Chef’s Table: Expensive but tasty

I already posted about attending the Chinese Lantern Festival week before last. My wife and I went with a pair of young Chinese women, students attending classes at Gonzaga Law School. And I wrote a bit disparagingly about the food (mainly the rice, which by the time it reached our table, was cold and hard).

Well, that didn't stop my wife from purchasing tickets to Saturday night's Chef's Table, which gave us the opportunity to sit nearer the kitchen at a u-shaped table with a number of others to dine in a more formal (and, at $100 a head, expensive) manner. And the result was far better.

Served in multiple courses, the Sichuan Region-based meal — comprising, after a spoon-size appetizer, Kung Pao Chicken, Don Don Noodle, Tea Smoked Duck and Sichuan Moon Cake — arrived at a leisurely pace, with each receiving a lengthy explanation by our friendly server. Each course was relatively small, certainly smaller than you would expect at your average Chinese restaurant. But the totality was just right.

The whole meal was designed and overseen by chef Jeremy Hansen, of Santé Restaurant & Charcuterie. And Hansen came by to explain the whys and wherefores of his kitchen. If I were more of a foodie, like my friend Leslie Kelly, I might have been in heaven.

As it was, I was just full. And content.

The festival was supposed to close Nov. 1. But it's been extended two weeks, though Nov. 15. Make reservations as soon as possible, though. And bring a jacket: Fall is here, and it's getting cold.