Best Inexpensive Prix Fixe
6476 Washington St, Yountville CA 94599
(707) 944-2487
Parking: in parking lot
Hours: Dinner Thursdays through Saturday, Supper Sunday starting at 3pm
http://www.adhocrestaurant.com/
Last Visited: November 26, 2006
Food: 4 to 5 stars
Atmosphere: 4 stars
Service: 4 stars
Price: $$$$
The words ‘ad hoc’ mean ‘for this purpose’ and indeed, Thomas Keller has created a restaurant to showcase family style dinners for this purpose alone. The changing daily menu features four courses prix fixe $45. The first plate is salad, followed by the main dish, then a cheese plate – typically featuring a cheese from a Wisconsin coop, and finally dessert. It’s a lovely homestyle menu with simple local flavors. In some cases, you’ll find that the main course changes during the evening. If you have dietary restrictions or are vegetarian, I have heard that they will kindly accommodate. The menu varies – you can find anything from fried chicken to prime rib. Call the day of your visit to find out what is being served.
The décor is simple. According to the locals, they have kept much of it the same as it was when it was a café. Brushed chrome tables, a long bench with a cushion, dark colored wood, white walls, and large vases can be found in the restaurant. It’s for the most part an open space and the room is divided into two main sections – the side of the restaurant that faces the street has large windows that bring in the light. The bench seating along the wall in the middle of the restaurant separates it from the bar and reception area. The table with the pig figure acts as the serving station. I thought the pig might be displayed to represent tonight’s menu, but our server explained that the pig always remains on display despite the featured meat.
The servers wear white shirts with the words Ad Hoc on them in light blue, Converse style shoes, and jeans. It’s a casual atmosphere, but their demeanor is still very polite, and they are certainly friendly. The water and wine glasses are the same, regular tumblers, and some in the restaurant during my visit found this irking. They requested stems and proclaimed the instant improvement in flavor of the wine. I can’t confirm that there was a drastic improvement, so that part is strictly hearsay. When we were seated, the server greeted us, introduced himself, and asked if we had been there before. He explained that the menu was fixed and asked if we had any dietary restrictions. He then asked us what type of water we would like – still, bottled, or sparkling. When we said still, he said ‘Yountville’ with a smile. Then we were brought a carafe of chilled water.
We were brought bread in a basket along with a ramekin of butter. Too bad the bread wasn’t hot, but it was still good bread.
All items are presented family style unless otherwise indicated.
- Grilled Maine Diver Scallops and Winter Greens Salad – A scallop is split in half and skewered, then grilled. The skewers are placed on top of winter greens including gem lettuce, frisee, watermelon radishes, three types of mushrooms – oyster, shiitake, and one other. The dressing is made with sherry vinegar and oil. The scallops are warm, fresh, and tender, just lightly grilled on both sides. The dressing is perfect – not too sour, not too salty, but just right – a refreshing blend. Great.
- Snake River Farms Braised Kurobata Pork Short Ribs – The Kurobata pork is braised until tender and served with tondini beans mixed with bits of bacon and haricot verts. The beans weren’t as soft as I like them, but the flavor of bacon had infused the beans and tasted great. The haricot verts looked like they had been added at the last minute since the color was still a nice green, but the beans were tender. The short ribs were cut such that the meat was placed on top of a bed of ribs. The ribs were fork tender; each piece of meat melted in my mouth and was so juicy. The ribs were presented in a large ramekin with the beans and haricot verts underneath. Melt in your mouth wonderful.
- Carrots – Carrots are cut on the diagonal and sautéed in butter. They are then seasoned with salt, pepper, and have been sprinkled with fresh parsley. These carrots were so tender and sweet – straight from the garden. They were served on a plain white rectangular dish. Delicious.
- Wisconsin Sheep Dairy Coop Dante Cheese – A cutting board arrived with four cippolini onions, a ramekin of arbequina olives, and a sample of Wisconsin Sheep Dairy Co-op Dante cheese. The onions had been roasted until sweet. The server warned us that the olives may contain pits, and indeed, most did. These tiny olives gave balance against the cheese and the onions. Good. For me, the serving of cheese was a bit much, especially after the ribs, but the presentation was simple.
After the cheese course, the bread was removed from the table.
- Sweet Cornmeal Financier – Unlike the rest of the menu, the dessert is served individually. The warm cornmeal cake is served with sweet dried fruit compote comprised of raisins, cherries, and the like. The cake was golden brown on top, light, soft, springy, and almost crumbly. A small container of fresh vanilla whipped cream loaded with vanilla beans was given to us to share. Every bite was absolutely scrumptious and if you could fit more in your stomach, you would want to have another piece. It’s so comforting and wonderful with hints of butter in each bite. Magnificent.
The servers are kind, though the busboy could smile more and greet you as you’re leaving, but the host and the server acknowledged us as we left the restaurant.
There have been lots of rumors floating around that Ad Hoc will be transformed into Thomas Keller’s dream burger joint, but our server confirmed that plans are still in works, and to his knowledge, he’s employed for more than a few more months, so it’s likely that Ad Hoc could stick around longer than the original six months. Ad Hoc is a great way to try out the renowned Thomas Keller quality in a more relaxed setting. Excellent treats.
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