McCradys was so outstanding that we cancelled our next evening reservation at FIG to go back. All the other recommended/touted places in both cities were at best ok. Put Chef Sean Brock and his tasting menu on the short list of best restaurants in the US.
McCradys is a busy place...and a complicated one. I sense that Chef has to please both a traditional clientele, but has been given creative freedom with his tasting menu. Here is where the terrific experience lies....where imagination and creativity rule. Elements of molecular gastronomy(i've come to dislike this term.. it fails to explain the intellectualism and sheer artistry that go into this style of cooking) pervade these dishes.
Several specific items of note from these 2 dinners. First, I'm not generally a lobster tail fan...most times I find it texturally too tough...I'd rather have Crawfish most times. The tail meat is more tender and sweeter. The exception to this is the butter poaching technique championed by Thomas Keller...love it. So Chef Brock takes this technique but improves on it using foie butter and borrowing a technique for removing leg meat(which is inherently more tender than the tail) from Wylie DuFresne. Brock trumps Keller.
Second, we had a crispy pork terrine that seemed similar to Daniel Humm's Eleven Madison Park version. Chef Brock again made his better.
Third, the guy makes his own molasses. This is a dying art. Several years ago we were invited to a friend's family farm to watch/participate in the process of making molasses that this family had done for 3 generations...they grew the cane and had a hillside gravity flow operation...it took all weekend- a very labor intensive process. The family informed me recently that due to lack of interest among the new generation of family members, they were forced to discontinue this tradition.
Fourth, he's taken the concept of sourcing local to heart, starting a large garden for the restaurant.
Chef Brock is one of the new generation of chefs that is taking American cuisine to the next level. The Keller generation has largely become restauranters- Keller admits in a recent Wine Spectator article that he no longer cooks in his restaurants. The fact that Brock can succeed in pleasing both a more traditional clientele and one looking for more creativity is a monumental accomplishment. Wow. You wonder what Chef Brock could do if the constraints came off and he was able to explore his creative bent. Still one of the best meals in the US right now.
Townhouse in Chilhowie VA is the most under appreciated dining destination in the United States right now. It is the best meal in the United States, if not the world. It is an example of what happens when a pair of chefs are given total creative freedom. The owners, Tom and Kyra Bishop, are visionaries. It is the style of food that appeals most to us these days. The last couple of years have been an epiphany for us, beginning with 2 trips to Spain in 2008 and 2009 (and a terrific meal at Noma in Copenhagen preceeding that), followed by a couple of trips to Chicago last year where we were able to experience several of our country's greatest talents. For this style of cooking, look to Chicago not New York. (Schwa, however, has remained an elusive reservation for us).
John and Karen Shields food appeals to you cognitively...it drives you to consider each element of the dish. It appeals to you emotionally...you can't help but be moved by the supreme effort, the love and the care that goes into each creation. It appeals to your right brain, realizing the artistry of the presentation. It appeals to your palate, pushing you to experience new flavor combinations. Some chefs are combining savory and sweet these days, but few to the effect that the Shields do. There seems to be an incredible attention to details like melding a dish texturally. And I can honestly say that the John has only improved since the 1st meal we had there last May.
We ate there for a third time Saturday, completely on a whim, after seeing a photo 2 days previously of a dish representing Spring rain, which included banana ice cream, avocado, peas, nasturtium and our favorite legume, favas. No dish repeated anything we'd had previously...a pair of tiny tacos with pork belly and kaffir were the new amuse bouche...an amazing bite. Many of the dishes are pictured on the website of the restaurant at http://townhouseva.com/ (see the link to the blog http://townhouseblog.blogspot.com/. We had the oyster, the shrimp dish, the squid risotto, the hearts of palm, the morel dish, the Valencia orange, the scrambled egg mousse, the scallop, a horse mackerel, and a couple of Karen's wonderful desserts. Terrific wine service by Charlie Berg. Best meal of our lives.
