Our Thoughts Go Out

It sounds like May could be as bad for some folks as February was for others. You're in our thoughts:

• Scoble's mother is in the hospital: Bad news gets worse, and it's time to say goodbye.

• Lynn Siprelle (aka The New Homemaker) is also in the hospital, due to chest pain and heart attacks.

I first met Lynn and her family four years ago. We'd been email buddies for years, but it wasn't until 2002 that we actually met F2F. She let me sleep in her spare bed for a couple of nights, and opened up her home, her family, and her life to me. In conversation, it turned out that we should have met 30 years earlier — we'd grown up in adjacent cities, graduated high school the same year, and even had mutual friends. It took till we were in our 40s to actually meet, and we haven't seen each other F2F since, but she's still one of my favorite people. Her husband JJ is updating her blog, and says her prognosis is good. But until she's out of the hospital: Lynn, JJ, Josie, and Louisa, you're in our thoughts.

And to the rest of you, as I said before: take a moment to tell the people in your life that you love and appreciate them.

Let's play this for Bush

I believe in honoring the office of the Presidency, even though I despise the current occupant of the Oval Office. But here's the kind of honors our current President has earned, and deserves: Hail to the Chief - Google Video.

(Via Paul Music.)

We have eaten. And it was good. Amazingly good.

We got back earlier tonight from our anniversary dinner at Cyrus.

Oh. My.

I've had some great meals, many of them here in Healdsburg. Here, we've enjoyed meals at the Dry Creek Kitchen, at Zin, and at Cena Luna. In San Francisco, we remember meals at Farallon and Postrio fondly. And we had a bunch of good meals when we lived in Los Angeles.

This was something else. Wonderful food, excellent, friendly service. They provide really fine dining without getting stuck-up or stuffy; the staff is great at putting you at ease.

For those of you who have asked, here's the rundown (and thanks to the staff for giving us a printout of the wines we had, and the evening's menu). I had the four-course prix fixe with wine pairings, and Dori had the three-course prix fixe with wine pairings. The menu was slightly different than the one listed on the restaurant's Web site.

When we arrived, we walked into the bar, where we met the Maitre'd/Co-owner. There was no wait. He escorted us into the dining room, where he picked up a phone connected to the kitchen and said, "Chef, the Negrino party is here celebrating their anniversary with us. I'm seating them at table 42. If you could, please send canapes to them." Then he seated us.

It was simultaneously over the top and completely cool (perhaps the theme for the entire evening). It certainly makes you feel special.

The room is simply gorgeous, with waxed Venetian plaster, terrific lighting, and nice artwork. Banquettes are around the edges of the room, with some tables in the middle. It's not a large room, I think it only holds around 60 people. We arrived at 6:30, and it was near full. People were dressed in everything from jeans to business suits.

A minute or so after we sat down, the canapes arrived. There was some asparagus chopped with something-or-other on a little spoon, and tiny bits of rabbit in a miniature dumpling with an amazing sauce. Do I like asparagus? No. Have I ever had rabbit? No. But my policy at fine restaurants is simple: Eat everything they put in front of you. It usually pays off. This time, it certainly did.

Our waitress appeared, asked if we'd been there before, and then explained how you can mix and match three, four, or five courses from the prix fixe menu (dessert counts as a course), or have the chef create a seven-course tasting menu.

We passed on the champagne and caviar cart; perhaps another time.

First Course

Tom

Chilled Cucumber-Avocado Soup with Glazed Shrimp and Mint
Wine: Sauvignon Blanc, Tupari, Marlborough, New Zealand, 2005

An amazing start. The soup was like eating springtime on a spoon. Fresh, clean, way cucumber-y. The avocado added more of an unctuous smoothness and creaminess, more than taste. This arrived with the shrimp by itself in the middle of the plate, and they poured the soup into the bowl at the table from a little silver teapot. The wine was clean, crisp, and dry.

Dori

Foie Gras Three Ways (a sampler plate):
     Salt Cured "Torchon" with Macadamias and Pineapple, Lychee Gelée
     Seared with Fennel, Capers and Raisins, Sauce Sultanas
     Terrine with Meyer Lemon Marmalade and Goji Berry-Rhubarb Compote
Wines (2):
     Riesling Kabinett, Langwerth von Simmern "Erbacher Marcobrunn", Rheingau, Germany 2004
     Tokaji Aszu, Royal Tokaji "5 Puttonyos," Hungary 2000

[Dori] I've come up with a general rule for high-end restaurants: I talk a little to the server, and if I think that they're going to be honest with me, I then hand myself over to them. In this case, I told her that I'd never had foie gras before (and thought I should while it was still legal) and which did she recommend? She said that while the menu didn't show the sampler plate, it was available, and that that was the way to go. It sounded good to me. She then explained that because of the three different flavors, it came with two wines, and which wine to drink with each foie.

[Dori] The last thing I need is another expensive habit, but. Oh. My. God. It was amazing. Very rich, very tasty, and the wines made them each even better. I'll just have to remind myself in the future that the chances are small that any place will make foie as good as Cyrus, and that should help me stay away.

