Baume

May 9, 2010

My good friend Terrina (who is essentially my other sister) jumped ship from the high tech industry a few years ago and has been developing her culinary skills in the fine dining industry. After finishing culinary school, she took a turn at Chez TJ in Mountain View and then went with acclaimed chef Bruno Chemel to start his new restaurant, Baume, which opened in January in Palo Alto. Chemel is a chef who is known for his "molecular gastronomy" skills. The menu features only three choices of tasting menus: 5, 10 or 15-course tasting menu, and only lists the ingredients that are used in each menu. Curious...

Will and I finally had a chance to check out Baume, we went down on Saturday night for dinner. While waiting for our table, we had a chance to try the parmesan "sponge" bread:

Will and I decided to go with the 10-course tasting menu (happy medium). The first thing brought to our table is walnut bread with "chocolate", an olive spread that looks like chocolate (see below):

Also served with the bread was also balsamic vinegar and olive oil that was emulsified into a butter-like spread.

The amuse bouche was a live scallop sashimi with soy and lilikoi pearls:

Wax bean salade, shallot vinaigrette and curry dust:
62 degree egg with wild mushroom and noilly espuma:
Seared foie gras with tako and verjus gel:
Mango sake lemongrass foam:
Salade exotique:
Striped bass "vapeur" with fennel and bouillabaisse jus:
Licorice nitro-foam (makes you breathe like a dragon!):
Grass-fed filet with white bean, green szcheuan pepper saveur:
"Cervelle de canut" salad:
Lichee and chocolat lilikoi pearls (a throw-back to the first amuse bouche):
Peach soda:

Peach melba and spumoni textures:

We ended with some mignardises and a mini-catch up session with Terrina followed by a tour of the kitchen and introductions to the kitchen staff.

We had a fantastic meal, Baume is a wonderful restaurant with inventive/creative dishes. If you've never tried molecular gastronomy and want a new experience in fine dining, check out Baume.

Moreover, I was so impressed that Terrina is part of the team that puts together such a fantastic meal!