Q's Wine Dinner (Boulder, CO)

[rlm]

Attended the "California's Central Coast" wine dinner at Q's in Boulder this month. I've eaten at Q's several times, but have never been to one of their special dinners (having only recently signed up to be on their e-mail distribution list).

We brought along two friends who have never had a tasting menu experience before and had to assure them not to be nervous at the menu descriptions (trust the chef). The restaurant was completely booked for the wine dinner except for the covered patio area, which remained open to regular diners. We arrived about 30 minutes early and were told we could sit anywhere we wanted. We headed for a larger table so we could socialize and were then told, "Actually, that's reserved for a party of 10, and so is that table over there." Okay, so I guess we really couldn't sit anywhere we wanted!

The wines for this evening were all from Foley and Lincourt, owned by the same family in the Santa Barbara area. I'd had the Foley Pinot Noir before at another wine tasting & enjoyed it, but never the Lincourts. A distributor was walking around giving his sales pitch on the wines to the tables (a little smarmy to have a distributor giving the hard sell instead of just having a sommelier providing descriptions, but he was a nice guy and you can't fault him for doing his job).

Started with freshwater eel (?!) with scallion, daikon, sesame crisps, cucumber, ponzu, and sprouts. I'd had eel once before at a sushi bar and don't really crave it, but this preparation was flavorful. This was paired with the '02 Foley Sauvignon Blanc. Not the best first course I've ever had, but better than expected.

Next up was the pan-roasted California bass with grilled potato, orange butter, sunflower sprouts, and oven-dried tomato, paired with the '01 Lincourt Chardonnay. This tied with the next course for the best of the menu, although I could have done without having sprouts on the plate for two straight courses. Bass was nicely seared on the outside and falling off the fork on the inside (wonderful). I don't remember picking up any hint of orange butter flavor, so maybe the wine muted it.

Third was the crisp herb rubbed quail with soft polenta, apricot jam, pistachio pesto, and arrugula (a course the chef indicated they are considering placing on the regular dinner menu). This course was paired oddly enough with two wines--the '00 Foley Pinot Noir and the '00 Lincourt Pinot Noir. The Lincourt Pinot was the only wine I truly didn't care for (an odd sweetness to it and the Foley blew it away). Small quail bones make it difficult to eat gracefully as you try in vain to extract as much meat as you can without looking ridiculous, but the apricot jam just really set this dish off into the stratosphere. Completely unexpected.

Next was the wild boar chop with gold potato gnocchi, stewed tomatoes, green olives, almonds, and sage, paired with the '01 Lincourt Syrah. Based on the description, I thought this would be the course I would enjoy the most, but the bass and quail were far better (and it's nice to be surprised in a good way like that). The chop was a little bit tough and we should have been given a steak knife for it, but the gnocchi/tomato combo was divine.

We finished up with a cocoa crepe stuffed with ricotta and topped with strawberries, basil, and balsamic. Oh, my god. This was sooooo good. Reminded me of Jennifer Jasinski's strawberries & balsamic combo at Panzano, only the crepe just added another dimension of fabulousness. This was served with a Delaforce Tawny Port. I'm not a port fan and think the ability to pair it successfully with chocolate is over-rated, so I'm not really qualified to pass judgment on its quality relative to that of other ports.

At the end, Chef John Platt went around to each table asking for feedback on the dishes. What a great deal--a captive focus group that pays to give you their opinions.

Over-all, an excellent experience and one I would like to repeat. Platt is really gifted. The cost for four of us was equal to the cost for two people at Adega for their tasting menu paired with wines, although there was less food, the service was not quite as exemplary, the wines weren't as thoughtfully selected or diverse, and there was less of an artistic flair to the presentation.

[mongo_jones]

how much?

[Cynthia G]

Thanks for that delicious post, rlm!

[rlm]

Mongo, it was $45 per person + tax and gratuity.

[mongo_jones]

Mongo, it was $45 per person + tax and gratuity.

that is not bad at all! i'm signing up for the next one. do i just call them to get on the mailing list?

[rlm]

I filled out a card at the table that came with the check on an earlier visit, but I would imagine you could call and ask to be placed on their distribution list. We signed up for this dinner as soon as we received the e-mail. I'm glad we did, as a couple at our table remarked that these dinners usually fill up quickly.

Q's

2115 13th Street

In the Hotel Boulderado

T: 303-442-4880

[mongo_jones]

ah, so you can't get a table to yourself? unless there's enough people in your party to fill your table are you pretty likely to have someone seated with you?

[rlm]

I didn't notice any tables just for two, but that's part of the fun. We sat at a table for six and had a delightful couple join the four of us. I suppose you could make a request to have a table set aside.

I'm not sure if the crowd that night was typical or not, but I definitely felt young for the first time in a while.