Captions (posting them here since the Reddit mobile app isn’t letting me put them below each photo for some reason) –
Image 1: I arrived early so I explored the property a bit. Here’s the view from behind the restaurant.
Image 2: The herb garden out back. One of the chefs came out to collect some ingredients needed for the meal.
Image 3: The dining room. The tinted shades were opened once the sun went down enough so as to not blind any of the guests.
Image 4: Cured rockfish, hyssop.
Image 5: Red sea urchin, dulse, chopped custard.
Image 6: Dungeness crab poached in sea water.
Image 7: Table-side presentation of the abalone steamed in ash dough.
Image 8: Closer view of the abalone steamed in ash dough and served with offal sauce. (Sorry, I forgot to snap a picture of the sauce.)
Image 9: Sourdough bread with cultured butter, sea lettuce.
Image 10: Miatake mushroom fried and infused, lace lichen.
Image 11: One of the drinks from the non-alcoholic beverage – Apple shrub kombucha.
Image 12: Celery root, beech mushrooms.
Image 13: Table-side presentation of the skate smoked over bay laurel, calhikari rice, pickled vegetables. It was served in a custom-made box that made for a fun reveal.
Image 14: Closer view of the skate smoked over bay laurel, calhikari rice, pickled vegetables.
Image 15: Lamb, farm thinnings, jus.
Image 16: Layers of makrut lime, passion fruit, pineapple sage.
Image 17: Kombu ice cream, spent coffee grounds, honey paired with toasted buckwheat, jaggery, and almond beverage.
Image 18: Infusion of Douglas fir tea with grilled honey and sweet herbs. Umeboshi caramel; candy cap mushroom macaron; pate a choux – grilled miso and apple cider; winter citrus pate a fruit; and hojicha pate a fruit.
by CalMaple
1 Comment
I’d been wanting to visit Harbor House for some time. I went to book a reservation through Tock but it would only let me select a minimum party of two diners. I decided I’d email to see if they ever accommodate solo diners. They were very lovely and said they’d love to have me come for dinner, so I made a reservation for several weeks later. Here are a few of my thoughts about the experience.
Ambiance: Fantastic! Harbor House has so much going on for it in this category. The location on the Northern California coast, and the well-designed property, give it a sense of unpretentious luxury. There are lounging areas and gardens in the back that you are encouraged to walk through if you want to arrive a little early. The dining room itself has a simple aesthetic which makes sense since the view does most of the heavy lifting. I was lucky enough to be seated by the window, which surprised me since I thought all of those seats would be saved for couples. It was a nice treat.
Servers dressed more casually than some other fine dining places; they wore blue jeans and blazers. I appreciated how it let me know that things likely wouldn’t be as formal at Harbor House. Once the sun sets enough, the shades on the windows are opened all the way. Enjoying the sun setting over the Pacific, while eating dishes that highlight the bounty of the sea, is an amazing experience.
Food: Harbor House is about sustainable, creative Californian cuisine. Chef Kammerer uses a combination of classic and uncommon ingredients to craft his dishes. He seems to value balance in the dining experience. For instance, the more traditional Miatake mushroom tempura was paired with a side of tree lichen that had been turned from moss into an edible delight. Both components were delicious.
The dishes with seafood were the highlights. It’s clear that the kitchen knows how to bring out the best in these proteins. Not only that, but they have some unique ways of preparing them. They prepare abalone by sealing it in ash before steaming it. Then they do a table-side unveiled where they carve through the ash container to reveal the perfectly-cooked abalone. The texture was great and the dish tasted wonderful.
Overall highlights included the aforementioned abalone, the Dungeness crab, and the red sea urchin with chopped custard. On the other end, the lamb was fine but it didn’t shine in the same way as the seafood. One of the desserts was garnished with edible flowers that were very bitter. I mentioned it to the server and she said they’ve been trying different flowers with that course; I wish they would have stuck with the lavender she had mentioned. I did the non-alcoholic beverage pairing. It was fun, but a few of the pairings felt like they didn’t work with the courses. For example, the lamb was served with a drink that had ginger, anise, and several other strong spices in it. While I liked the drink on its own, it overpowered the lamb in my opinion.
Service: Overall, I thought it was great. Everyone was very friendly and engaging over the course of the evening. They did a fantastic job of explaining each course and how it connected to the chef’s philosophy of sustainable fine dining. There were one or two instances where there seemed to be tiny hiccups in service. For example, they serve several courses table side on a small cart. On two occasions, the closest cart was in use so they just placed the tray on the unoccupied side of my table. It’s not a huge deal as a solo diner, but those courses lacked the same grandeur in presentation. Conversely, one of the servers noticed I liked a particular drink from the pairing menu and offered me another glass which was nice. In general, staff were thoughtful and friendly with a focus on providing good service.
Anyways, I posted pictures with descriptions of the meal. I didn’t include much about the non-alcoholic beverage pairing, but I’m happy to do so if anyone really want to know more.