After watching a series of episodes of Mind of a Chef on PBS, featuring Chef David Kinch, I witnessed a chef who paints edible pictures of his soulful past, his purposeful pursuit of freedom through the fierce independence of the ocean, and his respect for nature’s beauty through his family of farmers. These qualities resonated with me as these dimensions profoundly reflect how my life is unfolding.
When I reached out to Chef Kinch’s restaurant, Manresa, to make a reservation for my 48th birthday celebration in 2016, I respectfully requested two special items: an egg dish and a dish inspired by Chef’s nascent culinary career in New Orleans which Chef Kinch nostalgically featured in one of the episodes he hosted for Mind of a Chef. In response, the Maitre d’ wrote back and suggested that I dine at Chef Kinch’s recently opened New Orleans-inspired restaurant, The Bywater, in the same neighborhood for my Southern comfort food experience. With regard to the egg, I wasn’t prepared for what awaited me. Although I hoped to have Southern comfort and fine dining wrapped up in one meal, I ended up with a greater gift---two separate meals of equal, blissful food borne celebration.
When I reached out to Chef Kinch’s restaurant, Manresa, to make a reservation for my 48th birthday celebration in 2016, I respectfully requested two special items: an egg dish and a dish inspired by Chef’s nascent culinary career in New Orleans which Chef Kinch nostalgically featured in one of the episodes he hosted for Mind of a Chef. In response, the Maitre d’ wrote back and suggested that I dine at Chef Kinch’s recently opened New Orleans-inspired restaurant, The Bywater, in the same neighborhood for my Southern comfort food experience. With regard to the egg, I wasn’t prepared for what awaited me. Although I hoped to have Southern comfort and fine dining wrapped up in one meal, I ended up with a greater gift---two separate meals of equal, blissful food borne celebration.
For lunch, I ate at The Bywater. Walking through the Mardi Gras colored entrance, I beheld Mardi Gras beads as interior ornaments, images of Southern metaphors like the alligator and the New Orleans Saints. The charm of the restaurant resonated throughout the experience, including my inspirited conversations with the staff and local diners from Saratoga and a couple who moved in only months prior down the block. Chef Kinch brought New Orleans to Los Gatos, literally and figuratively, as I would discover during the course of my meal.
My first bite was West/East Coast Oysters with crystal hot sauce and lemon. At the beginning of evening service, you may find Chef Kinch shucking the oysters with his tenacious team. Oysters originate from a variety of sources but on this afternoon I had the church point and grassy bar. They were pristinely of the ocean, by the ocean, for the ocean.
Following, I ate the depth of Southern soul food, the Gumbo Ya Ya, layered richness and bequeathed with Andouille Sausage, oyster, crab, Gulf prawn, green onions, red pepper, and complemented with Louisiana Popcorn Rice. I felt compelled to ask the kitchen how they prepared this Gumbo given the deeply satisfying effect on me. Chef told me that the base is made from fish, shrimp shells, chicken and sometimes pork bones with chocolate and peanut butter used in the roux with orange juice and zest added at the end. Truly brilliant!
During the meal, I listened to the sounds likening to Preservation Hall of New Orleans, echoing the rejoicing moments of being in the French Quarter.
Next, Rich Man’s Red Beans and Rice which I ordered as a worthy compatriot to my Shrimp Po Boy, with bread made by Chef Kinch’s bakery, Manresa Bread, shredded iceberg lettuce and a nice slathering of mayonnaise with a side of pickled daikon radish to cleanse the palate.
Next, Rich Man’s Red Beans and Rice which I ordered as a worthy compatriot to my Shrimp Po Boy, with bread made by Chef Kinch’s bakery, Manresa Bread, shredded iceberg lettuce and a nice slathering of mayonnaise with a side of pickled daikon radish to cleanse the palate.
After dining at The Bywater, I sought out Manresa Bread, the namesake restaurant’s companion bakery. At this time, it was approximately 2:45 p.m. Driving up and down Village Lane, Manresa Bread was not to be found until I stumbled across Chef David Kinch. I called out of the car, “Chef, excuse me, could you tell me where Manresa Bread is located?” He replied in kind, however, sounding dejected with what he was about to say---the bakery closes at 3 p.m. and everything was sold out by 1 p.m.! Despite this casted shadow, I hurriedly raced over to Manresa Bread (with help of my driver) with minutes remaining to find one last loaf remaining, my deeply satisfying birthday gift prior to an even greater gift at 8:30 p.m.
I arrived at approximately 7:00 p.m. and had a delightful and philosophical conversation about food culture with Chris Sullivan, the Maitre d, who guided me to the bar area where I enjoyed a series of bespoke and seasonal cocktails, among them, the Santa Cruz Ave with caraccioli brut sparkling wine, cappelletti aperitivo and cara cara. Although I was not a cocktail drinker prior to Manresa, I became a believer thereafter with Allyson at the helm of the bar.
