Sonoma Fine Dining Restaurant Review - Cyrus
April 12, 2006
Cyrus Restaurant
29 North Street
Healdsburg CA 95448
Phone:
707-433-3311
RATING: Permission to
Luxuriate!
For those of you who have not visited the
Healdsburg area, just off Highway 101 about 15 miles north of Santa Rosa,
adjacent to Sonoma's Dry Creek Valley wine producing
region.....things have and continue to change dramatically in the last five
years. Property values for one are skyrocketing, and new upscale
shops, restaurants and lodging accommodations are
proliferating. No, you really should not be surprised to run into the
likes of Joe Montana on a rainy Sunday afternoon window-shopping by
himself. (Remember, he did not have time to appear at the pre Super Bowl
festivities this year when the past Super Bowl MVP's were
introduced.) Healdsburg should definitely be included on anyone's
special celebration weekend getaway calendar.
Cyrus Restaurant, named after
Cyrus Alexander who pioneered the nearby Alexander Valley, is located
in the newly opened, very elegant and posh, sixteen room boutique
Les Mars Hotel about two blocks north of the Plaza in
Healdsburg.
Although we did not stay for a night at the Les
Mars, if the Cyrus Restaurant's consistently fine first class service,
cuisine, wines, decor and deft touches to detail are indicative of the
hotel's standards, then a room in this French chateau should be a
definite consideration.....even though rooms begin at $450 a night!
Regardless of where you decide to take "shelter" for the night, do
save your money to experience Cyrus as it is a positively
"must do" dining event for any
serious gastronome! Cyrus will soon compete on the same
level as the French Laundry in Yountville, Napa Valley.
Michelin muliple star fine dining has finally arrived in
Sonoma!!
Cyrus is the collaboration of owner/Maitre d' Nick
Peyton and Chef Douglas Keane. Together, they forged
at lasting friendship at Restaurant Gary Danko where
Peyton was co-owner and Maitre d', while Keane
was Danko's Sous Chef. Previously, Peyton, called the
"godfather of white tablecloth dining" by the San Francisco
Chronicle, had been the Maitre d' for Masa's
and then for the Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton in
San Francisco. Keane had spent time at the
Four Seasons and Lespinasse in New York City,
and as Executive Chef at Jardiniere in
San Francisco where he was honored in 2002 by the San Francisco
Chronicle as a "Rising Star Chef". The
upcoming June issue of Food and Wine magazine names Douglas Keane as
one of the year's Best New Chefs
The dining room is small and intimate with
exquisitely dressed tables spaced nicely for privacy. The walls are awash
in warm yellow and beige tones. The high arched
ceilings, old-fashioned plaster walls and expensive molding feel old world
European. A huge and very elaborate seasonal floral display takes center
stage.
At the head of the dining room from a small
reception table, Mr. Peyton performs the only "phoney baloney" of the
evening. He picks up an ornate, antique-style telephone and pretends
to call the Chef to announce your presence at such and such table. I
could barely keep a straight face. Save this cheese for the cheese
cart!
You might "wet your whistle" with
a masterfully blended cocktail using only the freshest ingredients and
highest quality, small batch, hand crafted spirits. My classic
perfect Manhattan was "perfectly" balanced with sweet and dry
vermouth and garnished with the traditional long thin strand of
lemon peel, but also imported Italian black cherries. Or, order
a chilly flute of Laurent Perrier Brut Rose from the selections presented
directly from Champagne and caviar cart that is steered
tableside. Half an ounce of Iranian osetra caviar, properly
weighed out by the gram from the cart's red, polished chemistry-lab
scale will cost you $65. I selected a frigid Belevedere vodka to
go with the glistening irridescent blackish gray eggs presented from a
freshly opened tin on ice. Instead of traditional buckwheat blinis, the
caviar is accompanied by thin slices of fingerling
potatoes.
Little surprises come at you in different
directions, whether it is the intensely flavored little bites of amuse bouche,
or a shot glass of an unctuously silky lobster "bisque-like" sauce, or
the perfect little assorted candy treats at the finale.
