The International King of Cab Comes to Montecito

Opus One is the powerfully elegant marriage of Old World and New, reflecting the philosophy of founders Baron Philippine de Rothschild and Robert Mondavi. Now it’s coming to Santa Barbara, in the form of winemaker Michael Silacci, who will be giving an introduction to his globally acclaimed wines and pouring a vertical of 2007-2010 Opus One at a dinner for a mere 35 lucky people at the Four Seasons The Biltmore. Independent Foodie Award-winning chef Alessandro Cartumini has crafted a four-course menu plus reception appetizers to match these wines, featuring everything from hamachi crudo on rye crostino with poppy-seed dressing, to whole-roasted rib eye and short-rib duo with parsnip puree and apple slaw.

Want to read the rest then do so at the Indy's site.

Ode to Uni and More

You almost have to assume the Japanese studied up their Latin before naming uni uni. For unique it is, a pungent terror to the timid, the essence of sea funk. If some chef devised a bone marrow and uni surf and turf, she might clear a restaurant in no time, offering too much mucilaginous elemental essence on one plate. So you've got to develop a taste for it, or simply like your taste buds slapped around a bit.

Or you could have it perfectly placed on a dish as it was in course three above. Draped over the miso black cod, the sea urchin turns into a hearty sauce, pushing the fish's flavors yet more forward, and black cod is no wallflower. It also, by contrast, makes the fish seem even firmer, as firm is the last thing uni ever is. That gets mimicked by the avocado appearing two ways, too, one simply sliced into artful arches, the other a loop of avocado mousse, you might say--it was too rich to be guacamole. And while it might seem from my description to be an intellectual exercise, these fine gradations of texture on a relatively simple plate, it was totally sensory as the palate got to parse smooth in a way Eskimos talk about snow.

To top the plate off, there's the element not listed on the menu, which made us think on any given night a "basic" dish might get a more market-friendly twist. We got to have a flash-fried squash blossom, delicious, and the dish's one bit of crunch, too.

Then again, Alessandro Cartumini at the Four Seasons Biltmore's Bella Vista always seems to make kitchen magic with nothing up his sleeve. These aren't tricks, but treats, from the way the finger lime made the salad pop in course one (although I have to admit the finely sliced approach--they looked like mushroom slivers--seemed to diminish the baby abalone) to the way the Inception Pinot Noir, a surprisingly lighter wine choice for short rib ravioli, brilliantly brought up all the dish's bright notes (golden raisins, indeed).

That's not mentioning the perfect salad, the late harvest tomatoes as bold as late harvest zin, practically, and then that dusting of crazy good Santa Barbara Cheese Company fresh cheese (the Carpinteria "squeaky" or the Santa Rosa queso fresco I'm not sure, alas), all cream and salt and fat. Or the dessert, which doesn't get described nearly as fully as the plate was full--that pistachio cake came in several slightly bigger than bite-sized chunks, amidst a sauce we still can't quite figure (just a-grade zabaglione?) but wish came in bottles and the freshest of raspberries, and then that passion fruit sorbet, exotic and comforting at once.

This epicure.sb thing  can sure highlight the best of SB, particularly when a Chef like Cartumini is in the kitchen.

Don't Have A (Young) Cow, Man

Bella Vista at the Biltmore Four Seasons is taking part in Film Feast, which means you've got till Sunday to get yourself there for a true feast, plus one of the most stunning vegetarian meals you'll ever have. It's pictured above--an eggplant ossobuco. You see what's supposed to look like the veal's shank is a heart of palm, and what would be the veal is a perfectly roasted slab o' eggplant. About it first is a circle of the richest mushroom Bolognese you might imagine--who needs meat when the sauce can be this flavor-thick? The second circle is a perfect  polenta--I didn't say this was a low-fat dish, I simply said it was meatless--all corn and cheese and creamy goodness. There's some broccoli rabe looped about, too, adding just the right touch of green to lighten the other colors, to provide just a bit of crisp, to make up for the lack of gremolata (not that the dish needed gremolata, but it is an ossobuco staple).

The rest of the meal was faultless, too, and the room is elegant romantic perfection (it doesn't hurt to get a table fireplace-side, of course), and the service was attentive without being aggressive.

But then there's this brilliant dish, and the rest sort of falls away.