The Herb Farm. Second Visit.

I really wish I was independantly wealthy and could eat at this place once every menu. It's so awesome. This time xiggy and I went with my friend janeoftrades and her beau. AS per usual we showed up early and oggled the wine cellar and took the garden tour. I'm unfortunately short a little bit of into because A and R had the non alcoholic pairings and they were really yummy. I think A wrote them down so I'll have to get the info on what they were from her.

Without much further ado, on with the show.



Ours was a menu for a Copper King.

1st Course
Reflections in a Tide Pool
Miso-marinated Pacific Spot Prawns with Chives plus Tempura Fried Prawn head
House-Smoked Alaskan Black Cod with Herbfarm Radish Kimchi
Farm-Fresh Egg and Sorrel Custard with Herring Roe on Hemlock Branch

Due to the fact that this visit to the herb farm was fairly close, in season, to the visit we made last year there were many similarities of ingredients since the restaurant is all seasonal. That being said we stilll ended up enjoying a wide variety of new dishes. The miso prawn was delicate and fresh, and the tempura fried prawn head may sound familiar to anybody who read my review about my last visit. Hurray for prawn crunchy goodness! The egg and sorrell custard was interesting, but not my favorite. I still ate it all as it was tasty, but compared to the other two offerings I wasn't as enthused. My definite favorite of this course was the smoked black-cod. It was very delicate and the smokey flavor really added an extra level of yumminess. Also the radish kimchi went really well with it and added a little extra texture that I liked.

This course was paired with the ubiquitous Argyle Brut Sparkling Wine. I think the sommelier has a huge fondness for this particular winemaker and so is always using them for the first course wine pairing. It is fairly tasty for what it is, however I'm not huge on sparkling wine so a lot of it's appeal may be lost on me.

2nd Course
Alaskan Sockeye Salmon Crudo
With Minted Lemon Verbena Dressing, Spring Asparagus, and Allium Shoots.

Raw Sockeye, lightly dressed, with leek shoots and asparagus tips. This dish is a great example of keeping it simple and letting the ingredients shine. The salmon was supple and butter like and all the flavors melded VERY nicely to create a very pleasing taste and mouth feel. We were surprised with a small salmon tartar on the side with salmon roe on top. My only wish is that the tartar had been bigger as the small bite size was just enough to make you want so much more.

This was paired with a 2007 Westrey Pinot Gris from Willamette Valley in Oregon. I'm not generally a big Pinot Gris fan. Don't get me wrong, I like it well enough but I've never found one that make me want to praise it loudly to my friends. This one has proven me wrong. Alone or paired with the fish it has a beautiful fruit forward flavor with just the right amount of acidity.

3rd Course
Rabbit & Blossoms
Rabbit and Mustard Blossom Stuffed Gnocchi with Garden Beets in Dilled Butter Sauce

I have to learn how to make something vaguely resembling this (as I highly doubt my own cooking abilities to actually recreate it) because if I cannot eat something that comes close to this wonderful flavor again in my life I will be very sad. The pure savory goodness of the gnocchi had me in a very blissful and happy place, and let's face it, you cover anything in a sauce made with homemade butter and dill and I'm good to go. The beets were also a lovely addition to this and went extraordinarily well with everything else involved.

This was paired with the 2001 McCrea Cellars Viognier from Yakima. I LOVE THIS WINE. I'm already a big proponant of Viognier's but had yet to find a washington version that I really liked. This is it. Due to it's age it has a much less fruity, acidic flavor and a more velvety liquour like taste and mouth feel. This was also a gorgeous pairing, showcasing the rabbit gnocchi while still being able to shine remarkably well on it's own.

4th Course
Veal Breast & Morel "Blanquette"
With Fava Shoots and Greek Oregano

We were served a respectable amount of fork tender veal and large juicy morel mushrooms. As with most of the dishes we had this evening the flavors were incredible on their own but blended to make something that was far more then the sum of it's parts.

This course was unfortunately the pairing we REALLY didn't like. The wine for this was a 2007 Soter Vineyards North Valley Pinot Noir Rose, also from the Willamette Valley. On it's own it was ok, not offensive, but nothing I'd really want to seek out in the future. However the pairing just didn't work for us. I felt that the wine's acidic aftertaste overpowered the delicate veal and mushrooms.

5th Course
Copper River King Salmon
The Very First Copper River King Salmon of the Season, glazed with Pinot Noir
With King Boletus Mushrooms and Puy Lentils

The cooking method used in this dish was certainly novel. The chef used thinly sliced king boletus mushrooms to "crust" the outside of the salmon. I think it was a marvelous idea and ended up with both the mushrooms and the salmon taking on extra layers of flavors. This dish had a few "hidden" morsels such as the red wine infused parsnips that I thought were absolutely wonderful as well.

