There are few restaurants in the world that I want
to see in top form as much as Ubuntu.
For one thing most chefs today pay lip service to
the potentials inherent in cooking with vegetables,
but do scant justice to them. Vegetables are often
relegated to a secondary or lesser role in dishes
concocted by great chefs, and sometimes one is
astonished that in some Michelin 3 star restaurants
one can eat very mediocre vegetables used as "garnies"
in meat and fish dishes.
For another thing, California now boasts some quite
good produce. Maybe still not on par with the best
examples of the Old Continent, but a visit to the
still reigning temple of California cuisine, that is
Chez Panisse in Berkeley, or a visit to Los Gatos to
the shining star “Manresa”, should open anybody’s
eyes to the potential inherent in California
produce.
This is maybe why I was quite moved in hearing that
Chef Kinch’s assistant at Manresa, Jeremy Fox, had
left to become the chef of a new venture in Napa.
This very talented and nice fellow is now at the
helm of the vegetarian Ubuntu restaurant in Napa.
His wife is the dessert chef.
When I visited the restaurant, a year ago, with my
wife and with Ed and Lisa Baum, I was very favorably
impressed. The chef cooked for us, and, aside from a
mediocre pizza, I thought that the cuisine merited
one Michelin star.
Two more visits followed: in January 2009 and in
April 2009. We ordered from the menu.
Unfortunately my earlier favorable impressions were
not borne out.
I was especially troubled by four things. First, the
menu had hardly changed between January and April to
take advantage of the best spring produce. For
instance, in April, when Chez Panisse and Quince and
Oliveto were serving some great peas and fava beans,
neither were listed on Ubuntu’s menu.
Second, the quality of the produce was merely
standard for California. Apparently the restaurant
has a garden, but it is too small to supply the
majority of the produce. Biodyamic or not, the
produce in general at Ubuntu is nothing special.
Third, I was disturbed to see that most dishes in
Ubuntu lack a unifying element and a clear focus.
Combinations seem random and some molecular
gastronomy tricks and clever plating substitute for
the lack of true multi-dimensionality in the taste
profile.
Last and not least, there is a basic lack of respect
for the client. This manifests itself in many forms.
For instance, in the very first visit we paid by the
credit card and left a 20 percent tip. We were
stunned to see that the total charge which was on
our credit card was different, as if we had left a
50 percent tip. It took several annoying phone calls
to rectify the situation.
In the second visit with my seven year old daughter
we wanted to order the “burrata” cheese from the
kids menu. It was not available. We were told that
they serve it when they have burrata.
In the last visit they still had the same dish on
the printed kids menu, and they had a “strawberry
pizza margherita with BURRATA”.
We then wanted to order burrata from the kids menu,
but to no avail. They would not serve it. They gave
no explanation for not serving it except saying “we
have it, but we are not serving it!” (which
contradicted the previous claim in January that they
serve it when they have it).
They did serve it after serious protests, but the
burrata had been in the fridge and had lost all
taste.
They could have simply told us that they “freeze the
burrata” used in the pizza and it is never available
and that they would reprint the kids menu.
At the front of the restaurant there is a nice, if a
bit patronizing sign: THINK GREEN. THINK UBUNTU.
UBUNTU means “practicing humanity towards others”.
It may not be a bad idea to start with RESPECT for
clients before we set out to straighten the world!
These said, we especially liked two dishes at Ubuntu
in the last visit.
The chicpea fries with herbs is the first one. The
chickpeas are fried without any trace of oil. It is
served with a “romesco” sauce which is adequately
nutty, but lacks the zip you get in Catalunya from
different kinds of more flavorful peppers. This is
vegetarian comfort food at its best.
We also liked
“roscoe’s asparagus and a virtual egg with saffron
with black trumpet caviar, olive leaf arugula,
brioche terrine”. The asparagus was of quite high
quality, the best quality vegetable of the day and
the de-and re-constructed egg white and yoke did not
have an artificial flavor, but tasted of fine olive
oil, whipped cream, and sea salt. Overall the dish
may have been a touch too complicated, but amusing
and tasty.
The fussiness inherent
in Jeremy’s cooking was more apparent in “artichoke,
Miner’s lettuce and parmesan salad, miso ‘bagna
cauda’, black olive caramel, macademia.” Too many
ingredients vied for attention in the plate; the
‘rough’ olive oil used overwhelmed the dish which
also lacked countervailing acidity and overall
balance. Miner’s lettuce’s pleasant tartness was
somehow not apparent, and the artichoke was bland.
(In the same trip I had some very good artichokes at
Chez Panisse and Oliveto.)
Another muddled dish
was “a bowl of yellow corn grits infused with goat’s
milk whey, lots of parmesan, agretti, slow egg,
trumpet chips with rosemary”. Coming from Atlanta
and having had very good grits at Bacchanalia and
Watershed, I found the grits to be too soupy, the
parmesan too overwhelming, and the overall balance
very questionable.
Having seen the
quality of the pizza, we should not have ordered the
“flatbread”. The “carta de musica, our crispy
homemade sardinian flatbread, truffled pecorino, two
arugulas, surrey and sylvetta, lemon” featured fine
ingredients, but the flatbread was more than crispy.
It was overcooked and very dry.
The desserts were
better. “First strawberries of the season, gently
roasted, meyer lemon, lavender meringue, buttermilk
parfait” was not as integrated as should be the
case, but the ingredients blended very well and the
strawberries were of excellent quality.
The other “prize
winning” dessert of “vanilla bean cheescake in a
jar” was the definite comfort food dessert. The red
wine marinated sour cherries were very good, the
almond crumble integrated very well, and the cheese
cake was feather light.
Clearly Mrs Dianie Fox
is very talented. (My daughter loved her frosted
flakes, and called it “my very favorite dessert in
the whole world!”)
We have paid $160 with tip. This includes $20
corkage for the rose Billecart-Salmont that I
brought.
Overall I think this restaurant is well worth
visiting if Jeremy cooks a special menu for you.
Otherwise it may be best to sit at the bar, order
olives, almonds, chickpea frites, and sip a glass of
dry chenin blanc.
GASTROMONDIALE RANKING: 10/20
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