Friday March 14th - Part 2:
Chapter One.
After work I thought it would be nice to try out the gypsy den in santa ana, because Michael had only been to the one here in Costa Mesa, and the one in Santa Ana is a bit different (atmospherically).
But once parked a block away, we walked past an interesting restaurant called Chapter One, they claimed to "now open" but from what I saw on their website, it sounds like they have been there for a year or two.
The place was super busy, and the menu looked fantastic, so we decided since we have eaten at the Gypsy Den before, we might as well try Chapter One while we're here.
It was about 8:30-9 o-clock when we went in and got seated.
The place was really dark, thankfully we got seated in the least crowded area of the place (so it was less noisy) and near a window so there was a bit more light coming through the window from the street lamps. Helped with taking pictures :p
Instead of ordering an appetizer, we tried their special soup of the day (although we didn't get it until half way through our main course because the waitress forgot we ordered it, lol )
So technically our two main courses came first.
Beef Culotte
- The premier cut from the cap of the sirloin. Bacon-wrapped, dredged in ground coffee beans & cocoa, served on Dijon mashed potatoes with a red wine demi-glace
And -
Lamb & Gnocchi
- Homemade potato gnocchi, lamb ragout, heirloom carrots, gremolata, feta cheese, curried granola, fried kale
I actually expected to like the beef coulette more, since it wasn't until recently that I started trying and liking more lamb dishes (after a really bad first experience). But I must say, I was super in love with the lamb gnocchi. There were a lot of different textures and flavors going on. You had crunchy and soft, savory and sweet, wet and dry, but they all mixed very well and worked out to make a stunningly delicious plate of food! First time trying Kale too, and even though it was a little weird, it worked well with the dish.
This dish was absolutely amazing and it even makes my mouth water just typing this up.
The beef coulette was good as well, but not as good, looking back what stands out the most was the fact that half the meat on the dish was very tough, a couple bits i had to really really work to chew, and thats one of the reasons i don't really like steak, but love filet mignon :p Also the flavors, although good, seemed to clash a little, but not so much that you couldn't enjoy it, the dijon mashed potatoes were an interesting though, and the wine sauce was very flavorful.
At the time, I remember enjoying it, just not as much as the lamb gnocchi.
The soup I got was the special, it was a sausage sweet potato and kale soup.
Since it wasn't really clear, I was actually expecting a creamy soup, and a slightly different kind of sausage, silly me :p
The soup was good though, it seemed very fresh, and the flavor was nice, but my problems lie in the fact that the sweet potato didn't stand out, I almost expected it to be a sweet and savory kind of thing, and it seemed to be only a savory thing. Also (this probably is completely my fault) I don't do well with spices, and the sausage seemed to be of the very seasoned kind, and with it already being a savory soup, it was a bit overwhelming.
even still, that's me really critiquing it, it was enjoyable. Just not what we were expecting.
Last is dessert. we decided to also go with the special, which was a white chocolate rum bread pudding, with a scoop a vanilla ice cream and spiced sauce.
We initially were going to go with something else, but we chose this because we have had some pretty good bread pudding before and figured we would try something of the regular menu next time we hopped on in.
Sadly, we were both disappointed.
It so happened to have pecans all throughout it, and it threw the texture off for the both of us. Honestly, it wasn't anything special, it didn't stand out and it was probably the most disappointing dish of the night. As the waiter was taking out plate, asked how it was, and I just commented on how we didn't care for the nuts.
He chuckled and made a remark on how he would go tell the chef RIGHT AWAY, which I'm sure he meant as a joke (my husband says) but the inflections of his voice spoke otherwise, almost like he thought I was entitled for having a negative opinion, when he is the one that asked me how it was....
idk I'm sure I'm making it more then it is, but it really put me off.
Here is the thing I find interesting, by the time we left, it was 10:45 and on the way out there was rope and a bouncer set up to card everyone.
Which makes me wonder if since he was carding everyone at the entrance, would I have even been carded if asked for a drink since I was already inside? Just wondered :p
All in all it was an interesting place, that we both agreed we would like to go back and try some other dishes sometime. I would suggest you check it out, because it was an otherwise enjoyable experience.
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