Mount Sinai Charity Dinner at Saison<a target="_blank" href="https://www.saisonsf.com/">Saison</a>178 Townsend StreetSan Francisco, CA 94107Tel. +1 415 848-7990BY ANTONIO GALLONI | NOVEMBER 08, 2019&nbsp;The Food:Cherry Salmon with Heart of PalmHalibut and TomatoesSpot Prawn with Corn and SishitoLobster and Lamb; Rice Crisp with River VegetablesParker House Rolls with our Cultured ButterBlack Cod, its Skin and ChestnutsSea Urchin on Grilled BreadRadish, Strawberry and Hot SauceVenison, Honey Nut Squash, ChanterellesHida Wagyu, Hen of the Woods MushroomSaison Reserve Caviar with SeaweedGoat Milk Ice Cream with Shinko PearDandelion Chocolate with Cacao Mousse and Cocoa NibThe Wines:&nbsp;<table>
 <tbody><tr>
 <td>NV Krug
 Grande Cuvée 167ème Édition</td>
 <td>94</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>1996 Krug Vintage&nbsp;</td>
 <td>?</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>2010 Domaine François
 Raveneau Chablis Blanchot Grand Cru&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
 &nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
 <td>97</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>2005 Domaine Vincent
 Dauvissat Chablis Forest 1er Cru&nbsp;</td>
 <td>92</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>2010 Domaine Roulot Meursault
 Charmes 1er Cru</td>
 <td>95</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>2010 Comtes Lafon Meursault
 Charmes 1er Cru&nbsp;</td>
 <td>97</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>2014 Roses de Jeanne Rosé de
 Saignée Creux d'Enfer&nbsp;</td>
 <td>97</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>2009 Domaine de la
 Romanée-Conti Grands Échézeaux Grand Cru&nbsp;</td>
 <td>96</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>2009 Domaine de la
 Romanée-Conti Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru&nbsp;</td>
 <td>97</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>2009 Domaine de la
 Romanée-Conti La Tâche Grand Cru&nbsp;</td>
 <td>98</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>1955 Vallana Spanna&nbsp;</td>
 <td>90</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>2002 Ar.Pe.Pe. Valtellina
 Superiore Sassella Riserva Rocce Rosse&nbsp;</td>
 <td>96</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>2013 G. B. Burlotto Barolo
 Monvigliero&nbsp;</td>
 <td>100</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>2001 Cappellano Barolo Otin
 Fiorin-Pie Michet&nbsp;</td>
 <td>NR</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>1996 Giacomo Conterno Barolo
 Riserva Monfortino&nbsp;</td>
 <td>98</td>
 </tr></tbody></table>This unforgettable&nbsp;evening was an auction lot built around an all-access pass to wines from my
personal cellar paired with dinner donated by Saison that was sold at the most
recent Festa del Barolo to support children’s pediatrics at the Mount Sinai
Hospital. I would like to extend a huge ‘thank you!’ to our patrons for their
extraordinary&nbsp;generosity. This dinner raised&nbsp;$55,000, 100% of which
went to charity. I have been fortunate to enjoy many spectacular meals at
Saison over the last few years. This may have been the best, and that is saying
a lot. Chef Laurent Gras and his team presented a stunning series of courses on
an evening&nbsp;night that was truly amazing. Gras has really succeeded
in weaving together menus that hit some of the Josh Skenes favorites with many
new dishes that beautifully capture the essence of the&nbsp;Saison style that
marries elements of stark minimalism and intense flavors, often with the
influence of fire in its many guises.&nbsp;<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1573487078602-Barolo.jpg"> The Barolo flight is off the charts



As for the wines, well, they were just stellar. We opened
them about an hour before dinner, starting with the white Burgundies, which I
feel need a lot of air to be at their very best. Wine Director Mark Bright and
Sommeliers Giacomo Latona and Joo Lee did a fabulous job with wine service
throughout the night.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1573487088857-Salmon.jpg"> Cherry Salmon with Heart of Palm



