Notes: This is going
to be a longer-than-usual entry, to talk about my dining experience at David’s
Opus Ten. Also, for more information about the Am I Hungry?Ò
program, visit www.amihungry.com or my website.
In the Am I Hungry? program, we talk about how it can be
good to find ways to connect with people that don’t revolve around food. Nor am
I much of a believer in trying to justify eating a certain amount or type of
food simply because it’s an event that only comes once a year. That being said,
sometimes it’s wonderful to splurge a little for a very special occasion and
spend it with someone you care about.
The most recent example of this for me was last week when I
treated a friend of mine to part of a very fancy dinner as a birthday present.
Since she’ll be moving out of Maine later this year, it’s the last birthday
that we’ll easily be able to celebrate together. Plus, she’s a foodie, as am I,
but she doesn’t get much opportunity to have a truly fine dining experience.
And this was definitely an experience. I’ve been to lots of
nice restaurants at this point, both with family and through work, but it’s
never been anything quite like our visit to David’sOpus Ten.
The restaurant is brand new, and a unique concept in
Portland, Maine, since it’s within the regular David’s restaurant, with just 18
seats and one sitting per night. The reason why it’s only one sitting is
because it’s a fixed price, multi-course tasting menu – on weeknights it’s seven
courses, and on weekends it’s nine courses. We went on Saturday, and we were
there for 3 ½ hours, but it didn’t feel like it.
We were seated right away at a table on one side of the
small area, cozy with soft lights and fabric streamers over the ceiling. Our
waiter told us that we had just one choice to make, whether or not we wanted
the wine pairings for the food. (My friend opted for that, and although I
didn’t, I did sample a couple of her glasses.) After that, we just sat back and
enjoyed visiting mingled with the parade of delectable treats.
We started off with a small appetizer of house-cured
charcuterie, carved right in the room, a little cheese, wonderful crackers with
rosemary and cranberries that were crunchy and sweet to contrast with the salt
of the ham and the olives served in a warm brine. That was to wake up our
palates and whet our appetites (not that they needed much whetting).
Then we got bread (both of us deciding not to worry about
being gluten-free or other allergies for the evening) – a selection of small rolls
of peasant bread, olive oil roll, a mini croissant (they were so cute!) and a
log-shaped roll with a row of salt on top. Along with that was olive oil for
dipping, or if we preferred fresh butter with toasted sea salt. The bread
continued to come throughout the evening; as soon as one was gone, another
would take its place. I only had a few, trying to be somewhat mindful of that,
knowing we had lots of other goodies coming, but those few were quite tasty.
This was a delicious start to the meal. The gratin had that
wonderful earthly flavor of mushroom, but also a bit of sweetness, and the
shooter was simply perfect for the cold evening (in the teens with a high
wind). It was warm verging on hot, frothy and delightfully creamy, with the
main complaint being it wasn’t a large enough cup to sip all evening.
But soon enough that was cleared away and we got our second
course: “butter poached lobster, risotto cake, citrus truffle micro greens.”
Now, I’m not a big lobster fan, but this was cooked
beautifully, tender and buttery, and the risotto at the bottom added a fuller
texture, giving the dish a more substantial feel than the small bite seemed.
The greens on top were a refreshing addition, helping to balance the richness
of the cream.
For our third
course, we were treated to: “peppered, lightly handled scallop on dates, bacon
and brown butter, cucumber-blood orange slaw.”
I was excited about this from the start, simply because I
like all the ingredients separately and was eager to try them together. I
wasn’t disappointed. The scallop was perfectly cooked, yielding easily as I cut
it, contrasting nicely with the saltiness of the bacon, the sweeter chewiness
of the dates, and the acidity of the orange. The scallop seemed to melt in my
mouth, and each bite was a lovely balance of flavor and texture.
Our fourth course was: “quail egg ravioli, chanterelle
mushroom and toscana kale in foie gras butter nage” (and Chef David came out himself
to finish it with a sauce that wilted the kale):
This was also delightful, particularly with the creamy sauce
added (they gave us a big spoon specifically to scoop it out once the rest of
the dish was gone). Everything melded together very well, with the heartiness
of the kale standing up nicely to the cream and richness of the ravioli.
I should also add that between each course, my friend got a
new glass for her wine pairing and we generally got new silverware. And when we
went to use the restroom, we came back to find our napkins not just folded but
tented on our table. The wait staff was constantly attentive, ensuring that our
glasses of water were always topped off and that our bread plates were full,
but they didn’t hover or interrupt us to ask how things were, just bringing us
the different courses as they were available. It was one of the best services
I’ve ever had.
I didn’t get a decent picture of the fifth course, a palate
cleanser of a raspberry and apple sorbet, finished by Chef David with a splash
of frozen basil infused vodka, poured out of a bottle that was kept chilled in
a cylinder of ice. I don’t drink much at all (read: practically never) so the
vodka was quite strong to me, but it paired well with the sorbet and definitely
cleared my palate.
Then we were ready for
the more substantial offerings, starting with our sixth course: “grilled quail,
fois gras medallion and ‘buttered' toasted with cranberry-pear gastrique.”
I’d never had quail before, and while a little tricky to eat
with a knife and fork (I did give up and use my fingers for the wing) it was
superb. Very tender and juicy, with a delicate flavor (not like chicken, I might add) that went beautifully with the cranberries
and gastrique.
For our seventh course we had: “lamb rack (off the rack),
intense lamb jus with beets, sweets, beans and kale.”
I did wish we had more of the greens, since the flavor of
the rest of the dish was so intense, but it was still great. The small side of
beets and sweet potato was lovely, providing a different texture from the lamb.
And the lamb itself I might have preferred cooked a little longer, but it was
very good as it was, quite succulent and yielding easily to the knife, with a
nice flavor.
Our eighth course was the first of the desserts: “red wine
poached pear, sweet ricotta, sweet balsamic reduction.”
This was a more savory
dessert, with the pear and the hint of sweetness from the ricotta, but they
went very well together – although cutting the pear without a knife also
required a little inventiveness.
And finally we
concluded with the truly sweet: chocolate caramel bark, chocolate hazelnut
truffles, and Sherry brandy Polvorones.
These were delightful. The polvorones were more savory, but
the chocolate bark was wonderfully crunchy and sweet, and the truffles had a
lovely, liquid center that burst in the mouth. It was a perfect bite to end the
meal.
With each course, my friend and I paused our conversation to
admire the food and presentation (and take photos!), then savor the first bite
to get the full experience of the flavor. Although we were eating more than we
necessarily needed, and we didn’t get to choose our food, it was still a
wonderful experience of mindful eating for me, of focusing on every aspect of
the food and atmosphere, and appreciating even more being able to share it with
a friend.
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