The menu is organized into sections to
select from three to five courses from any of the following: soup,
vegetables, foie gras, pasta and rissoto, fish and shellfish,
poultry, meat, cheese, and dessert. 3 courses $58, 4 course $69,
5 courses $80. Then there is Chef Keane's "Inspiration" seven course
tasting menu at $95 to consider. Although the wine list is
extensive and globally diverse, and there is an ample selection
of "fairly" priced half bottles, the best course of action is to
allow for the sommelier's wine pairings for each of your course
selections. We asked for a review of these specific
selections before determining our plan of action and were extremely
pleased with the thought process and explanation that went into each
decision. Wine pairings for 3 courses are $33, 4 course $44, 5
courses $55, and the seven course tasting menu $75. We opted for the 3
courses.
For a slight surcharge, Renee was able to enjoy a
sampler of all three foie gras courses! Extremely small portions of a salt cured "Torchon" with almonds
and pineapple, pomegranate gelée, a.seared lobe with warm ginger bread,
asian pears, and mulled cider, and a terrine with huckleberries and
toasted brioche. In hindsight, she would have been happier with
just a larger portion of the seared lobe. Coincidently, her trio was
paired very successfully with the 2004 Von Simmern Riesling
Kabinett Erbacher Marcobrunn from the Rheingau that I began stocking just
earlier in the week.
My first course was a masterpiece.....especially
paired with a Rochioli Pinot Noir from just down the road; light and airy
gnocchi with black trumpet mushrooms, truffles, little morsels
of sweatbread swathed in a glaze of reduced Madiera and
veal demi-glace.....and just a little butter!
Next up was the most incredible Hosin glazed
squab.....after begging Renee for a bite, I was rewarded with a slice from the
rare breast that was again all about soft and silky texture, but so
intensely flavored. A black bean-rice cake with kumquats added new layers
of flavor to appreciate as a backdrop. A young grenache based
Chateauneuf-du-pape worked well as it added another dimension of garrigue and
fruit to the dish, but also provided necessary acid balance to cleanse the
richness.
Not to be outdone, and I wasn't.....was my
selection of the duck confit. This is not your mother's duck
confit!! Nor quite like any duck confit I have ever encountered. Not
from the leg, but the breast! And the duck's preserved skin and fat
were the showcase, not the preserved meat. It reminded me somewhat of the
way Asians will slow braise pork belly and guard against rendering the
gelatinous heavenly fat that is so prized. This was similar, but duck
with the lacquered skin almost candied, it was an out-of-body
experience! A youthful Piemonte nebbiolo, a collaboration
of two growers, provided the required tannin and acid to handle the fat and
counterbalance the sweetness of the duck.
Lollipops of perfectly roasted lamb loin chops with
a Syrah reduction sauce would best describe Renee's final
selection. Quintessential small globes of lamb resting
at the end of a long bleached-white rib bone. To gnaw or not to
gnaw?
Well, after a little fork and knife work.....it
would be a crime if you did not pick them up and go for
it! Blissful with a local Kevin Hamel Syrah. Can I tell
the story about how he worked for me as a busboy in the mid 1980s?
Another time.
My veal loin was a sliced with the precison of the
best sashimi chef, and with ultimate shades of both rose pink on the
outside and almost crimson in the middle to announced its
regalness! Spectacular bursts of savory fireworks exploded
on my palate after two exotic salts from the table were sprinkled on
the meat. I enjoyed the black plum fruit and minerality
of an Emilio Moro tempranillo from Spain's Ribera del
Duero region, and it reinforces my belief that this is a grape more
Americans need to add to their cellars.
The cheese cart was laden with temptations, but we
resisted,.and likewise for the desserts. We were comfortable and not
overwhelmed with too much guilt.
I could not but help to think as we left
the restaurant, that I only hope international travelers have an
opportunity to experience Cyrus. It should prove without a
doubt, there are American equivalents to the finest restaurants in
Europe.
Although our hotel was a short walking
distance from the restaurant, I was tempted to ask the Maitre d' to call us a
taxi, but only if he used the
phone!
Eric Stumpf
The Wine Consultant
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