Charcoal - A Love Affair Dinner at The Playground

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

A new concept for dinner at the Playground. www.playgrounddtsa.com.  Everything done with charcoal, either grilled, smoked or infused. Jason was inspired by a restaurant in Spain that does this concept.  Turned out to be a smashing hit among the diners tonight. 13 courses and 2 desserts

Started out with a cocktail made from bourbon, black tea, lemon and ginger. Exceptionally  good.

Then on to a charcoal flat bread brushed with smoked butter. Good flavor but a bit hard on the crusty bottom.. That is what happens to bread on a grill.

Grilled eggplant dip with pom molasses, pine nuts, mint, aleppo pepper and urfa pepper. I am not an eggplant fan but this particular dish was outstanding. Much better than the Baba Ganouj I have had in restaurants. I spread it on the flatbread.  A Domaine de la Taille aux Loups."Triple Zero", Cremant de Loire Rose was the wine that accompanied these dishes.  Very light. Made from the Gamay grape. 

A plate of albacore sashimi with charcoal oil dressing, buckwheat, wasabi and arugula was next. the albacore was perfect, a slightly bold flavor but not overly. The buckwheat really added a nice component.The dressing was also exceptional

Then grilled asparagus with buttermilk gooseberry seed dressing, which was the bomb, and bubu which is a spice. Went back for seconds on this one.

Grilled octopus. Started out raw, not boiled ahead of time, with roasted pepper harissa, a bit of a bite to it but damm good, olive oil and lemon. Octopus was slightly "al dente". A bit of a chew but not much. Flavors were spot on. 

Wine served with these 3 dishes was a  2014 Castell d'Encus, "Ekam", Albarino/Riesling bland, Catalan Pyrenees, Spain.  I wasn't overly taken with this wine. Not sure if it was the blend or ?

Then onto double grilled corn cut off the cob with almond miso butter.lime and togarashi pepper. This dish was outstanding. I finished the bowl. I have never had corn taste this good. Grilled with the husks on then grilled without the husks.

A plate of Milliken Farms Japanese sweet potatoes with scallion and chile garlic crack. Japanese sweet potatoes are more white in color and have a completely different taste than our American sweet potatoes have. Another vert tasty dish.

A piece of grilled white sea bass with smoked fish beurre monte. Beurre Monte is is just melted butter with a very small amount of water added to it. Fish was succulent and tender,Skin was nice and crispy. The skin was my favorite part of the dish.

A 2016 Chateau Bouscaut, Sauvignon/Semillon blend, Graves, France. Wine paired very well with the last 3 dishes.

Mottainai Lamb ribs was next. They even had the authenticity stated on a certificate. Beautiful flavor. Cooked perfectly. A bowl of smoked Aaron Choi tomatoes accompanied the lamb. The tomatoes are covered with herbs then smoked so the herb flavor infuses the tomato. I even ate on of the yellow tomatoes. I am not a raw tomato fan. But these were very good in you are into tomatoes.   A 2016 Clos Bellane, Chateauneauf-du-pape, Rhone, France was the wine selection, A decent wine but I was not enamored with it. 

We had two plates of A5 Wagu beef served that were not on the original working menu.  One was the Rib cap. Both plates of meat were very good examples of A5 wagu.  Top of the line. Runs about $300 a pound. 

Desserts were a Cherrywood smoked milked ice cream. Ice cream had no eggs in it but did have milk and cream. They took a large hunk of fire red cherrywood and with a tong put  it into the mixture for a bit of time and infused the liquid with that smoke flavor. Then into the ice cream maker. Served in a metal bowl to keep it solid and poured freshly juiced red beets over it. Beets are naturally sweet and the combination was a huge success.  Also a Charcoal cream rice pudding. not you gramma's rice pudding, with a flat set budino, pecan wood smoked caramel and grilled pecans, So light and so decadent. 

Last wine of the day was a 2011 Anselmi, "I Capitelli, Veneto, Italy.   Made from the Garganega grape. A very light finish to the evening.

Another outstanding dinner at the Playground. They really out do themselves with the food.  I will be doing another seafood dinner in a few weeks and a "Road Trip" Italy next month.  The set up of the restaurant and how they serve is not for  everyone but it is perfect for me and the food is the best I have had.