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Friday, November 11, 2011

Tyler Florence's Wayfare Tavern


Yesterday I had the great luck of going to lunch at Tyler Florence's Wayfare Tavern with Joanna, Visda, Bonni and Gina.

I would give you a peak at the inside of the restaurant but, unfortunately, most of my shots of the interior turned out blurry. I blame it on the excitement:-)

But, no fears, I managed to recover by the time the food arrived and I did manage some halfway decent shots of the food.

I ordered the oysters for an appetizer and these were the best oysters I have ever had. 

I should add that I just started eating oysters only a few months ago but these are the first oysters I have tried that actually had the 'fresh from the ocean', 'clear and crisp' flavors that oyster lovers always seem to mention.

Kusshi and Fanny Bay oysters.
I LOVED these oysters. I would go back to the Wayfare Tarvern just for these beauties.


Fresh Burrata with mission figs, eggplant caponata, marjoram and grilled sourdough.
The eggplant caponata really put the Burrata dish over the top - delicious!


Steak Tartare with with fresh organic chopped beef, French mustard dressing, egg yolk and garlic popovers.
This was my first time having steak tartare. I have had carpaccio (which to me just tastes like raw beef - go figure) so I was expecting this dish to be similar.


I was so wrong. I could not detect any 'raw beef' flavor all. The amazing flavor of the dressing stood out the most and the raw beef added a nice creamy texture to the dish.

Since we were sharing all the dishes, we ordered an array of entrees:

Petaluma Chicken Paillard.


Fried Chicken.


Lobster Cobb Salad.

Tomales Bay Mussels.


White Sea Bass.
The star of the entrees was the White Sea Bass. The fish was cooked perfectly and the mashed potatoes were so creamy and delicious people were scraping the plate to get just one more taste.

Going to a really great restaurant is about the only time I will bother to taste the desserts. We picked the following:

Wayfare Tavern Chocolate Cream Pie with Scharffenberger chocolate pudding, salted caramel ganache and devil's food cake.


Gooey Brown Butter Cake with fresh figs, local honeycomb, lemon verbena ice cream.


Caramel Pear Tart with cream cheese melt, fried sage, coriander ice cream and nilla wafers.
Which dessert was the winner? Most definitely the pear tart. It was so good that I actually had 2 - count 'em 2 - spoonfuls. 

The tart had a wonderful balance of flavor and sweetness. Most of the time desserts are so sweet all I can taste is the sugar but this tart was an exception. The sweet graininess of the pears was paired perfectly with the savory spice of the coriander ice cream - Yum!

It was a memorable afternoon of great food and delightful conversations.

I hope everyone is having a great Friday!! 

7 comments:

  1. Wow! You were fast posting about the meal yesterday. I haven't finished my post about the festival yet. I promise I finish it tonight.:-)
    Your pictures of yesterday are gorgeous. You do the magic with them. I'm totally hungry for that fantastic meal again. We should keep on our foodie feasts in the bay area.:-)

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  2. btw I have to disagree in one thing, for me the winner dessert was that coriander ice cream. Maybe we should make the pear tart combined with that ice cream once.:-) Yummy.

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  3. @visda

    The coriander ice cream by itself? Bah, I should have tried that on its own - I only tasted it with the pear tart.

    This means we will have to go back:-)

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  4. I think it is cool that there have been so many meet up of foodies after the festival! I have probably read 5 blogs about them. Glad you tried all these dishes, but I know you only had a few scoops of the dessert items.
    No doubt you had a great time, the comment above sounds like you are ready to do it again! Have a great weekend!

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  5. oh what a fun restaurant to try! can I just have that dessert, please?!

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  6. What a wonderful meal with great company. I can't wait to try somewhere else. You did a great job with the photos. I'm finishing my festival one tonight, then I will share me photos if you want of everyone. Yes, that pear tart was the winner dessert.

    -Gina-

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  7. Hi Emily! Boy..you're fast. I'm still far from finishing up my festival posts and moving onto Tyler's Wayfare Tavern. Thanks so much for coming out and this lunch get together really ended my trip with a huge BANG!! I had such a wonderful time chatting with you and the ladies. I am already missing all of you heaps right now. Can't wait to share my photos too. Till then.. Hugsss, Jo

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