December 4, 2023 Bramble & Hare Cellar Celebration Featuring Onions
Bramble & Hare is doing Cellar Celebrations on Mondays, now that the Harvest is done. This one we had to get to! It is featuring Onions!
To clearly distinguish between the menu and our descriptions, quotes from the menu will be in a Helvetica Neue font, our descriptions will be in the usual Times New Roman font.
Finally remembered to take a shot of the chalkboard. This changes from time to time.
Tonight’s menu. Martin happened to mention to the sommelier that he’s a big fan of the left bank, St. Emilion and he found the amazing wine at the right, so we did that instead of the above pairings.
Tonight’s wine - An amazing Saint-Emilion Grand Cru.
It is a 100% Merlot, from the terroirs of of Vignonet, Saint-Sulpice de Faleyrens and Saint-Emilion.
The Vintner is Pavillon de Taillefer. From their website: It is the Classic Cuvée of the property and what is, according to Catherine and Philippe Cohen, the definition of Bordeaux’s right bank Merlot. It is a wine for aging but can however be tasted from a very early age.
After a while we noted:
The wine has now opened out. It started out with some faint strawberries. Now we’re getting distinct stone fruit and I think maybe a touch of pineapple Bill.
The amuse-bouche. Onion rings and lemon aioli - Wow, a subtle lemon touch is just right for the sweet onion rings.
The bread is a big whole wheat made from wheat grown and ground at the farm. The onion jam is very mild and very sweet!
The First official Course.
French Onion Soup Grana Padano
The lamb and and rabbit broth is poured at table over an onion that’s been charred a bit on the grill. The stock is incredibly rich. This is just amazing.
Bill here the onion soup has an onion star in the center.
The Second Course.
Black Garbanzo Panisse Onion Soubise, Tomato Fonduta
Martin is amazed at the black garbanzo Panisse. it’s very light and delicate and really is set off perfectly by the onion soubise. The tomato fondue is just an amazing bright accent to the umami of the soubise.
The Third Course.
Tunis Lamb Onion Blanquette, Sauce Chasseur, Kale
Martin finally got his act together and captured our servers description of the dish with a movie.
The lamb shoulder is fall apart tender and has an amazing crust on it in. The accompaniments are heirloom carrots, turnips, potatoes, kale, and of course onions. The sauce is very nice and very hard to describe, it just complemented the lamb perfectly.
The Fourth, Desert Course.
Onion Tart Tatin Whipped Goat Cheese, Balsamic glaze
Again, you can listen to the servers description of the dish in the movie.
This is a puff pastry with an extremely rich and thick balsamic glaze, and a delightful, soft goat cheese for a rich complement to the sharper balsamic.
Bill, the goat cheese is whipped