Playing at the Playground with Larry

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Bellied up to the bar  tonight for dinner at the 2.0 dining area of the Playground restaurant in Santa Ana, www.playgrounddtsa.com. A long curved bar that seats 18 people and you watch all the food being cooked and plated in front of you. This is the area where the Playground does their wine dinners. The "regular" restaurant faces 4th Street. No corkage as long as you share a glass of your wine with your waiter in that area. A big selection of craft beers and good food.

Larry Shaffer from Tercero Wines,   wwwtercerowines.com , was the winemaker tonight. Have bought Tercero wines for several years now and have not been disappointed.

Started out with Terecero 2014 Rose of Mouvedre.  Glass were kept full of wine. No shortage of wine here.  Two dishes were set as appetizers. A Charred Satsuki Rice Handroll, Dunganesse Crab, Yuzu Koshu, Strawberries, and Scallions. This was to die for. I could have ate a lot more of these handrolls. So good. Next was a "Napoleon". Thin slices of Scallop ( fresh and opened in front of us) stacked with thin slices of Mango and Jicama and topped with Cilantro Oil, Red Fresno Chile and Radish Sprouts. and very thin sliced Jalapeno's. Another outstanding dish

Larry brought down two loaves of his freshly made bread. One was made with Guinness and the other with Red Chili flakes. These were served withe freshly made (only a few hours ago) cultured butter. I really liked the bread made with the Guinness beer.

First Course:  A salad made with Peaches, (three ways)  grilled, pickled and diced. Argula, Bentons Ham and Cornbread Crumble. The vinaigrette was made with the pickled peach juice. I really liked the cornbread crumble. Gave a nice texture. Another very good dish. Paired with Tercero 2014 Albarino C5 Vineyard. This wine sees 2/3 stainless and 1/3 neutral oak.  A perfect pairing.

Second Course: Blue Fin Tuna Larb, Apple, Ginger, Lime Juice , Shallots, Puff  Rice in Shrimp Spice and  Gem Lettuce Leaves. The idea was to put the mixture on the lettuce leaves and slightly roll the leaf.  I just ate the ingredients with a spoon. If you got into the juice there was a real bite to it. Too much for me. Great flavors and if you are a "heat" fan this was the dish for you. A 2014 Tercero "The Outlier" was the wine served. The Outlier is a dry Geuwurztraminer. This wine cries for Thai food. Again another perfect pairing.

Third Course: Buttermilk Poached Pork Tenderloin, Pickled Cherry Polenta, Asparagus in Pork Fat, Lemon and Fresh Chopped Hazelnuts. This was my least favorite dish. I felt that the pork was slightly overcooked. The medallions were very thin so it doesn't take much to overcook them. The asparagus was very thin and I think the pork fat overwhelmed them. It also had a "smokey" flavor that did not do anything for the dish. The polenta was good but I would have preferred that the cherries were lost someplace.  They added nothing to the polenta. The crushed hazelnuts added a good crunch. The wine poured was a 2011 Tercero Mouvedre.  Wine was good and a decent pairing.

Main Course: Top Sirloin, Red Beet and Beef Jus, Corn and Huitlacoche ( fungus) Risotto sauteed Pea Tendrils and Slow Roasted Pearl Onions. The beet jus was really good. Had great flavor and looked nice painted on the plate. Meat was tender and cooked perfectly. The whole dish was a good combination. Paired with a 2010 Tercero, Larner Vineyard Grenache and a 2010 Tercero, Watch Hill Vineyard. Grenache.  I did prefer the Watch Hill tonight, altho I had a 2009 Larner a few days ago and it was perfect.

After the main course we were served "Adult Sour Patch Kids". Cobbler de Montenegro, Trinidad Especial and Negroni. About a 1 inch square rolled in sugar.

Dessert was a Olive Oil Cake, Marinated Blueberries, , Frozen Raspberries, Lechee Sorbet and Shisho. Portions were small which was good because after all the food you had no room. Frankly I would rather had just the Sorbet. A 2012 Tercero, Late Harvest Viognier was paired with dessert. A light wine that was not overly sweet.

This was a very large dinner. I could have stopped after the appetizers and bread. If you are a big eater then this is for you. Food was great and also the wines.  The "show" that is put on by the chef "Jason" is amazing. It is really interesting to see how they assemble and plate the dishes. Everything is precise. There is never any substitutions allowed. You do not know the menu until the food is served. Something you don't like then you don't eat it and just wait until the next dish is served. If this is not your cup of tea don't make reservations for the 2.0 room. Eat in the "regular" restaurant and order off the menu.  The Playground is busy all the time. Has a good reputation for food and reservations are recommended. They do have an outdoor seating area for overflow but that seems to be full all the time also