Product of the System

Leah and I on our one year anniversary First of all, I am so thrilled to have been with Leah for a year now. This has been the best year for me and I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through these recent tough times without her!! I owe a lot to her and give her a LOT of credit for helping me out this past year with both business and personal issues (i.e. crooked cops). She has been an angel to me.

So, let’s start at the beginning, shall we?

First, some of you may know that we had a dismal experience on Valentine’s Day at our favorite restaurant, Taurus. I don’t ever expect royal treatment but I also don’t expect to be “forgotten” or disrespected. On Valentine’s Day, that’s how I felt but man, oh man, did they ever make up for it. Read on.

I wrote a letter to the owner/Chef, Gary Mennie, and he called me a couple of days later letting me know that he wanted to show us that it was a fluke and invited us back as his personal guests. We figured that it probably WAS a fluke -since our prior experiences were so positive- and we were eager to put Taurus back in our hearts as our favorite. So, we decided to take a little bit of a chance and go to Taurus for our 1-year anniversary.

Oh my goodness, we are SO glad that we did! I think that the excitement of our anniversary coupled with the amazing experience we had at Taurus could not have been better…

I put on my black suit and green shirt with my favorite black tie and Leah looked stunning in her outfit and high heels. Yeah, that’s all I have to say about that! haha. Wow!

So, back to our night… We had reservations at 7pm and we were cordially greeted and seated promptly –just like we were used to (aside from the last time). So, already, we were off to a good start. We didn’t expect to be treated like royalty but it was clear that this was going to be even better than the already great service we’ve typically received from Taurus in the past.

We were seated in a cozy little booth in the back corner that gave us a good view of everyone and also of the kitchen. This was the table next to the one where we all sat the first night that I had the most magnificent filet mignon of my life about a year ago. Anyway, the spot for us was perfect. We were quickly greeted by, Jonathon, our server and then very shortly afterwards by the general manager, John Gardiner, who poured a couple of complimentary glasses of champagne to start things off.

For those of you who read about our recent Valentine’s Day, this is the same manager who was in charge that night. Tonight, he was very pleasant and interested that we had everything we needed. He also took time to explain each course as he brought it out. I know that Valentine’s must have been a bad night but I would say that Mr. Gardiner rose to the occasion last night. It turns out that on Valentine’s Day, they had several new staff and seemed a little over-crowded. I think those things caused a snowball effect in backing up the kitchen and causing general havoc. I know from friends that the restaurant business can be very daunting but I cannot imagine the stress that Mr. Mennie and his general manager were under on that night. In hindsight, they probably had a worse night than Leah and I did.

But, anyway, that is a thing of the past, because last night was astounding. So, let me move on to the “meat” of things!

A few minutes after the manager greeted us, Jonathon gave us an idea of what to expect in that Chef Mennie had prepared a special “tasting” menu for us. Thankfully they asked if we were allergic to anything (seafood, nuts, etc), because Leah couldn’t have handled the seafood, but one quick mention took care of that and we were underway.

Leah and I talked and reminisced about old times. It was so nice and refreshing.

A short while later, Chef Mennie himself came out to greet us and let us know that our previous experience was anything but typical. He let us know that he would be preparing a special dinner for us -which was an honor in and of itself! So, we were very excited to say the least! Chef Mennie’s culinary background speaks for itself.

Leah was disheartened to discover that they took the “Goat Cheese Tarts” off of the menu but they did have a “Goat Cheese Salad⁽¹⁾” that she enjoyed just as much! So, that was good and I was very glad that our special request for that salad was taken into account.

We had eight courses in total and each one was superb.

Leah and I talked and laughed and sipped on our champagne -which they kept coming by to refill- and we just had a wonderful time together as usual. Before we knew it, we were even feeling a little tipsy. And then they brought out the goat cheese salad. I only asked for the one for Leah but they brought one out for the both of us. Wow. You cannot imagine how happy Leah was at the prospect of having her …goat cheese… and eating it too. She was able to save some for later (i.e. today for lunch) and she couldn’t have been happier. Of course, that made me happy.

