Theresa and I have been to The Restaurant at Wente Vineyards a couple of times this past winter, so this is actually a review that takes place over 2 visits. Like most California cuisine restaurant, the chefs create dishes based on seasonally available ingredients (including those from their own on property garden), so the menu items change, although there are some constants on the menu (more on that later).
The restaurant is located in a separate building from the tasting room, meeting space, and barrel rooms. Decor is typical wine country, with two separate dining rooms and outdoor patio seating, which I imagine would be very nice on warm summer nights.
Appetizers:
During our first visit, we noticed several tables ordering the same appetizer, which was the Crispy brussels sprouts with pumpernickel salt and shallot-molasses crème. The sprouts, which I came to discover from our server, were flash fried. Crisp, with a bit of char and the pumpernickel salt added a nice earthy tasty to compliment the green and slight bitterness of the brussel sprouts, and not at all greasy. The accompanying dip provided a slight sweetness, although the plain sprouts were already plenty tasty.
The Beef Carpaccio was well executed and beautifully presented. In place of the hard boiled (or sometimes raw) egg, our carpaccio was topped with little spheres of just barely cooked egg yolk. Flavors were clean and refreshing.
Entrees:
Wente’s signature pork chop – Smoked stone valley farm pork chop with house made sauerkraut and riesling-mustard sauce – This dish is available year round, and evidently is the most popular dish. The chop is brined then cooked over a real wood grill to acquire a nice smoky flavor. The sauerkraut is homemade, with just a slight touch of acidity, which paired nicely with the rich (and very thick) cut of pork. The sauce had subtle hints of mustard, which did not overpower, but rather complimented the other flavors. One of the best preparations of pork chop I have had and am glad this is a constant on their menu, as I would travel out to Livermore just for this chop.
Poke Tenderloin with Pork Belly over Spring Vegetables- The tenderloin was nicely cooked and seasoned. The pork belly was nicely crisp, with the fat properly rendered. The spring vegetable mix contained some bright tomatoes, which provided a nice acidic counterpoint to the rich cuts of pork. Well done.
Ling Cod – It’s been a while between when we went and when I wrote this blog and I don’t remember the actual description of the dish, but I do remember the dish was more a play on cioppino rather than just plain ling cod. The dish was well executed and balanced, with the seafood being very fresh and the ling cod properly seasoned and cook. But perhaps the reason why this was not so memorable was because the pork chop was by far the more memorable of any of the dishes that we tried at Wente.
Service :
All the servers were extremely knowledgeable about the menu, including the preparation methods and flavor profiles. Servers were attentive, but not intrusive, and the pacing from seating to order to food hitting the table was very good.
Verdict:
If you are in the mood for a nice sitdown lunch or dinner, The Restaurant at Wente would be a great choice. Would also recommend for special occasions or romantic dinners. I would definitely go back during another season to try their other menu items, but knowing the pork chop will always be there makes the trip worth while for me.
