I am working at the Del Mar Antique Show this weekend, just around the block at the fair and made reservations for my wife and Reneé to join me at Pamplemousse after work. Reneé had eaten there before as had many of my friends but Leslie and I had not.
I have been fighting the crud all week, major respiratory problems, not the ideal time to assess food, especially when the sense of smell is partially compromised. But like a hurt gamer in the fourth quarter, your faithful author sucked it up and ate like the professional that he is. Can't let down the team, you know.
I got there a bit before my female companions and asked the host if it would be okay to snap a picture or two of the food. They quickly assented and really couldn't have been nicer. The staff was top notch all night, from our server, Kris to the people busing the table. A casual spot, I arrived in jeans and sneakers and never felt overly concerned about my rather shoddy appearance.
It is a pleasant enough place, not overdone like so many of it's peers these days, The Market or the Prado being two examples that immediately come to mind. The only embellishments are the far out and extremely well done paintings of horses and bikers and Jeffrey Strauss, the owner's, report cards from elementary school in New Jersey. Strauss and his brother owned a race horse that was really in the money a few years ago. Strauss was sitting at the bar and I circumnavigated the large fellow on my way to the john.
We got the menu and the voluminous wine list. Fred Schrader's special potion at only $650 per bottle. Kistler, all the fabboo expensive stuff that I could never afford. I could see that I would be drinking tea tonight, especially feeling as crappy as I do.
They had a bunch of other off the menu add ons and substitutions that all sounded wonderful but we went in wanting to keep the price down and laid off. A veal chop. A cowboy bone in sirloin. Lobster brioche grilled cheese. We ended up getting so much food that I could hardly finish the dinner I did order and I for one am really glad that we passed.
Leslie ordered a mojito. It turns out that they were out of fresh mint. They went out and got some, don't ask me how. Leslie said it was absolutely delicious.
I ordered the tomato fennel soup, the braised short rib and the pear tarte tatin. Leslie dined on lobster ravioli along with the kobe burger with truffle cheese, truffle mayo and truffle parmesan fries. Dark Chocolate Bombe for dessert. Reneé sampled truffled gnocchi, petrale soul with porcini, and the caramel chocolate cake.
The meal was great. I have been so down on so many local restaurants lately that it was nice to find one that exceeded our expectations. My tomato fennel soup was delicious and just what the doctor ordered. I found that the tomato overwhelmed the crab wonton but it may have been me and my nose. The wonton was hard to find anyway, a rather small and innocuous affair swimming at the bottom of the bowl. But the wait staff brought out a giant fresh black truffle and liberally hit everything we desired with the luscious shavings. And we wanted a lot. On pretty much everything.
Our server was very kind and generous and brought us a big order of truffle fries for the table. She has been at Pamplemousse since it opened, 14 years ago. The truffle fries were great, not with as much garlic as the dearly departed Laurel, the place that I consider set the gold standard for truffle fries but scrumptious none the less.
Leslie said that every bite of her lobster ravioli was delicious and Reneé felt the same about her fare. Our entree's were equally fantastic. I had been worried about my short rib being puny but it was more than I could eat. More tender then you can believe, just falling off the bone.
Leslie said that her burger was the perfect burger. It needed nothing. Cooked to perfection, perfect bun. Reneé had a bite and said that it was the burger of her dreams. We used to dream about sex, now we dream about food.
We sample each others bites all night as is our habit and everything was top shelf. Desserts were absolutely marvelous. Everyone thought that they had ordered the best dessert but the reality is that I did. The tarte tatin was sublime.
As I have said before, some of the restaurants that are involved in this promotion have the wrong attitude. One owner once told me that he wasn't going out of his way for some "joe sixpacks" that wouldn't return for a year. We never got the feeling at Pamplemousse that we were anything but first class citizens and were treated to first class service and food. Great food, not silly pretentious food like Addison. And so, we will be back. And hopefully soon.
Pampelmousse Grille514 Via de la Valle Ste 100 Solana Beach, CA 92075
(858) 792-9090
