Kosta Browne at Charlie Palmers

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

I had been looking forward to this dinner for awhile and it did not disappoint . Got to South Coast Plaza with plenty of time to spare.  Never know about work traffic and what it will bring. Charlie Palmers is located at Bloomingdales at the center. www.charliepalmer.com.  Since some of us were early we sat in the lounge with a glass of bubbly until we were summoned into the dining area for the reception.

The restaurant was pouring J sparkling and were generous with the wine. Took about 20 minutes for the seating for dinner to begin. We had 9 people at our table and plenty of room for us all. Chairs at this table. No banquette. Makes for more comfortable seating.

Started out with a Hamachi Crudo, Green Apple, Seaweed, Compressed Cucumber, Pink Sea Salt and Tangerine Yuze Vinaigrette. Very good dish and the dressing was exceptional.  Paired with a 2012 Kosta Browne, One Sixteen, Russian River, Chardonnay. Nice wine and paired well with the salad. Slight oak but for me very drinkable.

Second course was a Beeler's Farm Crispy Pork Belly, Root Beer Glaze, Brown Butter Butternut Squash Puree, Shaved Radish- Petite Salad. (very petite). Pork was very flavorful. I would have preferred a touch more fat on it but it was good. Puree had nice flavor. A well composed dish. Wine was a 2012 Kosta Browne, Russian River, Pinot Noir. Another good pairing.

Third course was up - Creamy Farro Risotto, Duck Confit, Mixed Berries, Parmesan Cheese, Poultry Jus. Farro is a grain and the consistency showed that. Good flavor and the wine paired well. It was a 2010 Kosta Browne, Gary's Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands, Pinot Noir. Good wine but somehow I was not overly impressed. Gary's is one of my favorite vineyards but something wasn't clicking.

Main course was served - Coirander Dusted Colorado Lamb Loin, Portobello Mushroom, Pomegranate Truffle Sauce. Paired with a 2009 Kosta Browne, Kanzler Vineyard, Sonoma Coast, Pinot Noir. This to me was a far better wine than the Gary's. Granted it was a year older but showed much better. Very well balanced, good fruit and complexity. I did not eat any of this dish as I was getting stuffed and we did have dessert to go. Had them box in up and ate it Thursday night. The flavor was really on. Very good cut of lamb, excellent dish. Sauce was outstanding.

Dessert was a Pumpkin Cheesecake, Gingerbead, Pecan, Creme Fraiche Sorbet. A really nice touch at the end of the meal. ate every morsel.

Excellent dinner and wines. Michael Browne, one of the winemakers was in attendance. He made the rounds and went to every table and talked with everyone. Very personable. He seemed to be really enjoying himself this evening. A really huge difference in his attitude over Bob Cabral from Williams Seylem who talked to everyone through a microphone and did not leave his table area.

Interesting to note the difference in quality of food and wine compared to the amount charged. This dinner was twice the price of my dinner Monday night. But the quality of the food and the wines was so much better along with the level of service. The old saying "you get what you pay for" really rings true.