Group experience: De Patio.
I dined as part of a large group….we had the entire restaurant….so, as I’ve discussed before, I hesitate to be too critical since the menu was of the groups choosing, not mine. This night, we experienced the “festival”, a 12 course tasting menu.
How to describe the food…..Nouveau, Experimental or Artistic, Chilean? I’ll go with Nouveau Chilean.
To start, it’s quite a production and that’s definitely part of the the experience so, just relax and enjoy. It all began with drinks….one has to experience a pisco sour…so that should be on your list and they do a good job with it here. You’ll also need to have the obligatory discussion with the waitstaff about who makes the best one….Chile or Peru. For those of you not familiar with the drink, it’s main ingredient is pisco….a distilled liquor from fermented grape juice which is popular in Chile and Peru. To that is added a citrus juice, usually lemon, egg white and simple sugar.
The meal began with small appetizers followed by a beautifully presented and very tasty ceviche of local snapper. What followed was a menagerie of pork, beef and, shellfish that finished with several desserts, as pictured. Of the bunch, the best were the smoked oysters in a nice yogurt sauce, a pork belly like dish with a rich demi glace and a chawan mushi of roe and shrimp. Of the desserts, my nod goes to the potato ice cream….sounds a bit weird but it was delicious. The most interesting of the desserts, however, was the eggplant….served with yogurt, black sesame seeds and orange zest….tasted tart and almost kiwi like.
Also included were wine pairings: sauvignon blanc, viognier, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, a blend of petit verdot and país (a grape somewhat unique to Chile) and finished with a late harvest wine of semillon and sauvignon blanc….very light. All were Chilean.
Overall, the space is nicely done and the food good but, I’m not sure it’s a place where the food is so outstanding that I’d have it on my list to visit again.
Service was excellent.
