It was my first birthday spent with my husband, and my first birthday in San Francisco, and my first birthday with me being wala na sa kalendaryo -- so yes, you could say it was really something to celebrate.

J, who knows my affection for all food, decided to book a dinner at Aqua, which is supposed to be one of SF's best fine-dining restaurants. I have to say I was really chuffed when he told me, as in Manila I had always been frustrated by my lack of money and thus my inability to eat (and pig out on foie gras) at Lolo Dads.
________________________

Side kwento: I had originally thought that jeans with a nice sweater and heels would be ok for eating at Aqua, as the reviews said the dress code was business casual, but a call to the restaurant about an hour before we were to leave left me in a bit of a tizzy because the person J spoke with said jeans were not allowed. WTF??? Luckily I had some church clothes I felt were acceptable enough to wear (I wasn't too happy about I was going to wear, but what if I was denied entrance because of my clothes :( )

When we got there, some people at the bar were in jeans...but what the hey I was too dazzled by the selection of dishes I found on their website to care. But yes, if you do pop in in jeans, they will allow you to enter heeh.
________________________

J decided to order the 7-course tasting menu for our dinner. It really was quite the production, with our plates and cutlery getting changed with every new course. The portions were teeny, but in the end everything turned out just right because nothing was too large to stuff us before we ended the feast.

The waiters were very attentive, constantly checking if we were ok...if we wanted more wine, more sourdough or olive rolls, water, anything. And it was interesting how they would serve some of the food unmixed and then perform the final touches like ladling the sauce or mixing the ingredients while explaining what was in the dish and how it was prepared (I was almost expecting to hear the pedigree of the vegetables and the fish hahah).
________________________

You know the drill. Here is my rundown.

Sourdough or Olive rolls with butter
I like sourdough, but J got the olive rolls and they really were better. Doesn't matter, they kept refilling the bread anyway so I got a taste of both. Nice and crusty, and just the thing to keep you busy while they prepare your food.

complimentary appetizer of
Pumpkin Soup and a Taro chip with some dip on top
(sorry I know this doesn't sound like a very good description, but I cannot figure out what was on the solitary chip other than that it had some cream and lemon on it heh)

Smoked Sturgeon Cannoli
American Caviar, Chives, Lemon Condiment
This was a small lumpia like appetizer. The crisp wrapper was filled with a cream cheesy lemony sturgeon filling and was drizzled with caviar that popped of the sea when you bit it.

Tartare of Ahi Tuna
Moroccan Spices, Lemon Confit, Fresh Herbs
I really really liked this. The recipe on Aqua's site gives you a better idea of what was in it. The fish was firm and fresh and I got an Indian / Mideastern vibe from the flavor (must be the cumin). They served the ingredients separately on a plate and the waiter mixed the dish after running through a list of the ingredients. If I had a lot of money I would have this at least once a week.

Parmesan-Black Pepper Soufflé
Dungeness Crab, Sea Urchin, Chive Butter
Good, but not my favorite dish. I found the souffle a tad too salty, although spooning the sea urchin-chive butter mixture into the souffle tempered the saltiness a bit. The dungeness crab came lying on a tiny teaspoon and I swear I didn't gobble the entire serving in a single bite.

Artisan Foie Gras
Almonds, Muscat Grapes, Smoked Duck, Shallot Sherry Sauce
Now, this is my favorite. It was a large chunk of foie gras quivering on a bed on grapes, nuts and sauce. The foie gras was seared perfectly and melted in my mouth (aaaaaahhh the memory), and the sidings kept the dish from getting ma-umay. If I ever eat in Aqua again I will get a full order.

White Sturgeon en Papillotte
Speck Ham, Swiss Chard, Cranberry Bean Mushroom Jus
The white fish and a sliver of ham were wrapped in the chard. Very delicate. The sauce gave it a nice interesting bite. I now know via google research that this was steamed in a paper pouch, hence en Papilotte.

New York Sirloin
Early Girl Tomatoes, Creamed Spinach, Bordelaise
3 slices of nice rare steak with a creamy sauce. I ignored the tomatoes and only had a bite of the spinach because I was getting a bit filled up. The spinach had cream and leeks in it. This is Aqua's only meat dish on the dinner menu.

palate cleanser
Peppermint Sorbet
Juicy Fruit on ice

dessert course
Pear Soufflé with Lemon Verbena Infused Fall Fruits
Delicious and fluffy. In the fruit and syrup here was an unidentifiable (to me) red seed that popped with tart berriness when you bit it. Could this be pomegranate?
________________________

I'm not a wine person (too much cheap alcohol in my college years must have killed my taste buds, but hey, we're a short drive away from Sonoma so there could be hope for me yet) so all I know is that we had a Riesling to go with the first four courses, and a pinot noir to go with the last three. I of course ended everything with a cup of hot coffee to help brace me for the cold outside.
________________________

Can you believe we started at 8:00pm and ended at 10:30pm?? Now wasn't that the works??

This entry was posted on 10/28/2005 at 10/28/2005 03:38:00 pm. You can skip to the end and leave a response.