Sacramento's Dine Downtown Week: Mayahuel and the best steak ever!!

Hello Sacramento! Welcome to Dine Downtown week! I just want to take a moment of your time to recommend a restaurant that might not yet be that well known. It's called Mayahuel (pronounced Ma-Ha-Kwell) and it's located diagonally from one of my other favorite restaurants, Ella. You've heard of Ella, right?

OK, well back to Mayahuel and Dine Downtown. It starts today and you must try this restaurant. First, they brought out this soup. It was made with nopales, and a little on the spicy side. It was kind of like an amuse bouche. 

During this time, the BF and I made our wine selection for the evening--yes, you can get decent wine in a Mexican restaurant--the Napa Toro Chardonnay. Feel free to like them on Facebook now. ;) Because it was actually pretty good wine. 

I have to give a shout out to our server, Franscisco. He was the epitome of service. So polite, and so genuinely kind.

After meeting us, he presented the two appetizer choices from the Dine Downtown menu. First, was the Eclipse de Sol: it was composed of beets, orange rings in a citrus sauce with pickled onions, peanuts and a touch of oregano. 

Then came the soup, called Flor de Calabaza con Perfume de Tequila: a Creamy Squash Blossom soup with infused tequila. Yes, please! It was topped with tortilla strips, providing a pleasant crunch.

And now, for the stunning entrées. And I am not kidding here, they WERE stunning. I was so blown away with the flavors, the amount of food on the plate, and how perfect everything was cooked.

First, my BF ordered the Mixiotes de Pollo en Adobo Huasteco: Chicken and mushrooms with nopales in a Cascabel & Pasilla chile Adobo sauce, served with white rice and Mexican zucchini slices. The chicken was super tender and the sauce was mild, yet incredibly flavorful. As you can see, the portion was very generous. The wine we chose previously (the Napa Toro Chardonnay) was a great complement to this dish.

And then, let me present to you, the best steak I have ever had in a restaurant, the Ojo de Costilla con Costra de Chorizo Rib eye steak with a chorizo crust, on a bed of seasoned mushrooms in an adobo salsa. I was literally cutting my steak with my fork. It was exquisite, and I am not exaggerating. If you only try one thing off the menu at Mayahuel, please give this a go, (order it rare or medium rare). It will knock your little stockings off! I didn't even mention the chorizo. It was so flavorful and added another dimension to the meal.

And then out came the mariachi band... they were wonderful and the crowd was loving it. I was so pleased to see the restaurant packed around us and everyone was in a convivial mood.

Then it was time for dessert. First, our server Francisco, brought out the Pastel de Queso y Chayote (a Chayote cheese cake and mole in chocolate sauce). Mole is a perfect addition to a dessert because of its components and texture. The chayote works in the dessert because it's a squash and has an inherent slightly sweet taste and tender texture. That being said, I don't think you're gonna find this at the Cheesecake Factory, folks, only at Mayahuel! (Thanks to the BF for tasting the sugary treats).

The other dessert option was the Flan de Chile Ancho. It was a flan made with ancho chiles of all things, and finished with Grand Marnier. It has a beautiful strawberry and blueberry garnish. The BF tells me the combination of the ancho and the Grand Marnier was uniquely flavorful.

So, not only do you get the food I just showed you above, but for the $30, included at the end of the meal, is the 1/2 ounce tequila tasting. Our bartender, Oscar, was extremely knowledgeable and passionate, and had a true encyclopedic knowledge of tequila.

The tequila we tried was the Jose Cuervo Platino, and it was served in a champagne flute in order to provide the best tasting experience. It's truly the stemware that makes all the difference in a tasting. It can really bring out the oaky and fruity notes of a particular wine or beverage. What a nice little digestif, and it was such a treat to get some background information on tequila from Oscar.

If you haven't been to Mayahuel Tequila Museo, you are missing out on a true downtown gem. Dine Downtown week kicks off Monday, January 9th and runs through Wednesday, January 18th. This event is a great way to try out some of Sacramento's finest.

Mayahuel is on Facebook here and on twitter here. To make reservations, you can call them at or check them out on Open Table here.

Sacramento's Dine Downtown Week: Make Blue Prynt Part of Your Plans!

Sacramento's Dine Downtown week kicks off on Monday, January 9th and runs through January 18th, 2012. For 10 days only, local chefs will create special three-course dinner menus for only $30 per person.

“Whether you’re a foodie, experienced restaurateur or someone looking for a little excitement in your diet, Dine Downtown is a great reason to venture out and dine at variety of restaurants that you wouldn’t normally try.” said Megan Emmerling of the Downtown Partnership. “From fine dining restaurants to casual neighborhood spots, we love seeing the participating restaurants flourish during the 10 days of Dine Downtown.”

Last night, I was fortunate enough to preview the menu that Chef Jason Lockard has created for Blue Prynt Restaurant. Before I even show pictures or describe the dishes, I can tell you that the amount of food you get for $30 makes Blue Prynt a steal. Also, it was a lot of fun to go to a place brand new to me, and to see that their menu was widely accessible to people on different diets.

