My husband and I have been obsessed with the culinary stylings of Chef Paul Qui since he was making amazing and innovative dishes at Uchiko. Watching him go through Top Chef we were confident from the beginning that he would be the winner. After easily wrapping up that competition he proceeded to open this amazing little gem and we have been delighted on our numerous visits to Qui (and that is apparently pronounced /kē/). The restaurant originally started as a standard, “choose your own adventure” menu but it has since morphed into a "what's fresh today, best of the best". Now when you go (and do make reservations, they fill up fast!) you have just two options; a choice of a Standard (aka Carnivorous) or Vegetarian tasting menu of roughly seven courses at a set- and I feel VERY reasonable for what you get- price. They also offer a “beverage pairing” which I highly recommend, they get it right. Every beverage perfectly complements the course and adds yet another layer of complexity. Since we just went this past Friday and did the Carnivorous menu (with beverage pairing… of course!) I snuck some photos of my amazing grub and wanted to post a play by play of the greatness.
I actually had one of the "best bites" of my life here a few months back and want to make sure I specifically call it out as well. They had amazing Amberjack sliced sashimi style that they brought to the table with smoking, red hot chunk of binchotan (a white oak I believe) that they rested directly on the wood for the briefest of moments before pulling it off and setting it carefully in a squid ink/sumiso (type of sweet miso vinegar sauce). AMAZING. We ordered a second round of it. They had something similar last week, and it was really-really good... but WOW, the Amberjack... that sauce... mmm...
I actually had one of the "best bites" of my life here a few months back and want to make sure I specifically call it out as well. They had amazing Amberjack sliced sashimi style that they brought to the table with smoking, red hot chunk of binchotan (a white oak I believe) that they rested directly on the wood for the briefest of moments before pulling it off and setting it carefully in a squid ink/sumiso (type of sweet miso vinegar sauce). AMAZING. We ordered a second round of it. They had something similar last week, and it was really-really good... but WOW, the Amberjack... that sauce... mmm...
The Menu (3.13.15)
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course:
marcona almond, shaved lardo, piperrada, smoked trout roe, gazpacho beverage: virtue sidra de nava, michigan, US, NV thoughts: Tasty with nice rich flavors, beautiful presentation |
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course:
yellowtail crudo, roasted pistachios, tomato, cucumber, "yoshi-dashi" beverage: jules taylor gruner veltliner, marlborough, NZ, 2013 thoughts: Nice, fresh, refreshing. Perfect for the first Spring-like day of the year! The fish was amazing |
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course:
fried chicken, smoked oyster aioli, sal de gusano, egg yolk custard beverage: hitachino nest white ale, ibaraki, JP thoughts: I loved the egg yolk custard and it was by far my husbands favorite dish and it was delicious but honestly was too rich for me. |
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course:
hamachi seared on binchotan, midorizu, flowers beverage: hanzell "sebella", chardonnay, sonoma, CA, 2013 thoughts: This is the "seared on a red hot log" dish. I can't describe how amazing that oak smoked flavor is, it just isn't right for anything to be that delicious. |
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course:
pork blood, maitake, sunchoke, brussel sprout, red onion, henbit beverage: cleto chiarli lambrusco, emilia-romagna, IT, NV thoughts: My husband really liked this dish but to be honest is wasn't my favorite |
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course:
texas wagyu shortrib, tamarind, wasabi, coffee bean beverage: famille perrin cotes du rhone reserve, grenache, syrah, rhone valley, FR, 2012 thoughts: This was a delicious little chunk of steak, slow cooked and fork tender. The little unexpected punch of wasabi on top made the dish. |
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course:
coconut fig caramel, goat milk ice cream, coffee cashew semifreddo beverage: von honsebrouch kasteel rouge, ingelmunster, BEL thoughts: tasty little dessert, the caramel was super tasty and the texture of the semifreddo was decadently silkey |
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