so vino monday

so vino
507 westheimer rd nr. taft

last monday was my third visit to so vino and my most memorable. why, you ask? because monday nights are 1/2 off bottles of wine night... so we ordered three! we started off with the jansz brut rose, a sparkling wine from tasmania that was wonderfully priced on the wine list for $24 a bottle. do the math kids. yes, we paid $12 for it. it paired nicely with truffle popcorn tossed in truffle oil and then sprinkled with finely shredded white cheddar. it was served in a paper cone and it was great to find cheese sprinkled throughout the whole order of popcorn and not just on top. this stuff was awesome!

then our flights of apps arrived and included the roasted beet & goat cheese salad, the heirloom tomato & burrata cheese salad, and the house-cured salmon. both salads were wonderful and very well dressed, i would order them again. the cured salmon was served on a cutting board with dijon shallot remoulade, boiled potatoes w/ fresh dill, and pumpernickel bread layered with butter. the salmon was a little bland but was delish with remoulade and potato. the pumpernickel didn't need the butter addition.

next we opened our second bottle of wine, the 2006 turley juvenile zin. the half off price of $24 was a steal b/c it's hard enough just trying to get your hands on a bottle of it. it paired perfectly with the braised short ribs and gruyere polenta. the short ribs were a little too reminiscent of pot roast, but still good. we also ordered the truffled taleggio and mushroom pizza which wasn't anything too exciting. the red sauce on the pizza was too overpowering for the taleggio and i could smell the truffle oil more than i could actually taste it. the really, really thin crust reminded me of a chewy cracker. i'll definitely save my pizza cravings for dolce vita across the street. a side of brussel sprouts were made even more tempting by sprinklings of parmeggiano reggiano on top.


before ending our meal, we couldn't resist ordering the other turley on the menu - the 2006 turley old vines, also a zin. we wanted to taste both turleys at the same time and we could easily afford to at these prices. (i preferred the juvenile, the old vines was a little too spicy for my taste). this bottle was also $24. we drank a third of this bottle, popped the cork back in and took the rest back to my house to finish off the night. an order of smores was fun for the pyros at the table (all 3 of us), we even shared with a neighboring table.

continuing the theme of decadence, we got a second dessert - the mosaic - which was a vanilla semi-freddo wrapped around mango and raspberry sorbets and sliced. it was delicious. service was amazing. the owner of so vino kept stopping by our table to check on us too. i believe my girls and i have found our new monday night spot.

a new voice

voice
hotel icon
220 main b/w franklin & congress

( photos are courtesy of james yu)

see updated 8/17/08 review

now i am truly embarrassed about the quality of my photos. the footage i have from last night's dinner really didn't capture the beauty of the food and the food was GORGEOUS. i think i would actually be doing the restaurant a disservice by posting my photos, so thankfully james offered me his.

the restaurant has been updated. a circular bar has been put in the middle of the restaurant and i can see that it will do well in attracting a vibrant bar scene. there is also one long communal bar table where i saw 6 guests cocktailing happily. i like some of the new, modern touches including the black and white giant hanging tapestries and the black and white cowhide (faux?) backed bar chairs. the contrasting textures are interesting. the tall banquettes are left over from the days of bank, the previous restaurant that was opened by the jean-george vongerichten enterprise. overall, the restaurant just seems more energetic. it was a good move to get rid of the old bar. i never wanted to sit there and bars and i usually get along just fine.

the 6 of us started the night with a bottle of l'aventure syrah from paso robles alongside our cocktails. it was remarkably priced at $65. in fact, we were surprised how affordable the wine list was, not quite as close to retail as ibiza, catalan, reef but still quite low. for example, a bottle of nicolas feuillatte brut rose (one of my favorite champagnes) is $38.50 at spec's, $40 at ibiza, and $55 at voice.

for appetizers we started with 2 orders of grilled octopus, 2 orders of truffle fries, the mushroom cappuccino, and crabcake. the grilled octopus had a wonderful char on it and was topped with a lovely frisee salad dressed with truffle vinaigrette and hon-shimeji mushrooms. the truffle fries, lightly drizzled in truffle oil and parmesan, arrived hot, crispy, and provided a wonderful truffle fix.

the mushroom soup "cappuccino" was whimsically served in a coffee cup with saucer. the stiff foam did a good job replicating a cappuccino froth. i wanted to pick up the cup and drink it! the flavors were wonderful and earthy and the texture was soft and creamy, but unfortunately it was painfully oversalted. we informed our server and had him remove it from the table. (btw, no one followed up with our complaint. we were not offered a new one or a replacement nor was the item taken off our bill.)

lastly, the crabcake was nothing remarkable. it had a lot breading and was served on pressed avocado, shaved fennel, and cilantro oil. i would have enjoyed more cilantro oil since the cake was bready and dry. it seemed more like a garnish on the plate.

now we were down to 5 people and only 4 of us were drinking. we ordered the beau vigne juliet, a cab blend from st. helena, CA. the bottle was $73 (retail is $54.95). it was a nicely balanced wine with good fruit and an interesting finish.

i noted to the group that the chef didn't send out an amuse. am i wrong to expect one from a restaurant at this price point?

for entrees, i chose the lacquered duck breast w/ morels, fava beans and black pepper gastrique. the duck was slightly overcooked (i requested medium-rare) but the dish was still fantastic. my plate was also garnished with sweet potato puree that had a nice star of anise flavor punch.

the wow dish at the table was the venison sous vide. the protein was pleasantly gamey and oh-so-tender. the accoutrements were caramelized apples, cipollini onions, and sour cherry sauce. superb! everyone also enjoyed the rack of lamb which was perfectly cooked (see top photo). both the guys were gnawing on bones which is a good sign.

we also picked 2 fish dishes for the table. the first was the alaskan halibut with baby carrots and truffle foam. the dish was composed of 3 thinnish filets of pan seared halibut which were overcooked and dry. i questioned why the chef didn't choose to serve 1 thick piece of fish to really show-off the buttery unctuousness of good halibut. the truffle foam provided some creaminess and saved the dish. however, the grouper wasn't any better than the halibut. the fish was also dry but the mussels served on top and the sauce (a mussel broth maybe?) didn't excite any palates at this table.

after a round of espressos, we had 3 desserts. the peanut butter custard with caramelized bananas was the table favorite. a study in chocolate included warm molten cake, mint ice cream w/a chocolate cookie, chocolate mousse, and a milkshake. it was a fun playground of various chocolate treats however the cookie was so hard we couldn't even cut it with a knife. lastly, we picked three in house made sorbets: ginger-lychee, green apple-champagne, and passionfruit. we expected a smoother texture. some of them were also cloyingly sweet.

service was wonderful. the company was even better. i dug the ambiance of the place which was relatively busy. will i be running back? probably not b/c i expect a little more polish if i'm digging out the serious coinage. but i *am* still thinking about that venison more than 24 hours later.