Text 9587, 101 rader
Skriven 2014-02-05 21:24:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: sacramento 157
======================
The Press gets good press, and as it seemed jolly enough
when we went past the other day, we earmarked it for today.

Our waiter was a wild-eyed enthusiastic young man who
reacted with overt pleasure at each choice we made. Okay,
it's nice to be given approval, but this was a tad much.
We noted that he did likewise but in a more subdued way
when serving nearby tables. Did we look as though we
needed more hand-holding than normal, or what?

Perry Creek Zinfandel 11 is a solid, typical example, with
brambles and plums and black spice, but I thought that it
could use more oomph and less sugar. Nonetheless, it went
quite well with food, of which we got too much, encouraged
by the small-plate-friendly menu.

The short rib in red wine sauce was as delicious as its
exalted reputation, almost melt-in-the-mouth but with some
texture left. It had been a little too well trimmed, though,
and the gratifying nuggets of fat you wish for were not
common. Why serve or eat a fatty cut minus the fat? Which
reminds me that I recently had a short rib sandwich at D&W
in Las Vegas, and the meat had its fat and membrane intact,
the way I like it, but that establishment had seen fit to
chop everything up and shove it in the middle of a bunch of
other admittedly tasty things so as to fool the clientele
into eating something delicious that it would normally not.

Crispy pork belly, peaches, pine nuts, frisee, gastrique -
a little too salty, and the skin was not intact, and what
there was of it wasn't as crispy as I'd have hoped, and the
meat was a little firm, and the fat was a little absent,
but it still tasted pretty good. The same question obtained
as above but was answered not quite as satisfactorily.

Summer corn soup with chives - I have no idea why we got
this - suspect it was an amuse on the house. It was as
described, though I had to use a pill to find this out.
There was chervil with the chives, which I found peculiar.

Lilli's hanger steak, potato gratin, bordelaise was fine -
done very red and just a little jiggly in the middle; a
plain rendition for just plain folks.

To keep her company at main course time, I got a half order
of pappardelle alla Bolognese - this would have satisfied
me even if I hadn't eaten the greater part of the starters.
Delicious firm-tender wide wide noodles in a rich sauce that
made up for too lean beef with a touch of butter or cream
along with the olive oil. Fresh herbs.

The bill was moderately large but not extortionate, and we
we happily toddled back in the dark, quite satisfied.

==

I don't know how or why we came to the Champagne brunch at
the Cast Iron Bar & Grill in Suisun (an artificial town of
which I had not previously heard). Maybe one of us had read
about the mural by Miro Salazar (one of the great self-
promoters but not at all a bad artist in the Diego-Rivera-
folky way) that fills the long wall; maybe we had a coupon.

The place was quite hopping, and we were asked to perch out
front, which we did for an extended period, as we did not
have reservations, which are suggested. We were seated
eventually at a nice table by the window, which got nice and
warm, with a good view of said mural.

The staff was kind of inefficient but friendly. We didn't
have any particular issues as many of the Internet reviews
do, but the large table across the aisle did, mostly, it
sounded like, from a combination of finickiness and the
customer is always right syndrome, to which the help were
nonplussed but gracious enough.

To start, a fruit plate that looked just like what would be
on offer at breakfast on the plane, accompanied by all the
J. Roget bubbly one can choke down, free-flow throughout the
meal, so you can imagine.

Lilli's tri-tip sandwich rare was pretty good, the meat
flavorful if masked by a salty rub, the bread sturdy and
almost good enough to be eaten. I think it came with slaw,
though I admit I had no interest in this.

My jambalaya came out of a boil-in-bag and was augmented
by 4 medium shrimp and maybe a quarter pound of chopped-up
andouille, perhaps Aidell's. It was decent.

$16 apiece for decent food and unlimited wine the quality
of kept us from gross intoxication, and we were soon on the
road again, across the newly rebuilt Oakland bridge, off to
return the car, and on to our next destination, the always
reliable Hilton SFO Bayfront, from which the airport is but
a short shuttle hop.


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