Saison had been on my list of must-try restaurants and it was when chef Joshua Skenes announced a series of “fire dinners” with some guest chefs that rushed to book a table because the first buddy he had working with him was the high-priest of vegetables, Jeremy Fox. Since leaving Ubuntu, I have been waiting anxiously to eat Chef Fox’s food again and had some brief hope in his partnership with Daniel Patterson for the Oakland restaurant, Plum, but instead it seems that Jeremy is looking for his own place instead.

What I did not know when I sat down was that the meal I was about to consume, was going to blow the publicly-lauded Benu out of the water. I am sure this write-up is probably a bit stilted because there there is an obvious question as to what the restaurant is like without the guest chef scenario, but based simply on the quality of the ingredients and preparation alone, I will definitely go back to see what Joshua Skenes does on his own. Those Chef Fox influences I know well and could detect his influence in certain dishes.

This review is also a little different in that I have separated out the photographs; I took a handful of shots of the restaurant upon our arrival. There are two seating areas, one inside with comfortable and intimate banquets surrounding a few rustic, dark wood tables and an outside seating area around the wood stove and fire pit. There are also eight bar stool seats; a chef’s table inside the kitchen and a similarly-designed table for the fire pit. After we completed our meal, Lisa and I went outside and struck up conversations with some fellow diners and Chef Fox who had been minding the fires. All of those pictures are at the end of the post.

But to the food first:

Château de L’Aulée Cremant de Loire, NV paired with an amuse of Wild Things, a concoction of cactus, pear, fennel and caviar. A few tender bites of texture and flavor dressed in crème fraîche. Reminiscent of Japanese textures, the cactus provided a bit of stickiness the way Mountain Yam produces a bit of gooeyness. The bright flavors of the pear and slight crisp spice from the fennel were all balanced with the salty caviar and hints of faint citrus from nasturtium buds. These tiny buds provided tiny little explosions of flavor that both intrigued and beguiled. Paired with the lively bubbly, this was a stunning beginning.

Alliment Laugner Cremant d’Alsace Rosé, NV. This 100% pinot noir rosé demonstrates a wonderful strawberry fruit with a faint sweet entry that expands into a delightful flowery blossom in the back of the mouth and was paired with Tomato In Different Ways. A beautifully composed platter was placed in front of us that showed a chunk of green tomato, tomatillo, a peeled yellow cherry tomato, nardello peppers, river vegetables, and small slivers of a pork product. The waitstaff then poured a thickened, unctuous tomato-based sauce and the worship began. With every bite the distinct ingredients produced exciting variations of sweet and spicy, rich and subtle, sexy and demure. We discovered later that the pork slivers were, in fact, pork face so any bite might have been cheek or jowl and the hints of salt playfully toyed with the freshness in the river vegetables and clean tomatoes.

Bread and Butter. We were not given bread and butter upon sitting down, but after two courses. I am not sure whether I should be annoyed or if it was done strategically. The bread comes from Acme and is their Upstairs Bread, a heartier and chewier carb, studded with whole wheatberries and rye without being dense or heavy. Warmed briefly in the outdoor oven, it is served with a disk of house-churned butter unlike any I have ever experienced. Flakes of smoked Japanese nori, river vegetables, and topped with fleur de sel, I cannot remember ever being so excited about a butter before. Had we received bread and butter upon sitting down, we would have easily just sat there and consumed piece after piece of warmed bread with this brilliant condiment. I am reminded of the fresh nori-studded rice I get at Nombe created by Nick Balla which is so good, I take it home for breakfast. The subtle umami and earthiness of nori elevates these simple ingredients but in the case of Saison’s butter, it does not hurt that Saison is churning their own butter on a daily basis. Absolutely gorgeous.

2007 Domaine Leflaive Mâcon-Verze, Burgundy poured with Polka Corn and Okra. The stunning white burgundy had a pale nose of lime rind but produced a creamy mouthy entry which expanded with fleshy and focused wine. I have always lamented Chardonnay for being over-oaked and it has taken me too many years to realize I just don’t like California Chards but this French version has tang and zip and structure. The red okra was prepared in several ways; thin, wafer-like slivers were nestled amongst some cornmeal-breaded and fried chunks. The smoke from the fire and a faint hint of ash played against the sweet seat of corn on which the okra was sitting. Like tomato dish, there is a playful juxtaposition of textures in the crunch of the fried okra with crunch of the sweet corn and crunch of the raw okra, toying against the faint tender okra interior and balanced out by the creaminess of the wine.

