Hatfield's Tasting Menu Review (+pics)

[SauceSupreme]

For my birthday, I decided to treat myself to the tasting menu at Hatfield's. Overall, it was pretty good, but I don't put it in the same stratosphere as Grace and Spago. I'm doing an in depth review on my blog, so I'll just give quick summaries here.

1. Warm celery root soup and deviled quail egg
Celeriac is a nice winter touch, and I thought the deviled quail egg was just the right sort of inventive, playful and flavorful.

2. Croque madame with hamachi and quail egg sunny side up
At this point, I was a little disappointed in seeing quail egg twice on the same menu, but it was good. The best part of the plate, though, was how well buttered the toast was.

3. Diver scallops with artichokes
The perfectly seared scallops were served on a saffron and artichoke puree and then topped with marinated artichokes. This dish was an absolute winner, although there were a few bites when I felt that the sweetness of the saffron puree overpowered the rest of the flavors. Picking nits at that point, though.

4. Pan-seared thai snapper
It wouldn't be a tasting menu without a solid white fish on the menu, most likely thai snapper or seabass. While pretty tasty, this dish wasn't very exciting at all, having had it and its numerous variants many times. They even reused the celery root again for a puree base.

5. Squab breast and foie gras
Another winner, though to be fair, foie makes everything taste great. Everything was cooked perfectly, and I thought that the schnitzel was a nice touch too to complement the dish texture wise (provided a nice crunch as foie and the squab meat were very very succulent).

6. Colorado lamb
What made this lamb interesting was the date and mint crust, giving it a very refined Moroccan taste. They also used panko crumbs to give it another level of texture sensations. Everything worked well, and complemented the lamb's gaminess. It was served on a bed of root vegetables.

7. Buttermilk panna cotta, lime gelee and grapefruit sorbet
While they referred to this as the first dessert course, I treated as a palate cleanser. The buttermilk panna cotta was very good, and the rest of the tart flavors was light and refreshing.

8. Chocolate mille-fuile, caramelized banana and malted vanilla ice cream
The mille-fuile was well executed, the chocolate deliciously bittersweet and the ice cream laced with the right amount of sweetness.

The wine pairings ranged from bad to so-so, although there was one interesting Chardonnay that had a hint of grapefruit in it (and was served with the scallops). Tasting menu, wine pairings, tax and tip cost me a little bit under $150. I'd recommend it as a detour, but not as a destination, if you get my meaning. It was good and the service staff was exceptional, but in terms of food quality I found other restaurants to be more daring.

Pics are of Courses 1, 3, 6 and 8.

[NAspy]

Hatfields' definitely seems worth a try. Do they have any vegetarian selections? I'm having trouble getting the menu online at the moment.

[ks in la]

Great report and happy birthday!

I tried the tasting menu there a few weeks back and recognize a couple dishes. There were four of us and one of the really nice things they did was serve two different courses each time (i.e. two people would get one dish and the other two another). I saw them also doing this for couples. And we shared so I kind of felt I had a two bites of the entire menu.

My thoughts about it were similar to yours in terms of the final conclusion. I think the tasting menu might not be the way to go here (and I say that reluctantly since I'm a fiend for tasting menus). One of the people I went with noted that many of the courses were very similar (lots of purees, lots of tender meat - be it fish, lamb, beef). The kind of contrasts and surprises that make tasting menus exceptional weren't there.

That said I think the food is lovely and I'd be happy to go back, just not for the large menu. Agree with you on the service. And I loved seeing that they heat the rolls in that little toaster oven (but oddly I didn't like the rolls themselves that much)!

[SauceSupreme]

I took one bite of those rolls and was put off by the saltiness of what I can only assume was melted asiago or romano. I'm sure in other contexts it would hit the spot, but I had been drinking prosecco while waiting for the table, so the flavor conflict just didn't sit well on my palate. In the end, I chose to side with the liquor!

I saw another couple who seemed to be doing the tasting menu route, too, because they would routinely swap plates.

[hungrygirl106]

As a huge Hatfield's fan, I'll agree that it's not in the same "stratosphere" as Grace and Spago -- but to me, that's a compliment. While I do like Grace, I think it's vastly overrated. Have they even changed the menu in the past three years? As for Spago, it's good, but it feels past its prime. (My 60-year-old father-in-law from Cleveland loves it, but I'm hard-pressed to find younger diners who share his same enthusiasm.) Neither of these two "venerable" culinary establishments possesses the same feeling of culinary excitement that I've experienced every time I've dined at Hatfield's.

I continue to be delighted and surprised by my meals at Hatfield's and I happen to think their wine pairings are wonderful. Hatfield's is a flat-out fabulous restaurant and is definitely a destination restaurant in my opinion.

But don't just take it from me. Check out this review of Hatfield's on the new food blog, Infinite Fress:
http://infinitefress.blogspot.com/200...

I think the writer perfectly captures the experience of dining there.

And fyi, the rolls served at Hatfield's are, in fact, the alpine rolls from Eric Kayser's Bread Bar. It's asiago you're tasting.