Sutter Creek/Plymouth

[TheDive]

I know there was a thread a fews months back, but anything to report on restaurants in the area for dinner?

[SLRossi]

Well Taste in Plymouth is now open and it received some praise here awhile back. I think the other thread covered most the other options.

[Kathy]

I've eaten at Taste in Plymouth recently and the food was excellent. This has quickly become a popular dining spot in an area with few fine dining choices so make a reservation.

In nearby Calaveras County, V Restaurant and Bar in Murphys is also excellent. Their Ceasar salad is fabulous and comes in a bowl that you eat. They're very creative and offer small and large plates. Everything is fabulous. Again...make a reservation.

Kathy

Link: http://www.cheers2wine.com

[C. Bayer]

I always recommend Susan's Place in Sutter Creek.

[Food Fool]

We've eaten at Taste Restaurant twice in the past month. Absolutely love the food. It is now my favorite spot in the greater Sacramento area. What makes it so special is that the quality of the food, and it's beautiful presentation is also accompanied by the best staff that I have encountered in the area. Both times that I have dined there, the experience of making reservations, calling to say that I was going to be late, being greeted upon entrance to the restaurant, the attitude and knowledge of the servers, the parting good-bye upon leaving the restaurant have all felt genuinely warm and at the same time very professional. The warmth of the staff really enhances the experience for me. Looking forward to my next visit, soon.

[Margot]

Taste Restaurant in Plymouth is fabulous. Whether your group is small or large, you will be well taken care of. Food is fresh and seasonal. For reservations phone [phone]. Be sure to check out their website for special events or to find out which nights are corkage free. Better yet, register on-line to receive e-mails.

I highly recommend Susan's Place in Sutter Creek for lunch. The food is innovative, the patio fun, and the wine flights are reasonably priced.

[porkchop]

Also vote for Susan's. Also, in Jackson I would recommend Buscaglia's and Teresa's.

[Bahb]

My all-time favorite dining experience was at Taste, a couple of weeks ago. We live just 20 miles away and have skittered through Plymouth many times on our way elsewhere. I thought of it as a tiny run-down ghost town. Then I read about Taste on CH and was fascinated that anyone would find anything to stop for in Plymouth. I made a reservation. Maybe that's what got us the best table in the place, Table 24. And then we got a Server I wanted to take home, Cheryl, because she seemed like someone I'd had as a best friend all my life.

Everything about taste is Understated Elegance...the guests, the decor, the table settings, the Servers, the Hostess(I'm sure a model I've seen in Vogue), the menu. It's so odd that a large restaurant filled with people can sound so happy and feel so comfortable. No one seemed rushed. The music was never too loud or too soft. Everyone was talking, yet the conversation at our own table seemed easy and private. There was just not one annoying or distracting thing about it. I LOVED being there, though I would say I was by far the oldest person around.

As for the food......whatever you do, don't miss the Mushroom Cigars. There were 3 of us so we ordered 3 "Small Plates", intending to share. We were charged just for the 3 but in fact each came as a course, already divided up, and the presentation of each was so gorgeous, it seemed a shame to spoil the artistry by eating it. Those 9 pieces of art only cost us $22.50. And every bite was delectable.( Prawns Gazpacho, Mushroom Cigars, and Spring Rolls like none you've ever had before.)

For "Large Plates", one of us had rabbit, another had lamb chops, the other had filet mignon. All exquisite, all with "surprises". For instance, the 3 inch thick steak was topped with a small "crown" of something out of this world that, among things, had finely chopped walnuts in it. Everything tasted as if it had perfect essence of... in it. The mushroom cigars were startlingly and gloriously mushroomy. The smashed potatoes were startlingly and gloriously earthy. The string beans were cooked perfectly and startlingly and gloriously as string beany as you've always dreamed them.

The bread basket was just incredibly fresh sour dough slices and a few rosemary slices, but not the usual. Elegant is the only word I can find....perfect! And instead of the usual heavy, yuck olive oil dip that's replaced the butter I loved for years, Taste serves a pool of something they call "olive oil" that seems neither oily nor olivey, but perfect, with a pool of perfect vinegar in the center. The vinegar is Delizia, which I have yet to find in a market. Taste will sell you a bottle, however!

The coffee was so great, I wish I had asked the brand. I'm 71, so you know I've had a few thousand cups of coffee in my life and have NEVER had a cup of coffee as good as the one I had that night.

I don't recall the dessert choices, but we had ginger cake with a bit of some perfect sauce, and fruit brulee. Neither was particularly outstanding except the presentation was beautiful.

We're not wine buffs, really, but the 2004 Boeger Merlot ($25.00)we chose (because we live right near that winery) was so good we had a second bottle.

Taste is at the beginning (or end) of the Shenandoah Wine Country , depending on which route you take. So come for a day of wine tasting, and finish with dinner at Taste. Or just come for dinner.....it's worth a two-hour trip, at least.

The address is 9402 Main St., Plymouth. The phone is 209-245-3463. The interesting web site is at tasterestaurant.com, but don't use the web site for making reservations. Just pluck off the recipes. Cheryl told us the reservations we tried to make on-line were probably missed because "we aren't there just yet."

[Bahb]

Sorry I gave that Taste website wrong. It's www.restauranttaste.com

(I clicked on "edit" but nothing happened, so I couldn't edit my post) Old dog needs to learn new trick!