2006 Müller-Catoir Weissburgunder, Pfalz, Germany coupled with Various Carrots, our vadouvan, stone fruit and nasturtium. One of the things I miss about Ubuntu is the famed cauliflower with vadouvan and having the memories of that favored flavor brought back in this context was fun and impressive. Several varieties of carrots had been pre-cooked for softening yet given a darkened, charred exterior giving away to sweet mouthfuls of earthy goodness with chunks of peach and nectarine. The burnt crust on the vegetables exploded against spicy flowers and sweet fruit – all these seemingly disparate flavors coming together with their individual freshness; spice without pepper but with flowers showed brilliance in knowledge of the ingredients.

2006 La Font du Vent, Côtes du Rhône Villages, France showed a dark cherry nose and exploded with well-integrated fruit. A tannic entry with balanced black berry in the back of the throat. This showed well against Merlin Beets prepared in ash with buckwheat leaves, wild cherries and grains. This was a truly stunning dish – deconstructed ingredients, letting the diner choose which flavors to bring together. The brilliant aspect? A cylinder of of veal marrow which had been removed from the bone and briefly fried to produce an entirely crisp interior but maintaining the creamy, rich fatty interior. The occasional bits of grain developed the stable, earthy base with a core of the marrow fat, a heightened layer of earth with the clean beets and a top, bright sweet component in the cherry. Scattered amongst the plate were a few slivers of pickle, but pickled what? We weren’t quite sure — it could have been pear or apple but the bottom line is that the pickle produced a cleansing factor which elevated the simple marrow.

2006 Jaboulet Crozes-Hermitage, Rhône, France, a rich, jammy syrah unlike most syrah I have experienced from California in its intensely smooth, concentrated mouth. So easy to drink and a surprisingly big wine to be paired with Heartbreads served with muscat grapes, asparagus green, and alliums. We were told there were five kinds of garlic constructed within the dish but we were hard-pressed to detect that, they were so well integrated. Superbly prepared protein, a very thick, crunchy crust capped the lighter, sweeter underbelly of the meat. These were served atop a tiny brunoise of carrot, cocoa and romano beans, haricot verts, vidalia onion slices, and a few scattering muscat grapes. All of the ingredients themselves provided relatively delicate flavors with the wine elevating it in boldness. I can still taste that crunchy carnitas-like exterior of the heartbreads, craving it really…

Rhubarb Sorbet with milk granité. A simple slice of roasted rhubard set next to a quenelle of rhubarb sorbet but it was the milk granité which brought the simple offering together. That faint creamy structure which occurred in the back of the throat with the melting granité gave the sharp, rich sorbet a rounder mouth flavor.

2009 Giacomo Bologna “Braida” Brachetto d’Acqui, Piemonte, Italy. A slight, sparkling wine is ruby red in hue with tons of candied raspberry and cherry on the sweet side which surprised me to be paired with a fruit-based dessert, Summer Berries in their consommé with yuzu ice cream. A similar complaint that I had a Benu, simple fruit desserts with a frozen component does not quite satisfy my sweet tooth in that I want something with a little more substance. I greatly enjoyed the incredibly fresh fruit which had been macerated enough to soften and sweeten them and the yuzu was demure in its citrus component with a little crunch coming from the broken cookie underneath. I guess it is the Fried Dough Ho in me that craves something a bit more cakey and substantial.

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I admit it – I eat at Gussie’s Chicken and Waffles a lot more than I should. How can I not? They are quite literally out the front door of my apartment complex. And I have this thing for fried chicken livers.

Somewhat dark inside, I often have to ask to have extra lights turned on and it worries me that they might be trying to keep costs down by having the lights as dim as they are. And service can definitely be hit or miss. No, that is not true. It is usually a miss in that I can’t remember a time when I haven’t had to ask two or three times for something I have ordered; be it remoulade for the chicken livers (since it comes with gravy), a glass of milk, or simply water

What is the appeal? For us die-hard groupies who care little for our health or cholesterol, it is – of course – crisp fried chicken and homemade waffles. Are either exceptional and worth going out of the way for? Probably not. But both have some things going for them. With the waffles, it is their house made brown sugar syrup. Maple is of course available but I much prefer the brown sugar syrup for some reason. Many people pour the syrup over the fried chicken as well, but I am a purist, preferring to consume them separately.

They also have a variety of other waffle flavors available, including sweet potato, cornmeal, and more, but I admit I haven’t gotten beyond the plain ole standard round, thin crispy waffle. Not a thick, fluffy Belgian waffle – nope, these are the thinner versions. And the fried chicken? I like the spicing and the crunch of the coating, but tend to find their white meat pieces dryer and less enticing as the wings or thighs.

