The fifteen page wine menu is best managed with the help of the sommelier,
for sipping the featured quarter bottles can prove pricey, but there are good
selections by the glass.
Choosing dinner is a challenge. Specials must be studied with devotion, as
prize ingredients delivered by select purveyors are turned into gastronomic
bliss. The performers in the limelight are seasonal, affecting frequent price
and menu changes.
Confident that the kitchen will deliver what they promise, a battalion of professionals
in Bistro black-and-white proudly announce specials. Their staccato recitals
can be difficult to recall but luckily the framed prix fixe and the daily specials
are part of the table set. The youngster with savvy gourmet taste buds chose
that day’s Prix Fixe Menu ($24.95) and complained that
the potato leek soup was ‘gritty like applesauce’ and not silken
as her grandmother’s. Choosing between grilled veal chop under a peppery
port wine glace served with polenta cake and asparagus, or Wasabi- pea crusted
Mahi with coconut basmati, baby bok choy and a decorative spring roll, she
chose Murray’s roasted chicken breast accompanied by fruity cinnamon-cranberry
couscous and haricot vert beans. She declined the lemon tart and the gingerbread-pear
bread pudding with sauce Anglaise and held out for the à la cart cheese
cake. Cheese cake at Max’s is composed daily, adding entertaining guessing
games as to what wonder it might be today.
A dense purée of split peas with ham, the soup from that Day’s Menu, would have been robust satisfaction on a cold winter’s day if served hot not barely lukewarm. Grilled Venison Loin ($34) tender yet firm, was cooked to pink perfection. Lacking any traces of typical gaminess, I suspect farm raised venison which seems to be the people’s choice, not mine. I want to taste the goût of game or else I would order filet mignon. The mélange of sweet potato hash, roasted Brussels sprouts, grilled trumpet mushrooms and brown sugar bacon overpowered the delicate venison and a thick huckleberry purée gave it the coup de grâce.
Appetizers ($6.50-16.95) Sparkling oysters ($2.25ea) begging for attention like precious pearls should not be ignored. On one occasion lobster combined two distinctly different preparations: Tempura chunks of lobster tail in a crisp coating atop diced avocado resting in a lemony purée are counter-pointed by slivers of fennel root, or frisée and lobster meat tossed in carrot-ginger-dressing arranged with Cara-Cara orange slices. Ahi tuna (yellow tail) wrapped around crab and papaya was cool amongst pea-tendrils, a nest of spicy rice-noodles and shaved red onion. Yuzu-vinaigrette from the Japanese citrus known for its zest added pizzazz. Currently a more quiet wok seared Ahi is offered with pickled cucumber salad, wasabi and spicy mustard or as Ahi and crab tower in its moat of sesame purée, accompanied by tuna tartar, gingered lump crab, pineapple and avocados. House made Italian sausage added to steamed mussels twist this classic Belgian dish into an especially lusty beginning when accompanied with the excellent house ale.
Salads ($7-11) are palatable combinations of ingredients, most of them without the trendy overkill of counterproductive, needless additives.
Entrees ($19-37). Look for Hawaiian Kampachi! It always receives superb treatment from the kitchen. Sushi-grade yellow tail farm-raised at a depth of 200 feet off the coast of Kona is said to be free of PCB or mercury. Accompanied by citrus and crab basmati rice, with a mélange of baby vegetables painted with sweet pea sauce, was an exciting dish not seen on the menu for a while. As Europe embraces slow-cooking, this chef will not have to change gears. Excellence in its braising jus is the rosemary lamb shank. Plated with carrot purée, nutritious and tasty sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes), sautéed spinach and aromatic forest mushrooms it attest to the kitchen’s expertise in braise and carbonnade.
Chophouse Classics ($35-37) are offered à la
carte. Assorted sides ($7.50 per) of vegetables or potatoes
include skillet-seared mushrooms of outstanding woodland flavor and firmness.
Creamed spinach in pasty undeveloped roux was way off the mark but hickory
smoked cowboy-cut rib with palate-rousing chili onion rings was dependably
wonderful. Big flavored steaks served black and blue as requested readily dismissed
a one-time spinach bad dream.
Desserts ($6.95-8.95) are the fitting finale to a fine performance.
A tasting of flourless chocolate cake, pot de crème, and chocolate crêpes
with white chocolate mousse were what chocolate lovers dream of. Other noteworthy
selections were warm apple tart, Bananas Foster (rum scented in chocolate puff
pastry with caramel custard and cinnamon plantain) a crème Brûlée
trio or sorbets and gelati of superior intensity.
Having enjoyed several hours of old fashioned gracious service and dining, I was disappointed when excellent tea choices were offered in paper tea-bags. They were ignored in favor of deeply rich espresso, demitasse filled to the rim in contrast to the standard minimalist pouring. This ending sembled the full meal; generous, flavorful and satisfying.
**** Extraordinary; *** Excellent; **Very Good; *Good; - Poor