NYE @ the girl & the fig

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
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http://www.thegirlandthefig.com/html-sonoma/index.html

Mel & I had absolutely no plans for NYE whatsoever when Lauren & Mike made contact via Facebook and asked if we’d like to come out and see if we could fall in somewhere for dinner. Despite my exhaustion, and Mel being stuck @ work until 4-ish, we headed out and got thru The Delta without any traffic and were in Sonoma Sq by 8 PM. I had tried LaSallete and Cafe LaHaye earlier in the day asking about a late table for 4 and LaSallete basically hung up on me after 30 seconds of chit-chat and LaHaye, while way nicer, said we could walk by and hope for a no-show but they were not hopeful. Lauren & Mike now live by Hwy12 & Spain St and we made the executive decision to walk a mile and avoid any DUI charges. We entered Sonoma Sq by the girl & the fig and The El Dorado Kitchen and just figured we’d walk in, hats in proverbial hands, and see if we could get lucky.

Well, we ended a difficult year with a really excellent experience @ the girl & the fig; place sat the 4 of us in their version of The Rat Pack booth inside of 5 minutes of our query!

I am sure many have read here and elsewhere how this now 10+ year-old restaurant is not what it once was and let me assure you we were all stunned by the level of both the food and service, Sondra Bernstein can remain quite proud of what she created long ago!

While many will opt for the good deal Plat du Jour menu (an app, an entree and a dessert for like $35) Mike & I went à la carte and were routinely rewarded. NYE the Plat du Jour included a just OK Escargot appetizer but then excellent braised short rib and a very nice poached pear for dessert. I had an absolutely lights-out, grass-fed Steak Tartare (can not wait to have this again - order this dish regularly and this version just rocked hard) and a gorgeous cheese platter sporting a goat, a cow and a sheep cheese. I picked the sheep cheese, a Petit Basque, and let our great waiter pick the other two cheeses and let’s just say his choices bitch-slapped mine with ease! The cow cheese was simply amazing and accompanying the platter was a hedonistic house-made fig cake, boy that shit disappeared fast! For my entree I had the special of the evening, scallops, but was originally brought out the very decadent looking pastis scented steamed mussels - if I had even average intelligence I’d have not mentioned the error and ate those crazy good-looking mussels! Scallops were good but oh those mussels looked scrumptious. Mike had the crispy pork belly app which was excellent and then he and Lauren split a burger they both raved about. Dessert was a brandied French plum clafoutis that I enjoyed though it was a touch dry that night.

We brought wines and were charged $45 corkage for the bottles: 2003 Hartford Court Stone Côte, 2002 Joseph Swan Trenton Vineyard and 1992 Hanzell PN. 1st rate wine service made the corkage easy to pay.

Interestingly the actual list @ the girl & the fig features California Rhone varietals and features producers from The Sierra Foothills, Central Coast, Santa Cruz Mtns as well as Napa/Sonoma. Prices seemed quite fair but you can go deep with the likes of Saxum, Alban & SQN. While I am sure these wines compliment the cuisine gracefully I almost feel bound by law to drink Chardonnay and Pinot Noir while in Sonoma, creature of habit I guess. Don’t skip the girl & the fig based on anything you read on the 'net, restaurant is still very strong and has really professional service.

sorry about this one awful photo but despite Mike’s professional status we just didn’t plan on pictures…

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Just found my notes from my October dinner.

Loved this very casual and relaxed place in Sonoma. I can tell you what was ordered, but don’t remember anything else after a day of tasting. [wink.gif]
We did order the 07 Francois Villard Viognier @ $54, which I remember was delicious. http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=738564" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Typical Berserker… can remember the wine, but not the meal. [grin.gif]

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Nice blow-by-blow! I’m not sure how much I can add - but I will concur, our impression would have been much different if we had all just ordered the tasting menu. That said, I think our game plan was a good call: girls ordered the tasting menu and Glenn and I ordered additional items. I was thinking about that burger earlier today, one of the best I’ve ever had - meat was cooked perfectly and extremely flavorful. The blue cheese (can’t remember the name) on said burger was the creamiest blue that I’ve ever had. The wine (which did not suck) and the company had something to do with it, but this was the most enjoyable dinner I’ve had in a while.

I too had been told the G&F was on the downslope and/or was only a lunch place, but I’ll have to respectfully disagree with that.

BTW, my apologies for the dim iPhone shot - I considered grabbing the Leica, but I was more concerned with wine transport! [training.gif]

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thanks for the input Mike. fellow Berserker BC Little and i had lunch at the Girl and the Fig and shared a similar enjoyment of the burger - flat. out. delicious. we did a white tasting before/during and had a decent viognier or two (can’t recall the producer or details…it was a few months back).

as a Kenwood, CA resident, i can also recommend the Fig Cafe in Glen Ellen (sister restaurant to G&tF). relaxed, casual atmosphere, and a comparable menu with delicious comfort food (the grilled cheese sandwich is perfect after an early morning round of tasting in the area). plus, you can enjoy top-notch wines right across the street at Audelssa, or a pint of IPA at the Jack London Lodge around the corner if the mood strikes you.

if any Berserker is in the mood to hang out in the Sonoma vicinity, shoot me a PM and i can hang out almost any evening.
[berserker.gif]

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Sondra from G+F is perhaps one of the most hospitable people I’ve met. I love this place- comfortable vibe, soulful food.

I need to head back soon.

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Paul - I had no idea that you were so close! I’ve been doing what I can to lure some of the Central Valley Berserkers out here to help Lauren and I pull some corks. I’ll definitely let you know next time we get something together.