Tasting menu at OPUS with Russkar and Woo!

[Clare K]

Yes, you read right. I had dinner with the infamous Russkar – Russ and Karla – plus another long-time Chowhound, Woo! (who happens to be my boss). This was the first time meeting them, though, from their numerous Chow posts, I felt like I knew them already.

First of all, Russ is not the devil. I know he got flamed many a time on these boards (back in the day), but he’s actually a really nice guy and incredibly passionate about food and wine. I think he and Woo spent a good 30 minutes going over the wine they brought when we arrived at the restaurant. Me, I just know what I like and have a little knowledge on the subject...enough to know that what they brought was pretty spectacular stuff.

OK, on to the food:

The chef, Josef Centeno (formerly of Meson G), plated every course, and explained each one when they came out. Here is the rundown – it’s long, we had 25 courses!

1) Corn poppers: light, crispy little square filled with a corn soup/chowder. Lovely way to start off a meal.
2) Boccarones with honey water and salt cod fritters with cinnamon spice: The perfect blend of sweet and salty. The boccarones was fried and was about the size of a French fry, and the cinnamon spice really brought out the flavor. Fritter was crisp and light as well.
3) Soft poached egg, cream of wheat, molasses: Came in the egg shell. The yolk was a dark yellow, medium poached and not runny at all. It went perfectly with the creamy wheat and touch of molasses. This was one of my favorites of the night.
4) Tuna head, 3 ways: I’m spacing out on this dish for some reason, but it was excellent – I do remember that! I recall one tartar, and one slice of very rare tuna. I believe the other piece was the cheek, possibly. Melt-in-your-mouth delicate.
5) Duo of kodai on a skewer and beef tartar with fresh juniper: Beef tartar was a little overpowered by the potato cake it came on, but the flavors were good. Kodai was excellent.
6) Poached hamachi with bone marrow broth, fried quail egg and coriander puree: LOVED this! The marrow broth just made the dish – very unexpected.
7) Scallop pancake with caviar, crème fraiche and onion jus: Another perfect combo. The texture of the pancake was very light and fluffy – practically pure scallop with just a touch of egg, I believe. Generous scoop of caviar as well.
8) Geoduck, surf tongue clam and octopus salad: Perfect. I love octopus salad, and have tried it at many restaurants, but this is by far the best I’ve had. Citrusy, with the right amount of chew...not rubbery at all.
9) Shimaji, cucumber, rice balls: The cucumber was actually a gelee, which I wasn’t crazy about. But the shimaji was great, and the crispy rice added a nice texture to the dish.
10) Emincee spot prawn, hon shimeji tea, fine herbs: Josef himself poured the tea over the prawn “cake.” It was literally lumps of shrimp held together by...not sure, but I couldn’t taste anything but the fresh shrimp. The tea, with a hint of rice, was the absolute compliment to this dish.
11) Hoya with grilled hearts of palm, ume paste: Another favorite.
12) Parsnip soup with raspberry sorbet, Dungeness crab: I could have done without the sorbet in this wonderful dish. The soup was creamy perfection and the crab belonged in it. But the sorbet...a little too sweet for my taste. It did add a fabulous dash of color, though.
13) Butter poached shrimp with fried pork belly and English pea sauce: Shrimp poached in butter. It’s fried pork belly. Need I say more?
14) Monterey abalone with carnitas, pistachio pudding, long pepper fig jam: Again, a wonderful surprise pairing seafood with pork in this fashion.
15) John Dory with muddled concord grapes, tarragon: Enjoyed the fish, but wasn’t crazy about the concord grapes...a bit too sweet for my taste.
16) Scallop in the shell with roe, poblano cream: Was a little drunk at this point and spaced out on this dish...
17) Poached salmon with stewed heirloom tomato: Beautifully rare salmon – I do recall this one. Absolutely delicious!
18) Baby tai snapper with blood sausage, fiedo: Fine combo here, since normally I eat tai at sushi with just salt. The blood sausage was a great salty accompaniment to the tai.
19) Fluke on the bone, crushed fresh chick peas, pineapple sezchuan marmalade: I remember liking this a lot (getting fuzzy now, lots of wine at this point).
20) Homemade yuba, s.b. urchin: Again, remember liking this a lot but not much else...
21) Veal cheeks with sweetbread nuggets and corn: This stands out because I was just talking to Woo the other day about how I have never had good sweetbreads. These nuggets were juicy and crispy at the same time...I savored every morsel.
22) Buttermilk fried quail with pierogi filled with poached quail egg and blackberry gastrique: I am a sucker for poached eggs and for pierogi, so needless to say, I loved this dish..
23) Lamb with tempura bone marrow: It’s bone marrow, it’s fried. Again, what’s not to LOVE?
24) Cheese course – tome brulee, pecorino, le chevre cheddar – didn’t have this; opted for dessert instead
25) Pineapple-quince pie, tarragon anglaise with simple chocolate cake: Sweet, moist, delicious. Fabulous ending to an entirely fabulous meal.

Major kudos to the innovative and talented chef Josef Centeno and his wonderful staff. The service could not have been better.
I highly recommend Opus to anyone who is passionate about food. Don’t be afraid to go – the staff is very down-to-earth and gracious. The dark woods and leathers in the interior strike the perfect balance of casual and fine dining. This doesn’t have to be an occasion restaurant, and I do hope you’ll try it because it would be a shame to see this place go!

I’m full, and I’m out!

Clare

P.S. I’ll let Woo or Russkar post about the wines...

[jcwla]

Cost?

[Clare K]

Not sure...I did not pick up the check. But I did review the menu beforehand and the prices seem very reasonable.

[russkar]

Low 100's ea

[Dave and Stuff]

I have heard of the Opus 10 course menu...how did it get to 25 dishes?

[woojink]

I believe we contacted the chef ahead of time and asked them to do something big. That's how it got to 25 courses. When we first got there, I think it was going to go to 31 courses, but a couple of the folks got kinda full, so we backed off on the others. They were small courses. GREAT FOOD. Can't wait to go back.

As far as wines are concerned, here is what I remember:

1996 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs - Russkar brought from his collection

A Chateauneuf du Pape blanc... I draw a blank on which one right now... sorry - bought off the list

An Alsatian Reisling - Good one. Can't remember which - again - from the house

2003 Savigny-Serpientieres, the V. Guillemot (sp?) - really good - brought from my collection

1996 Burg - can't remember which - Russkar brought it, he can elucidate.

1997 Chappellet Pritchard Hill - Russkar brought from his collection

2001 Chappellet Pritchard Hill - brought from my collection

The menu would probably have benefited from a couple of White Burgs, but seriously, we really could not complain. Great food, fun folks, good wine. Life is good.

The chef really is "ON" right now. A must try.

[Debbie W]

Hey Woo, we've missed you around here, where have you been eating lately?

[woojink]

All over... had a decent sandwich at a place called Patrick's today in Glendale/Burbank. Was WAY too busy to drive out to Langer's or go to Nozawa. After moving into deep south OC (somewhat of a food wasteland) good food has been challenging... but I'm muddling through.

[joefensterblau]

This is very good news to hear about Opus. I live in the neighborhood and really wanted to like the place. But had 2 less than stellar meals 6-8 months ago. Am anxious to try it again.

[Clare K]

They just got a new chef, so definitely give it another shot.

[russkar]

The Chef (Josef) has only been there for 5 weeks, and he's very talented. The above tasting menu says it all! Everything was great!