Our second Chef Celebration dinner...and it DID NOT disappoint! I have been interested in eating at the downtown butcher shop/restaurant, Cowboy Star, since I saw this review by mmm-yoso! As Homer Simpson might say: "mmmmm, meat. (drool)...." So I was really excited that it was one of the restaurants for Chef Celebration this year. The evening's menu can be seen here, and was exactly as shown from what I could tell.
We were running a little late that evening and were concerned about the parking situation, but there is a decent sized pay lot right across the street so it wasn't a problem. Weekends might be more difficult. I don't usually drink very much but their drink menu had quite a few delicious looking options. I had a mojito and then ordered the drink pictured below, a Broken Arrow. (Blogger's Note: I have been here twice since then and I love that damn drink!! Vodka, grapefruit, passionfruit, champagne, one other ingredient that escapes me...) Loved it! It was refreshing and sweet and tangy all at once and I would have had a few more but the food took precedence. Next time!!
The first course was a beef carpaccio. We have only had this once before, at Ruth's Chris, and this one was very different. This was not a plate of SUPER thinly sliced beef, this was (almost) like a raw hamburger patty, just not ground up as much. I wasn't a huge fan, although with some of the parmesan puree and a piece of the toast, it tasted good. My boyfriend really enjoyed it though, and he even loved eating the little flowers that were on top. :-)
The second course was the one I was least interested in after checking out the menu. I'm not a big seafood eater and I wasn't at all sure about octopus! It turned out to be delicious and a really interesting flavor combination. The octopus was, as anticipated, a bit chewy (but, really, not "too" chewy) and the char on it from grilling was perfectly counter balanced by the sweetness of the grapes and white gazpacho. The ramps (another first for both of us) were yummy, too, and the almonds gave it a great texture. We both really liked this course and I think it was the boyfriend's favorite of the night. Very unique, and he loves that.
MY favorite, though, was the third course, brought to us by Chef Chris Kurth of Grant Grill.
And just like at Pampelmousse, the picture of MY favorite dish did not come out well at all. BOO :-( Anyhow... It was a soft poached duck egg in a spring onion bullion with hazelnuts, mushroom and parmesan. LOVE, LOVE, LOVED IT! The bullion was amazing and the runny goodness of the egg yolk was rich and delicious. Everything just tasted so great together and I could have eaten mine and his, but he really liked it, too. If Chef Chris is serving this at Grant Grill, we might have to stop in there soon!
The fourth course was fish. Salmon en croute with lentils, mushrooms and a bunch of other garnishes. All together they were a good combo. The tomatoes were warm and juicy and salmon is my favorite fish. Another one my boyfriend really enjoyed.
The beef course came to us from the Cowboy Star chef (naturally) and was a close second favorite dish for me. The mushroom "cream"/puree was so rich and I only wish there had been more of it. And a few more of the yummy fingerling potatoes.
Dessert was a crumb cake with a lemony sauce (ginger spiced marcona almond crumb cake, to be exact)...and it was all kinds of delicious. I love lemon in desserts. The cake was SUPER moist and full of flavor, and we shoveled it all down even though we were about ready to burst by that point!
No comments:
Post a Comment