To break up the trip to Austin, Sweetmonger and I stopped at my current favorite restaurant, the Town House Grill in Chilhowie, Virginia. The flavors, textures and presentations are unique and fascinating and the meal was one of culinary amazement.
We ended up getting something like 14 courses and most were outstanding. I am more than confident in saying that Town House is one of the country's very best eateries and the best molecular restaurant I have been to (Minibar, Schwa and McCrady's being the others).
The meal started off with four delicious snacks highlighted by the Town House staple black olive "Oreo" cookie with Parmesan cheese. The first savory course of the night very well may have been the meal's best. It was without doubt the perfect opening course to a summer meal: frozen gazpacho with a small cucumber melon. This dish was intensely flavorful yet beautifully refreshing. The cucumber flavor was wonderful and the dish's texture, similar to a sorbet, was unique and interesting.
Our second savory course was peekytoe crab with grapefruit, muscavado, curry and a kaffir lime gelee. It is the only course in four meals at the Town House that I haven't particularly liked. It was o.k.
The next plate was billed as "tomatoes with traditional flavors," and after one bite you knew what they were: Italian caprese salad. Insanely fresh and delicious heirloom tomatoes were served with a basil sorbet, Parmesan snow, powdered olive oil and other intricacies that I cannot remember. The flavors were excellent and the contrasts of temperature, warm tomatoes with cold basil sorbet, was really fun to eat. An excellent dish.
Delicious smoked bonito wrapped in pickled watermelon and served with seaweed and ponzu followed. Obviously Asian inspired.
The following "corn creme brulee" was nothing short of mind-blowing. Creamy sweet corn topped with a sugar-maple shell and Arctic char roe was served in a kind of martini glass. Simply put, Wow!
Oysters with lardo, daikon radish and borage.
Three savory courses remained. The first was lamb shoulder sous vide for 36 hours at 63 degrees. It came with manchego cheese dumplings served in a broth of bell pepper and cardamon. The lamb was tender beyond belief and a bite including the lamb, broth and dumplings was extraordinary. After I finished the lamb, I asked for a spoon so I could soak up every last ounce of the Southwestern broth. Delicious.
Wagyu beef with chocolate pecans, quinoa and morel mushrooms. Kind of like a forest floor. It was very good.
The final savory course was perfectly cooked squab served with a burnt leek, rhubarb and anise sauce with a Gorgonzola ring. Again, very, very good.
I have yet to mention that every course was served with wine, and Charlie, the Town House sommelier, got a little frisky with his pours. I am not complaining because the wines were excellent; however, by the time I got to the desserts, I had neither the taste buds nor the mental faculties to fully appreciate Chef Karen Urie's creations (which I consider to be the finest desserts I have ever eaten).
Nevertheless, I greatly enjoyed all three, especially "breakfast:" Cappuccino ice cream, milk foam and fatty, flavorful bacon. I wish I could describe the tastes better but the best I can do is list the ingredients for the remaining desserts. The second dessert was cherry, chocolate, toasted bran, cassia and cherry wood ice-cream. The final dessert was Virginia blackberries, foie and a soft lemon crepe. From what I can remember, they were excellent.
The only bad thing about moving to Austin, Texas, is the distance it puts between me and the Town House. This place is truly exceptional and I wish I could eat there once a week, because I am absolutely positive that I would be wowed each and every time.
Town House Grill
132 East Main St.
Chilhowie, VA 24319
3 comments:
Wow, this sounds wonderful. This blog post has inspired me to make reservations up there in a couple of weeks, even though it will involve a 7-hour roundtrip drive for dinner (I assume you'd say it's worth it?).
Also, how did you take such wonderful photos in the dimly-lit environment? I want to be able to chronicle my experience there too but am afraid to use flash...
Wow. You called my photos "wonderful." That is a compliment that I never thought I would ever receive. I think I used a flash (even though that would seem a little rude) but I really cannot remember.
For a more recent review: http://newmountaincookery.typepad.com/a_new_mountain_cookery/2008/11/town-house.html
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