Cyrus

Dinner at Cyrus is definitely one of those meals that you will remember and talk about for quite some time. The food was wonderful and the service was excellent. Having been to Terra and Redd, I can say Cyrus certainly worthy of 2 Michelin stars. Ever seen my meal at Terra(1 star) I was dieing to see what a two starred restaurant would be like. Now I know what an extra star means, attention to detail. First, the dishes are far more intricate(more on this below). Second, the level of service. You never really see when the ninjas come to refill your water. They always lead you to the bathroom and always wait for your to return and hand you your napkin(it was a long meal we went to the bathroom twice). They offered a scarf to Jen when she looked like she was cold. What I was most impressed with was the actual table service. It seem like they have a one waiter-one plate rule. So with every dish came two waiters that served the food in perfect unison. That’s the front of the house. From the back of the house, the food always came out at the right time. We would wait maybe 3-5 minute after we finish for the next dish to arrive. A cool thing that the kitchen does is you can order as many dishes as

Canapés- A 3 tier display of cute little bite size treats designed to hit all the taste senses.

Umami

Pan seared big eye tuna- small pieces of seared tuna with a hint of ginger and maybe scallion in a tiny spoon. okay

Salty

Trout fritter- small marble sized fritter. Bit on the salty side but I think it was intention. okay

Sweet

Pork dumplings-a mini dumpling with a sweet pork filling. I think it taste like char sui bao(bbq pork bun). The pastry skins was mediocre at best when compared to "real" chinese xiao long baos( steamed dumpling). soso

Bitter

Grapefruit jelly with campari( an alcohol with a bitter overtone)- a tiny diamond of grapefruit gelee garnished with a tiny knotted orange peel. I was amazed at the level of detail i'm seeing. The knotted orange peels wasn't just for show, it added a nice crunchy element to the gelee. good

Again i am wondering what the chef's intentions were for this dish. Am i over analyzing his dishes or is there another level of appreciation to chef Keane's cuisine that can be easily overlooked. Considering the caliber of the chef in question here I would suspect the latter. I now understand why people enjoy analyzing literature. Because it’s freakin COOL to see something that you THINK other people don't. Okay let me explain. So far you can see quite a bit of Asian influence in the food, ie shittake broth, pork dumplings. So what if the tiny garnish of orange peel was another incorporation of Asian cuisine into French. What if, the orange peel wasn't orange but instead a kumquat. And that the knot in the peel was not just for looks, but purposefully placed there by the chef utilizing a Chinese cooking technique( this might be used in other Asian cuisines but as far as i know i have only seen it in Chinese dishes). When using golden needle mushrooms, Chinese cooks tie knots in them to add texture. Cool huh? Well I think it is=)

Sour

Shiitake broth- a warm and tangy shiitake broth. okay

Individually the canapés were nothing spectacular, but collectively the

canapés did a nice job at hitting the right notes exciting the palate for the tasting to come. Bring on the food.

Bread and Butter

A small fist size baguette roll torn from a larger corn plant shaped loaf (what do you call bread that looks like this?

We were served two styles of butter: salted French style cow's milk and lighty salted American goat's milk. The French butter had a luscious yellow hue and tasted just like how it looked, rich and creamy. The goat butter was not as rich as the cow butter but it did have a pleasant grassy/clover aroma on the finish. It’s like being transported to the pastures that the goats grazed on. I prefer the richer and saltier cows butter though. There were also two types of salt: Fleur de sel and Hawaiian red sea salt. To be honest I can't tell difference in taste between the two. Texture wise the fleur de sel has a much better crunch to due to its giant diamond flake crystals. I have seen several brand of fleur de sel but none of them had crystals quite as big. Some were this about this < > big- great

Amuse Bouche- Chilled cucumber soup with micro greens salad.

This looks like something from a sci-fi movie, a perfect sliced disk of french breakfast radish floating in a vibrant green soup served in an egg shaped glass bowl nestled on a stark white plate. Also floating in the soup are some small lavander/white flowers buds. They did not taste like anything to me but Jen said they added some crunch to the soup. To the side was a mini tumble weed looking sphere of mico greens with soy dressing. The texture of the soup was like a thin jelly, lets call it a consume. I had a problem with how salty this soup was. As soon as the soup hits your tongue it becomes overwhelmed with salt. However the saltiness does fade leaving you get a nice cooling flavor of cucumber. Perhaps this was the chef's intention for the contrast in flavors, though interesting, I would really prefer to look at this dish than to eat it. Being much more sensitive to salt than me, Jen could not force herself to finish her soup after all eating all the pretty flowers. pass

