Dragonette Dinner at Park Ave Restaurant

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

I vowed I would never go back to the Park Ave Restaurant in Stanton again after my first dinner there. But the lure of Dragonette Wines made me  give them a second chance. For the life of me I cannot understand why people rave about this place. The chef is said to grow his vegetables on the premises. Maybe that is what impresses them

We were seated in the "garden" which is an open space outdoors with trees and twinkling lights. A very pleasant venue. There was approximately 60 people in attendance. Our table was nice with white tablecloths and the oddest assortment of wines glasses. I will say they were generous in their pours of the wine.

First Course: Quesdadilla with Smoked Salmon and Chive Cream. This was very good. Unfortunately the other item on the plate lacked a lot. Two chicken "drumettes"  with a Soy Plum BBQ Sauce. Sauce was great. Chicken was greasy, skin was left on and it was fatty. A big mess to eat. A better idea would have been chicken cubes on a skewer with the sauce.  The wine was a 2010 Dragonette Rose Sangria. The wine had bits of fruit in the bottle. The wine grew on you, after the third glass you started to like it. The glass was an old fashioned champagne coupe. I said the glasses were odd.

Second Course: Todays Harvest Beets, Shaved Radish,  Baby Lettuces with a Dijon Vinaigrette. The vinaigrette  had good flavor. The beets were sliced thin, red & yellow and halves of a candy cane beet (red & white) . Very small portion. Doubt if it cost .75 cents to plate. Paired with a 2010  Dragonette Happy Canyon Sauvignon Blanc. Wine was pleasant.

Entree: Ninman Ranch Pork Delmonico, with Heirloom Potato Hash and buttered Brussel Sprout Leaves. And leaves is what you got. I doubt if there was a whole brussel sprout on my plate, de-leaved. The pork was very good, moist and a large thick portion of meat. The  potato hash sucked. The wine poured was a 2010 Dragonette Sta Rita Hills Pinot Noir. Wine was excellent. I was so glad that CJ brought nice pinot glasses with him. What the restaurant had was not good.

Dessert: Chocolate Cream Pie with Lavender Cream and Shaved Chocolate. Individual pie shells with a dark chocolate pudding type mixture. Lavender Cream was good. Slight hint of lavender, not over whelming. Wine was a 2010 Dragonette Sta Rita Hills "Seven" Syrah.  Nice wine.

This was not a $75 dinner. Maybe $65. Aside from the pork chop and dessert the portions were very small.   Some food was very good and some was mediocre.Service was good on the most part. Margie had confirmed with them twice that she did not eat salmon and still had to let the waitstaff know after they served her the salmon. A screw up there.

Would I go back ?  Only if it was a winery that I was really into.