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United States Restaurant Guide
www.usrg.com/CA/Soquel/Theo's
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Soquel California
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5 star rating legend
 
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11/20/2008
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Theo's French Contemporary 3101 N Main St 831-462-3657 Sophisticated Imagination in Soquel |
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Hours Established 1996 Reservations Suggested Credit Cards MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover Wine 375 labels, 3,000 bottles, Excellent list at good prices. Silver Oak verticals. Bar Full Bar Parking Street and nearby lot. |
 anta Cruz County is truly blessed to have chef Nicci Tripp. He lives the noblest art of the human race - sharing the best you have with others. Engage him in conversation to find what is on his mind in the kitchen - learn or recall simple things - like roast your tellicherry pepper to enrich the seasoning. Trained with fine French chefs in the USA and coming off a 7-year stint with David Paul in Lahaina, Maui, Nicci crafts astonishingly great food that pairs well with a stunning wine list. Theo’s is a favorite restaurant for the local vintners and wine merchants. You enter an unassuming cream-colored house with a small bar in the first room and a large chef’s garden out back. On any given night it is wise to try the chef's tasting menu (""at the chef's whim""-$52 per person). His staff will meet you and size up the wine pairings for the meal. This review merges a Spring and a Fall visit. Consistently, the presentations engage the season's bounty, many items grown in their private garden. Each dish is beautiful to look at, each a memorable original. The beginnings might be an Amuse Bouche of poached quail egg topped with caviar and lightly dressed with a buerre blanc in spring, but in fall a lychee fruit on crème fraiche with goat cheese on crisps of parmesan. Spring started with cornmeal-crusted softshell crab atop a sweet corn salad with hints of tarragon. Fine for a Puligny Montrachet. Before red wines - a palette-refreshing salad of heirloom tomatoes and smooth mozzarella, kissed with an 18-year-old balsamic. Next up was a crispy seared foie gras with a duo of cherry compotes - amazing. Ah but by Fall, an evolution of insight by Tripp who created a cappuccino of walnut, foie gras and truffle - sensational was the continued resonance of flavor that established a sophisticated palette for the entrée to come. You might wish for American Kobe beef, but the specialty, without hesitation, is his current conception of lamb. In Spring, a main course of Lavender Roasted Rack of Lamb is perfect with a Grgich Hills Cabernet Sauvignon. By Fall, this miraculously evolved into a tender lamb loin on top of a perfect slow-cooked pork belly with lentils, two flavorful dried green zebra heirloom tomatoes tucked among the beans. The undertone of slightly smokey pork and bean with roasted lamb and lavender is extraordinary. Dessert might be a real marshmallow, Theo's Build Your Own S'Mores, or perhaps an incredible soufflé, or by Fall, the last of the season berries cooked al dente with a granola, crème fraiche and cassis reduction. The clarity, care and intelligence of each dish is an honor to enjoy. Theo's feels like a French country restaurant, with comfortable outdoor seating and beautiful gardens best strolled at day or sunset - before, during, or after dinner. The staff is attentive and caring. Theo's also features wine tasting dinners and their wonderful ""Brown Bag"" Wine Dinners, where patrons bring wines to taste and share (see their website for details). A great close is the house brewed Lemon Verbena tea from the garden leaves out back. Inventive cuisine, unpretentious and welcoming ambience, is like dining in a French countryside house, but when you go out into the fresh crisp air of the night, you are glad you are in Soquel and the inspiration to give and do great things has been transferred. 2006 Wine Spectator Award of Excellence.reviewer:Joanna Beaulieu 11/12/2003 9:07:00 PM Specialties: Lamb in Lavendar underlined with pork belly lentil, cappucino of chestnut with foie gras. |
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Sophisticated Imagination in Soquel I would eagerly go again but... "Terrific food at Theo's" Contacting Theo's Email: Web: www.theosrestaurant.net |
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