There are a number of side dishes available, some worth trying and others worth avoiding. Having a sweet tooth, I don’t necessarily mind that the candied yams are soft and suspended with cinnamon-spiced goo that would indicate they are from a can. I grew up on those canned yams so there is some ancestral memory calling to me, I’m sure., which makes them taste like they should – soft to the tooth and unctuous.

The Mac-N-Cheese is one of the most regrettable and forgettable ever conceived. Dry and pasty, one taste was more than sufficient. I know many that adore their mashed potatoes and gravy and I’m not sure why. Adequate enough, the gravy itself is forgettable in its thick, gloppy nature. Red beans and rice are similarly thick and pasty, but surprisingly I enjoyed their flavor more than I expected to.

I am a huge sucker for sweet potato fries and here Gussie’s does not disappoint. A large bowl would make a happy meal for me in a carb frenzy of crunchy ecstasy. And then there are those chicken livers. Large and delightfully spiced, these are not over-battered to hide the desired mealy texture of the liver and are served topped with thinly sliced, fried onion rings. Gravy is served on the side but again, I recommend asking for their remoulade as the dipping condiment. This is perfection in a comfort food, offal sort of way.

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Again, we decided to share entrées – ordering the rib eye steak and duck confit. The rib eye was pan-grilled and served with “a twice baked white truffle scented potato, yellow wax and blue lake beans, and Oakville Ranch cabernet butter.” This was a really great steak. The beans were very fresh and the steak, perfectly grilled rare and tender. I didn’t even mind the clichéd truffle scent on the potatoes. The duck confit was served on butternut squash risotto with huckleberry gastrique, prosciutto, Brussels sprout leaves and toasted pumpkin seeds. This was an interesting combination, if not a bit on the salty side. Most of it was eaten as a left-over breakfast the following day and perhaps the saltiness was accentuated at that point.

For dessert, we decided to share an apple/blueberry crisp served with dulce de leche ice cream. This was a really stellar example – served in a shallow-enough dish to give an equal portion of warm, roasted fruit to a lightly buttery crunchy top. I thought the dulce de leche might be too sweet but it worked well.

I can see this restaurant as a great neighborhood establishment, moreso than a destination restaurant. The ambience is both slightly futuristic, with its metal mesh drapes and moderne lighting. I noticed a nearby table being given better glassware than we were offered. I asked for more decent glasses for our Havens syrah and a little scrambling occurred as I guess they just recently started to upgrade their wine service. Make sure to ask! The serving sizes were ample, the plating and timing worked well, and overall, a reasonable meal. Two cocktails, two salads, two entrées, a bottle of wine, a dessert with a small glass of dessert wine and tip came to just over $200. I wouldn’t hesitate to visit again!

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Benu has been the most anticipated restaurant opening in recent memory. Without a question. I was pretty thrilled to get one of the first seats on its second night. Unfortunately, it was a 9:00 seating so I knew it was going to be a late night considering I was going in for the full tasting menu. Walking up to the restaurant, there is an array of light beaming from the kitchen as large panels of glass separate the kitchen staff from the street-side gawkers. An austere and elegant courtyard welcomes the visitor, with the interior of the restaurant clean and similarly somber in its muted, beige and cream tones. For future bloggers, be warned that the ambient lighting late in the evening is not conducive to great natural photography so I apologize for the darkness of the images.

Sesame Lavash – served in a specially carved box which separated out the dark, crispy thin rectangles. Black sesame and salt was the predominant flavor and it would be a precursor to the evening that sesame was one of the most-used Asian ingredients.

2008 Alzinger Grüner Veltliner – Showing a tremendous amount of mineral and spicy qualities, I enjoyed this wine tremendously, but found it a bit too strong with too many citrus components for the following two dishes.

Thousand-year-old quail egg, black truffle, ginger, scallion – Our first taste and somewhat disappointing. I could not detect any black truffle and the extremely texture of the egg masked its flavors. Moreso than any ginger or scallion, it was the flavor of citrus oil with predominated.

Tomato, cucumber, dashi, summer blossoms – Perfectly spherical tomatoes with an explosive Molecular “tomato” that displayed a bright squirt of tomato essence. Very clean flavors with the dashi providing that Asian influence of austerity and balance. A nice, light start without overpowering the palate right off the bite.

