Dinner down the road

Eastside Road, August 26, 2012—

THREE MILES AWAY — seven minutes by car, a short hour walking — there's this Michelin-starred restaurant where we've eaten only once before tonight. Hard to say why we've ignored it: partly because of that Michelin star, perhaps, because we tend to prefer "ordinary" places, as long as the food they serve is carefully sourced and prepared, to fancy places. In any case, we've been ignoring it.

Tonight, though, we agreed with a couple of new friends that it would be a nice place to get together for dinner. We know this couple from the Healdsburg Farmers Market, where we buy their lettuces, carrots, padrones peppers, and occasional other things; they've apparently been selling to this restaurant for a number of seasons. And they're francophiles and fond of the pleasures of the table: all the more reason to listen to their opinions.

It was a very nice dinner indeed, and we'll be returning. I won't pretend that we weren't given particularly nice service, with a number of little tastes walked out to our table from the kitchen. But even leaving all those things aside, it was a splendid dinner. I ordered three courses, and I quote from the menu:

• Sashimi of Ahi Tuna; sun gold tomato, watermelon, frisée; Vietnamese vinaigrette, seaweed salad

• Masami Ranch New York Sirloin; duck fat fried fingerling potato, cipollini onion; French filet bean, spicy soffrito, green peppercorn maitre'd butter

• Artisan Cheese Course

Both of the kitchen-prepared courses were beautifully sourced and prepared. The two courses reminded me of a lunch we had in Switzerland many years ago at Girardet: the technique involved was impeccable, and it was brought to fresh, local ingredients and — perhaps even more important — perfectly normal, traditional methods and intentions. Nothing molecular here, nothing contrived. Presentation quite pleasing and thoughtful, but not overtaking the point of a restaurant meal: a fine balance of textures, aromas, and flavors on the tongue.

Masami Ranch is in Tehama county in northern California, and raises Wagyu-style beef from bloodlines apparently established from Japanese heritage. The steak was flavorful, lean, and substantial, cooked bleu
as I'd asked, nicely moistened with its maître d'hôtel butter. I thought the cheeses were a tad short of service date, but that didn't keep me from enjoying them: Coupole (goat, fresh) from Vermont; Abbaye de Belloc (sheep, Aquitaine); Rimrocker (goat and cow, a hard cheese from Bend, Oregon, very nice); Gorgonzola dolce from Lombardy, not quite au point.

All in all a delicious dinner. Let's return soon.

Champagne, Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, nv (reliable, crisp, forward, welcome); Erbaluce, Coste della Sesia "Doranda", 2011 (soft, focussed, generous); Zinfandel, Rafanelli (Dry Creek), 1995 (perfect expression of the grape)

• Farmhouse Inn & Restaurant, 7871 River Road, Forestville, California; (707) 887-3300; tel.