Amuse Bouche: A spoon with a bit of lobster, a yogurt sauce, mint, and some other stuff I can't remember. It was really good.

Second Course

Tom

Truffled Red Wine Risotto with Parmesan Broth
Wine: Pinot Noir, Rochioli, Russian River Valley, 2004

Nice to have a local wine. This one was spicier than usual for a Pinot, and was very good. The risotto was just terrific. The broth was foamy around the risotto, with an intense flavor. The rice was perfectly cooked: creamy, yet firm. Wow.

Dori sat this course out, though of course she had some of the risotto. It was all I could do to keep from stabbing her with my fork. I wanted it all!

The couple next to us had the seven-course tasting menu and were taking pictures of each of their dishes as it arrived; we chatted with them and discovered that she was a student at the Culinary Institute of America.

The two women on the other side of us were celebrating one of their birthdays. One of them was drinking one of the innovative cocktails, which turned out to be an espresso martini. Caffeine with a kick!

Third Course

Tom

Striploin of Beef with Fingerling Potatoes and Short Rib Hash
Wine: Chateau Bel-Air Ouy, Saint Emilion Grand Cru, Bordeaux, 2002

Two beef medallions on top of some greens, with potatoes and mushrooms, with a rich red wine sauce. It was very good, but not that special compared to the rest of the meal; I've had dishes much the same at other places in town. The wine was excellent.

After finishing this course, I got up for a restroom break, and when I got back, the next course was waiting for me.

Dori

Japanese Sea Bream with Shitakes, Bay Scallops, and Pickled Watermelon Rind, with a Scallop Broth
Wine: Ama No To "Heaven's Door" Tokubetsu Junmai Sake

[Dori] The server stopped by our table before this course and asked me how daring I felt about wine. I asked her why, and she said that what they really recommended with the Sea Bream was Sake, but that people often wanted to stick with a more traditional wine. I'd never had high-end Sake before, so I went for it (see comment above about putting myself into her hands).

[Dori] The Sea Bream was pretty darn amazing. The pickled watermelon rind almost tasted like a mild onion with the broth on it. Tom agreed that my pick was probably better than his.

Dessert

Wine: Dow's 20 Year Aged Tawny Port, Portugal

Tom

Caramel Soup with Kettle Corn Sorbet and Chocolate Filigree: This was very weird, but tasted wonderful. It arrived as a bowl with a dollop of the sorbet with some popped popcorn kernels as garnish, with a net of dark chocolate covering it. The server then poured the caramel soup into the bowl, collapsing the chocolate net into the bowl. Great. As it happens I'd never had port before, and it took me a couple of sips to get used to it. Very nice.

Dori

Three Custards; Chocolate Pot de Crème, Mousse of Crème Brûlée, and Huckleberry Pain Perdu.

[Dori] You could hold a gun to my head and I wouldn't be able to pick which one of these three I liked the best. The Huckleberry Pain Perdu was darn good, and if I'd eaten it anywhere else I would have been raving about the wonderful dessert. As it was, it was the weakest of the three. The Chocolate Pot de Crème had a slight jelly layer on top but of what I can't recall. The chocolate was lovely both with and without the jelly. And what can I say about the Crème Brûlée except that even though it wasn't a Crème Brûlée, it may have been the best Crème Brûlée I've ever had. All of them went well with the Port.

As we were finishing dessert, our server showed up with four small extras: a sour cherry ice on a small spoon, an itty-bitty marzipan strawberry, a chocolate peppermint cream, and a Gewurztraminer gelatin. It was almost too much, but we ate them anyway.

We paid the bill (got out for under $300, including tip), and then another surprise: the woman next to us said, "Don't get up yet; I've ordered an espresso martini for you as an anniversary present." It was so nice of her. And a nice drink, too.

We finally left, and as we ambled down the street, we ran across people from the Sonoma County Astronomical Society, who were doing one of their Astronomy Day events on a street corner. They had three telescopes set up, and we got to look at Saturn (the rings were clearly visible) and Jupiter (three of the Galilean moons were visible).

[Dori] All in all, it was an amazing experience and all that I'd hoped it would be. I couldn't have asked for more as regards the food. The service was 97% wonderful, and that tiny bit that was off (serving Tom's sorbet when he wasn't there, not bringing us our post-dinner food listing — which they usually do as a matter of course — until we'd asked for it twice) just struck me more because everything else was perfect.

[Dori] Your hot tip for the future (especially when visiting us!): everything that's on the restaurant menu is also on the bar menu a la carte, available for anyone who walks in and sits at the bar. You won't get the fabuloso service, but you also won't have to make reservations two months in advance. And the bartender is another artist; we may go back there just for drinks.

All in all, a terrific evening, and a great anniversary. Tonight, Cyrus was the complete package. A beautiful restaurant with phenomenal service and incredible food. It's not cheap, but it's not as expensive as, say, the French Laundry, the restaurant it's most often compared to. And best of all, it's right here in our own town.