Questionable Restaurants

1 rating since posting on Friday, April 1, 2005
Questionable Restaurants
in SF Bay Area
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The Compass Grill at the Sheraton on Fisherman's Wharf
by

Justice Putnam





The Compass Grill is decorated in a sleek maritime theme; lots of dark wood wainscoting, shell sconces and framed navigation maps abound. The acoustic tile drop ceiling that covered most of the room though, was from no maritime vessel I've ever been on. I waited a little long for my first drink, a Perrier, but it was still within accepted parameters. The bread rolls were "steam-table gummy;" a bit rubbery and bland. The Garden Salad was crisp and fresh, enhanced visually with a couple of leaves of Belgian Endive. A few more of the Endive would have added a nicely balanced bitter to the sweetness of the cukes and julienne carrots. Just enough frissee and arugula rounded out the salad. The Champagne Vinaigrette tasted a little suspiciously like Girard's, but would corporate allow the expense? Regardless, for bottled, the vinaigrette was fine. For my entree I ordered the Caribbean Pork Chop with a Plantain Tomato Salsa and Mango Risotto on wilted Swiss Chard.

An editor had once suggested that an easy complaint, one that could be used in any dining evaluation on service, was to complain that a dish was too salty. Instead of a suggestion, I should have heeded it as a warning. The attempt on a jerk seasoning was heavy on celery salt and table salt, and not enough on ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, or red chili. I have been one of the strongest proponents in Bay Area "foodie culture" for the use of more seasoning in professional cooking. I have derided the "wimpiness" of some chefs over their fear and thus slight use of salt. There was nothing subtle about the salt on my Chop. It hit full face like a ten-foot breaker if the Salton Sea could be surfed. The Chop was very tender and juicy, about 160 degrees, which is exactly how I like it; though it could have stood to rest a bit more. The Roma Tomato-Plantain Salsa was an excellent balance of sweet, acid and starch. More of the Salsa would have taken the metallic salt taste from off the palate. I've never been a big fan of presenting Risotto on top of greens. The size of the plate certainly didn't warrant it. There was plenty of room to feature the Risotto and the Chard separately. The Risotto was more like a bland mac and cheese, except it was rice and cheese. A little crispier on top than I prefer, and like porridge underneath. Another small quibble would be that the Chard was English, not Swiss. If the heat of the Risotto had not cooked the Chard further, it would have been perfectly wilted.

The Waiter was very deferential, friendly and accommodating for the salty pork chop. He "comped" my dessert. I chose the Espresso Brownie. As I was digging into the brownie, I thought back all those many years ago to my college physics class on dense matter in the universe, and also my philosophy class on Free Will. As I took the first taste, I concluded that man's volition is what led him to the fall from grace. Even though chaos may seemingly rule the cosmos, there is a subtle order that allows something as dense as a collapsed neutron star to be served as my dessert. The chopped peanuts had a strangely packaged staleness, as if they might have been left over from the Gemini Missions; around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The vanilla ice cream though, had an excellent consistency. The heavy cream was fluffy and light, but not enough to counter the gravity of the collapsing star that looked like a brownie on my plate. The chocolate sauce could have been improved by folding in the Raspberry Coulis I saw offered with some of the other desserts. Overall, I thought my waiter handled very well whatever cooking conceit, or lack thereof, might come from the kitchen.



(c) 2005 Justice Putnam
and Mechanisches Strophe-Verlagswesen - , posted 06/09/05

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