Professor Gourmand — February 2023
After December 30 and January 17, there was absolutely no way I was starting this month anywhere but Redbird. I arrived around 8:20, sat down and ordered a Harvest from Michael — aqua del sol espadin mezcal, clear creek cranberry liqueur, lustau PX sherry, allspice, lime, ginger — to help me investigate the menu, and, of course, I wanted the lobster chawanmushi, which was its usual perfection as this time it was really the custard it’s supposed to be. Since I finished the first drink and I wanted something to finish the chawanmushi with, I ordered a sparkling wine from Slovenia, the 2020 Kabaj Malvazija from the Primorje region on the Adriatic coast. Bone-dry and refreshing. Castro came over with the wine list so I could order a cider to go with the Broken Arrow Ranch wild boar, served in a hibiscus verjus with cherries, (potato) gnocchi romana, chard and hon shimeji mushrooms,
and I picked out the 2021 Cameron White Oak Vineyard from Ribbon Ridge, Oregon to go with it. About the wild boar. This is something else the Redbird kitchen does exceedingly well, and this is the first of the top ten dishes of 2023. The cider was terrific with it. I ate most of the wild boar and took the rest home (it was just as good over rice the following day). No dessert, but another glass of the Sfumato Rabarbaro so the staff could make sure I liked it, which I did, and Michael brought over a Fernet Branca Menta, which I also…