Morimoto, Napa

Iron Chef is the WWE of cooking. We all know the “secret ingredient” is fixed yet we can’t help but enjoy the show. The Japanese program made its way into a successful US television franchise and while some things were updated to better serve the American taste, its signature over-the-top quirkiness was kept intact. The kitchen stadium, live commentators and the inexplicable figure of a Chairman in satin shirts set the stage for a battle. The celebrity chefs and their performances turn cooking into a spectator sport. And when the battle begins, no chef is better prepared than Masaharu Morimoto; the original Iron Chef.

Morimoto, whose television interviews often appear subtitled is known for his creative East meets West cuisine. The award-winning chef owns a small empire of restaurants in cities around the world including in the US, Florida, Philadelphia and New York. Napa is his first venture in the West coast.



Once you get inside Morimoto Napa, you’ll find yourself in a retail space. A gift shop staged with Japanese paraphernalia and several copies of the Iron Chef’s book. A long glass counter proudly displays fishes and meats; behind it a view into the open prep kitchen. Not surprisingly, a line of diners waiting to check in. This is a celebrity chef’s restaurant after all.



A wide hallway takes you pass the open kitchen where Morimoto stands busily expediting the dishes. Behind him, a lineup of groupies with their cell phone cameras ready for a glimpse of the Iron Chef’s face. But he rarely turns, the man is there to work and there’s no time to smile for the crowd. A steady stream of flashes strobe behind his back. He’s used to it but doesn’t seem to particularly enjoy the attention. Again, here he’s the chef.



The ample dining room extends into three spaces. The main room features yellow lounge chairs, a long bar and spaced-out tables. A second more private space offers a quieter atmosphere behind glass partitions. Lastly, an outside heated patio is perfect for dining riverside.



The ambience if tastefully designed mixing traditional Japanese elements with modern sensibility. Centenarian grape vines hang like sculptures against the porous concrete walls. As you explore the huge space, peruse the long menu, you can can’t help but feel a slight resemblance to a Vegas restaurant. A franchise designed to carry the chef’s name and work flawlessly like a well-oiled machine. But at least here the chef is in. Allez cuisine.


The menu



The extensive selection is divided in eleven parts. Cold appetizers ($14 to $25); Salads ($9 to $18); Hot appetizers ($15 to $19); Soups and noodles ($10 to $15); Entrées ($23 to $37); Wagyu Steaks ($55 to $80); a full selection of à la carte sushi, sashimi and maki plus a Raw bar and a Grill bar (M.P.). Options are appetizing but can be a bit overwhelming. Where to start? There’s also an Omakase tasting menu that tours the chef’s cuisine in smaller versions of eight of his signature dishes ($110).


The meal



Morimoto’s cuisine is an endless exercise of originality and whimsy. Each dish is surprising and highly engaging, they pull you in transcending a normal dining experience and inviting you to play, try, and interact. Each is like a theme park attraction. But occasionally, fuss overpowers food and froufrou takes over flavor. Yet the overall experience makes it well worth each bite.



Toro tartare. Wasabi, nori paste, sour cream. Beautifully presented on a custom wood shallow box that resembles miniature Japanese gardens. Served with Morimoto signature five sauces and shoyu. The toro is deliciously fatty and flavorful, turned into an almost pasty texture, carved out of the box with a small metal spatula. The sauces that also include a creamy guacamole almost seem like an unnecessary distraction. But you try them all anyway, hypnotized by their colorful playfulness.



Morimoto sashimi. Seared toro, salmon, eel, tuna, hamachi. Five layered fishes, five sauces. Another beautiful preparation where the sauces come in tiny squirt bottles. A great party pleaser and guaranteed conversation starter but the accoutrements are more likely to cause confusion than delight.



Oyster foie gras. Market oysters, foie gras, uni, teriyaki sauce. An amazing umami shot. Not for the texturally-challenged but if you are an adventurous foodie, this is paradise. Even with the slightly overpowering teriyaki sauce, this dish is delicious.



Fig tempura. Foie gras peanut butter sauce, pomegranate reduction. Lightly battered and fried to a crispy texture.



Kakuni. Ten hour pork belly, rice congee, soy-scallion jus. This melt-in-your-mouth pork belly is sweet and fatty. Delicious.



Whole roasted lobster “épice”. Garam masala, lemon crème fraîche. A very fragrant dish.



Duck duck goose. An inviting composition of fried rice with frozen foie gras topped with a large sunny side up duck egg, duck breast with gooseberries, duck leg confit and duck soup.



Ishi yaki buri bop. Presented in a stone bowl that comes to the table at 450ºF, delicate yellowtail filets are seared à la minute at the table simply by being placed against the inside of the bowl.



Sea urchin carbonara. Smoked bacon, udon noole, crispy shallot. A creamy, flavorful dish. My favorite entrée.



For dessert, Doughnuts. Served with six sides including Japanese molasses, lavender honey, lavender sugar, soy sugar.



Milk chocolate mousse. Citrus ginger sugar & banana orange sorbet.


In short

Morimoto’s Napa outpost is true to his brand. Inventive preparations that are as original as they are beautiful. But while nearly all dishes will make your jaw drop for presentation, not all may surprise your palate. Morimoto Napa is a restaurant definitely worth visiting, for the experience. The final score: 5 out of 5 for plating, 5 out of 5 for originality, 7 out of 10 for taste.