2006 Juliusspital Wurzburg, Escherndorfer Silvaner Trocken – in a Matteus-shaped, this delightful wine produced a faint nose of clean, cut grass and fresh apricot. Bright and acidic on the entry, layers and complexity developed in the mouth. This was a fabulous wine which worked considerably better with the next two courses than the previous pairing.

Mountain yam, bottarga, lime, radish, perilla – The mountain yam crunched like fresh jicama in the mouth and yet blossomed to produce a gooey, gelatinous texture. This was an experiment in the lovely juxtaposition of textures and flavors as the crisp wine cut through the film in the mouth produced by the yam. The bottarga was sliced wafer thin and added a salt component with the perilla a hint of mint and the radish a touch of spice. All the flavors were reserved and slightly muted, were very well conceived and executed.

Caramelized anchovy gelée, peanuts, lily bulbs, chili, basil – In this dish we are working into stronger flavors, expanding the tasting menu with more contrast, both in textures and components. While both the gelée and the peanuts provided salt, the difference in smooth and hard crunch was balanced out with the bright lily bulbs, chili and basil. I especially liked the wine pairing with this course as well.

2007 Catatt Sancerre – I was surprised to experience so much cat piss in the aroma. Something I usually get from New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc moreso than a French Sancerre. This was a wine with huge amounts of lemon rind and acidity that ultimately was very successful with the first of its pairings and less so with the second.

Veal sweetbread grenobloise, cauliflower, parsley, lemon, caper – Very tender morsels of sweetbread were fried to give a rich, crunchy exterior. The citrus component in the wine played well with the moderately-utilized lemon in the grenobloise. I was especially pleased with the amount of capers but believe my dining companion found them too overpowering.

Haiga rice porridge, abalone, lemon, sesame – In this regard, this was the first truly unsuccessful dish of the evening. The congee was so overwhelmed with candied lemon as to be a distraction. That citrus was compounded with the Sancerre and reflected in the wine with monumental imbalance. I found the abalone, cut into perfect squares, to be shockingly tough and chewy. The first dish to go completely unfinished.

Hitachino Nest, Japanese White Ale

Eel, feuille de brick, avocado, crème fraîche – Hard to detect in the photograph, the four-inch fried feuille de brick was wrapped in a monogrammed slip of paper and nestled in a specially designed platter, with a groove for the savory cigar and a small vessel for its dipping sauce. The crème fraîche was studded with fleur de sel and while the brick-wrapped eel was fun for the crunch factor, again these were muted flavors and no avocado tastes could be detected whatsoever. The Japanese white ale was a great companion beverage, giving the “bar food” mentality a heightened sense of fun with fried bits and beer elevated to haute cuisine. Surprisingly oily, but still fun.

2007 Prinz Riesling Spatlese Jungler – Lovely aromas of green apple, with a sweet entry. I can see why the sommelier chose to pair with the fake foie gras.

Monkfish liver torchon, apple relish, turnip, ramps, sorrel, mustard, brioche – Creamy and rich, the ankimo itself was perfectly prepared, complete with a thin gelée. Regrettably, the accompaniments were less than successful with brioche that was too thick and sweet, overpowering the delicate flavors in the liver and the mustard sauce, so creamy and potentially enticing, becoming strident next to the wine and completely diminishing the flavors of the liver. The apple relish showed brunoise sophistication, but failed to complement either the mustard or muted ankimo tastes.

At this point in the evening, my companion and I conferred that thus far, we were extremely underwhelmed with the evening. There was perfection in the execution, unquestionably. We could see the brilliance and vibrancy of the Asian flavors and the progression that the tasting was taking us, but we had yet to have any singular “wow” dish, although several of the wines were certainly impressing us. Precision dominated yet I could detect no soul or feeling. There was no “chi” or movement of emotion being experienced from the consumption of the food. I wanted and was hoping for transcendence and there was none to be found. But onward…

1977 Blandings Madeira – An amazingly delightful Madeira showing both rich caramel notes with balanced acidity and depth.

“Shark’s Fin Soup,” Dungeness crab, cabbage, Jinhua ham, black truffle custard – Finally, a “wow” experience. Coming from the subtle muted flavors, this was an explosion of flavor. The soup consommé was a mixture of earthy mushrooms, crab broth, and the faintness expression of the ham. We were delving into depths of umami and complexity, expanded with the elegance of the truffle custard. Truly an inspirational dish and, ultimately, the highlight of the evening.

