On Saturday night, Will and I hit the road and headed up to Bodega Bay to hang out with Charlotte and Tom, who have an amazing house on the Bodega Harbor golf course. They cooked up a wonderful dinner and we had our fair share of wine...
On Sunday morning, we hit the links:
It went from a chilly and windy morning to a lovely afternoon. The golf course was challenging and gorgeous, the golf...ah, there's always room for improvement.
We got cleaned up and headed up to Healdsburg for drinks and dinner. We went for a pre-dinner cocktail at spoonbar and took in some of the exciting Game 6 of SF Giants vs. STL Cardinals...
Dinner was at the highly acclaimed, 2-Michelin star Cyrus restaurant from Chef Douglas Keane. This was a pretty big deal for a foodie like me, particularly because the restaurant was closing at the end of October due to a dispute with the property (Hotel Le Mars). I made sure we had a reservation before it closed!
The famous tower sampler tray: Mini cheese Gougeres + Crisp Japanese pancakes + Dainty cups of flavorful broth + Silver spoonfuls of tart grapefruit gelée + Strawberry bubble bursts
There are two prix-fixe menus to choose from, one regular and one vegetarian. They are flexible and allow you to choose courses across the menus if you have dietary or allergy restrictions.
Course 1: Amuse bouche
Course 2: Soup Billi-Bi with "aged" abalone, fennel and leeks:
Course 3: Chorizo-crusted scallop with sweet corn and lobster froth (by far my favorite dish of the evening!)
Will had the signature dish for his 3rd course of Thai lobster with avocado and melon:
Course 4: Turbot with braised romaine and Yuzu-Kosho sauce:
Course 5: Steamed Matsutake mushroom with myoga, gingko and mitsuba
Palate cleanser (I can't remember the flavor, but it was some sort of refreshing "ice")
Course 6: Australian Wagyu beef with mung sprouts and tomato confit and hoisin
Course 7: Cheese course with three different sheep's milk cheeses
The cheese course accompaniments:
Course 8: Goat milk panna cotta with raspberries and parsley lime ice (so good!)
Course 9: Milk chocolate and macadamia bar with compressed pear and rice sherbet
For his course, Will had the Yuzu cremeux, bergamot meringue and cream cheese ice cream (o.m.g.)
Cyrus spoils you with a "Tomorrow" box, with room for some mignardises from their temptuous cart:
One last bite for the ride home, a freshly made donut:
Dinner was absolutely amazing and the company was fantastic. I am so sad that Cyrus is closing, but I'm hopeful that Douglas Keane will find a new space very soon and re-open a restaurant, whether it be Cyrus or some other magical place.
