616934 Sun May 03 15:25:55 -0700 2009 5 6 Southwest 0 4650733 I've been meaning to report back on a recent visit to one of my favorite restaurants - Binkley's - and finally found the menus they gave us to list the dishes we enjoyed. One of my best gf and her husband visited from Boston earlier this month. Our April birthdays are a day apart, so we celebrated together a week early at Binkley's for a joint birthday celebration. I loved the first touch we noticed as we sat down - a "Happy Birthday" to both of us printed on top of the menu. They later gave us copies of the menu, wrapped in ribbon, as a keepsake to take home. We decided to go with the five course tasting menus, with wine pairings for three of us. As we all share, I was able to try lots of dishes. I'm constantly amazed that as someone who has traveled a lot and dines out often, I always feel like I'm trying new flavors and combinations for the first time at Binkley's. We had so many fantastic amuses; we lost count at about 10. I think we had 7 before our first appetizers - things like curried pear soup (wow!), smoked salmon with spicy green papaya salad, jellied balsamic in puff pastry with tomato jam and mozzarella cream... I ended up in a food coma and couldn't remember them all. For example, we had at least three before dessert (!) - mint milkshakes, "exploding" meringues filled with rootbeer and pop rocks, and mini-chocolate souffles. All this in additon to the spectacular dinner with wine pairings : For me - Cold app - The special of Santa Barbara Spot Prawns. Have never had these living on the East Coast, so when we were told that there was one order left, I made sure it was mine! Hot App - Crispy seared foie gras with vanilla-scented prunes on top of a blood orange-soaked poppy cake, with sunflower sprouts, pumpkin seeds, and birch beer Fish - Hiramasa with baby zucchini, sweet peppers, and salsify wth aged black garlic puree (my first time trying this deeply-flavored, slightly sweet ingredient), basil and lemongrass. Meat - Lavender-scented duck with juicy breast and tender rillette crepe with mango and kiwi, and snow peas and mascarpone coucscous. Dessert - Why, cheese of course! For E: King Crab with passion fruit, avocado, Fresno chile, baby bok choy, daikon, and coconut rice Soft shell crab with sunchoke salad, pancetta, and sorrel Chorizo-crusted halibut with leeks and English peas and saffron-potato risotto Ribeye with sopressata potato stack (so good), clamshell mushrooms, and stinging nettle coulis Dessert was a peanut butter risotto (decadently delicious) Other dishes I was able to try - the asparagus appetizer (multiple comments of "oh, this is what asparagus is supposed to taste like!") with prosciutto, baby arugula, and cherry-Meyer lemon vinaigrette, the gnocchi with morels, purple scallions, fava beans, and parm, the Yellow Edge grouper with fiddleheads, king trumpet mushrooms, and sweet onion jus, the fluke carpaccio with baby fennel and ruby grapefruit, the lamb leg with crispy tongue, pickled ramps, Blue Lake beans, and cauiflower gratin, and the truffle cheese fondue. Service here, as always, was stellar. We also loved the wine pairings - one I especially enjoyed was my foie gras paired with Tokaji (I'm a big fan of this Hungarian sweet wine, but had never had it with foie). An extra bonus was that one of my favorite people in the industry - Kirsten- is now behind the bar at Binkley's, so we ended with a nightcap at the bar to say hello. My friend and I finished with fernet branca, a cognac for her husband, and coffee for E, the DD. We plan to visit again soon to enjoy a casual meal at the bar, enjoy chatting with Kirsten, and having another great time. (and a heartfelt thanks to some of my wonderful Chowhound friends in Boston for the gift certificate to Binkley's - Thank you so much, miss you!) I should add that we also made sure we had time to stop at one of my favorite wine bars in the area - Brix Wine Spot - for a pre-dinner cocktail. The girls ordered bubbly, while E had a glass of meritage, and our friend an IPA. Love this cozy, friendly place. Sun May 03 15:25:55 -0700 2009 10271 Rubee 1 4650756 Adding Brix info: Sun May 03 15:36:13 -0700 2009 4650733 10271 Rubee 1 4651021 Thanks for the great write-up. Sounds like a really fun night--I'm envious. This dish: "Ribeye with sopressata potato stack (so good), clamshell mushrooms, and stinging nettle coulis" Sounds incredible--every ingredient. Did you say stinging nettle coulis? Man, I need to get back there... Sun May 03 17:19:55 -0700 2009 4650733 24418 crsin 1 4651056 I can't decide which of your menus I'm more envious of. Do you happen to remember any of the cheeses you sampled for dessert? Did any of them make your short list for 'I *must* have this one again"? That asparagus preparation might be similar to one that I've just learned from my MIL (oddly), it might be Keller method. It involves boiling for X number of minutes and then chilling in an ice bath for another X minutes. When you do this on the farm-fresh vegetable, you do get an intense purity of flavor. Sun May 03 17:30:43 -0700 2009 4650733 10846 themis 2 4654402 Sorry Themis, totally blank on the cheese. My friend and I had planned on sharing our two desserts - the cheese, and the truffle fondue - but we were so full, we just had a few bites. Mon May 04 18:47:23 -0700 2009 4651056 10271 Rubee 1 4651519 Thank you for reminding why I absolutely love this restaurant, especially for special occasions. The night sounded awesome! Sun May 03 21:18:40 -0700 2009 4650733 137248 danieli10