1^st course-Chilled ratatouille soup with olive oil poached king salmon

A large than inch sized cube of salmon topped with a quenelle of eggplant puree garnished with micro basil and crispy salmon skin. The poached salmon had an interesting texture and looks uncooked. At first I was worried about the soft texture of the fish as i worked my forked into it. One bite and my concerns were gone. I was amazed at how intense the flavors were. Neon lights flashing in my brain- "This is what Salmon taste like". Some how they have managed to capture the essence of the salmon from bother raw and cooked state. Did I lose you? Lets me explain, i am so totally getting into this over analyzing business. I don't know if i can come up with the right words to properly describe what I’ve tasted. So instead let me give you an example. Think of clean sweet seafood flavors when eating a piece of high quality O-toro salmon sashimi. Now, while chewing on that you eat a piece of broiled salmon. From that you get a meaty/fishier texture and flavor to your mouth. That’s sorta what I tasted. The poached fish had both the delicate sweetness of uncooked salmon and the fishy flavor, in a good way, of cooked salmon. Poured table side around the salmon was a chilled ratatouille soup, which tasted like tomato bisque. I like the acidic edge of the soup, which cuts through the fattiness of the salmon. good

2nd Salt cured foie gras and peach torchon with toasted crumpets

The chef has really thought this though. The transition to this dish from the last was beautiful. I was craving something savory after the finishing the tangy soup. The foie gras was velvety smooth and melts in your mouth like butter. I can only compare it to my other foie experience from Redd. This was much smoother and less gamey. Even though it was a torchon the texture was like the mousse I had at Redd, yea it is that creamy! The mini disks of toast crumpets were crunching on the outside and a chewy interior, think dense english muffin without all the large holes, with a interesting aroma of yeast. I dig the yeasty flavor. Did anyone else think crumpets were mushrooms? The texture was a bit to dense for me and I would have preferred a lighter broche. The combination of peach and foie was good but nothing special. I think it could have been any fruit that provides the correct balance of sweetness and acidity. Give me something that is in season Mr. Keane! -excellent

3rd Poach lobster with local egg,spring onion, uni(burrowed picture)

Poached Maine lobster with some lobster foam with a poached egg topped with Santa Barbara uni and spring onions. A rich and decadent dish loaded with luxurious ingredients. I first ate the seductive looking piece uni sitting on top of the egg, sashimi style before it gets warmed up. So what does the supposed best uni in the world from Santa Barbara taste like? It was not fishy at all nor was it bitter, just the clean sweet taste of the sea with a lingering scent of fruit. The lobster was nice cooked and was sweet and succulent. Yet the most amazing item on the plate was neither the uni nor the lobster, but the humble egg. The waiter informed us that the egg was from a Bantham chicken and was laid that morning. I would have believed him even if said they had a chicken in the kitchen laying the eggs to order. This was one awesome poached egg. When you pop the yolk, liquid gold oozed across the plate and enhanced everything it touched. This my friends was probably the thickest and richest yolk i have ever tasted. And I've have my fair share of egg yolks and rice. On the inside I was secreting hoping, more on the verge of begging, for some steamed rice, with some more of this egg. Since licking the plate is frowned upon I cleverly utilizing some bread to mopped up the remaining yolk on the plate. Dish as a whole- very good. THE Egg- Sublime

4^th Duck breast with sweet corn and chanterelle mushroom, spiced duck jus.(burrowed picture)

Three pieces of thinly sliced duck breast, the almighty Liberty farm, resting on top of a sweet polenta like mush. The skin was nice and crispy and the meat rare. More Asian influence here, I think it was 5 spice flavored. I would have liked it to be cooked a bit more. I enjoy the texture of cooked duck meat a lot more than when it is raw. We opted for one of our plate to be fitted with the day’s truffle special add on. Since I have never had truffles before I figured why not. A honking fist sized Austrian black truffle was brought out and sliced tableside. I was extremely disappointed with this supposed gourmet delicacy. At the price tag of $20 for 3 slices I would have expected something with extraordinary flavor. Instead I get something with a faint taste of raw mushroom. In fact I wasted ½ a slice when I at it with the sweet corn, I couldn’t taste it at all. The best part of this dish was the sautéed chanterelle mushrooms. At first I thought they were another cut of duck meat. It had a nice meaty quality to it. I didn’t realize they were mushrooms until my second piece. Okay

4.5^th -Lime and watermelon palate cleanser.(burrowed picture, not even the right flavor)served and eaten within 30 secs did not have time to take pictures.

Resetting the taste buds with the crisp clean taste of citrus and melon. Mmm clean and ready for more food.

5^th Waygu beef with kombu and cherry tomatoes, ponzu

This was one of the dishes I was looking forward to when I heard the menu. I’ve been wanting to try what wagyu aka kobe beef taste like. By the way did you know that in Japan there are 15 grades of beef with 15 the highest grade kobe. The best beef in the US, USDA prime, would rank only at 7. I digress. An ounce size slice of beef on top of kombu with a crispy sushi rice cake and daikon salad. There was also a tiny seaweed like garnish which I can’t figure out( looks like vine of grapes). The beef was nicely seared on the outside and rare in the middle. The marbling fat in the meat was beautiful. The meat was much more tender than any filet mignon I’ve ever had and with much more flavor of beef. The first bite was the best though, because there was a bit of sea salt on it. Damn why didn’t I think of adding my own from the jar on the table! So stupid… The rice cake was also very good. Taste like sushi rice with a crunching outside with a hint of ginger. I don’t like ginger but I thought it was actually a nice touch to the rice. Kombu was a bit to salty to eat on its own, but okay with the beef. The tart cherry tomatoes help cut the richness of the beef fat. A well balance dish with great flavors and texture.

