The Dry Creek Kitchen
Healdsburg, CA
Reservations 707-431-0330

Review - October, 2001

Three days after opening we snagged a table Friday night at the new Healdsburg hot spot. Our waiter was awkard, walking around the table twice in an attempt to present menus to the ladies first. The amuse guele or bouche was Beet Borsht, a pale pink slightly bitter concoction with a tiny piece of cress. The silver (Guy Degrennes) butter knives were too long for their plates and became very annoying. The napkins are best quality and notable for it. Other restaurants should take note.

Sweet Corn Chowder with bacon and cream – was very good. The presentation beautiful as the bowl is presented with dry ingredients and the hot soup poured overtop tableside. My heirloom tomato salad with peppercress turned out to be tomatoes with parsley and as a result very unexciting. When pressed the waiter returned from the kitchen declaring that the peppercress was included in the herb mix that accompanied the tomatoes. I saw some Chervil…. The Leek Potato potage was served cold and very smooth but without distinctive taste.

The champagne is served at the correct temperature – not too cold. The Sonoma Pinot Noir we enjoy with dinner is poured into Spiegelau glasses without prompting.

The silver change between courses gives us hefty Camelus steak knives with Aureole on a brass plate. It’s too bad they are not sharper.

The Duck with pomegranate molasses was very tender. It was served with Apple slaw and vegetables with lima beans and small white beans and tomatoes in a sage jus. The confit that accompanies it is too salty to eat.
The special, trout stuffed with salmon mousse presented on a green dill sauce with sautéed greens fails to get a nod from Jack - the trout lover. He says it was OK but he would not order it again. Our companions opt for the Cauliflower Tortellini with Chard and the Chicken Breast with Ricotta Gnocchi. Both are enjoyed.

Dessert is a big disappointment, the warm gala apple financier with caramel ice cream carmelized apples and apple confit does not come together even with perfect ingredients for a success.

Review - February, 2002 - Joanne

The Dry Creek Kitchen - Revisited

A celebration takes us back to Hotel Healdsburg for dinner. I’m hoping the rough edges have been sanded as our goal is to enjoy the evening…but it is not to be. As we are seated the waiter (egad - the same waiter we had last time we were here) utters a slur about our companion’s attire quietly to Jack as he retreats from menu presentation. Our companion is outraged and heads to the bar looking for the manager… The comment is denied, the manager assures us that the restaurant policy is casual and comfortable attire, and still ruffled we proceed with menu perusal.

The Amuse Bouche tonight is a Carmelized Onion and White Truffle Panna Cotta served in espresso cups with spoons. The cup is only a third full, but it is so rich three of us resort to spreading it on bread to finish it. The essence of the truffle is obliterated by the power of the onions, but it tastes good.

We order white wine by the glass and a bottle of Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon for the main course.

Three of us take the Salad of Seasonal Field Greens and Herbs - champagne-shallot vinaigrette and pickled vegetables for $8 and Jack opts for the Black Truffle and Hobbs bacon crusted Ahi tuna – caramelized salisfy and cinnamon cap mushrooms for $12. The salads are over-salted, but the pickled vegetables (cauliflower and celery) are enjoyed – even if they do remind me of white vinegar and nothing else. The portion of Ahi tuna is main course size. Jack enjoys it but is not raving.

The three-one split is on again with three Roasted Delmonico Steaks with braised kale, Romanesque broccoli and Yukon Gold potato Puree - $28 and myself, odd man out, with Caramelized Organic Chicken Breast with Basil - fresh ricotta gnocchi and sautéed spinach for $20. Dinner is presented and I dig into the rondeles of chicken which accompany the breast. They have crispy skin and tender interior and the plate is littered with red pepper, jus and tiny gnocchis- which are salty but work with the rondeles. Everyone else is discussing the lack of warmth associated with their food and the suddenly all the dishes on the table are whisked back to the kitchen including my chicken – with a flat apology of I wouldn’t want you to eat alone – I lower my fork to the area which used to hold my plate and then place it on the butterplate - growling that they are going to dry it out. 10 mins later all dishes are replaced with a cautionary – Don’t touch them they are hot!. Growl. My chicken is dry. Growl. The spinach is so salty I can’t eat it. The steaks are attacked and generally meet with approval – the braised kale gets raves as does the extremely rich Yukon gold potato puree which is served in little soup cups on the side and garnished with over-salted potato crisps.

We groan as plates are removed. Considering the task of sampling desserts… I dig in my heels and order the non-chocolate offering of a House-made Graham Cracker Napoleon with Peanut Butter Ice Cream - caramelized banana - $8. One round of Sorbets is to satisfy my 3 companions. 4 desserts arrive and we protest the mistake, but are told to keep them anyways – later we are told they were ordered for us as compensation for the steaks. So on the table we have my dessert and Warm Valrhona Chocolate Pudding Cake with Heavy Cream - warm chocolate chip cookies - $8 as well as the Daily Tasting of House-Made Ice Creams (Malted Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Vanilla with Cognac) -$7 and Sorbets (Mango, Coconut and Passionfruit) - $7 My dessert has too many extra ingredients, marshmallow crème atop and bottom of the napoleon and chocolate hazelnut in the 4 plate corners with a sugared peanut. The graham cookies are too big to eat in one bite and next to impossible to cut with fork or spoon. After hammering with a fork I manage to break one but resort to fingers for the second. Decidely they are not worth eating as the third is left untouched. The ice creams are too heavy and dense and while the flavor is good it would be more intense in a lighter base. The sorbets are good. Not too sweet. The Pudding cake is served like a souffle with a little jug of heavy cream but that is where the similarity ends. If you can imagine Jello pudding made with Valrhona chocolate you are there. The sweet aftertaste is so cloying that 1 bite is enough even though the Jello pudding taste beckons for your second dip. The 2 tiny chocolate chip cookies are so sweet that again one bite is enough. The first taste is pleasant the aftertaste bars the second bite.

In the website description of DCK, fresh local seasonal produce is emphasized. We were offered salmon with haricots verts as a dinner special. The delicate French beans are not in season in Sonoma. I know that experiments with Truffles are being done here – but the menu offers both white and black truffles, and Ahi Tuna – and the salmon? Well all I can hope it was Wild “something” previously frozen… I didn’t ask.
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