Farewell to Justin at the Playground

Tuesday, January 22, 2020

Chef Justin Werner who has been with the Playground for 4 years is leaving to start his own. In the John Wayne Airport area and it will be called the Porch and Swing.  Anxious to try the new place when it opens. Justin makes the best Risotto and Gnocchi I have ever had including what I had in Italy. The month of February is "Farewell To Justin"  in the 2.0 Room and he is in charge of all dinners there. These dinners have been sold out for weeks.  5 of us tonight. www.playgrounddtsa.com

We started out with a cocktail. Vanilla infused vodka, house made apertivo, cranberry cordial. Bright red in color and very festive.

New bread chef, Dakota is his name. Seems requisite for being hired at Playground is beautiful tattoos.   He made a brioche roll that was so light and fluffy. Bit of salt on top. Great flavor. Served with house made unsalted butter.

Ride or Die was up next. Salad made with heavy greens, Radicchio for color. Very good dressing.

Burrata Fancier. Fancier is an French almond cake. These were bite size and had house made burrata on top which was toasted and crisped. Yummy.

Albacore with smoked egg vinaigrette and crispy shallots. The vinaigrette was on the creamy side. Albacore was stacked in  a round, then topped with the shallots. Loads of flavor.

These dishes were paired with Kofererhof Weingut, Riesling. Good pairing.

Beets, red and yellow with Pistachio tahini, sumo tangerines. Not overly sweet . Beautiful presentation.

Salisfy with hazelnut truffle, miso and onions, Salisfy was breaded and cooked. Sauce was very good.
It has been a long time since I had salsify. 

Scallops with fermented tomato water and candied lemon.

Wine with these dishes was a A>D> Beckman, Amphora Pinot Gris. Rose colored. Not my favorite. Frankly did not like at all.

A plate of Gnocchi appeared. Justin is known for this dish. Soft, creamy. Perfect.

Celery root cake, roasted apples and house made apple butter. Apples were sweet and tart at the same time. Loads of flavor.

Octopus that had been marinated overnight then grilled. Perfect. Sweet and tender. Cauliflower heart. Not the florets but the stemy part. Did not realize how good that part of the vegetable is.

A 2016 Badia a Coltibuono Chianti Classico was the wine selection .

Marble potato, short rib confit.  I did find this dish way to salty for me.

Wagyu outside skirt steak. Extremely tender, good flavor.

Wine was a 2014 Paradign, Oakville, Napa, Cabernet Sauvignon.. Pleasant wine. Went well with the meat.

Desserts were a Pineapple, Lychee ice cream. Sunchoke cake, semi fredo, sunchoke chips and hazelnut chocolate sauce. A Macaroon ice cream sandwich. .  

Dessert wine was a Amara , Amaro D'Arancia Rossa. A Sicilian liqueur.  Off setting flavor. Took two sips and that was it.