wish you were kissing me now, just for the taste in my mouth. Holy.

[Brett]

Can't wait to read your blog tomorrow, cookiecrumb! Simply grilled sardines sound so fantastic right now.

[Nopisto]

I've been to Manresa and agre with your opinion, David Kinch is a superb chef and Manresa would be a well deserved european two stars but find it behind Ca Sento (shamely only 1 star), because of the ingredients and far away from Chez Pannise, because of the technique.

But that's my opinion.

[Brett]

Hi no pisto! I'm glad to see that you are still visiting my blog even though I'm no longer in Spain. That's amazing that you, too, have eaten at all three restaurants, so I value your opinion greatly.

I agree that many of the ingredients that chef Alexandre can get in Valencia are superior to what we can find in the Bay Area. When it comes to seafood, we just don't have anything that compares to the freshness and variety of the shores of Spain (percebes, cigalas, gambas...even the mussels, clams and lobster taste better there).

But, in fairness to chef Kinch, he does procure the best of what we do have. The abalone, geoduck clams, black cod and sardines are all locally caught. And I thought it was a bold move to feature our brilliant local summer fruits in several of the courses. Although I tasted lots of delicious fruits in Spain and especially Valencia, I believe the best of our local organically grown fruits and vegetables are the best in the world. Of course, I admit I'd take a great percebe any day over a great strawberry, but Kinch knows enough to highlight the best of what he has available to him.

I guess what I'm saying is that it is very difficult to compare two restaurants located in totally different parts of the world. I decided to duck the issue of which meal I thought was better (I hoped nobody would notice). So to set the record straight, I'll let you know that my meal at Ca' Sento still stands as my best meal ever. And, yes, it deserves three Michelin stars. And yes, Manresa would probably be a two-star restaurant at the moment.

Just out of curiosity, how would you rate Chez Panisse, nopisto?

[Nopisto]

There is no point to compare two different restarants placed so far away and with different ingredients and styles. Manresa features as one of my best meals so far this year and the best in the Bay area but I find Ca Sento a notch over, not because it is spanish but because they use ingredients that you can't find in any other spanish restaurants.

I shouldn't rate Chez Pannise because I had a bad meal there. it could be a bad day for both of us and rating it for just one meal wouldn't be fair.

Because of the settled menu you can't choose the dishes and noticed that following days menus were more suitable for me.

Despite some serving mistakes (like forgetting to serve one dish after half an hour waiting)I didn't enjoy the meal because I wasn't at my best after a pantagruelic lunch at Memphies minnies that left full for a couple days. So I didn't enjoy the place, just my luck because it will take me a lot of time to return to Berkeley.

The only settled-menu-restaurant (apart from El Bulli)in Spain with a Michelin star is Casa Marcelo in La Coruña an that's an exception but if I give credit to all the fuss about Chez Pannise it would be a 1 star restaurant.

And I like you're blog even if you don't write about Spain.

[Brett]

Nopisto, again I agree with you. I am biased because I know how good Chez Panisse can be when it is good. Too bad you caught a so-so menu. In Europe, they probably would indeed be a 1-star restaurant, because of the casual atmosphere and lack of pretense. But, really, I think that's all they aspire to be: the best damn 1-star bistro in the world.

[Venkatesh Iyer]

From the pictures, the dish looks very delicious.

[MVC]

Is this restaurant still around? I'd love to fly to the area just to go to it. I want the recipe for the Crenshaw Melon soup. I just bought a Crenshaw melon and it is wonderful, so I wonder what it would taste like with almond flavor with it.