6^th Cheese course

The cheese cart was a bit intimidating. Luckily we didn’t have to choose. The cheese guy probed us with a few question to determine our taste preferences and then choose 7 different types of for us to try. I’d say there was about 25-30 types on the cart. Unfortunately I can’t recall most of the names of the cheeses we had. So the best I could do is describe them by taste. Excuse my poor descriptions; my experience with cheese is quite limited.

Starting from the bottom right and going clockwise.

1. I think a local cheese from Marin. mild and chalky
2. Another chalky texture cheese but with a more interesting taste. The first word that pops into my head is “ash” and I can’t think of a better word. I think it was wrapped in grape leaves.
3. A gooey cheese from Spain or Portugal that was scooped with a spoon. It sat on the plate like stiff mayonnaise. I like the texture of this cheese much more than the previous two. The taste was even more awesome. This cheese was screaming jack fruit to me. It’s wild!
4. Triple cream Mt. Tam from Cowgirl Creamy, I’ve seen and read about this cheese so I remembered=) A decent brie without any quality that was particularly memorable.
5. “Adult Cheese” as the cheese guys calls it because it is full of rum. I knew this was going be some hardcore stuff when I saw that it was runny and was kept under a glass dome. I couldn’t taste the rum, but I wish I had a glass to wash the horrid taste from my mouth. This has got to be one of the foulest tasting thing I’ve willing placed into my mouth, joining the ranks with stinky fried tofu and moldy cheese jelly bean(yes I am an idiot, but at least I now know the flavor source and its so much worst). It really wanted to spit the cheese out as soon as I had it in my mouth. It was only out of politeness that that forced it down with some alcohol( Only 12yr old bourbon can rid the stench from your mouth). Exactly how bad was it? Think a very pungent blend of sweat, mold, old sock and rotten flesh. This cheese is only for the true cheese connoisseur! I tried to taste this cheese a second time like all the other cheese but as I brought it close to my mouth the smell alone forced me to drop it.
6. Local white cheddar. Semi hard cheese. Nice but not great. Well at the time it was very good cause lets be honest everything is good after you’d had sh** in your mouth.
7. Some type of gorgonzola- I am normally not a fan of bleu cheese and find it too pungent. Again, after the “adult cheese” this was like a walk in the park.

Accompanying the cheese was a bunch of mini grapes, spiced nuts and nut cake thingy.

7^th Strawberry Verjus Soup with Yuzu Parfait

The best tasting component of this dish was the spearmint granite with white chocolate garnishing the yuzu parfait. The parfait itself was like a custard/jello panna cotta. Which was nice but not great. The orange crisp resting between the parfait and the granite tasted like caramel and kind of sticks to your teeth. The WOW factor of this dish was certainly from the granite. One bite and I find myself asking “what flavor is this???” It’s had a pure, refreshing and extremely clean taste, which is very rare when it comes to desserts. Just the right amount of sweetness that fades away leaving behind a wonderful spearmint aroma. At first I thought it was basil until I asked the waiter. Mint and basil are sorta in the same family right? The strawberry verjus added table side looked great adding popping color to the dish. Taste wise it was just like off season sour berries. – Okay dish -sublime granite

8^th Chocolate Beignets

A triplet of deep fried chocolate beignets filled with salted ganache and coated with sugar. I believe the crimson sauce was a chocolate cherry reduction. On the other side of the plate was a lemon grass mascarpone on a palmier cookie and cherry compote. The beignets taste like brownies. Decent but not great. The mascarpone was good though, very light creamy texture with a hint of lemongrass. – good

Mignardises

And finally, the candy cart that we’ve been staring at the time whole night. The server at first the server asked us to choose what we want but ended up just giving us some of everything.

White chocolate truffle- very smooth and not to rich, good

Dark chocolate truffle- good

Tootsie roll- looks like the classic tootsie roll and with the exact texture. But this actually taste like chocolate- nice

Raspberry jelly- This was very good, nothing like the nasty pasty stuff you get for Christmas in those assorted candy boxes. The jellie had great texture and the flavor was more intense than eating real fruit. excellent

Butter mint- taste like pillow mints-good

Sugar cookie- tiny vanilla cookies that is slightly chewy-okay

Milk chocolate melty- homage to the Lotte chocolate melts? -good

Caramel- I normally find caramels to be too sweet, but this was very good.

Lollipop- A surprising touch of ginger turns an other wise boring sugar lollie into something unique.- good