Sonoma 2013 - El Dorado Kitchen

Right across from The Girl & The Fig was El Dorado Kitchen, the posh looking restaurant on the first floor of the El Dorado Hotel. Ambience here was elegant. It has an open kitchen which I'm not a fan of but I'll forgive it for the nice and clean dining area.

($10) Duck liver mousse - This thing is SO WEIRD! I did alot of research on the foie gras ban recently for a project at school and all that research made me want foie gras. Recall that I didn't like my first experience with foie gras pate. Well who would think that the more I read about how unethical it is to produce foie gras, that more I would want it. I know duck liver mousse isn't like foie gras but I'm thinking this is the chef's substitute for this category of appetizer. It is the ultimate fail in the sweet and savory category. A tiny cup of creamy velvety sweet liver. I can't describe the taste of sweet liver so here are a few ingredients in duck liver mousse: duck liver + sugar + heavy cream + a dash of GROSS

With a side of pickled vegetables and crostinis

But we're Asian and Asians don't waste so we polished this plate clean to the discontent of our taste buds. The other day I was studying and suddenly remembered the taste of duck liver mousse and then wanted to go throw up...I will forever remember this taste as strongly as I recall my first bite of goat cheese.

($30) Black Angus Filet Mignon - a great entree choice. Can't ever go wrong with perfectly cooked filet mignon on top of baby carrots and celery root puree. The real scene stealer though were the sections of twice baked potato. I really want to learn how to make these. They look like regular cross sections of a potato but inside it's rich and creamy like the potato was scooped out, pureed, seasoned and mixed with chives, and then somehow put back into the potato. It is unlikely that this is how it was made but that's exactly how it tastes!

($29) Maine Lobster with sunchoke puree. This dish single handedly turned my dining experience around at EdK. Although it looks like a small portion, looks can be deceiving because underneath those two half sections of lobster tail is more delicious lobster meat just buried in a circle of the smallest crispy fingerling potatoes. Everything in this dish just coexists in a happy healthy marriage. It just goes...

And that sunchoke puree, O-M-G. What is sunchoke?

This is sunchoke:

(source)

Looks like ginger or ginseng but tastes nothing like either. Also tastes nothing like artichoke.

It's a little like potato with a mild hint of fennel.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
Yes.
All I have to say about this place is yes. You can decide for yourself what that means.

El Dorado Kitchen on Yelp