Hey Lucy!

First night in Yountville and we actually don't have reservations anywhere.  Mostly because we were wait-listed at The French Laundry, but also because with our having such a late lunch at Morimoto I wasn't sure what we would be up for.  As the night went on, the hunger pangs began to develop and I pulled open my Open Table app.  I had already identified the casual dining, no reservations needed restaurants, but my husband heard there was antelope on the menu, and off to Lucy at Bardessono we went.

The Bardessono hotel is located just off Washington Street behind Bouchon.  It was a nice night, so all of the diners (what few there were) were out on the patio.  The two-top tables are set up in such a way that the two diners sit next to each other facing the backs of the diners at the two-top in front of them.  The menu is simple and easy to read, but they hand you an iPad to select your cocktail and that was the biggest disappointment (or, only, to be frank) as it worked very slowly and delayed the ordering process.  I've seen this work at other restaurants, so perhaps they just need to work on their app.

Drink and food orders were placed and we were asked if we wanted bread service.  I appreciated the question, as sometimes I don't and feel bad for the wasted bread that could have gone to needy people.  The bread was very good, probably from Bouchon, served with a room temperature butter sprinkled with black sea salt.  Then out came an amuse bouche fresh from their garden.  A simple spring roll with fresh vegetables in a ponzu sauce.  The ponzu must be made in house as it was very citrusy.  The spring roll was good, but even though it was small, the rice paper to vegetable ratio seemed a little off.

Ponzu spring roll from the garden

Now I am not the biggest carrot fan on the earth, especially not cooked carrots (nightmares of Hanukkahs past continue to haunt me of my mother's previously-frozen crinkle cut sweetened carrot "dish"), so I let the husband order the carrot salad.  Of course when it arrived there were jokes like "Would you like some carrots with your carrots?" and also, "You're going to start resembling Susan Dey from the Partridge Family."  The husband was quick to point out that some of the carrots were white (or yellow depending on your vision).  I believe those were the ones that were confited.  He said that it was the carrot chips that really made the dish as they added a much needed texture.

Freshly Dug Carrot Salad (confit carrots, carrot chips, curry shallot dressing, carrot fronds)

I, on the other hand, went for the "It's not a caprese" salad.  When you hear that the salad includes house-pulled mozzarella its natural to get excited.  Well, don't bother.  The mozzarella was dry and dense, and had a grainy texture to it.  When I have tomato and mozzarella salads I expect my mozzarella to be soft, to be what the markets call "fresh mozzarella."  This might have been fresh, but it simply wasn't good.  The tomatoes were fresh and tasted like garden grown tomatoes.  The basil had a very faint basil flavor and the balsamic was the perfect acidic bite, not too acidic and not too sweet.  I would have liked a little more salt on the dish, but that is a personal preference.

Ginaquinta tomatoes, house pulled mozzarella, basil, apple balsamic

Well, it started to get dark out before the entrees arrived and since I don't want to be one of those diners whose flash disrupts the entire restaurant, you'll need to forgive the next few photos.  Time for the antelope dish that brought us here.  I had a quick bite of the antelope, and it seemed okay to me.  The husband really enjoyed and wanted to gnaw on the bone right there in the restaurant.

Broken Arrow antelope chop, ratatouille,   tomato-ancho jus

I went for the lighter scallops.  It should be noted that the menu offers two sizes for their entrees: a 3-ounce and a 6-ounce depending on your hunger.  I ordered the 3-ounce, but I think I may have ended up with the 6 as that's what the bill said, and it looked like more scallop than I was expecting.  No real complaints here though.  The scallops were amazing.  Perfectly cooked.  Soft, yet warm centers.  Only downside was the dish came with more fresh tomatoes.  Don't get me wrong, I love fresh tomatoes, but I just had a whole plate of them as a salad.  I feel like I should have been told about this when I said I wanted to start with the tomato salad.  The corn pudding was good though I didn't want to combine it with the sherry reduction, as is what ended up happening.  But the scallops were truly the star of the plate.

Diver scallops, corn pudding, mustard  greens, pineapple tomatillo salad, spanish sherry reduction

The end of the night came and we decided to pass on dessert as we do have a lot of eating to do while we are here.  Thankfully right before the check came they brought us two small bites that perfectly capped the meal.  They were rocky road bars made with dark chocolate, so not too sweet.  The host told us that these are his favorite and the reason for his very slight belly.

Rocky road bars

The night was over and we walked back to our hotel pleased.  Was this the best meal I've ever had in Yountville?  No.  But it was a good meal and I would definitely recommend it.