This month marked the first ever Marin Dine About for our group as we trekked over the Golden Gate to Murray Circle at Cavallo Point. An impressive 12 diners made the journey to taste the creations of 2 Michelin Star chef, Joseph Humphrey. In attendance - our incredible leaders Phu and Winnie, Tim and Dani our Peninsula Shuttle, Cecilia with the active zipper and her partner in crime Victor, Mo and disappearing Ken, and rounding out the Peninsula crowd: Avis, Mollie, Lehmann and hot legs Jason.
Besides a couple service snafus, this was one of our best Dine Abouts to date (in my humble opinion, that is). The chef's tasting menu was extremely creative AND delicious, the atmosphere was warm and inviting, and with bubbly pouring all evening - it was a really fun evening. A few examples to give you a flavor for what went on. . . we did the wave - several times; Cecilia kept the conversation going with stories about her. . .ah, better leave that part out of this G rated blog; Jason shared his award winning legs; and we all enjoyed the "god damn" beets!
On to the ratings. . .
1) Food - 95 (with scores from 120 to 85)
In a word, extraordinary. 8 courses that took us on a culinary adventure. My favorites were the 1st course - the dungeness crab with bisque and kafir lime, the 3rd course - halibut wrapped in roasted fig with sassafras, orange, and fennel, and the 7th course - warm vanilla lemon pound cake with ice cold huckleberry sorbet and dollops of lavender creme. The other courses of eggs (partridge, quail, and pheasant), squab & lobster with zinfandel marmalade, rib eye with dreamy whipped turnips and god damn, er golden beets, and carpaccio watermelon with salt & pepper ice cream were all fabulous! The only course that didn't please all was the goat cheese plate - Tim thought it reminded him of smelly feet, I thought it was tasty - hmm, what does that say about my taste?! The tasting menu is the only way to go when you have the chance to experience this imaginative, extremely talented chef!
2) Atmosphere 94 (with scores from 98-85)
It was a rainy night at the old Fort Baker in Sauselito. We found our way into the bar and restaurant and were immediately invited into the warm but lively atmosphere. The dining room was crowded, but did not feel so, but instead gave off a nice buzz and an autumn energy. Our group of 12 was split into 2 tables of 6. With every couple courses 2 people switched tables - so everyone was able to catch up with everyone else. This format made for a very "lively" evening (see the examples above). I compliment the owner/host (not sure who he was) - but he welcomed us just after we arrived and was very accommodating working with our group to figure out the best arrangement and ensuring our evening started off right.
3) Service 85
A couple problems keep this score in check: 1) a waiter broke a champagne glass right on some of our diners; 2) we had asked that our tables be served in sync, but 1 table ended up receiving extremely slow service. I will say, however, the staff was very nice and at least at 1 of the tables they took great care to explain all the different ingredients we were experiencing. Very important with a tasting menu!
Value - the tasting menu is good value at $75. However, with this lively group and 6 bottles of champagne, we did quite a bit of damage on top of this! But - all in all, a fantastic evening! I will be going back.
With such success on our first outing across the bridge, I could see more adventures in our future! Happy fall dining - until next time!
