rivka

I took a break from being a stressbunny last night and had dinner at Charleston with

minnehaha B., who was passing through town.

Wow.

The menu (warning: PDF) sent me directly into choice paralysis. Our server described it as a "tasting menu" (although the portions turned out to be larger than you'd expect, given that description) and explained that we could choose three to six courses from the seven sections listed: "hot," "cool," "the season" (highlighting a particular ingredient that's in season; last night it was blue crab), "fish and shellfish," birds and game," "meats," and "cheese." The final category, "sweets," was obligatory - it didn't count as one of our courses. To complicate matters, it was possible to choose more than one course from the same category.

After considerable debate, we settled on a menu. I've reconstructed it here from pictures and from the items that were also listed on the menu posted on the website (apparently, it changes daily);

minnehaha saved an actual menu, and hopefully he'll correct anything I've left out. We split most things down the middle.

They started us off with an amuse bouche - that's the picture up above the LJ cut. It was a small cube of raw tuna topped with shards of jalapeno, and served on something crispy that might have been a homemade potato chip. Gorgeous piece of fish.

First course: shellfish bisque with lobster, crab, shrimp, and cognac (me), jumbo shrimp topped with tiny cubes of sausage, served with grits (B.). Yes, actually grits. I had never even had them before. They were creamy and bland, but a good vehicle for the pan sauce. The shrimp were firm and mild, dotted with intensely flavored tiny sausage bits. My shellfish bisque was surprisingly light - it had a beautifully delicate flavor and luxurious mouthfeel without screaming RICH RICH RICH. I had trouble sharing it.

Second course: Pan-roasted sea scallops with pine nuts, orange, capers & lemon beurre blanc (me), crispy softshell crab with cress (B.). I loved my fish course. The sweetness of scallops goes very well with the sweetness of orange, and the crispy pine nuts added a great textural contrast. B.'s lightly battered and fried softshell crab was delicious. I think there was cornmeal in the coating.

Alas, I forgot that I was photo-documenting every course until partway through this one, so the scallops are partly eaten and the crab has been dismembered.

Third course: Grilled magret of duck, Bing cherries, red wine gastrique (me), roasted pheasant breast, fennel, English pea sauce (B.). My duck was excellent - rich, meaty, medium-rare slices of breast topped with tart cherries and a red wine reduction. I am almost always a fan of meat-fruit combinations, and this was a perfect exemplar of the genre. But B.'s pheasant breast was even better, one of the two star dishes of the evening. They could've brought out the crispy skin alone, and I would have been perfectly satisfied. The fresh English pea sauce had just a touch of sweetness, and was swirled on the plate with a pan sauce from the pheasant.

Fourth course: Venison loin, mango compote (shared). When we announced that we were sharing this course, the restaurant obligingly split it into two servings for us. This was the other star of the evening. Wow. Blood-rare venison, just lightly seared at the edges, with a stunning mango sauce. As much as I enjoy meat and fruit (as previously mentioned), I wouldn't have thought of mango with red meat. It worked perfectly.

Fifth course: Cheese (shared). We were supposed to choose three cheeses from the cart, but the server was easily talked into giving us a little bit of everything, instead. Twelve cheeses, of which about half were spectacular and only a couple were forgettable.

Dessert: Chocolate caramel bombe with ginger caramel sauce (me), black raspberry tart in, I think, vanilla creme Anglaise (B.). I was not very hungry at this point, and a rich dessert like this one was wasted on me. I took two or three bites, enough to register that it was RICH RICH RICH, and put my fork down. If the ginger sauce had been spicier and less sweet, it might've been enough of a stimulus to finish the dish - instead, it was bland. I liked B.'s black raspberry tart much better. They included an extra little plate of treats - why they thought we had room, I have no idea.