Shortly afterwards, the manager brought over a bottle of nice, red wine to go with the next course of the meal -Lamb tenderloin⁽²⁾. Yum! It sounded great but I cannot even begin to express how much better it tasted than it sounds!! All I could say when Jonathon came by was “Oh my gosh”… I couldn’t think of anything better. How sad, I know… haha. We were very impressed. I had tried “Lamb tenderloin” for the first time a few months ago at Fogo de Chao and I remember thinking it was ok but didn’t really stand out to me. This dish that Gary prepared has made a believer out of me! What’s crazier is that it was served with Cauliflower (and I despise Cauliflower –at least until last night) and I could not believe how good that tasted too. I was blown away when I found out it was Cauliflower. I wanted more. More lamb; more cauliflower… more of everything. lol. I suppose this means we will be going back sooner rather than later.

Our fourth course was Duck⁽³⁾. It was seasoned for 10 days and we could definitely tell. The main piece and the leg both tasted exquisite.

Chef Mennie stopped by to check on us and I let him know that this was light-years beyond our previous night there and was more than we had expected. We were truly blown away and honored. Gary gave us a brief overview of the main course and the upcoming dessert platter.

Then came our main course: sliced NY strips⁽⁴⁾ cooked to perfection and a short rib that was so tender that it just fell apart. Both just melted in our mouths. My mouth is watering right now as I write this -just thinking about it. It was that good.

We were offered a complementary, nice cabernet wine by Mr. Gardiner but by that point, we had to cut ourselves off. haha. Although, it was a nice gesture.

Our final course (the Dessert) came out a little while later and gave us just enough time to finish our conversations and enjoy a quadruple delight. Our dessert platter held a scoop of delicious praline ice cream, a mouth-watering tres leches (first time for me) which tasted like a very “rich” cake, an incredible pecan pie, and a praline mousse. They were all so delectable as was our entire experience last night. Then, Jonathon informed us that our entire meal was on the house. I was thinking the drinks might be on the house but not the entire meal. I can confidently say that Taurus will be our favorite restaurant for a long time to come! Everything was perfect. We were very impressed.

This was such a special night for us and we had a fantastic time.

Now, I’ve just got to get back to Taurus again for another one of those filet mignon’s!

If you have a chance to go, I highly recommend them. Their website is: http://taurusrestaurant.com

Be sure and tell them you read “Brandon’s Blog” about them!

Footnotes: Special thanks to Mr. Gardiner for taking time out to help me be more accurate on the course descriptions. Below is just a brief overview and is not meant to be complete. I hope I remembered everything correctly.

^(*)Kobe Carpaccio - raw beef seasoned with lemon juice, crispy shallots, white truffle oil (very rare mushrooms). This first course was omitted for brevity. A quick, interesting note about white truffle mushrooms: This mushroom is $1,400 USD per pound! To find these mushrooms, a pig is specially trained to go throughout the forest and sniff out the truffles! I am not making this up! Wow.

⁽¹⁾The goat cheese atop the salad was pistachio crusted and seared and served glazed with a vinaigrette sauce.

⁽²⁾Lamb tenderloin cooked in lamb ajus and paired with a red wine, Jed Steel Cabernet Franc. Served with roasted cauliflower gratin.

⁽³⁾Duck. Blood orange sauce with a confit leg (seasoned for 10 days!)

⁽⁴⁾American Kobe NY strip, sliced, ginger pomegranate glaze. Paired with a Sequoia Grove, Cabernet, Napa Valley red wine. Short rib, slow-cooked for a whole day in its own juices. Potato and butternut squash gratin (so good!).

This information is here only for reference. If you do not see this on the menu exactly, just know that anything you choose will be delightful. Bon Appetit!

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