I went with a friend to Hudson's on the Bend for dinner Wednesday night. Both of us opted for the chef's three course tasting menu with the paired wines, along with an additional appetizer off the regular dinner menu. Our overall impression was very positive: the ambiance and service were great, and the quality of the food was excellent and well worth the price we paid. My tasting notes for each courses are provided below.
Amuse-bouche (courtesy of the chef): apple and goat cheese tart with cranberry sauce. The pastry was well done—properly light and fluffy. The tastes of the goat cheese and apple were well balanced, with the apple providing acidity even if the actual taste of apple was masked somewhat by the stronger tastes of the goat cheese and pastry dough. The cranberry sauce had a nice spice from the chili in it. However, I found it easy to accidentally pick up too much sauce, in which case, the sauce took over and masked the other flavors of the dish, making it taste more like a cranberry tart. The chives seemed a bit unnecessary, adding a not entirely complementary bitterness or grassiness to the dish.
Appetizer (off the regular menu): venison prosciutto wrapped scallops, topped with candied yuzu and American sturgeon caviar, on a cedar plank with a soy yuzu dipping sauce. The scallops were very fresh and perfectly seared to the right soft texture. The venison prosciutto added crispness and saltiness to the dish and fortunately didn't taste very strongly like actual venison (since that would add a potentially off-putting gamey flavor). The candied yuzu and caviar were both wonderful, adding hints of sour and salty, respectively, as well as some textural contrast. The soy yuzu was good and not overly salty.
First course: chipotle lobster bisque with a parmesan puff pastry. Served by placing chunks of butter-poached lobster in the bowl, topping with the puff pastry (the triangle shaped object in the picture), and pouring in the liquid bisque. The lobster was sweet, appropriately buttery, and well textured (not rubbery). I wasn't a huge fan of the pastry, which was a bit chewy, but I was willing to overlook that giving the quality of the rest of the dish. This bisque was a bit thinner than the versions I'm used to, but it was a wonderful mix of the traditional flavors with the smoke and spice from the chipotle. The dish paired well with the Reisling, which had nice acidity and apple flavors, without being overly sweet.
Entrée: espresso-rubbed, smoked elk backstrap with lime chipotle beer blanc. The backstrap was smoked for 12 hours at low temperature to medium-rare with a beautiful smoke ring, then quickly seared on the grill to form a crust. The coffee and smoke mixed well, and the elk had just the right level of gaminess and a soft, almost melt in your mouth consistency. The sprigs of fresh rosemary on the side were a great idea, providing an aromatic complement without the overpowering taste or texture that comes with actually eating rosemary leaves.
The beer blanc tasted great, though given its richness, the amount provided might have been a bit much; as with the amuse-bouche, I found it easy to pick up just a little too much sauce and have that taste overpower the focus of the dish (i.e., the elk). The potatoes and other vegetables were buttery and delicious, though nothing particularly special. The dish was paired with a California pinot noir--earthy, nice oak, not at all tannic, and with the right body to match the elk.
One minor quibble: I'm not entirely sure why the flower was needed in the plating. This is entirely a personal preference, but I find extra items on a plate that don't have a clear purpose mildly annoying.
Dessert #1 (pictured on the right): wild turtle pie (caramel pecan pie dipped in Belgian chocolate). The filling was well textured and tasted very much of pecans. I had minor issues with the consistency of the chocolate coating (which was tough to break through with a fork) and with the crust (which I found to lack the "right" level of richness and flakiness). The fruits were a little lackluster, but that's entirely forgivable since good fresh (non-citrus) fruit is pretty much impossible to find in December. Overall, an enjoyable dessert but nothing spectacular.
Dessert #2 (pictured on the left): pumpkin white chocolate bread pudding with bourbon praline sauce and vanilla ice cream. This was my favorite of the two desserts. The tastes of both the pumpkin and white chocolate were both nicely subtle, enough to provide richness and hints of taste without adding too much sweetness (I don't like very sugary desserts). The bourbon praline sauce was excellent—nutty and not strongly alcoholic. The vanilla ice cream tasted pretty generic (Blue Bell anyone?), but that didn't really from the dish.
Dessert was served with a Spanish grenache, which was a good but not stand out wine. (The lack of more-detailed tasting notes here probably has much to do with me not focusing on the wine during dessert.)
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