Stone and I had a very good meal at Danko. While GD does not rival French Laundry with respect to cuisine, for me GD is at least as strong as most of the NYT-four-star restaurants. When Stone and I had discussed GD and FL, I had noted that there are some respects in which GD exceeded FL, but my overall assessment remains in favor of FL. When I arrived at the restaurant (just on time?), Stone looked like he had been waiting a while (I'm glad to hear it was not too, too long). I was glad to see him again, and appreciated the efforts he had taken with respect to the BYO bottles. It was so thoughtful of Stone to have brought two bottles "just in case". We waited a bit for a table. There is not much room in the entryway to the restaurant, and dining room team members moved by one after another. We were led into the room on the left, when one enters the restaurant. I prefer the decor of that room to the one on the right. Our room had a colorful modern painting dominating its right-hand-side wall and a more minimalist light-greyish-greenish depiction being prominent on the left-hand-side wall. The lighting was nice, and the room felt comfortable. There were smaller works of art, also modern, appropriately adorning the walls. I appreciated that Stone offered me the bench seat, and took no issue with that. I'm glad to hear that the "outer" seat was not uncomfortable for him. I appreciated Stone's company during the meal. His assessments of the dishes, except in connection with the duck/venison trade, were close to mine. As Stone noted, the amuse was a quenelle of trout on a tiny brioche piece, with dill saucing. I ordered some chamagne, of which there is only one non-rose offered by the glass (Roederer). (1) Glazed Oysters with Leeks, Salsify and Two Caviars Stone: Seared Foie Gras, Caramelized Red Onions and Fuji Apples As Stone noted, this was rather arresting. We shared the dish, taking care to sample every spoonful. We both wanted to take in more of these oysters, but, alas, they were soon gone. Four small oysters were presented in a fish-stock-based, balanced "broth". The broth had quite a bit of butter connotations in it, although some portion of that could have been derived from the cream. As Stone described, the initial taste is of the broth; then the flavors of the sea from oysters and the caviar express themselves. We were advised by Suzanne that these were Miyakes from Tomales (??) Bay that had been poached for 30 seconds. In the broth were significant cluster-like groupings of (1) osetra caviar (grains not as pristine as those at FL, but very nice), and (2) small orange grains of trout caviar. Delicious:raz: Jus from the oysters' insides had been added, together with butter, cream, chives and sweated leaks, among other things. Parsley had been sprinkled on top of the dish. An interesting utilization of salsify in the broth for the oysters. The salsify tasted almost like certain more subtle turnips. The salsify, an example of GD's utilization of seasonal produce, was included as small slices, and were a nice texture (between hard and soft). I am ordinarily not in favor of the utilizaton of many ingredients in a given dish; here, the salsify was a more neutral ingredient and worked. Thanks to mikeczyz for suggesting I order the glazed oysters. The bit of Stone's foie gras dish that I sampled was fine. As was the case with Stone, I found the saucing unduly stark and the caramelized onions overly intense. The foie dish arguably began to portray the classical base that is inherent in GD's cuisine. (2) Roast Maine Lobster with Blood Oranges, Edamame Beans, Potato Purée and Basil Stone: Pan Seared Grouper with Fennel Puree, Saffron and Meyer Lemon As Stone noted, this dish was nicely plated, with the entire length of a deliberately small (less than one pound) lobster's body curled below flesh from the claw and a decorative section of the shell. I did note that there was not the "crispness" (texturally) that one sometimes receives upon biting into appropriately cooked lobster. The lobster dish looked more attractive than it tasted, and was perhaps average-plus in flavor. Small sections of (confit?) blood orange, unusually a purplish red in color, sat beside the lobster. These were too sweet for my tastes, and affected the balance in the dish. As Stone noted, GD has a tendency to offer too many dishes with citrus components. Within such dishes, also, there may be a question about the amount of citrus incorporated. The potato puree was appropriate. I sampled a bit of Stone's grouper dish. Relatively dense meat (in a good way) slightly reminiscent of that of monkfish (but less dense than monkfish) was appealing, and the citrus in the Meyer-lemon-and-saffron saucing was nice too. (Meyer lemon was heavily represented in the current season's menu. I had to refrain myself from ordering on the basis of my liking that ingredient.) Nice accompanying vegetables in various presentations, including fennel, spinach, potatoes and red bell peppers. Interesting utilization of Nicoise olives (presented whole) against the citrus aspects of the Meyer lemon sauce. A leek sauce was utilized in addition to the lemon saucing, and it was appropriate too. (3) Seared Sea Scallops with Truffles and Leek Potato Puree Stone: Lobster Dish from Above The scallop was the second most attractive dish of the meal. It was very yummy :laugh: There was a single plump scallop, which was of a good texture. The scallop seemed to be