2002 Kiuchi Dainjon Vintage Sake – Intense flavors in this heavy-bodied, full and rich sake.

Sea urchin, potato purée, corn, celery – After the strong and rich flavors of the soup, I was frankly shocked at the mediocrity of the sea urchin. Expecting the progression of the tasting profiles to continue, we were thrown back into muted flavors but worse than that, textures that were all too similar to define exactly what we were consuming. My dining companion, in taking a large taste, immediately asked, “Where is the sea urchin?” I could detect it, but because it was puréed out as smoothly as the potato and corn purées, the three melded together in a malange of blandness. The only differing texture component were crunchy bits nestled under the pillow of puff; small brunoise of what I assume was either celery and/or corn. It was honestly hard to tell. Neither of us finished it and we both left almost half in the dish.

2007 Franck Balthazar Cornas Syrah – Here again we had one of those amazing moments of experiencing a phenomenal aspect of the evening; a wine with such a gloriously rich and complex aroma that I would have been happing snifting and tasting this wine for some time. Levels of mixed peppercorns, dark woodsy fruits, and distinct rich herbs in the nose, a surprising bit of tannins in the mouth, this was a wine I will seek out for personal consumption.

Pork belly, sautéed lettuce, onion, spiced sugar, cherry and black olive sauce – An interesting offering of a pork belly which was tender and rich but again, an odd confluence of tastes which were offered that I didn’t understand. On the edge of the plate was a sprinkling of spiced sugar and yet caramelized sugars produced from the grilling of the meat and the sweetness of the balanced and grilled onions, and the sugars from the cherry and black olive sauce should have been sufficient. Yet when drawn together, the only flavor which came to mind was that of Hoisin sauce so I have to confer that this dish was an attempt at deconstructed Hoisin, but why? It was all so sweet as to be distracting. The flavors of the pork and lettuce alone were quite sufficient, even with just a touch of the cherry/olive component, but brought all together in one taste was too cloying and saccharine. The pork was so full of flavor all on its own, demonstration superlative execution and it was the amazing wine which successfully cut through all the sugars in the dish, making it enjoyable.

2005 Château Potensac Medoc – Contrasting to the tannic Syrah we just finished, this 40% merlot, 60% cabernet blend was its antithesis, with a rich, smooth level wine

Beef rib cap, Bluefoot mushrooms, mizuna, pine needle honey – Hidden under the mizuna and not detected in the photograph was a small triangle of sausage to accompany the sous vide beef slice. The meat was extremely tender and rich, heightened with the wine pairing. The sausage was not very tender, but I appreciate the earthiness of the mushrooms and darker flavors in the sausage in contrasting with the rare beef.

2005 Jo Pithon Late Harvest Chenin Blanc – A deep yellow colour, it has a distinctive nose that is deep and sweet. The palate is concentrated, dense and complex with notes of dried apricot and layered spice.

Melon, sake, mint – Not a great pairing with the wine, we were much happier with this dish on its own as a palate cleanser. With micro leaves of mint placed atop the spheres of assorted melon, there was an infusion of mint as well in the broth that heightened the excellence of the dish.

Strawberry sorbet, buckwheat shortbread, vanilla – Again, we somewhat marveled at the choice of a wine pairing. Here again we have this bright fruit composition with the buckwheat shortbread crumbled around the sorbet. There were also macerated fresh wild strawberries of exceptional quality but it was an ingredient-driven dish moreso than one of execution and development of flavors. Texturally, I was ready for something with more tooth to it; an actual tuille cookie to bite into or a morsel of cake. We felt as though we just had two relatively simple fruit offerings with neither depth not

Chocolates – four chocolates were served in a specially carved box presentation which was artistically very interesting for me. The chocolates were a crème catalan with white chocolate, milk chocolate walnut, dark Valhrona chocolate, and a sesame nougatine. We shared these with a tea service and while they were very good quality teas, I would have appreciated the ability to pour my tea into another service pot or a strainer to remove the leaves; once a single cup was poured, the pot continued to brew, leaving me with a remainder that was too bitter and over-brewed.

The cost of the tasting menu was $160 with $110 wine pairing. To their credit, we asked to split the pairing as neither of us wanted to drink that much alcohol, but I believe we were given larger pours than a single pairing. The service was exemplary with one minor mis-step of having our still water replaced with sparkling later in the evening. I’m not a fan of sparkling as it tastes salty to me. We were the last ones out at 1:00 a.m., having sat down a few minutes before 9:00.

The meal was memorable for its execution and precision. I can understand and appreciate the development of Asian flavors which were being offered, however I feel there was such a preponderance of style over substance to have become a distraction. I wanted an epiphany and that “religious experience” which I have occasionally come to hope for. It is far too rare and makes me come to believe that I am truly jaded when it comes to haute cuisine.

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