One of the true joys of traveling on the Symphony are the alternative dining areas. Friday we had the Asian Pool Buffet and then we dined at Prego for dinner.
A few quick thoughts on the buffet. The food, like the roast duck and the braised pork belly, was dynamite. I preferred the old set up with service stations around the pool. However, as a hospitality professional, I understand why Crystal moved the buffet inside. The food is served in smaller batches, resulting in hotter food that is refreshed at a much quicker pace. Things change.
Now to Prego. While this is not cutting edge Italian food, it is about the most competently and best prepared examples of the cuisine that you find almost anywhere. In fact, it is better than almost any Italian restaurant that I've eaten in outside of NYC. We started simply with an absolutely great Caesar salad. Lots of garlic, anchovies and acid. Garnished with a long, house made crouton, this was what a Caesar should be all about.
Moving to our next course, Jessica had the house signature Mushroom Soup in a Foccacia bowl and I had the Spaghetti Pescatore. The pasta had a wonderful array of seafood in a zippy tomato based sauce. The Mushroom Soup was an example of where change can be a good thing, as they cut the portion down by about half. The after having this dish the last time, I was so filled up I could barely eat anything else, and it was an appetizer! By cutting the portion size down you had a few ounces of soup, a little bread and on to the next course.
My Veal Parmigiana was the best version I have ever had of this dish. The veal was lightly breaded and quickly sauteed, then finished with a delightful marinara sauce and melted cheese. Served over an airy cappelini pasta, all the nuances of the sauce and the veal were preserved and allowed to show for themselves.
Jessica had the Gnocchi over Pumpkin Puree. This was also spectacular. Finished with a quatro formagio sauce, they were quickly browned under a salamander, a type of oven used in commercial kitchens to finish foods. The gnocchi were light and fluffy and quite delicious.
Dessert was the sampler of Panna Cotta (very light and airy), Tiramasu (well done in a chocolate cup) and about the best cannoli I've had since Venerio's on First Avenue in NYC. A crispy, cookie like cup filled with ricotta based cream. It was like I died and went to heaven.
Which is what I did while drinking our wine. Since taking the wines of Italy during my wine immersion program, I've been waiting for an excuse to have Tiganello again. Prego was the excuse. Aromas of cocoa, leather, dark fruit with exotic spices that had a texture of pure velvet going down. There was excellent structure on the pallet with great acidity and smooth tannins. The finish went from here right back to San Francisco. It truly is one of the great red wines of the world.
Some quick notes on other venues. We went on an Alaskan Chef's Table excursion yesterday, and it was quite fun. Some of the dishes were very good, some ok, but the company that hosted the event were very nice and I recommend this excursion to anyone.
Last night's dining room dinner. I started with another great Caesar salad, then had an exquisite Quail Consume with a single feathery quennelle. It was outstanding. My main course was a half order of the Roast Capon, which was well prepared and served with some excellent sour kraut. I have learned a lesson this week, half orders are a good thing, something that I will be doing with greater frequency!
Tomorrow is Silk Road, and that is the cutting edge cuisine of Nobu Masushita (I hope I spelled that one correctly). Tuesday is the Vintage Room and Wednesday finds us back in Prego as guests of our travel agent. And now its up to the gym for my daily work out!
No comments:
Post a Comment