(Click on the image to enlarge).

To begin our meal, we chose the St. Supery Élu, and chatted about the wine with our server Gary (bonus points to Blue Prynt for knowledgable waitstaff). The evening was already off to a great start because the BF and I love to talk wine!! The Élu is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec, and was an excellent choice to pair with the main course that was to come.

I wanted to mention that if you opt for the $30 prix fixe, you'll also get big basket of warm garlic bread. My BF and I are gluten-free, so we passed on it in order to leave room for the other courses.

The BF ordered the oysters on the half shell, served with a spicy Thai dressing...

And I ordered the shrimp cocktail, lemon poached jumbo prawns served with a fresh grated horseradish cocktail sauce. I didn't eat a lot of the sauce, because I love fresh seafood by itself, but I really liked that kicked up horseradish flavor!

The additional appetizer option is a Mushroom Basket and is described on the menu as "a mix of sautéed Dragon Gourmet Mushrooms on a bed of house made rosemary garlic bread topped with creamy goat cheese and wrapped in a cumin dusted phyllo dough"

Now do I have your attention? :)

Not only did the prix fixe option include bread and an appetizer, we also had a salad/soup option.
There is a seafood chowder on the menu for a soup choice, but I went with a Caesar Salad, and BF went with a spring mix salad with dill and caper dressing.

For dinner we both ordered the "King of New York", a 12-ounce choice cut strip loin with a crown royal and royal trumpet mushroom chasseur sauce, and served with blue cheese mashed potatoes and green beans. The mashed potatoes aren't truly allowed in my diet, but I still had a few bites of them to try. I really loved the incorporation of blue cheese. I boxed the rest up to make room for the thick cut of steak on my plate! Beef and mushrooms is one of my favorite flavor combinations. So classic and never goes out of style, so good move by the Chef to include it on the Dine Downtown menu. Also, I want to explain that we each got a full entrée for our main course (one 12-ounce strip each) and did not have to share this plate. The BF polished his entire meal off Adam Richman style, but I don't think I made it through 5 ounces before I threw in the towel. 

We also ordered the same thing for dessert (chocolate covered strawberries), so this picture represents what one person receives. We took the other portion home to enjoy later with The Improviser.

The Dine Downtown menu kicks off Monday, but why wait for that? Head into Blue Prynt for dinner tonight. They have a great mix of art on the walls, and even have Chimay on tap! 

Also, there is a Gin Tasting coming up on February 3rd for $12, as well as a Crab Feed on February 11th ($35 for all you can eat.) And if you want to just swing by after a long day at the office, here's a link to their Happy Hour menu. 

Blue Prynt's Facebook page is located here and you can follow them on twitter here.

For a full list of the Dine Downtown participating restaurants and their menus, you can click here.

Seattle's Historic Mayflower Park Hotel

Ah Seattle. Good times. We'll definitely be back. And most likely, we'll again stay at The Mayflower Park Hotel, a 75 year-old gem in uptown Seattle.

The hotel began as the Bergonian Hotel on July 16th, 1927 and has been in constant operation ever since. It was designed by B. Dudley Stuart and cost $750,000 to build. The name "Bergonian" came from the hotel's then proprietor, Stephen Berg, who was a prominent builder at the time. 

Opening prices for rooms at the hotel ranged from $2.00 to $3.50 for one person and $3.00 to $4.50 for 2 persons. Rooms with twin beds were $4.00 to $5.50 and suites were $5.00 to $10.00 per night.

Here's a picture of the lobby and reception desk inside the hotel, which has been restored with crystal chandeliers, brass and period antiques.

In 1974, Birney Dempcy formed a limited partnership to purchase the hotel. At the time, it had been foreclosed upon and was very run down. Birney renamed the hotel The Mayflower Park awaiting the development of the city's Westlake Park.

Following major renovations in 1976 and 1988, the Mayflower Park is always being upgraded and refurbished to keep it as beautiful as it was when it opened in 1927. Recently, the hotel was recognized as one of the Historic Hotels of America because of it's history and architecture. The Mayflower Park prides itself on being "quite simply, one of a kind" which has become their marketing slogan.

Their logo and marketing pieces are quite beautiful, and here is the

little welcome present that was waiting for me in the room.

Tea, fruit and nut mix, and chocolate truffles were in the bag.

Our room was so comfortable, had 2 televisions, and had the option of converting into two rooms by a sliding door. The couch in our suite's main room could be pulled out for extra guests.

We stayed on the ninth floor, and it provided a fantastic

view of holiday lights and activities going on below us.

 

One amenity I always look for in a hotel is the fitness room. And Mayflower Park's is located on the third floor. It is equipped with 2 treadmills, a stairclimber, and 2 stationary bikes, as well as a set of free weights I found very useful. The BF would run outside and I would retreat to the workout room so that later in the day we were free to enjoy our meals at Andaluca, Place Pigalle, and Fall Line Winery.

Here's another shot of the lobby. There was a Christmas party
in the room upstairs on one of the evenings of our stay.

