What a difference that made! The dish really sung with some seasoning, especially the amazing sauce! The only real flaw in an otherwise great service is that, at the time we ordered, we said we were going "family style" but were never offered side plates so we had to dive together into the same dishes. The dish was also very bland so we asked for salt. This is the quality I had been expecting! Do yourself a favor.go now, get this! The striped bass had a perfectly crisp skin but the fish was a hair overcooked. 4 gorgeous fluffy, light dumplings served in a bowl with shaved zucchini, cranberries and a tasty sauce. I don't mind paying for bread if it's really, really good! The highlight of the dinner was the ricotta dumplings. Other folks around us ordered the Parker House rolls and I wish we had done that instead. It was just ok and definitely not worth the price. After a few bites (and it only took a few with tiny spoons) we realized that this was what we ordered. It was so small and, when it was presented, we assumed that it was a chef gift as the food runner put it in front of me and said "Happy Birthday" without explaining that this was indeed, the $25 dish we ordered sight unseen. The crab was whimsically presented in an egg shell, like a soft boiled egg, in an egg cup that looked like a chicken foot. Truly beautiful oysters don't need fancy foam. They came with some kind of flavored foam on top instead of a mignonette on the side. The lounge menu is full of yummy sounding things so we started with oysters at $4 ea. You can still offer more exclusive wines to get that Wine Spectator award while simultaneously catering to your entire dining demographic! Moving on to food.we had initially contemplated the tasting menu as it was a celebration but they keep raising their prices and a four course meal is way to much food for us anyways. Any smart wine director trying to build a comprehensive wine program should offer great, hidden gems at all price points and let the customers decide without making them feel overwhelmed or unsophisticated. I heard that their corkage is now $75/bottle.way above the market norm in the area for a fine dining restaurant. We had a 1/2 bottle of the Sancerre, which paired perfectly with our menu selections but, at $55, I was disappointed. The wine list is lovely but super expensive and unapproachable for many diners. The Palo Aloe was refreshing and they use steel straws, as any progressive California restaurant now does. The marg had the perfect amount of heat and wasn't tequila heavy, which I loved. A Palo Aloe specialty cocktail for my daughter and a spicy marg for me. (Pro tip.don't do this in Vegas! Their tap water is awful!) We ordered cocktails to start. In all the places I've traveled, Palo Alto really does have the best water. In this town, I always say "I'll take Palo Alto's finest" as we have the best tap water around. I have also met and spoken with the chef at the farmer's market.always a very good sign for me when I see chefs buy locally! Greeted and seated, we were offered our choice of waters. I loved that! We have been anticipating a visit here since we first heard of their projected opening.in fact, we stopped on our way home from Sunday farmer's market to meet the owners, who were planting beautiful mini bushes in the outdoor planters. įirst, let me say that the entire crew was friendly, personable and gracious.professional without being too formal or stuffy. It's not cheap at Protege, unless you consider the caliber of food, wine, and service, in which case it's confusingly cheap and I don't know how they do it, but I can't wait to go back. Or rather, I wouldn't bring the type of bottle for which you'd feel compelled to go complain on the internet about $75 corkage. I really wouldn't bring your own wine here. The wine list is small and tight, curated by a Master Sommelier, and everything on there is excellent. and when you think about all the steps one would have to do to do that (freeze it, probably, spagettify it cold and let it warm to room temperature before service), you can get a sense of the intension and thoughtfulness that has gone into this. The butter alongside the Parker Rolls, for instance, is a delicate funnel cake-like nest of impossibly thin strands. Everything is attended by small thoughtful touches, and flawless execution. Oh, and definitely the octopus, and the rolls. There are too many to name (we came as a table of 4, so we got to try almost everything), but the things I can't stop thinking about are the Crab and Caviar, and the Cornish Game Hen. Having loved our experience at the French Laundry, we came here with high hopes, and they were rewarded with round after round of thoughtful and excellent dishes.
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