Morimoto Napa is at 610 Main St.
Online reservations

Prep to Plating at Quince

Raviolo di ricotta with Tomatero Farm egg, nasturtiums and opal basil

When I visited its new location back in January, I tweeted: “The new Quince is like that nephew you remember as a baby and one day see him all grown up. But unlike him, Quince still looks adorable.” The restaurant’s Jackson Square location is a far cry from the original Pacific Heights spot. Michael and Lindsay Tusk left behind the quaint neighborhood atmosphere and created a gorgeous, elegant dining space that lives up to its fine dining cuisine. But most importantly, they did so without losing Quince’s charm.

The beautiful new space has enough room for a welcoming lounge, a long bar and much larger tables, comfortably spaced out. But while some things changed, some remained the same. Michael still runs the (now much larger) kitchen with the attention to details he always had. His pastas are still some of the best in the city and one in particular has survived a lifetime of menu changes and moves. Tusk’s Raviolo di ricotta with farm egg—a dish he makes by hand since it appeared on Quince’s first menu.

Flour and eggs are mixed together in a process that has been repeated thousands of times by the chef’s hands. Dough is formed, rested and shaped as thin, translucent pasta sheets. Milk and cream are slowly heated then quickly broke with lemon juice. Strained, the lush ricotta is mixed with Parmigiano-Reggiano before formed into a nest for a bright-orange egg yolk. A single raviolo is served with beurre monté artfully peppered with the colors of squash blossoms, Japanese and purple basil leaves. As the diner’s fork cuts through the delicate pasta, the beautiful yolk oozes out creating a delicious sauce à la minute. The recipe is below, enjoy.

Raviolo di ricotta with Tomatero Farm egg, nasturtiums and opal basil. By Michael Tusk — Serves 6

Ricotta:
½ Gallon Strauss Farm whole milk
1 quart Strauss Farm heavy cream
12 g salt
12 g sugar
25 g lemon juice
7 g citric acid

Pasta:
1 cup oo flour
1 cup all purpose flour
8 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
olive oil
salt

Garnish:
6 Tomatero Farm egg yolks
4 oz unsalted butter
1 cup nasturtiums
¼ cup opal basil
¼ cup squash blossoms

Method

Make the ricotta the night before by lining a perforated hotel pan with cheesecloth, with a drainer pan below.

In a saucepan, combine the whole milk, heavy cream, salt and sugar and bring slowly to a boil.

Combine the lemon juice and citric acid and add to the milk mixture.

Remove from heat and let rest for 1 hour.

Strain the ricotta by pouring the mixture into the perforated hotel pan. Let drain overnight in the refrigerator.

Remove the ricotta the next day using a plastic spatula and place in a mixing bowl.

Season it if necessary with salt and parmigiano reggiano to taste. If the ricotta is too moist cut in some ricotta that has less moisture such as Bellwether Farm or Marcelli Brothers smoked ricotta.

To make the pasta dough, combine the two flours and make a well. Add in the egg yolks and whole eggs, olive oil and a pinch of salt. With a fork, mix up the yolk and then start cutting some flour into the well until the majority of the flour has been absorbed. The amount of flour will vary according to the size of the eggs being used. Knead the dough for five minutes and then wrap in cling-film and leave to rest for 1 hour.

Roll the dough out, at the thinnest setting possible, into rectangular sheets 3 inches wide by 24 inches in length. You will need two sheets this size. When completed cover the dough with cling-film so it does not dry out.

Spoon the ricotta out into approximately 2.5 oz balls leaving 1.5 inches between each ricotta addition. With a spoon or a shell-on egg make a nest into the ricotta in which you will place the farm egg yolk. Take the shell-on egg and gently push it into the ricotta.

You will form a nest into which the egg yolk will lay. Make sure not to push down too hard. The egg must rest gently with ricotta on all sides and below it.

Crack the eggs and save the whites for a different use. Keep the yolks in their shells, resting in their cartons. Gently tilt the yolk out of the shell into the ricotta nest. Do all six ricotta nests. If a yolk breaks discard it and crack a new yolk open.

Spray the dough with an atomizer filled with water, and drape the second piece of pasta over the first. Press around the outer ridge of the cheese with your index fingers until all air has been removed. It is essential that you do not push down too hard at this point and disturb the yolk. Cut out the raviolo di ricotta into circular raviolo using a circular pastry cutter. If you do not have a circular cutter, just cut into squares.

Sprinkle semolina on a half sheet pan generously and use a pastry bench scraper to transfer the raviolo to the sheet pan.


Plating

Heat six 12 inch dinner plates.

In a large sauté pan melt the butter and add a bit of pasta water. Add the nasturtiums, basil and squash blossoms and season with a bit of salt. Remove from heat while you cook the pasta.

Bring a rondoe large enough to hold all six raviolo up to a boil with water. Season with salt and turn down the water to about 190 degrees. Add the raviolo to the water and poach for about 3 minutes. The outer edge of the pasta should be tender but the yolk should remain molten.

Spoon out the raviolo onto the dinner plates using a spider or large perforated spoon. Drain excess water off the raviolo and place all on the warm dinner plates. Rewarm your butter and spoon the warm butter over the raviolo. Serve immediately.

In the fall shave white or black truffles over the raviolo. No additional cheese is necessary.