New Year's Eve Dinner at Nojo

My blogging has been quite sporadic over the past month or so. My Internet at home was on the fritz but fortunately the situation has finally been remedied. I thought my triumphant return should start with the amazing meal I had at Nojo on New Year's Eve. Usually I avoid going out on NYE - do you have any idea how hard it is to find a cab in SF normally - try adding a huge event into the mix. My brother told me Nojo was having two seatings for  a prix fixe meal. The menu looked great so I decided to go. It was a great dinner.

The first course was the perfect start to a meal and set the bar quite high. It was the above two sashimi slices of suzuki, a Japanese sea bass, with white ponzu and scallions. The fish was cut expertly. The white flesh fish had a mild flavor that was highlighted by the sharpness of the scallions and the brightness of the citrus notes from the ponzu sauce. I also appreciated the light hand used with the sauce and garnish. The fish was the start as it should be.

The second plate was equally tasty and really beautifully presented. Looking back on the dinner while I write this up, I am realizing how interesting the actual plates were. This and the previous course were excellent examples of aesthetically palatable food. More importantly, the smoked trout with kinira and caviar tasted amazing. The smoked trout had a lighter and more delicate taste than smoked salmon. It was well balanced with the salty caviar and kinira, which is a yellow leek vegetable that tastes like garlic with less bite.

The steady ascent upward continued with the third course. The star of this dish was a surprise to me. Give me a perfectly grilled spot prawn and I'm smitten, but while the prawn was delicious, I was quite taken with the white miso cured yuba - tofu skin. The layering of textures in the dish was great and could not have been achieved without the yuba, which was nothing like I have ever tasted. The addition of the spiced onions and micro greens added the perfect amount of bite to the sweetness of the prawn and white miso.

I'm not quite sure why this next course didn't speak to me. I think perhaps it was the escalation of temperature. The first course was cold, second cold, third hot, and this was back to cold, which felt a bit jarring. I think if I had this salad of shio tofu with chestnuts, persimmon and miso as the third plate I would have enjoyed it more. I did enjoy the cheese-like texture of the shio tofu juxtaposed against the sweet persimmon and freshness of the chestnuts, but perhaps it didn't quite belong in this elevated menu. It definitely didn't belong as the fourth course.

Since my brother began working at Nojo my favorite discovery has been Chawan Mushi and the above fifth course was no different. Chawan Mushi is a steamed Japanese savory egg custard. It usually contains and egg mixture, dashi, soy sauce, mirin and vegetables. The above had Nameko mushrooms and uni. The mild earthiness of the mushrooms with the sweet richness of the uni and custard was amazing. I could have eaten two.

I would never think to pair a delicate piece of fish with a delicious fried appetizer but this dish was another pleasant surprise. The Tai Snapper was cooked to perfection and the sudachi ( a small, round, green citrus fruit) butter tied the crab gyoza nicely to it. The acidity of the butter cut through the richness of both proteins. 

This was like a fun play on meat and potatoes with a Japanese twist. Aesthetically it was a bit too ying and yang for me but it had great flavor. I also rarely order a nice piece of beef these days so I always relish it when one comes across my plate. The beef fillet was cooked perfectly to medium rare and drizzled with a delicious red wine tare. Tare is a Japanese dipping sauce used in Yakitori. It tastes similar to teriyaki and is usually made of sake, mirin and soy sauce. The red wine added an interesting depth of flavor. The tokyo turnips with some sort of cream sauce were a great accompaniment - rich but not too filling.

This eighth course was also really tasty. Do not be fooled by the bland appearance. The earthiness of the matsutake mushroom rice was cut by the saltiness of the clam. The abundance of pepper and the clean spicy taste of the mushroom balanced everything. 

I love that they chose to end the savory courses on a warm noodle soup. Absolutely genius in my opinion. The ninth course was the above simple broth with yuza, which is a Japanese sour fruit, soba noodles. The strong nutty flavor of the buckwheat noodles was very satisfying and the citrus slant on the broth created a wonderful balance of flavors. 

The last three dessert courses fell a little flat. To be fair it's hard to impress me with sweets. I really need something new and exciting to make an impression on me. The tenth course was a sparkling sake float. It provided a palate cleanser but was on the bland side for me. The above was the eleventh course. It was a soy milk panna cotta with matcha tea. Green tea desserts don't thrill me. I usually like my panna cotta with some bright berries. The check came with my favorite dessert of the night - an umeshu gelee. 

I love a good gelee. I think of them as grown up gummy bears. Umeshu is a Japanese liquor made from steeping ume fruits, which have a sweet, sour taste like a plum.