David's Opus Ten

As has become our tradition, my best friend and I took each other out to dinner for Christmas. We decided to try David's Opus Ten, which is a tiny tasting room inside David's restaurant on Monument Square in Portland. We've been to David's restaurant several times and have always loved it....the food is always very well prepared and they have great cocktails. I also like the service there--it is usually friendly and just the right amount of attentive for me. 

Because we went on a weekend night, there was a nice course tasting menu (on the weeknights it is seven courses). I decided to also have the wine pairing. It was a LOT of food and a LOT of alcohol and completely worth it (except dessert).

My vegetarian friend was slightly off put (I imagine) by this tableside presentation. 

The amuse bouche was a few slices of imported Serrano ham, some aged Roquefort cheese, some warmed cured olives, and some flatbread that was cranberry and pistachio (I think). It was served with either a Madeira wine or a modified Manhattan that had apple brandy and a tea infusion (which I chose). 

I didn't like the olives (big surprise, too salty) but everything else was delicious. The cheese was maybe a touch too aged, it lost a little of its tang but it was quite delicious. The ham, cheese, and Manhattan went together extremely well.

The first actual course was a mushroom gratin with a Madeira cream shooter. The wine was Lustau, Fino Sherry, Solera Reserva.

Mushrooms are usually the very definition of umami. This was no exception. This dish was buttery and earthy and flavorful. The puff pastry was still crunchy and had Parmesan cheese in it. The shooter had a rich creamy texture with a foamy top. It was buttery and creamy and so, so savory. The wine was a beautiful pairing. 

Next was a scallop with fig, apricot, and bacon paired with Trimbach Riesling, Alsace. 

Typically I do not like Rieslings but even I have to admit this was a nice pairing. The wine cut the buttery, rich texture of the scallop and the fattiness of the bacon. The fig reduction was sweet and flavorful; the apricot puree was light, fresh, and acidic. This was, again, a beautiful, balanced, flavorful treat. Maybe my favorite of the night?

After the scallop, we had a butter poached lobster with vanilla bean buerre monte, caramelized onion, apple and potato hash, with a Tablas Creek Patelin de Tablas Blanc.

I believe I have had butter poached lobster with vanilla before somewhere but I cannot remember exactly where. This was a small claw and a piece of lobster tail. It's hard to screw up lobster but David's did it justice--it wasn't too overdone. It was delicate and flavorful and maybe 30 seconds overcooked and just on the tough side a tiny bit but I think that is really splitting hairs. It was lovely. 

The next dish was a quail egg ravioli with butternut squash, brussel sprouts, pistachio, and a brown butter nage that was poured over tableside with a Newton Claret.

I heard the cook talking about this dish and he said they poach the quail egg for about 30 seconds before they put it into the ravioli, then they undercook the ravioli just a bit, so that when the brown butter is poured over the dish at the table, everything is cooked perfectly and the warm egg yolk finishes the sauce when you cut into it. This was brilliant and just exactly what they intended. I particularly liked the brussel sprout leaves in the bottom of the dish. They were a little smokey and that added a lot of depth here.

After that we had a pomegranate and basil sorbet. At the table they poured some house-made pear infused vodka over it. It was lovely and delicious but I cannot figure out how to get the photo to rotate correctly on Blogger. :-)

The next course was a half quail with a foie gras medallion on foie gras butter toast with a grilled pear gastrique. It was served with clos du bois de Menge, Gigondas. 

I admit that I feel very guilty about how much I love foie gras. It's just so rich and delicious and savory and yummy....and with pear gastrique? Even better. The quail was cooked perfectly as well.

The next course for me was a carved lamb rack, braised leg, with white bean puree, kale, and oven roasted tomato served with Napa Cellars Syrah.

When I was a kid, I didn't like lamb. It was too meaty and tough and rubbery. I realize now that it was just not cooked perfectly. This lamb was cooked absolutely perfectly. You can see that it was juicy and just pink all the way through, the white bean puree was flavorful. I even liked the kale and I normally do not like kale. 

The last official course was an apple tart tatin with cheddar, As walnuts, and bourbon ice cream.

As delicious and perfect as the entire meal was, this was as bad. This was really bad. I love dessert. I live for it. This was really terrible. There was more cheddar than apple. The tatin crust was too thin and tasteless. The ice cream was so salty that it was inedible--not just for me but also for my friend who loves the salty sweet combo. Neither of us had more than one bite of this (and I spit mine out). It was served with a calvados that was too strong to drink alone--I don't know how it would have gone with the dessert.

After this we were given a plate with mint chocolate chip truffles, caramel nut bark, and a rose petal biscuit.

I obviously forgot to take a picture before we began eating all of this but these were all very good. I was particularly happy with the biscuit because it was very mild but very buttery and crunch. I had Coffee by Design coffee with this and that was delicious. 

Dinner and the service were really fantastic until the very end. Though our coats were taken at the beginning of the meal, we found them hanging over a stair railing on our way out instead of brought to us. Dessert was a huge disappointment after how fantastic everything else was. You could tell that a lot of love and care were put into each course but unfortunately, dessert seemed like a thrown together afterthought.

I'm not sure if I will ever have to try the Opus Ten experience again because it seems like the menu doesn't change all that much from season to season; however, I do love David's and I'll definitely be meeting up with my friend again for dinner and drinks--we'll probably just go somewhere else for dessert.