Nine-Ten (Revisit)

Hit Nine-Ten with CH recently. Some quick thoughts.

The food is not the best in SD anymore. But I still love the room, and it still has lots of virtues. Passport Dining (one free entree) makes it more affordable - otherwise, I'd be grumpy to be paying $37/entree, and then still have to get an app and dessert because the portions are small.

Loved my hamachi sashimi appetizer. Seemed a little off at first, but I just had to get into the flavors of the dish. They were very earthy. Knibb paired it with some mushrooms and the sauce was yum.

Cocktail: Had a blue grotto on its debut day (was new cocktail menu). Lighter than a Grant Grill cocktail but still refreshing. Had a LOT of alcohol. Had to recover from getting drunk on the one cocktail...and still I ordered a glass of wine (A French syrah, which was fine for $10 - not a steal but not a disappointment either).

Entree:  CH liked his NY steak.  My salmon was very tasty and respectable. Not cravable enough to pay $37 for, but as the "free" entree it was fine.

DESSERT: OK, THIS IS WHERE THE MEAL SHINED!  Jack Fisher has decamped for Cucina Urbana (if you can't beat 'em....).  But several of his dishes are still on the menu.

Cilantro basil cake with coconut sorbet and tapioca: are you kidding me?  This was one of the most outrageous desserts I have ever had (and not only because I was drunk when I ate it - I ate the rest of the meal mostly drunk too but the dessert stood out :)).  What kind of crazy genius Jack Fisher had to invent it is dazzling.  He is always ahead of the curve. (I'm sorry, my dear Rachel King of Burlap, but I said to CH that if you went head to head and Fisher had this dessert, he would smoke you, crunchies or no crunchies!!!)

Here's the thing: you might think Nine-Ten wasn't worth visiting anymore with him gone (Jason Knibb's savory food was less exciting for me than the dessert). And yet, the kitchen is still executing it well.

AND as a free treat with the check, the kind French waiter brought two little bonbons courtesy of the new pastry chef, Steve Acosta.  O-M-Freakin-G.  They were two little apricot gel candies. O-M-Freakin-G. Such a flavor sensation.  Simple, delectable, perfect! Between the outrageous candies, the great service, the nice room, and the interesting savory food, I will return to Nine-Ten sometime (could be a few months, could be a year - the good thing about it becoming a national "it" place is that it's always still there!). But of course it's still too expensive to go regularly - and I don't think the savory food is better than Alchemy by any stretch!

Oh - and one cute thing. I had told them maybe 9 years ago when they opened something about CH's eating preferences/restrictions.  They still had it in the computer: when the server came over to announce the specials, he told CH which dishes had ingredients that did not fit his diet. That was pretty great!