Bruce Schneier noted security pundit also writes restaurant reviews for a Minneapolis/St Paul newspaper. He and his wife have put together a book of reviews of mostly Bay Area restaurants though there are some in there for Ohio, the UK, and Paris as well. I've skimmed through it, its rather well written and I mostly agree with his assessments.
February 2006 Archives
I forget a lot of the details of this meal, it was back in December.
Tempest is in a strip mall, at the other end from the shopping center, and is sparsly decorated with about 25 tables. They took the 10 of us with a reservation, though from the number of customers that night we didn't really need one. I predict once this place gets discovered a reservation will be recommened to be sure you get in.
Wine: Leaping Lizard Pinot Noir
Butternut Squash Bisque.
Fabulous, light and creamy at the same time with just enough pepper to give it a bit of a bite.
Pork Tenderloin, Haricot Verts, Sweet potato augratin
The greens weren't the greatest, but the rest of it was amazing.
Banana Pecan Strudel with Caramel sauce and ice cream.
This was amazing, unfortunately I can't remember much more than that about it.
This is one of those places that really I should have written up the meal right afterwards so I could remember it better.
On the down side, some of the other members of our group didn't have as good a meal as I did, and hopefully as the restaurant matures they will take care of those sorts of problems.
I'm down in LA to hang out with family (don't sak, I don't know either) and I've discovered that one of the benefits is that there are some nice restaurants in the area. Last night, it was Christine in Torrance.
The waiter was nice, but trying overly hard to be charming and amusing... or perhaps this is just LA and that's how waiters are in swanky popular places. :)
Dinner was excellent:
Baby Beet, Duck Confit, Goat Cheese Gratinee with baby spinach and walnuts.
I was able, with each bite of the rather large salad plate of baby spinach to get a bit of all of the ingredients, and it was delicious.
I must, apparently, learn how to cook a duck, as I have discovered that I very much enjoy the flavor and texture of this wonderful fowl.
Grills Tiger Prawns and Scallops with lobster ravioli
This plate was served with each of these next to each other working their way around, I forget how many of each, but it was not a disappointment except when they were all gone, the tastiness was finished.
Bread pudding with caramel sauce
Mmmmm. Bread pudding is not overly sweet, and the caramel sauce was fantastic. Not quite the best caramel sauce I've ever had, but a very close runner.
There was also a bottle of wine, I forget what exactly was selected I wasn't paying enough attention, which was quite nice with the meal.
Definitely a place that I will go to again if someone offers, or I happen to be in LA and can make reservations. They had inside and outside tables, 2 stories of closely placed tables though I didn't get run into once by any of the staff or customers, and generally a very nice place. According to their web page and the waiter, the chef teaches cooking classes giving an opportunity to learn some of their dishes and make them in your own kitchen.