It’s hard to know where to start, as so many dishes were
unforgettable. The Cherry Salmon, served raw, on rice paper, with hearts of
palm and a light sauce, was divine and also a terrific example of the
minimalist Saison aesthetic. Krug’s Grande Cuvée 167ème Édition continues to
impress for its depth, richness and sheer beauty, all of which are made
especially remarkable given that this release is based on the highly
challenging 2011 harvest. The 167ème Édition is gorgeous. Sadly, the 1996
Vintage is a bad bottle, and I choose not to serve it. Raveneau’s 2010 Chablis
Blanchot Grand Cru is a bit more open and slightly more tropical than a bottle
I opened last year, but that is not a bad thing at all. If anything, this
bottle of the 2010 Blanchot is quite giving. The 2005 Chablis Forest 1er Cru from
Dauvissat is supremely expressive, especially in its bouquet, where a whole
range of candied lemon peel, mineral and floral notes all open up. This is such
a beautiful wine, and just in the perfect spot to deliver maximum pleasure.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1573487099670-Halibut.jpg"> Halibut and TomatoesI love the halibut, and especially the succulent roasted
tomatoes that, for a moment, seemed to extend the feeling of summer on this
autumn night. The Santa Barbara spot prawn is another dish that just tastes of
the sea. Both are terrific with a pair of stunning Meursaults. Roulot’s 2010
Meursault Charmes 1er Cru is off the charts. Fresh, taut and wonderfully
vibrant, the 2010 has developed beautifully over the last few years. At nearly
ten years of age, jt is just entering a plateau of maturity. I was absolutely
blown away by Comte Lafon’s Meursault Charmes 1er Cru. Wow! What a wine! Creamy
and expansive on the palate, with tremendous depth, the 2010 is just stunning.
All four white Burgundies, purchased in France on release, were fabulous. I
checked back on all four at the end of the evening, and they were all in great
shape.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1573487125652-LobsterLamb.jpg"> Lobster and Lamb; Rice Crisp with River Vegetables













A sensational lobster and lamb ‘crudo’ follows. The
interplay of flavors and textures was just dazzling. I often like to serve
Champagne in the middle of dinner as a palate freshener, and also to show that
Champagne is first, and foremost, a wine. The 2014 Rosé de Saignée Creux
d'Enfer from Cédric Bouchard’s Roses de Jeanne is superb. Clean, steely and
vibrant, the 2014 sizzles with energy and tension. I absolutely adore this
wine. Unfortunately I only get one bottle per year.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1573487134929-White+BurgCh.jpg"> A fabulous range of Champagnes and white Burgundies



The Parker House Rolls, often seen as an accompaniment here,
are presented as a separate course. And why not? They merit center stage. Black
Cod with its skin and chestnuts marries lightness with richness. Sea Urchin on
Grilled Bread, a Saison classic, was brilliant on this night. All three work
beautifully with two unique expressions of Nebbiolo. The 1955 Spanna from
Vallana is mature and past prime, yet it holds on to just enough freshness to
be interesting, which it most certainly is alongside the middle courses in this
menu. Ar.Pe.Pe.’s 2002 Valtellina Superiore Sassella Riserva Rocce Rosse is
just as compelling as it was a few years ago, when I first tasted it. Moreover,
it clearly shows that top-flight Nebbiolo from Valtellina deserves a seat at
the table next to the world’s greatest wines.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1573487146726-Venison_copy.jpg"> Venison, Honey Nut Squash, Chanterelles



