I recently visited one of my old favorite restaurants, The Martini House, with some of my guests from Canada. I was pleased to find that the restaurant is still cozy and inviting, that the staff is still very friendly and that the food is still amazing. We chose the mushroom tasting menu with the wine pairings.
We started off with a carpaccio of king trumpet mushrooms, shaved celery, radishes, parmesan cheese and mushroom chips with a Meyer lemon aioli. This was beautifully paired with L’Uvaggio di Giacomo Vermentino, Lodi, California, 2006.
Our next course was sake-mirin braised matsutake in mushroom tea with duck and burdock root wontons, ginger and new onions. That was served with a nice riesling – Hexamer “Meddersheimer Rheingraffenberg” Riesling, Kabinett, Nahe, Germany, 2006.
That was followed by a whole roasted Hen of the Woods mushroom, creamed leek vol-au-vent and horseradish potato puree with a beurre rouge sauce. This dish was absolutely fantastic! It was paired with Ladera “Lone Canyon” Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, 2000.
To finish off the meal, we had candy cap bread pudding with currants and golden raisins with maple sugar anglaise (yes, this contained mushrooms, too). It was exquisite. This was paired with L’Uvaggio di Giacomo “iL Ponte” Vin Santo, California.
The mushroom menu was a real treat (although it is difficult to stray from the exquisite slow-cooked short ribs that are so popular here)!
The Martini House
1245 Spring Street @ Oak
St. Helena, CA 94574
(707) 963-2233
www.martinihouse.com