For this dish they brought out the 2005 L'Herbe Sauvage Pinot Noir, a really yummy Pinot that was made especially for the Herb Farm with the help of their own head Sommelier. Due to it being used as the blaze in the dishes sauce this one seemed an obvious pairing and I was proven correct as I feel that they worked very well together.

6th Course
Carrot and Lemon Balm Sorbet
With Spice Cone

After the hefty rabbit, veal, and salmon, this pallet cleanser was very welcome. Due to the cold winder we're just now getting out of (I hope) this springs carrots are especially sweet. This made for a bright, zippy sorbet that was just a little odd, in a good way. Unfortunately the spice cone didn't really work for me, but it wasn't bad. I just enjoyed the sorbet by itself.

7th Course
Herbfarm Lavendbert Cheese
Lavender Cow Cheese with Walnut Bread & Apple-Spring Onion Compote

I would like to preface this by saying that I don't generally like Camembert cheese. It and Brie have never really hit me in a way I like so I'm not a huge fan. But, the Herb Farm being what it is they managed to have a house made Camembert (with lavender flowers arrayed on the rind) that I actually liked. It's still not my favorite cheese but it was definitely enjoyable. I also REALLY like the Apple-Onion compote with it. The combination of sweet and musty was great.

For this course we were given a few options of different dessert wine flights we could try if we wished. This time we went for the Global Nobles flight, which consisted of 3 different types of late harvest Botrytis wines from different countries. We tasted the 2003 Chateau Rieussec Sauternes from France, the 1999 Oremus Tokaji 5 Puttonyos from Hungary, and the 2002 Kracher Scheurebe Trockenbeerenauslese #5 (boy try saying that last one 3 times fast) from Austria. I enjoyed them all but found myself gravitating towards the Hungarian and the Austrian offerings the most. the predominante flavors to me were apricots, cherries, honey, and a very light citrus. I would happily recommend any of these wines to someone interested in trying a good example of what the Noble Rot can do.

8th course
Tree & Field Desserts
Rhubarb and Strawberry Gelee' with Sweet Cicely,
Chocolate-Rose Geranium Crepe Souffle
And Big-Leaf Mapple Blossom Tapioca Pudding with Hazelnut Florentine

Being the complete sugar fiend I am you'd figure that this would have been my favorite course, and you would have been wrong. The dessert course easily stands out as my least favorite of all of them. The Gelee was a nice little thing, but it didn't really leave a lasting impression on me. The Souffle was yummy but the only reason I could tell you there was rose geranium anything there is because it was written on the menu. Last, and also least, was the tapioca pudding. I'm not a tapioca person, but I always give everything this place makes a try. It wasn't bad, but it really wasn't something I feel the need to have again. This was also paired up with a homemade buttermilk sorbet. This is me also not being a huge buttermilk fan. Combine the two(and boy did those two flavors NOT go well together btw) and you have a dessert that even the Herb Farm couldn't make me like very much. However R, Alyce's guest seemed to enjoy it quite a bunch so obviously it had it's good points.

9th course
A Selection of Small Treats
Coffees, Teas, & Infusions

After a monumental meal the Herb Farm finishes up with a relaxing tea or cup of coffee and some small sweet bites before you head home. I was smart this time and grabbed a copy of the coffee and tea menu AND the little small bites menu they gave us so I can give you some more info. xiggy originally chose the Herbfarm Seattle Dinner Blend coffee but found it not as strong as he was hoping so he swapped it for the Certified Central American Shade-Grown coffee that was much more robust. I had the Dragon Phoenix Pearl Jasmine tea, which was delightfully earthy, while maintaining a pixie-ish high note.

Our treats for the the evening were Lavender Shortbread (with a few bits of sea salt on top....good combo), tiny blackberry macaroons, Chocolate-Mint White Chocolate Truffles ( my favorite), Milk Chocolate Angelica Truffles, and Bittersweet Spiced Toffee (also a favorite). I found them all very good, but definitely had a few I would have loved to have more of. In fact I ended up eating almost everyone else's White chocolate truffles since they didn't want them and I LOVED it. A treat that is definitely not for those who don't like very sweet chocolate.

At the end of this lovely meal we were treated to a glass of 1912 Barbeito Bual Madeira. Both the Madeira and the conversation with xiggy about whether it's a crime to open and drink something so old were fun. I love Madiera.

We were also given the option to try the 1795 Madiera, the oldest (still drinkable) wine in the world, but at $150 for a 1/3 of an oz we had to pass.