Last night we celebrated, my sister Joanne’s birthday, here in Santa Barbara’s at Opal Restaurant and Bar Their website describes it best: “Opal Restaurant and Bar infuses an Eclectic California Cuisine with creative influences from around the World. Our chefs use the freshest of ingredients to create dishes inspired by the colorful multi-cultural heritage of America, often with an Asian flair.”
This is a lively and fun place on a Friday night. Lots of camaraderie from the wait staff and managers who are fun & engaging table side. They were gracious enough to very quickly without prompting comp us some Shredded Phyllo Wrapped Tiger Prawns, flash fried and served with a Coconut Curry Dipping Sauce. They had planned to seat us at a very nice table by the window but the dinner guests with the early seating lingered for some time after our 8pm reservation had expired.
Set up at a very nice table, we had some cocktails with our complimentary appetizer and proceeded to look at the menu. They have a fun list of house specialty spirits and martinis to select from so take your time to choose. Once our drink order was taken (Blood Orange Margarita, Regular Margarita and 2 Old Fashions, one with Woodford bourbon) the four of us started discussing the menu of specials and what we would choose. We narrowed our individual dinner selections down to:
- Macadamia Crusted Pacific Halibut in an Orange Sauce – me
- Lemon Grass Crusted Fresh Salmon Filet with a Thai Curry Sauce – Hal
- Stuffed Smoked Mozzarella Cheese Anaheim Chili w/a Chili Crusted Filet Mignon & Garlic Mashed – Joanne
- Grilled Ribeye Steak on Tuscan Style White Beans – Bob
Next, we needed a wine pairing to go with our dinners. Opal’s wine list is amazing and extensive with some great finds. Their approach is to provide both very recognizable wines as well an adventure for those who like to try new wines and/or varietals. It was not a complete surprise to learn that Opal has received a Wine Spectator Award continuously since 1993!
I chose a 2009 Penner Ash Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley. Having come back from a trip to Oregon in May of this year, I fell in love again with Pinot Noir. Opal’s wine list does offer a handful of Pinots from Oregon. I would love to see them and other CA sommelier pursue offering more choices from the NW in the future. Whether they be from the Willamette Valley’s 6 sub-appellations, the Columbia Gorge, Southern or Eastern Oregon there are so many great NW Pinots to choose from. I do enjoy some of what California has to offer in a Pinot but Oregon is to me the gold standard of what I enjoy about Pinot Noir. Oregon’s Pinot Noirs provide a more medium bodied wine and therefore they are very versatile for pairings. The amount of acidity varies with any Pinot but in general I found this ’09 Penner Ash Pinot Noir to be well balanced in its acidity. I did need to let it aerate for some time before the acidity tampered down nicely. Tasting this wine, I could taste cranberries, strawberries, raspberries, cinnamon and chocolate. These flavors were experienced in a layer on my palate which allowed me to distinctly sort through what I was tasting.
Shortly after our dinners arrived and each of them was distinctly delicious. I particularly liked the taste I had of my sister’s Stuffed Smoked Mozzarella Anaheim Chili. I’d have liked the option to order just the Chili as an appetizer (just for me :)). The chili was immediately recognizable yet offset by the smooth mildness of the cheese. It was a great melding of flavors. The sauce for the filet on this particular special on the menu escapes me. I can say I would definitely order this entree next time I come to Opals if it was on the menu again. It was coating the filet like a soft blanket and the flavors together were well, comforting. I also tasted Hal’s Lemon Grass Crusted Salmon and the sauce was so fresh and light yet very present in the dish. I understand why they ask on their menu that there be no substitutions. The chefs at Opal R&B have crafted distinctive flavors for each of their dishes. I applaud them for keeping them pristine and untouched by the customers substitutions.
Lastly, for myself, I was looking for a fish entree that was different than Hal’s so my dish of Macadamia Crusted Pacific Halibut in an Orange Sauce worked perfectly for me. Something light, full of flavors and citrus-y. Hal makes this at home sans the sauce and I love it. Problem is now I love it with *THIS* sauce. Maybe they’ll produce a cookbook? I didn’t get a chance to taste Bob’s entree as I was too busy eating my own and pretty much unaware of anything else at that point! He did comment later for me that his steak was done perfectly and he throughly enjoyed his dinner.
To finish up our fun celebration, we were given a very extensive list of desserts, dessert speciality coffees, ports, liqueurs etc. We settled on a Nonino Chardonnay Grappa for Jo and Hal and a split on Tiramisu and French Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee for the four of us. Excellence again. I also somehow managed to keep the Tiramisu all to myself. I can hear the gym calling now, ah well “no guilt and no regrets”.
My thanks to the Opal Restaurant & Bar team for making this such an enjoyable evening to celebrate my sister, Joanne’s birthday.
Cheers!