Eric H.
Yelp
The experience at Chef Carpenter's Signature restaurant had a great start, but definitely lost steam towards the end. Driving up the road to the restaurant, there is a choice of parking spots around the front of the restaurant. I suppose they also have valet.
You'll enter a vintage space. A nice floral display was present, and we checked in, letting them know we had a reservation for the tasting menu. A couple of couches and the bar area are not far from the entrance. The upstairs area is open and accessible, check it out if you get a chance.
We were seated at a large circular table. Water was poured, and a team member came by to infuse based on choices from a platter: a choice of cucumber, lemon, mint, and orange. We opted for cucumber, lemon, and mint. We were presented with all the menus they had.
We confirmed we were going for the tasting menu sans the wine pairing, but decided to grab non-alcoholic and alcoholic cocktails: Sunset in the Tropics, and Signature Smash. Sunset was very much passion fruit based. The Smash had more interesting and refreshing flavors. The peach essence was actually quite light; the other components melded together seamlessly.
1. The Amuse Bouche was some kind of acorn-squash-pumpkin chowder one-biter. Creamy and yummy, but not too memorable. It came with a piece of bread, and that bread came with onion ash butter shaped like the layers of an onion. The butter had a great oniony, almost black peppery flavor.
2. The Tuna: blood orange, sweet potato, charred corn, passion fruit. Refreshing, sour, and spicy. Sourness from the passion fruit was prominent. They told me the orange dollops were sweet potato, but I couldn't really tell. Flavor was pretty much like Sunset in the Tropics, but with some capsaicin.
3. Scallop & Ostera Caviar: celery root, garlic chips, yuzu beurre blanc. Scallop was a scallop, though one of the scallops was fishy. The sauce had a great flavor. Slightly tart, buttery, and savory.
4. Pork Belly: poblano creamed corn, picked peppers, black garlic molasses. Arguably the star of the night. Great textures, a crisp meat portion, with melt in your mouth fat that is slightly sweet; undertone of the poblano creamed corn.
5. Intermezzo: something passion fruit sorbet--they used quite a bit of passion fruit in the menu
6. Prime Tenderloin: potato fondant, onion soubise, maitake mushroom, truffle red wine jus. Sorry to say, this one was the letdown of the night. Unseasoned steak, and the potatoes just tasted like potatoes boiled in water. No, the sauce did not help overcome the blandness. These were very disappointing bites.
7. Banana Roulade: coffee chocolate cake, banana pastry cream, caramel, vanilla wafer ice cream. A decent dessert. The sugared banana chip was neat.
8. Petite Fours: interestingly, this came as a single serving, rather than in pairs. I mean, they were all pretty sweet. I didn't have a favorite among them. It was a lackluster ending.
Conclusion: strong start, lackluster finish to the tasting menu (including service attitudes). Decor and interior design are great. Clean bathrooms. Open kitchen, with hanging pots and pans. Weird stuff going on with the lighting though: dimming and brightening throughout the night. The staff work pretty efficiently. Sorta neat upstairs area.