Last night Cameron and I had the most amazing dinner either one of
us had ever experienced. Chez TJ is a contemporary French cuisine restaurant,
located in a historic Victorian house in Mountain View (built in 1894!). They
have all these little dining rooms, and we had a seat by the window. We decided
to go with the Chef's Menu, since this gave you a tasting of all the items on
the menu, making it a ten-course meal! Let me tell you... it. was. to. die.
for. The staff was very polite, and paid attention to every detail. This is the
kind of place where you leave your table to go to the restroom and without
fail, someone is at your table in seconds flat folding your napkin.
The first item that arrived was part of
the 'Amuse'. It was called Pot of Earth, and I don't quite remember what it was
made of but it was a cold pudding type of texture made of corn, topped with a
brown crumbly thing (I should definitely be in the food review business) that
was the "dirt" and it was topped with a sprouting grass
embellishment. The presentation of every item was immaculate, and I truly felt
the artistry that went into each dish. Compliments to the executive chef Jarad Gallagher. That dude's got some serious talent. Next was a Fried Egg, which was coated
with a tempura in a perfect sphere (how do they do that?!) and served with creme fraiche, and
caviar. Amazing.
Waygu beef tar-tar was served with chopped arugula, fig, balsamic
vincotto, and a sliced truffle on top. It was slightly spicy and delicious
(although, I still have a hard time with the mental idea of eating raw beef, I
forced myself to block that out). The next item was the Chez Garden plate
(ingredients straight from their very own garden in the back), which consisted
of heirloom tomatoes, a tiny deviled egg, goat cheese, banyuls vinaigrette, and
a tomato macaroon that tasted exactly like tomato soup. It was topped with all
these tiny bubbles (mystery ingredient), reminiscent of what you see on the top
of a bubble bath. What? I know.
Sea robin was up next, and it was served with avocado compote with
tiny slices of jalapeño and red pepper, and shoyu. Then came the duck, and oh
my goodness. This dish was the favorite for both of us. Just simply the best
duck I have ever had, hands down. It was served with a liver mousse, and I don’t
usually like anything to do with liver, but it didn’t even matter. The flavors
were so complimentary. The main course was a roasted South Texas antelope. This
was a first for me and Cameron. It was served with bloomsdale spinach,
gooseberries, and cashew. Cameron ordered us an optional plate of cheese. We
don’t remember what kind it was (sadly), but it was phenomenal. The flavor was strong
and the texture was the softest of any cheese. It had sliced truffle in the
middle. Délicieux. For the intermezzo, we had a cucumber fresca to cleanse our palette.
It was a pineapple sorbet, and cucumber soda was poured on top. Very refreshing
and tart.
For dessert, the first plate was Sangria On Ice, with a sorbet of
citrus, berries, and stone fruit (which tasted like how Michaels craft store
smells, but not in a bad way surprisingly enough – this made us laugh), and
another sorbet of vanilla. The final dessert was a milk chocolate nutter butter
made with praline, peanut butter, and a chocolate top layer. It was served with
a side of yogurt sorbet. Rich and chocolaty goodness! It didn’t end there
though, because they brought out a plate of mignardise and it said ‘Happy
Anniversary’ spelled out on the plate in caramel. They were bites of pistachio
and a really tart jelly which was probably composed of various berries.
And that was our meal. I am in no way a food writer, obviously,
but doesn’t all of that sound incredible? I wrote this so I can remember it. I
consider myself a bit of a foodie, but after last night I am full blown aficionado. I
feel like I must add top notch restaurants to my bucket list, and eat all the
things!
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