Thursday, August 25, 2011

Mica

We have had a very enjoyable meal at Mica and decided to return for the tasting menu in order to fully appreciate the talent of our friend Chef Chip Roman. After informing the staff of Tourist Tree’s allergy, and our desire for them to pair the wines for us, we left the kitchen to entertain us.


King Salmon Tartar

This amuse bouche was so finely chopped that one might have thought it had been pureed

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Almond Bianca
 
White almond soup. Smooth and Tourist Tree safe.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Fluke, Pineapple Piquant, Pressed Watermelon

An interesting dish. The fluke was very fresh while the pineapple carried a very subdued pineapple taste. We also detected a very light hint of wasabi, however everything would have been enhanced with another sprinkle of seasoning.  








Heirloom Tomato, Stone Fruit, Yogurt

Yogurt and fruit! It’s like what I eat for breakfast, except I don’t consider tomato for breakfast even it is a fruit.











Foie Gras, Brioche, Raspberry

The foie, the home-made bread, the raspberry were exactly what one would expect: Perfection!











Sweet Corn Risotto

Corn in season is my weakness. This simple dish of al dente rice and corn permeated with the sweetness of the kernels and the richness of the butter with cheese sprinkled on top was anything but simple.









Day Boat Scallop, White Chocolate

The allergy safe version of the sweet corn risotto for the Tourist Tree. The white chocolate was indeed made into a powder which paired quite interestingly with the scallops.










Coddled Egg, Polenta, Veal Jus, Black Truffle

Sounds like an odd chopsuey of ingredients but the juxtaposition of flavors and textures made this an incredibly delightful comfort dish.











Squab, Trumpet Mushroom. Sour Cherry Sauce

One of the most perfectly cooked squab we have had, accompanied by an interesting array of side ingredients.










Maple Acres Farm Fruit patch

Take the fancy name away, it becomes a dish of nicely plated tasty fruit accomplished by fancy knife work. 











Spumoni

This Mica version of the Italian dessert is made with thicken rice milk on a piece of almond cloud cake, mingled with thin almond slices, and some form of strawberry thingie.











Instead of having a pseudo real Tourist Tree safe dessert, she preferred to concentrate on a very nice glass of sauterne instead.   
















The tasting menu started out quite nice until the kitchen ran into some bumpy roads. There were long gaps between courses during parts of the evening and the kitchen at one point had forgotten about Tourist Tree’s allergy. It was fortunate that she was vigilant about what was on the plate and replacements were made once the kitchen was reminded again. We did enjoy our meal with the locally sourced ingredients and the creativity and fancy techniques that the kitchen had put behind them. We are looking forward to returning to the restaurant in a few months after both the front and the back of the house have some time to mature into a first class establishment.