On a particularly crummy day, after a failed attempt at retail therapy, it became apparent that a nice dinner out would be just what I needed. To me, trying new restaurants is like taking a mini-vacation; it's always exciting. A spontaneous dinner trip, much like a spontaneous vacation, can cure a bad mood in a heartbeat, especially if the destination is as fantastic as La Botte.
La Botte was on our list of 'restaurants to try', but we had no idea how or why it got there. Obviously we put it on the list, but couldn't remember where we'd gotten the hint to do so. 'The List' contains all the big fancy restaurants and the big famous chefs we hear about, and some smaller names that we somehow stumble upon. Knowing very well that a spontaneous trip to the most popular restaurants would leave us without a table, we opted for the lesser known places, and somehow honed in on La Botte. I consider us especially lucky to have been able to call the restaurant at 730pm on the evening we intended to dine, and make a reservation for 830pm...and it was Friday night!
We walked in and realized, within a couple minutes, that the reason La Botte was on our list was because it's a Michelin-starred restaurant, as we were informed by a large sign with the marshmallow guy waving and smiling at us. That's right, the same Michelin that brings us tires for our cars also tells us where to eat and who's who of chefs in restaurant-land. I find it a bit odd that we take, as gospel, the advice on the best restaurants from a bunch of guys that make tires, but the coveted Michelin star (or two or three stars) is like the Academy Awards for restaurants and chefs, and don't we all run out and watch the Oscar-winning movies after they've been recognized by the illustrious Academy?
Nevertheless, there we were at our first Michelin-starred restaurant, and I have to say, aside from the huge sign, I'd never have gotten the "who's who" feeling from this place. Not because it wasn't a nice place, but because it was quaint - cute and quiet, with just the rumblings of restaurant, without the noise of the over-dressed, over-excessed crowd of trend-followers. The decor is simple and lovely - the room lined with bottles and bottles of wine in a gigantic wooden rack, and tables simply decorated with tea light candles in holders that allowed the light to shine in a sweet pattern on the tablecloth. The staff is friendly and surprisingly entertaining, goofy almost, which I consider a key ingredient to the experience of eating at La Botte, as so many fine dining establishments train their waitstaff to be uber-professional, which I find stuffy and uncomfortable.
Everything on the menu sounded incredible, so in order to avoid a drawn-out decision-making session, we opted for the tasting menu. Yes, it's a lot of food, and yes, it's more expensive, but there's something wonderful about not having to make decisions and something exciting about not knowing what you're going to eat next. "Please just make my tummy happy, chef. And yes, we'll have some wine. Red please."
And so our first dish arrived, the cold appetizer - ahi tuna tartar. Ugh, I thought, tuna tartar is so overdone. It's lost all sense of intrigue and interest because you find it literally everywhere. I hoped to be shocked and amazed by this tuna tartar, so I eagerly dipped my fork in the sauce and took a small bite of tartar. Shocked and amazed and relieved, I was so happy that my tuna tartar did not have the usual harsh ginger, soy, and wasabi flavoring (and why would it? it's an italian restaurant). This tartar is sweet with a balsamic reduction and accompanied by smooth avocado puree, and is so pleasant and refreshing to eat. Topped with an edible flower, it's a beautiful start to an incredible meal. Still, I would have preferred something a little more unusual, a little more Italian. But that's what you get for avoiding food decisions!
Next up, our hot appetizer - potato leek soup. Again, I thought, "soup? really?" Fortunately, I've been on a leek kick lately and was excited about that aspect at least. Well...I polished off my soup like it was a snowy day and I had just finished shoveling the driveway (which I've never actually done since I have spent most of my adult life here in sunny california missing the fluffy white winters). The potato leek soup is not on the regular menu, but was a special at the restaurant for the day. So lucky were we to have gotten such a wonderful off-menu item that we may or may not be able to get ever again.
Our first pasta dish, a clone of which is currently underway in our kitchen, was a plateful of the most scrumptious gnocchi imaginable accompanied by some incredible flavorful chanterelle mushrooms. Another off-menu item, which is quite unfortunate, because it is likely one of the best things I've ever eaten (are you listening, Food Network producers of 'The Best Thing I Ever Ate'?) The tasty little pillow-like gnocchi are lighter and fluffier than I ever thought they could be. The chanterelles are rich and earthy, but the powerful flavors are restrained enough to play the supporting-actor role to the subtle pasta, allowing the gnocchi to shine in a starring role. Truly incredible. (FYI...the attempted clone in my kitchen was very good, but not quite La Botte-tastical).
The second pasta dish (two pastas is better than one!) was the pistachio pappardelle with braised lamb ragout, a regular menu item. This one had a tough act to follow with the gnocchi, but still, it was very good. I had a bit of a difficult time picking out the pistachio flavor beneath the pronounced lamb flavor. I generally find that lamb has such a strong flavor that any subtly in accompanying flavors, like pistachio, gets completely overpowered and lost to the meat. A touch of saltiness might have helped a bit, possibly in the form of parmesano-reggiano generously grated over the top (which the waiter offerred but never returned with).
So...these are all generously sized dishes here. I'm not talking one or two noodles. Each of these pasta dishes could have been a nice-sized meal, but we got two, and then a main dish. By the time the meat came, we were stuffed, but the waiter so enthusiastically shoved plates of meat in front of us and informed us that the main dish was spectacular this evening. Wagyu beef with chanterelle mushrooms (it must have been chanterelle day at the farmer's market) and roasted artichokes. Wagyu beef, also known as kobe beef, is well-known for its intense marbling which enhances the flavor and tenderness of the meat. This was my first wagyu/kobe experience, and I was amazed at how tender the meat was. The accompanying flavors are quite similar to the gnocchi with the same chanterelle earthiness, but this dish feels much heavier given the intensity of the meat. Perhaps it was the fact that we'd just polished two plates of pasta, a bowl of soup, and some tartar. I forced the last biteful of wagyu and prayed that my dessert would still fit.
Sometimes I wish I went out just for dessert. It is my favorite part of the meal, but I am almost always stuffed to the brim by dessert time. I commend the chef at La Botte for his choice of dessert to finish off our tasting. The light and sweet berry sorbet is completely refreshing, and the token chocolate dessert, made with special European chocolate, is creamy, rich and indulgent; a perfect pair of sweet treats to finish of a remarkable meal!
I waddled out of La Botte, plopped myself in the car, unbuttoned my pants for the ride home, and promptly proclaimed, "...so that's what a Michelin star tastes like!"
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