Three of the menu items in this week’s roundup are part of prix-fixe tasting menus. That might seem like a lot, but these menus are becoming the norm in fine dining, allowing restaurateurs to control their costs by more precisely managing what their customers are eating, and making the lives of cooks easier by controlling the pacing of their work. They also, ideally, guide restaurant guests on an artistic journey of the chef’s design.
At Saison in San Francisco, one of the courses in the tasting menu is an oyster dressed in fermented kiwi juice and seaweed oil made by blending seaweed in a locally and sustainably produced algae oil, that you can probably expect to see more of in the coming years.
Farther south in the Orange County community of Fountain Valley, guests are treated to a vegan tasting menu at Taste of Beauty that includes a composed plate that chef and co-owner George Guo calls “The Garden.”
Beut in New York City offers a tasting menu based on the royal cuisine of Korea, including a delicate dish of sous-vide vegetables (the cuisine is inspired by ancient cuisine; that doesn’t mean modern techniques can’t be used) with a gently treated meat and seafood.
Across the Hudson River in Jersey City, guests can enjoy a cocktail made with bourbon-soaked figs and local rum, and back in California’s Orange County, at Maizano in Costa Mesa, guests are treated to a white mole.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]
