Where food is art

In recent years, chefs like Jose Andres (Café Atlantico in Washington, D.C), Ferran Adria (El Bulli in Spain) and Heston Blumenthal (The Fat Duck in Bray, England), among others, have been using laboratory techniques to transform foods into forms never seen before by mankind. It’s called molecular gastronomy.

The result has been an awakening in the world of haute cuisine, a willingness to experiment on and with food that has touched chefs all over the world, including Christopher Kostow at The Restaurant at Meadowood in St. Helena.

Chef Kostow comes to Meadowood from Chez TJ in Mountain View, where his cooking earned two Michelin stars. He succeeds the superb Joseph Humphrey, who has moved on to Cavallo Point, The Lodge at the Golden Gate in Marin (due to open next month).

The influence of molecular gastronomy was apparent from the minute the amuse bouche arrived at our table. The server said that a crispy-browned round ball about the size of a jawbreaker was an oyster. A bite crumbled the crispy shell and a liquid inside spilled out to coat the mouth with the flavor of a cooked oyster. Surprising. Fun. While Chef Kostow doesn’t go in for the more elaborate kinds of molecular gastronomy — like a spoonful of mojito charged with carbon dioxide and enclosed in a jellied shell of sodium alginate — he is having some serious fun cooking outside the lines.

Just for nice, he sent out a creation called “tea and crumpet.” The tea was an infusion of dried, ground morel mushrooms. The crumpet, a tiny thing, contained truffles and pecorino cheese. The earthy truffles sang harmony with the morel tea, while the sheep’s milk cheese crumpet sang a savory melody.

Our server, Chitra, gave perfect service and so did the supporting players, right down to the young man who kept the water glasses filled. The servers didn’t hover. When not needed they left the room, but if the least little thing were wanted, or a plate finished, boom, they were right there. Chitra also knew the ingredients and preparation of every dish served.

The Restaurant looked particularly beautiful on a recent May night. The tables by the big bay window looked across window boxes full of pure white pelargoniums to the green golf course below. The new interior design, by Howard Backen of St. Helena, has brightened up what had been a rather stuffy room.

Meadowood’s wine list is one of the finest in Wine Country. It runs to 35 pages and lists everything from an Alsatian gewurztraminer at $50 to a 1997 Beaulieu Vineyards “Georges de Latour Special Reserve” Cabernet Sauvignon for $365. The list is especially weighted toward fine Napa Valley wines, as you’d expect. Sommelier Rom Toulon takes obvious delight in pampering palates with fine wines.

Be aware that the food at Meadowood is as much about art and entertainment as it is about satisfying hunger. If you’re simply hungry, those burgers down the road at Taylor’s Refresher are pretty good. No, this food is edible art, and almost always scrumptious as well as aesthetically stimulating.

A note on pricing: the a la carte menu is three courses for $75, Four courses for $90, and five courses for $105, chosen from three categories — “local gardens,” “nearby waters,” and “pastures and ranches.” All of the items come as small portions.

Of course, if you’re really hungry, you could go for the Chef’s Tasting Menu ($140, or $235 with wine pairing ****). You get the cold smoked toro, but also the odd couple: foie gras and strawberries. The tasting menu includes citrus-cured Spanish mackerel; lobster paired up with sweetbreads for a new kind of surf and turf; crispy confit of suckling pig; roasted Kobe ribeye; fresh Andante dairy goat cheese; and a milk chocolate soufflé with Earl Grey ice cream and cocoa nibs.

While the latest foodie mantra is “eat local,” that isn’t engraved over Kostow’s kitchen door. “Eat whatever’s really good from wherever,” might be more like it. Take, for instance, the Cold Smoked Toro and Ossetra Caviar (****). The toro, or tuna belly, is from a skipjack caught in waters off of Malta. A pave, or tile-shaped, piece of this smoked fish is topped with a dab of ossetra caviar from sturgeon farm-raised in Uruguay. It’s accompanied by a dab of crème fraiche and a small sheaf of spring onion tops as slender as the straws on a corn broom. And, as if that weren’t enough, two slices of brioche from a tiny Pullman-shaped loaf also graced the plate. All told, this is about a one bite dish — so don’t be surprised if you leave with room in your tummy.

The four elements are brought together in the Chilled Carrot Puree (****). This delicate, sweet, zesty, spicy soup came with diced mango, shiso, radish and jalapeño, and with a lime zest. Carrots represented the earth, being a root crop; mango grows up in trees in the air; the jalapeños add fire, and the liquid base of the soup brings water.

The only problem of the whole evening came with the awkward flavor combination of the Green Garlic Veloute (**). Cubes of “fromage de tete,” better known as head cheese, alternate with spoonfuls of veloute — a white sauce. Green garlic is pureed with spinach (for added green color) and marcona almonds and favas help out. But the overall effect is simply salty and lightly garlicky and all the fancy preparation seems wasted.

A White Asparagus Souffle (****) was so light and fluffy it was barely there. It came with langoustines, white asparagus tips, shiso and tiny citrus segments. A Slow-Smoked Jidori (Japanese for free range) Egg (***½) was coddled just past raw and came with truffle shavings, a thin “English muffin” that was really a cracker, and a sauce mousseline. A tasty morsel, but there was nothing to sop up the runny yolk.

A lovely piece of tenderly cooked, olive oil-poached Black Cod (***½) sat on a bed of shaved asparagus and a few strips of white squid surrounded by a few spoonfuls of bouillabaise. Fragrant osmanthus flowers added a slight perfume, and more Uruguayan caviar topped the dish. Suckling Pig (****) was three small cylinders of meat (three little pigs!) wrapped in applewood smoked bacon. One cylinder had a rib bone protruding. Caraway flavored cabbage was outstanding as an accompaniment, along with an apple gelee with a sugar-crispy top, pickled apple balls and maple syrup.

Desserts were both four stars — a milk chocolate pot de crème with Earl Grey sorbet and cocoa nibs, and three lumps of young coconut sorbet with grilled pineapple and Szechuan pepper.

To sum up: Food, art and entertainment, all served in mini-portions in a very deluxe atmosphere.

Jeff Cox writes a weekly restaurant review column for A&E. You can reach him at jeffcox@sonic.net.