We went to the Restaurant at Justin for our 11th anniversary and got absolutely hammered during a fancy, sloshy three-hour dinner. This Michelin-starred restaurant is attached to a winery owned by the multibillion-dollar Wonderful Company, and they are not stingy with their wine.
I made our 8:00 reservation weeks in advance, with a request for an earlier time should it become available. It never did, and we took our long Uber ride into a scenic vineyard property almost entirely cloaked in darkness. We arrived a few minutes early, hoping to catch a bit of the view. There wasn't much, but we were welcomed with full glasses of Justin Sauvignon Blanc. The property was obviously nice, and we waited in a lobby decorated with what must have been the Wonderful family's art. We sat in the dining room for our dinner, and this was pleasant if a bit sterile. I'm guessing the view provides much of the ambiance.
Service was both friendly and formal, definitely a highfalutin fine dining experience. There were wet towelettes watered in a bowl at our table, many dainty bites and much pouring of sauces. And of course, a tasting menu with an essentially bottomless wine pairing.
The menu was one page long and consisted of about six courses with a few opportunities for paid supplements. There was also the chef's tasting menu, which came with all the supplements for less than they would have cost a la carte. The wine pairing for the augmented menu was also discounted--it was the same price as the base pairing, with additional pours for the extra courses. We decided to go big before going home.
The food was excellent, if not the main thing I remember from our meal. Dinner started with a series of welcome bites. First, there was a lovely watermelon tartare in a housemade tuille, with sesame oil, Thai basil, and finger lime. Then a delicate trio: savory canele with caramelized leeks, beef tartare, and pecorino cheese; brioche with goat cheese, compressed melon, Iberico pork shoulder, and pickled cherry; and a tart shell with burrata and elements of tomato gazpacho.
After that, our server picked up a bouquet of herbs that had been decorating our table and used it to prepare a sauce with plum granita, Armenian cucumber juice, and basil. This went with a nice crudo of yellowtail folded into a rose, decorated with another house tuile lacy with a pattern of roses.
The next course was the Sturia Oscietra caviar with scallop, white mulberry, and gnocchi. A luxurious dish, the most expensive of the supplemental courses, and, I regret to inform you, my favorite of the night. Then, we had the house bread and butter, a gorgeous laminated onion brioche with rich, cheesy butter.
The local halibut was mild and elegantly cooked, served with thinly shaved squash, stuffed squash blossom, and a vibrant green sauce. Then we had Japanese A5 wagyu ribeye, which was super decadent, almost on the edge of being too buttery (my husband loved it and I liked it but also could barely finish the small portion). It came with carrot pain perdu, Thumbelina carrot, and Szechuan peppercorn. Every one of these courses came with a healthy pour of wine, but the ribeye came with two, one to pair with the steak and the other with the sides. The Isosceles wine was particularly delicious.
A Challerhocker soufflé served as a cheese course, with pickled mulberry and estate greens. This wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as I thought it would be, and there was a green in the accompanying salad that was unpleasantly bitter (I'm pretty sure it was also in one of the welcome bites). I did love the palate cleanser that followed, a cup of tomato sorbet, strawberry gelée, and burrata drizzled with 25-year balsamic.
Dessert was the "peach rings," an assembly of sweet things with crème fraîche, Tahitian vanilla, lemon verbena, and peach. Also, of course, dessert wine. Then we got to pick from a treasure box of mignardises. There were a few bon bons, among them black forest and blueberry yuzu white chocolate, as well as house Snicker bars and strawberry pate de fruit with basil sugar.
We were presented with an enormous bill and a list of the wines we'd consumed, all available for purchase (we passed, as we were too drunk to make considered decisions). We went home with neat little bags containing lemon verbena sugar and, hilariously, gift bottles of Fiji water.
It took a long time to get an Uber back and we almost missed it when our driver lost cell service on the property--definitely something to be aware of, and that the restaurant should keep in mind. We made it back to the hotel, though, where I passed out and woke up at five in the morning to expel some wine.
This was a very expensive meal, and I will say that while the food was great, it didn't quite blow me away. We had a blast, though, living it up and drinking to excess. I'd definitely recommend the Restaurant at Justin for a hedonistic special occasion. The filtered tap will do, but don't forget to hydrate. read more