High End at The Hobbit

Thursday, July 24, 2014

The Hobbit restaurant in Orange , www.hobbitrestaurant.com, hosted a "high end" wine dinner tonight. Monteverro, Michael Rolland and Alpha Omega Wines.  Jean Hoefliger the winemaker from Monteverro was in attendance.

We got there a little early but were seated immediately in the dining area. Terry is using walker due to a recent surgery so we could not go down into the cellar for Champagne and Hors d'oeuvres which turned out be be a good thing. The waitstaff  brought plates of food to us and poured several glasses of bubbly for us. The appetizers were all excellent. They had at least 7 different ones on the plate. Told Terry to keep the walker after he does not need it and every time we come to the Hobbit use it.

This dinner was pricey at $174 per person, exclusive. I was anxious to see what we would get for the kind of money. All the wines are higher end. Ranging from $50 to $170 per bottle (depending on where you would buy them.

The first course was a Fennel Spice Rubbed Fresh King Salmon, Saffron Cauliflower Rice with Vermouth Zabaglione.  Flavor was good but my salmon was dry and spelled fishy. Ate about half and did not finish. Told the server when the plates were picked up. Michael the owner and chef came to the table to talk with us about the dish.  At least they are concerned about quality. This dish was paired with a 2010 Monteverro Chardonnay, about $80 per bottle, way to oaky for me. Two sips and that was it.

Up next was a Braised Rabbit Leg with Wild Mushroom Creamy Polenta. Rabbit was very good. The wild mushrooms had great flavor but some seemed dry to me. The polenta was excellent. Wine was a 2010 Monteverro Tinata, a blend of Syrah and Grenache. The wine was much better with the food than on its own. Bottle goes for $85 to $100 on "winesearcher.com"

After a brief intermission a dish of White Peach Sorbet was presented to help clean the palate before the next course.

Main course was a Beef Rib Eye Steak Florentine with Broccoli Rabe and Fingerling Potatoes. Steak was excellent and the server did come around and offer extra slices. The Broccoli Rabe and the potatoes were the same as I make at home. Just plain sauteed and roasted. A little disappointing considering the price of the dinner. Two wines were poured for this course a 2010 Michel Rolland Napa Cabernet, $120 to $150 on winesearcher and a 2010 Monteverro di Monteverro, $134 to $170 on winesearcher.  Both wines had been decanted for about 30 minutes but frankly they should have been decanted for a least 3 hours or more. They are young and took quite a bit of swirling to get them to open up.  The cab was excellent. Very well balanced with a big dark cherry taste to it.  It had some Cabernet Franc and Merlot in the blend. The Monteverro di Monteverrro was a Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon blend, Big alcohol on the nose. Took awhile to blow off.  But both wines were excellent and paired beautifully with the beef after they opened up.

Dessert was a Blood Orange Cake with Toasted Almond Cup and Blackberry Coulis. Cake was smothered in an overly sweet blood orange sauce which I scrapped off. That left a still overly sweet cake. Then to add the the already oversweet dish they served a 2010 Alpha Omega Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon, about $50 per bottle. Sweet and sweet is way to much for me. Would have really preferred a cheese plate with the wine.

The Hobbit has excellent waitstaff and you do do want for anything.  They  came around and asked if you wanted additional pours on wine and the pours were generous. That is a big plus. I did not have any extra pours because the first pour was large but Terry availed himself of the extras.  But then I was the designated driver tonight also.

Jean Hoefliger came over to the table after dinner and talked with us for awhile. Down to earth person and feels everyone has a different palate so no two people will think alike on the wines.  He did not seem offended at all when I said the Chardonnay was way to oaky the reds needed to be decanted longer etc., I have never been known to keep my mouth shut and he did agree on a few things. Or maybe he was just very diplomatic.

Michael the owner and chef came out after dinner and brought me a bottle of their house Champagne to make up for the salmon. The Hobbit does really good PR work and they are very concerned about their quailty and reputation. I still feel the price of dinner was too high but that is the way it is. Comparing this dinner to the Clos Pepe dinner at Delius last week for $89,  I frankly was more impressed with Delius's food. I have had excellent dinners at the Hobbit where I felt the food way superior to what we had tonight.