New Tasting Menu at Stone Hill Tavern
In January I introduced you to chef Raj Dixit and his incredible vegetable discovery tasking menu. You can read about it here. This month Chef Raj is at it again with his newest tasting menu called Tastes of the Ocean.
Starting April 24 and running through the end of July, the Tastes of the Ocean discovery menu will thrill food lovers as Chef Raj takes you on a journey down the West Coast, from Pacific Northwest down to California’s Central coast and Baja peninsula. The cooking methods will highlight five different cooking techniques – raw, barely touched, lightly cooked, en vapeur and using Japanese charcoal – that that will allow Chef Dixit to show the versatility of preparing “day-boat” fish and shellfish.
Here are some sample dishes from the six-course tasting menu including:
- Oregon Dungeness crab served in a flan of sweet Coachella corn, porcini mushrooms and black truffle dashi.
- White sea bass cooked en vapeur with an infused jasmine tea, with a stew of germinated legumes, mustards, sprouts, and a fresh coriander seed-tomato coulis.
Cayucos abalone, Santa Barbara spot prawn and Channel Island uni
The dinner will also feature a series of adventurous amuse bouche, as well as a dessert of caviar paired with the earthy sweetness of sunchokes to highlight undertones of birch and cherry blossoms now in bloom.
Dishes most likely to surprise and delight diners include Cayucos abalone, Channel Island uni, Morro Bay sablefish and pristine blueback salmon, which naturally has a remarkable taste akin to cucumbers.
Fresh Ingredients
To provide the freshest ingredients for the menu, Chef Raj will be making weekly visits to Dory Fleet in Newport Beach for stone crabs and whelks, and he will be sourcing other ingredients from Santa Monica Seafood, International Marine Products and Mikuni Wild Harvest.
Tastes of The Ocean Pricing
The Tastes of the Ocean discovery menu is $185 per person, with the option to add wine pairings. Pairings will include Northern Spanish wines and blends from the Central Coast with spring aromas and sea spray minerality highlighting the freshness of the seafood.