available for consumption of its little pieces longer than I would have thought when it was presented to the table. And, Stone, yes, I was not trying to pan off an unwanted item to you. I really liked this dish. Atop the scallop was a tiny piece of off-red beetroot, which was attractive. The black truffle thin, short "strips" were not over-powering in the dish (appropriately). Very nice utilization of sauteed cauliflower portions, which were presented in about the same quantities as a nicely buttery potatoes puree. (4) Juniper Spiced Venison Medallions, Cranberry Onion Compote and Braised Endive Stone: Lemon Herb Duck Breast with Poached Barlett Pears My venison was noticeably overcooked relative to the "rare" level (with explicit indications of erring on the side of undercooking Stone described) I had ordered (it was at least medium rare, if not leaning towards medium -- perhaps more cooked than Stone suggested). I also found the jus-based saucing a bit oily. There were fresh almond slices atop the venison, and small sections of carrots beneath it. I took in at least 1/2 of Stone's duck dish, which I preferred to the venison. Conveniently for the trade, Stone preferred the venison I had ordered. This led me to think about the potential "dish preference-risk diversification" benefits of not dining alone, among other things. The duck was presented in pink-ridden, relatively thin (for duck) slices, without meaningful amounts of skin. They were presented medium rare, and I appreciated the resulting supple, yet fleshy/slightly chewy texture (particularly towards the middle of the slice) that Stone described. I also liked the visual aspects of the pinkness of certain portions of the duck. Appealing dark-purple-blackish tiny berries were included that I thought might have been huckleberries, but they were juniper berries. They were helpful to the dish, like the peppercorn effects Stone discussed. Jus-based saucing that was less "oily" than that for the venison, although, as Stone and I discussed, the style of the saucing was comparable. Stone and I could not initially identify the duck confit hash in the duck dish. We were advised that there was also skin crackling as a garnish; I did not notice this. The wine Stone brought went wonderfully with the duck. (5) Flambéed Pears with Cornmeal Crepes, Toasted Almonds and Vanilla Ice Cream (Prepared tableside 2+ persons, supp $6/person) This dessert was nicely presented tableside, in the manner Stone described. A large flat-bottomed saucepan was placed over a heat source on a cart. Our dining room team member added Challenge-brand butter, lemon (juice?) and other items to glistening, de-skinned Bosc pear quarters or 1/6th segments that had previously been poached. The preparation of the dish took more than several minutes. A touch of Cognac produced a very dramatic flame prior to plating. This dessert was delicious, although we thought there were too many sliced almonds on the ice cream on the crepes and too little ice cream. The crepes had just the right amount of buttery taste, and the caramelized sensations in the saucing was also spot on. The pears tasted very uniform from one piece to the next and within each piece (not negative or positive). Stone was studying the preparation of the dessert quite intently. He might be thinking he could be able to make a similar dish at home -- does this ring a bell, with respect to a comment he had in the FL thread? :laugh: The portion sizes were good. As indicated by Stone, we had initially thought that the dining room team member's reference to portion sizes being "adjusted" depending on whether the diner ordered a 3, 4 or 5-course menu as being slightly ominous-sounding with respect to portion size for the lengthiest menu. Stone asked the dining room team member why anybody would order the 5-course "fixed" tasting menu set forth on the menu, when one could construct a 5-course menu of one's choosing for the same price. We had wondered whether the potential advantages of the tasting menu had some connection to the wine pairings. The dining room team member advised us that the 5-course specified tasting menu reflected what the chef thought would be a good sequence of dishes. Overall, a very good meal. Miscellaneous The dining room team members had GD's "badges of merit" conspicuously indicated on their lapels. As Stone discussed, there is a five-star Mobil pin that resembled a mini gold sheriff's badge, and the Relais & Chateau pin. The dining room team appeared interested and knowledgeable. Overall, very good dining room team service, although not at the FL level. Suzanne, the dining room team member assisting us, was helpful, articulate and readily on hand. I did not find the service to be too formal in any way. She nicely asked whether I was a chef , given the photos of the dishes that I was taking. Stone was happily snapping away too. The sommelier team utilizes carts with different wine glasses on the lower tiers of the cart. I asked whether the wine Stone brought could be served in the Reidel sommelier series Burgundy rimmed cup that we had received at FL. The sommelier team member indicated that he had very few of those glasses, and they were all being used. We received Spiegelau regular-quality glasses. GD had two uniformed parking team members outside when I arrived. The restaurant charges for parking ($10). The restaurant was fully occupied. Even the bar was full with guests who were taking in meals.