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Brasserie Restaurant Wine Country Cuisine
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The Brasserie Restaurant at Hyatt Vineyard Creek has a new look and feel. Completed along with hotel renovations during the past six months, the location has been entirely transformed. Inside, you’ll find an open kitchen with bar seating so you can watch chef Richard Whipple and his team do their thing, patio seating for warmer nights, and an adjacent lounge with an outside patio and fireplace (also a separate appetizer menu for more casual meals).
Halley and I decided to make the most of our experience (what else do you expect?). We started in the lounge with a martini (Halley had a glass of Balletto Pinot Gris) and fresh kumamoto oysters with a tangy champagne mignonette. I personally cannot think of a better way to start a meal.
When we moved into the dining room, our next course included the soup of the day, which was a rich heirloom tomato bisque with a drizzle of basil olive oil and garnished with purple basil micro greens. Smooth and full-flavored, it went well with a glass of Sonoma-Cutrer Chardonnay.
We also had the warm Cypress Grove goat cheese and arugula salad, which was an excellent combination of intense flavors, from the greens to the Spanish almonds to the very sweet sun dried tomatoes. The cheese had a crunchy exterior and creamy, earthy interior. It was served with crunchy buttered crostini.
For an entrée, I chose the roasted Alaskan halibut. It was a thick cut, moist with a golden seared exterior, and served with a summer squash gratin, Bloomsdale spinach and topped with a lemon-thyme compound butter. I was thoroughly impressed.
Halley opted for the roasted lamb chops, served medium rare over a white bean, corn and pancetta ragout. Chef Whipple uses the cuts from the lamb as the base for the jus, which also has oregano olive oil and 50-year-old sherry. Marinated overnight prior to roasting, the end result is tender and packed with flavor. It went amazingly well with his pairing suggestion of a spicy Pinot Noir (yes, you read right) from Hart’s Desire.
For dessert, we had ginger snap cannoli filled with Swedish cream and topped with a tart-flavored fresh berry compote. The caramelized exterior was crunchy and sweet, while the rich, creamy interior was accented with the compote’s blueberries and strawberries. We also had the almond roca cheesecake with mascarpone, surrounded with drips of caramel and chocolate.
Not quite able to end the evening yet, we stepped into the hotel courtyard to enjoy the fire pit, which is surrounded with benches and plush patio furniture. A separate, full bar that has its own premium wine list is just inside, but we opted for Frangelico poured neat as we enjoyed the radiant heat.
