After last year’s wonderful experience at Jasper’s, we decided to kick off Restaurant Week 2009 at Chef Kent Rathburn’s original restaurant, Abacus.
The experience was, in a word, amazing. This year, I took photos as we went…feel free to drool.
We think Kent’s food maximizes sauces. The flavors are fresh, tantalizing the taste buds with every bite. He pairs unexpected flavors (like chilies and coconut, or sweet potatoes and jalapenos), which somehow not only complement but enhance one another.
A local grocery store, Central Market, offers “Fourth Courses” – a free additional course gift certificate with the purchase of groceries.
Abacus 4th Course: Lobster-Scallion “Shooters”
Delicious lobster dumplings, swimming in a sake-red chili-coconut milk sauce. The sauce was delivered hot to the table, allowing you to add the amount you desired. It was so wonderful that I took another set of cryptic cell phone notes to recreate the sauce at home.
Small Plates – aka the Appetizer Course
Kelly ordered Rice Flour Crusted Tiger Shrimp, Baby Shitake Mushroom Ginger Sweet Potato Puree, with Grilled Jalapeno Oil. The jalapeno oil mixed with the sweet potatoes was inspired.
I ordered Seared Diver Sea Scallop with Spicy Yuzu-Sweet Soy Thai Corn Cakes. The scallop was perfectly cooked, with no trace of rubberiness. The sauce had a hint of lemongrass mixed with the soy.
Intermezzo – White Sangria Icee
Kelly ordered the Wood Roasted Tri-Tip Steak, with Goat Cheese Polenta Cake, Wild Mushrooms and Port Wine Sauce. Apologies for the blurry photo…Kelly gave me .2 seconds to take the photo before he started digging in!!! The steak had a crispy flavorful crust and a moist, juicy inside. The mushrooms were perfectly cooked as well. I loved the bite I had of the polenta cake. It wasn’t Kelly’s favorite; he’s not a goat cheese fan.
Service was great, as expected. We’ve decided to add Abacus to our rotation of Monthly Nice Dinner Out locations.
You're fortunate to live in an area where really good restaurants aren't far away. The dishes all look and sound great. I think I would have passed on the dessert unless the chef can do something great with fruit. (I do love chocolate, but most chocolate desserts out are too rich for me to enjoy more than a bite or two.)
The brownie bites were very dark chocolate – appropriately sized to not be overwhelming. The milk chocolate pudding, however, tasted remarkably like jello pudding. Not so fancy.
I think you would have liked the mint-strawberry combination. We would have liked just that, without the shortcake.
My oh my….how did you decide on what to choose!
Sounds like a worthy cause for the radio station and their donation to food banks. And you get to enjoy a nice meal.
sounds like a great time. I think Adella would have loved to join you. She is becoming quite the foodie! lol *minus the fact she isn't a fan of spicy food*
The pudding, I make from scratch and is made with Valrhona Milk Chocolate. The best you can buy.
This was supposed something endearing and reminiscent of your past. I find that the simplest desserts are sometimes the most difficult to make.
I belive in leaving ingredients in their purest form. Especially chocolate! We use Plugra Butter, and the best ingredients possible.
If the production of desserts for restaurant appear to be a simple task, I assure it is not. We are cranking 1200 to 1600 pieces of dessert a day from a very small kitchen.
We do not do this on a daily basis and it would be impossible to produce what we normally do for regular service with 100 desserts being sold on a very busy night.
Thanks for a great and positive blog.
Sincerely, Rick-the pastry chef at Abacus.
Holy cow! Shana, this is Kacie from East-West, Kelly linked to your hilarious post about his candy bowl (which I can promise you, I've only snuck from… twice. ), and I was thrilled to find out you were a fellow blogger. So I've been scrolling down and enjoying your posts, and kicking myself for not making my own restaurant week appointments… and then I saw you actually got a comment from the Abacus pastry chef! That is pretty stinkin awesome.
Thanks, Kacie! I was a little surprised, too. Abacus must use Google Alerts to keep track of its formal and informal press.
We had dinner at Abacus last night. It was our first but won't be our last visit. The lobster shooters by themselves were worth the visiit. We both had the scallop for our app. I wanted to try the confi pork belly but was not brave enough. Has anyone tried it? Our entrees were the salmon and pork porterhouse. Both were perfection. Between the two of us we polished off all the desserts. I have to confess to consuming my and my husband's sangria ice. Great experience.
I have not had the pork belly confit. I generally try to avoid eating pork as it's not one of my favorite types of meat.
I found a great resource that talks in depth about pork belly confit – I'm sure Abacus uses their own amazing recipe for preparation:
http://kitchenmusings.com/2007/02/for_the_love_of.html