This is inside Oliver's, the bar in The Mayflower Park. The spot used to be one of the first Bartell Drug Stores, since the hotel was built during Prohibition and no areas were designated to serve alcohol. The dining area of the hotel was a coffee shop located where Andaluca is now, and in part of that area, Andaluca once lived as a barber shop. Prices in the 54-seat coffee shop ranged from 10 cents for coffee, to 20 cents for chicken broth, and $2.00 for a sirloin steak. Oliver's (shown below), opened in 1976 and became Washington's first "daylight" bar. Prior to that, Washington had "blue laws" that prohibited anyone from looking into a lounge where hard liquor was sold.

The huge windows and lights outside made it such a romantic place to be.
Here's another shot from where I was sitting.

Oliver's features a special cocktail called The Golden 27, honoring the year the hotel originally opened as the Bergonian. Here's the recipe:

Golden 27

Half fill a mixing glass with ice, then add 1/4 oz. Lemoncello Lemon Liqueur, 1 1/4 oz. Ketel One Vodka, 1 oz. Bombay Sapphire Gin, and a pinch of Gold Luster Dust. Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Following dinner on one of the nights of our stay, we had dessert in our room. I found just what I needed on the room service menu... my favorite: fruit and cheese!!

So many happy memories and so much fun in Seattle. Thank you to all my advertising partners!

If you are planning a visit to Seattle, please consider the Mayflower Park hotel. They've got a few ongoing specials including one for New Years and in 2012, they are teaming up with the Seattle Art Museum during their showcase of Paul Gauguin.

You can find The Mayflower Park Hotel on twitter here and their Facebook page is here.

Andaluca Restaurant in the Mayflower Park Hotel

 

Andaluca Restaurant is located adjacent to the Mayflower Park Hotel (where we stayed during our recent trip to Seattle).

Instead of rushing back out to eat after our check-in at the Mayflower Park, we opted to dine at Andaluca. It was so nice to simply walk down the stairs and be seated at our table.

Andaluca had a special that evening (all wines from Washington were at a 20% discount), so we chose the 2009 O'Shea Scarborough Chardonnay to kick things off. This wine release is aged 18 months entirely in neutral oak with barrel fermentation and is a classic oaky and buttery chardonnay.

When it was time to order dinner, we opted for the special Prix Fixe "Tour of the Meditteranean" for $39 per person, so that we could taste a wide spectrum of the menu. It's a great deal because it includes a salad or soup, three small plates and a dessert for each person. 

The beginning-of-meal bread basket comes with a ramekin of house made hummus. Hummus is real treat for me (because I really don't eat legumes anymore at all), but I didn't touch the bread. Instead, I used the hummus as a dressing on the salad I ordered.

My salad was a Pear Salad with mixed organic greens, stilton cheese, hazelnuts, and balsamic vinaigrette.

The BF ordered the Green Bean and Roasted Beet Salad with mixed organic greens, goat cheese, marcona almonds, roasted carrots, and sherry shallot vinaigrette.

This is the mini crab tower with dungeness crab, avocado, palm hearts, and gazpacho salsa. 

Then it was onto a Beef Tenderloin Skewer with a marsala demi glace. I really enjoyed this one!

Next, I ordered the Grilled Quail with shallots, mushrooms, black currant jus. I had just had an exquisite quail appetizer at Hurley's in Yountville a few weeks prior, so I saw no reason to quit my quail habit anytime soon. It was cooked perfectly (it's a tiny creature and easy to overcook).

The BF ordered the Broken Egg Papas Frites made up of fried yukon gold potatoes, chorizo, and roasted mushrooms. I had most of the egg--I love dishes with runny egg.

These are the Roasted Mussels with baby tomatoes, sizzling lemon butter, rosemary, lemons, and finished with white wine.  I have had my share of gamey, metallic mussels, but these tasted sweet and subtle. I would eat mussels all the time if they were more like these.

The next bottle of wine we tried (yes, bottle number 2, don't judge) was a 2008 Hedges Family Estate "Red Mountain". It is a blend of 36% Cabernet Sauvignon; 33% Merlot; 14% Syrah; 11% Cabernet Franc; and 6% Malbec. It was full bodied and a great pairing with our desserts... especially my cheese plate (pictured below):

For dessert, I ordered the Cabrales Cheese Selection 1 oz. cow and goat milk cheese blend from the north of Spain, with a pear and almond compote. To my surprise, it was a blue cheese (my favorite!)

This is the Garrotxa plate that the BF ordered. It has 1 oz. goat's milk cheese from the Catalonia region with red wine tempranillo reduction and grapes and crostini.

Meet our server, Chris. His service was exceptional at Andaluca. Since I had a gift card, he did not know he was going to be written about until I told him at the end of the meal and asked for his picture. He was very knowledgable about the menu and the wine list. Great job!

The head chef at Andaluca is Wayne Johnson. He has been at the helm since 1999. Some of you might have seen his appearance on Iron Chef America this year when he competed against Michael Symon. The secret ingredient was cucumbers! You can see video of the competition here.

If you're in Seattle or planning a trip there, Andaluca is not to be missed. You can find Andaluca on Facebook here follow them on twitter here, and visit their website here.