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review - 71 st. peter (san jose, ca)

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

7:13 PM

my friend and i went to 71 st. peter in downtown san jose for the "dine about town" event. i went with the DAT menu, while she had the tasting menu, but we shared food, as well.

as you can see from the link, the DAT menu consisted of:

first course:
trio of bruschette (traditional, fresh mozzarella with olive, and portabello mushroom)

second course:
lemon rock shrimp risotto (also had some scallops)

third course:
bacon-wrapped top sirloin w/ seared day boat sea scallops

fourth course:
chocolate creme brulee

i paired my meal with a glass of 2005 bridlewood viognier. meanwhile, my friend had this:

first course:
chilled seafood gazpacho (it had avocado mousse and cilantro oil, i remember that much)

second course:
grilled quail

main course:
chilean sea bass

dessert:
rasberry walnut torte w/ raspberry zagbalione

we also had sorbet in between the second course and the main course, to "cleanse our palates." the tasting menu says passionfruit, but i'm pretty sure it was more like applesauce with cinnamon. i'm normally not a big fan of applesauce, but somehow it was tolerable in sorbet form--possibly because the "apple" taste wasn't quite as strong, so it allowed the cinnamon flavor to come through better, as well as i liked the texture of the sorbet compared to regular applesauce.

overall, i must say that, for the price ($50, including tip, for each of us), the food was better than i expected. i ordered my steak medium-rare and it wound up being just this side of rare, which was a pleasant surprise. the bacon complimented the steak nicely and the scallops were delicious. however, i will say that the star of the night was the lemon rock shrimp risotto--so delicious! it was creamy and had just the right flavor of shrimp and scallops, even when you were eating just the risotto. absolutely wonderful. the bruschette was also good, though a little awkward to eat because they piled on the toppings to the point where every time i took a bite, i was spilling toppings. no complaints about the creme brulee, either, seeing as how i've been craving creme brulee for the past few days. the wine wasn't quite as flavorful as i would have liked, but it was decent.

as to my friend's food, i'd never had gazpacho before, so it was interesting to try it. as you probably know, gazpacho is generally served cold, so it almost doesn't seem like soup so much as . . sauce? i'm not quite sure what the equivalent would be. but the flavor was good, a little more tart than i expected, and overall quite refreshing. i'd also never had quail, but it's really no surprise that it tastes like chicken (no, really)--just much smaller. (these were what dick cheney was hunting when he shot his friend? really??) the sea bass was cooked perfectly and i must note that the only other time i've had chilean sea bass, it had been sitting in a sauce of blood oranges, so that all i could taste was the blood orange flavor. this time, the sea bass sat on a much better salsa-type mixture, which was also quite tasty, and it allowed me to appreciate the flavor and texture of the fish. finally, the walnut torte and zagbalione were good (though maybe not as good as the creme brulee)--the zagbalione was nice and fluffy, while the torte seemed to be soaked in some sort of liquid that allowed it to retain its moistness, which was very nice.

add the good food at a good price to excellent service and outdoor seating on a quiet, warm night, and i have to say that i would definitely do this again.

Labels: restaurant review

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