The Venison with Honey Nut squash and chanterelles is a
perfect early fall dish that also works beautifully with a flight of 2009s from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, wines that&nbsp;take us into the stratosphere of pure and total pleasure. The
2009 Grands Échézeaux Grand Cru is not going to win any awards for nuance, but
it is explosive, hedonistically satisfying and just tremendously delicious.
After all, the first thing a wine should do is deliver pleasure. The 2009 GE
certainly does that. Wow. The 2009 Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru is classic RSV,
with beautifully perfumed aromatics to match its gracious, mid-weight
personality. Even in 2009, a warm year, the RSV is a Burgundy of sublime polish
and enchantment. The 2009 La Tâche Grand Cru is the most ethereal of the three
wines in this flight. Whole cluster influence is especially marked here. A
whole range of spice, dried flower, mint and savory overtones infuse the 2009
with layers of nuance. Next to the other wines in this flight, La Tâche is
ethereal and harder to fully capture with words, an attribute many, if not
most, of the world’s greatest wines share.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1573487155651-DRC.jpg"> A stunning flight of three wines from Domaine de la
Romanée-Conti



Venison is followed by the Hida Wagyu with Hen of the Woods
mushroom. Here, the pairing of the beef and three Barolos was just stellar. A
stellar flight of Barolos rounds out the night. Burlotto’s 2013 Barolo
Monvigliero is a wine I like to serve at dinners like this one, as I know most
people may never taste it, which is a shame. Of course, the 2013 is young, but
its profound greatness is evident in the early going, The interplay of
aromatics, fruit and structure really brings out the stunning beauty of the
Monvigliero cru. The 2013 is simply a phenomenal wine and a towering
achievement from Fabio Alessandria. Baldo Cappellano’s 2001 Barolo Pie
Franco-Michet takes me back to the days I used to taste with him in that tiny
cellar at the base of Serralunga. Surprisingly powerful and deep, the 2001 is
frankly even more impressive than I remember it. In a word: superb! Would you
believe I had a chance to buy a large parcel of Giovanni Conterno’s 1996 Barolo
Riserva Monfortino when it was first released? Well, I did, but I was in
business school, full of debt, and although I still bought a financially
irresponsible amount of wine, it was not enough. This bottle of the 1996 is
simply moving in its beauty. Dense and powerful in the glass, the 1996
possesses enough pedigree to drink well for another 30 years. All the classic Monfortino
signatures come through in an epic, deeply moving Barolo that represents
another time at Conterno.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1573487167586-Wagyu.jpg"> Hida Wagyu, Hen of the Woods Mushroom



Saison regulars and Vinous readers might wonder about the
placement of the Caviar, another Saison classic, so late in the menu, as it is
typically the first course of the night. A little while back I complained that
the tasting menu at Saison was too repetitive. This is a real problem for very
well-known, high-profile restaurants. Many guests come especially for the
famous dishes, so not offering them is a risk, and yet, at the same time many
want to see something new. So, as dinner moved along, I noticed there was no
caviar. At that point, the staff were probably thinking something like “that
(insert expletive) guy always complains the menu is the same, and now he wants
the caviar? Yes, I did. And Saison’s staff were perceptive to pick that up, so
out came the caviar.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1573487176734-Caviar.jpg"> Saison Reserve Caviar with Seaweed



Desserts were good, if a bit simple. That was not much of an
issue, as we really wanted to focus on finishing the wines.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1573487193151-Dessert.jpg"> Dandelion Chocolate with Cacao Mousse and Cocoa Nib



As the evening winds down I check back on a few wines, with
a focus on the whites. I often find that white Burgundies need significant
aeration to show their best. That is certainly my feeling on this night. It is
too hard to pick favorites, but the Comtes Lafon is way, way up there. I also
love the 2009 Grands Échézeaux for its hedonistic intensity, the 2014 Creux
d'Enfer for its purity and the 1996 Monfortino for its Nebbiolo classicism,
although the truth is in this cherry-picked lineup, any of these wines would
have made a centerpiece for a fabulous dinner. I would like to thank the entire
staff at Saison for their relentless drive towards perfection and our donors
for their extraordinary support of La Festa del Barolo.

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