The Eleven Courses

After ten months of staging (like mirage-ing) at Uchi, my time finally ended yesterday. I'm on the opening crew of Haddington's - an American tavern with gastropub influences. So with that, and school, I ended my time at Pappasito's, Uchi, and Mulberry. Haddington's will be opening very soon with some ridiculously awesome food, so stay tuned for that.

In addition to yesterday being my last day at Uchi, it was my first meal at Uchi. I had eaten countless family meals there and tried several components to several dishes, but had never had a fully composed plate.....until yesterday.

"Pumpkin Explosion"
That's what the guy that brought the amuse-bouche to our table called it, and that's what it was! Man oh man. There was dehydrated pumpkin, pickled pear, a micro-herb of some sort, it was one tasty bite.

Uchiviche
Their take on ceviche. It had salmon and striped bass sashimi, baby tomatoes, yellow bell pepper, some of that micro-brunoise garlic I was always talking about, and cilantro. Ceviche is pretty much ruined for me forever now. Killer.

Hama Chili
Another winner. Yellow tail sashimi with ponzu, Thai chili, more micro-brunoise garlic and orange supremes. Sweet mother. Delicious.

Hotate
I generally am not a scallop fan. However, when it's on sushi rice, avocado and spicy aoli,wrapped in nori, and topped with black sesame, you won't find a bigger scallop fan. Fied (our server and my good buddy from waaaay back) told us the tail of how he once ate 9. I could do 10.

Walu Walu
Forget mahi-mahi, THIS is the fish so nice, they named it twice! This is oak-grilled escolar (imagine the best halibut you've ever had and multiply that time 1000) that is served in a "pond" of ponzu and topped with negi (scallions cut on a crazy bias), candied citrus, myoga, and garlic chips. Each bite was better than the one before it and had no one been looking, we would've slurped the bowl clean.

Hamachi and Madai Sashimi
Baby yellowtail and Japanese black snapper on perfect sushi rice. A whisper of soy (dip it fish side, not rice side!) and these tasted like the ocean. Perfection.

Bacon Steakie
Stop reading. Drive to Uchi. Order only this dish. You're welcome. What is it? Oh, right. Niman Ranch pork belly is sous vide for TEN HOURS, then ever so lightly dusted and flash fried for a crispy texture. It is served over basil puree and garnished with kumquats, basil, and watermelon radish. IF I am ever wrongly convicted of a murder and sentenced to the chair, this dish will get strong consideration for being the last culinary delight to grace my palate on the way out.

Shag Roll
Salmon is ever-so-skillfully rolled in sushi rice. They flash fry the whole role, slice it into bite-size pieces, top each with spicy aoli, and serve it all over squid ink sumiso. Just great. Really great.

At this point in the meal, Summer and I are getting quite full. Thinking we can't do more, Fied hits the table with.....

Wagyu Niku
Wagyu short ribs. Yea. A lot of you may know wagyu as "Kobe" beef. Well, Kobe is a type of wagyu - more specifically the region that it's from. Anywaaaaaay, this stuff is just ridiculous. Next time you are out and see "wagyu" on a menu, splurge. Split it. Take out a second mortgage on your home because it ain't cheap. But do whatever you have to do to get wagyu into your facehole. It is melt-in-your-mouth delicious. In this case, it had been grilled and was served with charred cauliflower, shishito peppers, and red grapes - that had been cut into cubes and the scraps were pureed with coconut milk and then the grape cubes were submerged in this liquid and vacuum sealed to impart all that flavor back into the grape (all that for a garnish, yea). I would say this was without a doubt the highlight of the night, but that's like asking which Bill Murray movie is the best. There's just no comparison amongst them all. They are all equally amazing.

But wait! We're not done.....

Quail Liver Mousse
Quail livers were pureed into a mousse, which lined the bottom of the plate. Over that was porcini mushrooms, a mushroom gelée (jello), micro-herbs, shaved radish, and a mushroom powder. Full disclosure, I didn't care for it. There was something sweet on the plate that really through me for a loop. There was sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami, rich and light all together and it just didn't work for me, but hey, 10 for 11 ain't too shabby!

Dessert Spec
I used to hang out at Uchi for service once a week, shadowing the pantry station. In addition to salads, oysters, apps, starters, and amuses, the pantry position puts out the desserts. Needless to say, I've tried them all: The coffee panna cotta with mango yolk, coffee soil and white chocolate sorbet. The peanut butter semifreddo with peanut brittle crumble, golden raisin puree, apple chips, and apple miso sorbet. The creme caramel with shattered almond glass, brown butter sorbet and ginger consummé. And the lemon sorbet with pistachios, pistachio crumble, balsamic reduction, beet puree and beet glass. So naturally, we ordered the special. A fine choice. A goat cheese mousse was accompanied with honey crumble, pickled cranberry puree, orange tuille, and pistachio sorbet.

What a fantastic end to the best meal I've ever had. Now I understand why we did all the things we did. Why it takes an army all day long to prep for a 6 hour service every night. Why it is paramount that your knife be so sharp, you can shave the hair on your arm with it. Why, when you don't do something perfectly, you're made to do it again. And again. Until it's right. Because it's all about the experience. Would the food taste the same if the garlic wasn't in perfect 1/16" by 1/16" cubes? Maybe. But people sure wouldn't be talking about it the next day. Would anyone notice if you didn't shave the garlic chips paper-thin, blanch them twice from cold water, then in simple syrup, then fry them? Maybe. But then maybe the hama chili wouldn't cause you to audibly sigh when placed in your mouth.

I learned more than I ever thought I could in my time at Uchi. I sharpened my knife and my knife skills. I met some really great people. I made some really great friends. I made some contacts and it got me the job I'm about to start. I will forever be grateful and fondly remember my time there. I do plan to go back to eat, and to do some more time at the prep table. And thanks to Uchi, my friends, family, and coworkers will be forced to endure my "hai!" for many years to come.