Boar

Eastside Road, March 30, 2012—

A FEW WEEKS AGO — oh yes, here it is — I had a civet de marcassin at a hotel restaurant in Belgium; tonight I had the same dish here, in Santa Rosa. A little different, of course: on polenta, rather than accompanied by potatoes. With asparagus, rather than grilled tomato and eggplant and zucchini soufflé. The difference between European sophistication and American straightforwardness, I suppose.

While I thought the restaurant was deficient — not really understanding its role in such matters as spelling, seasonality, the proper pouring of wines-by-the-glass — I have to admit that my "stewed wild boar" tonight was just about as good as the marcassin I had nearly a month ago in Belgium. It had the tang and depth of boar, and its sauce was nicely flavored. The asparagus was a mismatch, to my taste, but it was correctly cooked and nicely salted. The Caesar salad I had at first was inauthentic, but that's no surprise; the cannellini were a little mushy and cooked with tomato sauce, irrelevant I think.

Trebbiano; Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Vestini, 2009

• Riviera Ristorante, 75 Montgomery Drive, Santa Rosa; (707) 579-2682