Wine Pairing Service:  I was very surprised that a fine dining restaurant, as this one, would use one style of wine glasses for all wine selections. The only time they used a proper wine glass was when we ordered a pinot noir wine.

We chose the Chef's 5-couse dinner selection at $94.00 per person. We added the wine pairings at $48.00 additional dollars per person.  The pairings were not great! I suggest that you skip the wine pairings and order a good bottle of your favorite wine to drink with your dinner.

None of the wines served to us were poured from the original wine bottle. Each wine serving was served in small individual carafes that appeared to be carefully measured portions, approximately 2 to 3-ounce servings. This is the very first fine dining restaurant that we have dined in that has served wine this way. It could have been any bulk wine and not the choice wine they said (at least the taste of the wine led me to believe this). They were not top-quality wines.

Since we told them we were from Oregon and have a pinot noir vineyard, they graciously substituted a pinot noir wine for the Zinfandel wine planned for the lamb course. Well, the first pinot noir wine that they served us smelled and tasted bad! When we told them that it was not good, they did immediately substitute a better pinot noir wine. We still never saw the wine bottle, only carafes.

Food Service:  The food was wonderful and the presentation was great! The server was polite and somewhat knowledgeable on the food. This did not continue with the bus people, as they abruptly pulled plates away. I was surprised that the chef did not serve an amuse bouche with this Chef's Selection dinner.

First Course:

Warm Olive Oil Marinated Tomato Tart - Fresh thyme and Tuscan olive oil infused goat cheese and Taos Farms egg and cherry wood smoked salmon salad.
This dish was excellent! My husband and I both enjoyed this course.

 

Second Courses:

Roasted Red Beet Salad - Organic Treviso, watercress, Mascarpone, Mineshaft blue cheese truffles and candied pistachios with pistachio vinaigrette. Another excellent dish!  The presentation was great and the taste was wonderful.

 

Sauteed Cremini Mushrooms - With organic butter lettuce and peppery Maytag blue cheese dressing.
My husband, Don, really enjoyed this dish.

 

 

Intermezzo:

Demitasse of Coconut Sorbet - Vanilla Fuji apple coulis.
I forgot to take a photo of this dish, but the presentation was beautiful!
 

 

Main Courses:

Skillet Roasted Lamb "Diane" - Green peppercorn and cognac cream with New Mexican fingerling potato and wild mushroom ragout.
The lamb was very good. The only disappointment was that the flambéing was done in the kitchen and not in the dining room where we could see it.

 

 

Desserts:

Duo of Toffee and Bailey's Cheesecakes with creamy caramel ice cream.

Kahlua chocolate mousse "shot" with flourless chocolate cake, Chambord sauce, and house made chocolate ice cream.