Manresa Restaurant in Los Gatos was our choice for my recent birthday celebration. We had been hearing about the restaurant for years – about the gorgeous and equally delicious food that was being served by Executive Chef David Kinch and his team. A couple of our friends had been recently and raved about the food and the experience. The restaurant is located in an alleyway in downtown Los Gatos.
Our overall experience was really amazing – primarily because of the food. There were a few glitches – primarily a rough start with our server who either misunderstood or did not like our choice of the vegetarian tasting menu. (We are not vegetarians but with all of the fresh, local, seasonal produce available right now, we just wanted vegetables!) However, when the food started arriving, we just relaxed and enjoyed the absolutely incredible dishes – 15 of them in total.
We started with a delicate black olive madeline served with an intensely-flavored red pepper gelee.
Our next course was fried kale with parmesan churros. The kale was finished with a nice sprinkling of fleur-de-sel and the churros had just the right hint of parmesan cheese.
Next we enjoyed a dish of juniper berry soda with sorrel sorbet and meyer lemon. It was so refreshing!
Following that, we had two mandarin orange slices in a jasmine tea gelee.
Our first main course was Delta asparagus with white & wild rice, chrysanthemum fronds and sweet rice vinegar. My husband is not crazy about asparagus and he loved this dish!
Next we had tempura radishes with salsify emulsion and pickled cucumber with dill. I had not thought about frying radishes before, but this was a wonderful dish – it really brought out the flavor of the radishes.
After that, we were served what they simply called “the vegetable garden”. It was a brilliant assortment of herbs and vegetables from the garden – all extremely fresh and appealing.
Next we had broccoli with parsnip puree, arugula flowers, capers and olive oil. I loved this dish! The parsnip puree was packed with flavor, and the capers were such a nice contrast.
That was followed by a green vegetable veloute served over mustard cream and vegetable purees. A vibrant dish that had a tangy yet almost sweet taste.
Next we had green pickled strawberries with goat cheese, roasted ramps and sorrel. I had not thought of using green strawberries before – a very creative dish.
After that, we were served a dish with a potato and green garlic fritter, grilled morel mushrooms, roasted radishes and bulgar in a sorrel puree. This was a very meaty-tasting dish – very filling.
Next we had Yuzu sorbet with green tea granite and a fresh strawberry. I love Yuzu and the sorbet was so nicely flavored. The green tea was intense and was balanced by the sweetness of the ripe strawberry.
Then we had a luscious dish of coffee cream, chocolate caramel mousse and hazelnut ice cream.
That was followed by chocolate madeleines with strawberry gelee. We loved that we had started with savory madeleines and gelee and finished with sweet ones.
Our final dish was chicory and coffee macarons – a very nice touch!
It is worth noting that the breads – four of them – that were served throughout the evening were outstanding, too – a whole-grain levain, tiny brioches, olive bread and a seeded bread. I loved that they were served with unsalted butter that had fleur-de-sel on one side only.
After the last dish had been served, they brought us a bag of cookies – chocolate ones and vanilla pistachio ones – to take home with us.
At the door, we were offered salted caramels – made fresh daily. I took a few for the next morning – so glad I did! They were exceptional!
We are so happy that we chose the vegetarian tasting menu. It was exactly what we were hoping for. This restaurant was an excellent choice for a special occasion.
Manresa is located at 320 Village Lane in Los Gatos. Visit them at: http://manresarestaurant.com/.
