I had decided to meet some friends at Applewood restaurant which has held a 1 Michelin Star rating for two years now. It's located off the beaten path in the town of Guerneville. Applewood Inn. It's always fun to try Michelin rated restaurants for sake of comparison and to see what the fuss is all about!
The setting of the restaurant and Inn is beautiful. The restaurant offered a special "Russian River Night" menu with a 3 course meal for $30 - a good deal considering all of their entrees top the $30 mark. Corkage was free as long as the wine was from Russian River. Another great deal for a Michelin restaurant!
Last night's menu is pictured below. I always wonder how much of the Michelin rating is hype and how much is credited to the performance of the restaurant. So, I decided to be a critic in disguise.
The first course of butternut squash soup was excellent. I had just made a big batch at home and it was fun comparing it to mine. The soup garnish crispy sunchokes was really nice. All 6 of us enjoyed the soup.
The second course was goat cooked 3 ways: grilled, braised, and confit on a bed of lentils and spinach. Three waiters set our plates in front of us and the lead waiter explained the contents of the plate from left to right. It turned out that 1 of the plates had been placed upside down so his description of the meats didn't match. It's a small detail that didn't really bother me, but that's what Michelin ratings are all about-attention to detail. The grilled goat was tough and very chewy. The braised meat was delicious and tender, as is anything slow braised. I loved it. The confit was extremely salty in my opinion. When the course was finished, I noticed that all 6 of us had left some of the grilled goat uneaten.
The third and final course was a quince cake with almond creme anglaise - almost unanimously voted as dry by our group. It was good enough to finish however. I really liked the creme anglaise.
I want to say that overall I enjoyed my meal. Our service was great and we received just the right amount of attention. I thought the price was good given what we had and the no-corkage was fantastic, but on this given night, I thought the execution was not deserving of the laurels bestowed upon this restaurant by the Michelin Guide.
The second course was goat cooked 3 ways: grilled, braised, and confit on a bed of lentils and spinach. Three waiters set our plates in front of us and the lead waiter explained the contents of the plate from left to right. It turned out that 1 of the plates had been placed upside down so his description of the meats didn't match. It's a small detail that didn't really bother me, but that's what Michelin ratings are all about-attention to detail. The grilled goat was tough and very chewy. The braised meat was delicious and tender, as is anything slow braised. I loved it. The confit was extremely salty in my opinion. When the course was finished, I noticed that all 6 of us had left some of the grilled goat uneaten.
The third and final course was a quince cake with almond creme anglaise - almost unanimously voted as dry by our group. It was good enough to finish however. I really liked the creme anglaise.
I want to say that overall I enjoyed my meal. Our service was great and we received just the right amount of attention. I thought the price was good given what we had and the no-corkage was fantastic, but on this given night, I thought the execution was not deserving of the laurels bestowed upon this restaurant by the Michelin Guide.
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