While I was a the bar, I challenged Jim Rollston, the newly appointed Sommelier at Manresa and one of three new Master Sommeliers to receive this distinction this year, to choose a ubiquitous wine with my meal that would be his last if he had to make such a choice of finality. He chose the unparalleled, Hubert de Monttille’s 1st Cru Volnay, Les Mitans---resounding resonance of beet and cherry prevailed.
Being at Manresa is a reflective edible journey into the mind, heart and spirit of a small village of people who will live and die for food. The passion is fierce, the dedication is inimitable, and the eating is a supreme peace.
After Manresa’s petits fours of “red pepper black olive,” a child’s play of ironic pleasure, I indulge in Manresa’s ham, aged 43 months, translucent, glistening with the fat of humble fortune. This bite reminds me of the unforgettable prosciutto produced by the food craftsman, D’Osvaldo, that I enjoyed at Josko Sirk’s La Subido in the village of Cormons in Fruili, Italy.
After Manresa’s petits fours of “red pepper black olive,” a child’s play of ironic pleasure, I indulge in Manresa’s ham, aged 43 months, translucent, glistening with the fat of humble fortune. This bite reminds me of the unforgettable prosciutto produced by the food craftsman, D’Osvaldo, that I enjoyed at Josko Sirk’s La Subido in the village of Cormons in Fruili, Italy.
Then came out caviar beignets garnished with gold which was a comforting reference point to my lunch at The Bywater. The balance of comfort food and artistic reflection in food expression sets apart this experience. In large part, my awareness of Chef Kinch’s culinary past and present informed my journey, just as my spending time with winemakers like Ales Kristancic in Slovenia or Josko Gravner in Fruili informed me how the history of a family, the history of wine making, and the history of the terroir have augmented my awareness of and passion for their wines. Like understanding self, understanding food and wine requires a fearless exploration of what came before and what exists in this moment. With this consciousness, you drench yourself in the depths of your sensorial dive into Manresa.
Part of understanding what came before and what exists in the moment is Manresa’s long standing relationship with Cynthia Sandberg, a former lawyer turn farmer of Love Apple Farms. Manresa’s relationship began with Chef Kinch’s discovery of what is truly meant by “vine-ripened” when Cynthia brought some heirloom varietals of tomatoes during evening service in August of 2005 after she dined there for her birthday in May. This omnipresent relationship to nature’s delicious beauty thematically weaves through every dish at Manresa.
The Chef who has most inspired Chef Kinch is Parisian born, Alain Passard, the Chef and Owner of the vegetable driven Michelin starred restaurant in Paris, L’Arpege. Chef Kinch honors Chef Passard at Manresa with the Arpege Farm Egg. In my Spring Garden version, Chef accented the sherry infused creaminess of the egg with the flavor of coriander. To me, food begins and ends with the egg and this gift of the egg engendered my celebratory gratitude forevermore.
The Chef who has most inspired Chef Kinch is Parisian born, Alain Passard, the Chef and Owner of the vegetable driven Michelin starred restaurant in Paris, L’Arpege. Chef Kinch honors Chef Passard at Manresa with the Arpege Farm Egg. In my Spring Garden version, Chef accented the sherry infused creaminess of the egg with the flavor of coriander. To me, food begins and ends with the egg and this gift of the egg engendered my celebratory gratitude forevermore.
The theme of past and present continues with the inspiration of the ocean. How can it not when you have worked in Japan and you surf! Chef Kinch cures his fish with seaweed before he slices with his blue steel knife to present a sashimi of sea bream with pencil thin slices of radish and nori---an homage to the pristine purity of the palatial state of the sea. Chef Kinch’s Spring Tidal Pool takes this theme to a surrealistic revelation of what you might uncover at Manresa Beach in Santa Cruz---oyster, cherrystone clam, sea urchin with spring peas in a pool of a subtle brine of Pacific sea.
The waves of the ocean unfold, breathtakingly, with an asparagus ‘stir fry’ with squid and lardo, and soon thereafter abalone, tapioca with radish and parmesan, and finally striped bass, with seasonal spring oro blanco and carrots.
The finishing balance of the meal came with the roast duck, stuffed morels, and anchovy, and the spring lamb, turnips and lettuces.
For a desert epiphany, we had grapefruit, fennel pavlova with graham cracker.
Revolving, full circle, from our savory petits fours to our departing bite of petits fours of strawberry and chocolate, I raise my final glass of burgundy to Chef David Kinch, Jim, Chris, and Jenny (Manresa’s General Manager), Allyson, and all the others of the Manresa Family who have stood by Chef Kinch through the fury of life’s flames that both motivate and inspire us to become someone, something, somehow greater than we ever thought possible.