MacCallum House in Mendocino, CA
MH and I went up to Mendocino for the long weekend. Before heading up there (and indeed, a month in advance), we made dinner reservations, knowing that things would book up quickly. One of the places we had been dying to try was the MacCallum House in Mendocino town. MacCallum House is an Inn which has a lovely bar - the Grey Whale (which serves from its bar menu), and a superior restaurant - the MacCallum House restaurant. MH and I have been to Mendocino several times, and every time we've made the trip, the MacCallum House restaurant has been closed for the winter. This time, however, it was open, and we leapt at the opportunity to try it.
The restaurant is housed on part of the first floor of the inn, and comprises only two rooms. On the rest of the first floor is the Grey Whale, which consists of a smallish bar area, and a wrap-around porch-like cafe (mostly two-tops) where visitors and guests can nosh on the bar food. The restaurant area is cozy. In the room in which we were seated, there was a lovely wood-burning fireplace, which was kept roaring throughout our dinner. It was quite chilly so far North in California, and it was pouring rain the evening we dined out. Our room opened onto the Inn's entrance. The other room was a bit larger, but it didn't have a fireplace, and it could only be accessed by a small door from our room. That room was attached to the kitchen and serving area. Not as nice, certainly.
MH ordered a glass of pinot noir to start. The bread basket came before we ordered, but it was unimpressive - it was all plain white bread. MH also ordered a salad, which was tossed with a sherry-hazelnut oil vinaigrette. The salad was very well composed. It had bitter greens, toasted hazelnuts, and sliced fresh kumquats. MH's hanger steak was also incredible. It came with an arugula-roasted shallot-walnut salad (delicious, but unnecessary after his salad appetizer), and a really great Pt. Reyes blue cheese popover. The popover was just perfect - eggy on the inside, crisp on the outside, and with a subtle blue cheese taste.
I ordered sturgeon, and it was topped with smoked caviar. It also came with butter lettuce topped with chopped anchovy and olive. This tasted really good, but the oil from the sturgeon (which was delicious, by the way), seeped into the butter lettuce, making it oily and unattractive. The sturgeon was supposed to come with sauteed red potatoes, but I had asked to substitute the vegetable of the day for the potatoes. However, when the fish arrived, there was nothing but the butter lettuce on the plate. MH asked the waiter politely where the vegetable dish was (MH really stepped up here - I was actually a bit embarassed say anything), and the waiter said he had forgotten! He offered to have the chef fix up a fresh batch.
Unfortunately, 15 minutes later, we didn't have the vegetables, and we were through eating. Our waiter came back, extremely contrite, and told us he would buy us dessert. We weren't going to say no to this offer, so we chose the chocolate mousse with creme anglaise and nut brittle. Superb! Although the mousse did not have as dense a chocolate taste as I would have liked, it was made richer by the creme anglaise.
We really enjoyed this dinner, and it was certainly made better by the ambiance (cozy inside, blustery outside) and the attentive service.
MacCallum House
8/10
The restaurant is housed on part of the first floor of the inn, and comprises only two rooms. On the rest of the first floor is the Grey Whale, which consists of a smallish bar area, and a wrap-around porch-like cafe (mostly two-tops) where visitors and guests can nosh on the bar food. The restaurant area is cozy. In the room in which we were seated, there was a lovely wood-burning fireplace, which was kept roaring throughout our dinner. It was quite chilly so far North in California, and it was pouring rain the evening we dined out. Our room opened onto the Inn's entrance. The other room was a bit larger, but it didn't have a fireplace, and it could only be accessed by a small door from our room. That room was attached to the kitchen and serving area. Not as nice, certainly.
MH ordered a glass of pinot noir to start. The bread basket came before we ordered, but it was unimpressive - it was all plain white bread. MH also ordered a salad, which was tossed with a sherry-hazelnut oil vinaigrette. The salad was very well composed. It had bitter greens, toasted hazelnuts, and sliced fresh kumquats. MH's hanger steak was also incredible. It came with an arugula-roasted shallot-walnut salad (delicious, but unnecessary after his salad appetizer), and a really great Pt. Reyes blue cheese popover. The popover was just perfect - eggy on the inside, crisp on the outside, and with a subtle blue cheese taste.
I ordered sturgeon, and it was topped with smoked caviar. It also came with butter lettuce topped with chopped anchovy and olive. This tasted really good, but the oil from the sturgeon (which was delicious, by the way), seeped into the butter lettuce, making it oily and unattractive. The sturgeon was supposed to come with sauteed red potatoes, but I had asked to substitute the vegetable of the day for the potatoes. However, when the fish arrived, there was nothing but the butter lettuce on the plate. MH asked the waiter politely where the vegetable dish was (MH really stepped up here - I was actually a bit embarassed say anything), and the waiter said he had forgotten! He offered to have the chef fix up a fresh batch.
Unfortunately, 15 minutes later, we didn't have the vegetables, and we were through eating. Our waiter came back, extremely contrite, and told us he would buy us dessert. We weren't going to say no to this offer, so we chose the chocolate mousse with creme anglaise and nut brittle. Superb! Although the mousse did not have as dense a chocolate taste as I would have liked, it was made richer by the creme anglaise.
We really enjoyed this dinner, and it was certainly made better by the ambiance (cozy inside, blustery outside) and the attentive service.
MacCallum House
8/10
posted by epicure | 9:32 PM
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