Great Expectations

After meeting famed Google chef Charlie Ayers when we went to scope out his new restaurant, Calafia, last week, we were excited to try this spot in Town & Country Shopping Center here in Palo Alto.  So, on a rainy Sunday, we decided to have brunch.  It seems to me that brunch is much more popular on the east coast than the west.  I have always enjoyed this combo meal.  It makes it easy to dine with a group on a lazy weekend day and satisfy the cravings of all.  

First of all, I love the design of the restaurant.  It's inviting, with lamps made out of recycled milk bottles and lots of warm wood.  There are two dining counters, one at the front window and the other facing the open kitchen.  The kitchen is streamlined and includes a gigantic panini grill and wood-burning pizza oven. The chef himself was cooking on our visit which I took as a good sign.

We ordered coffee while perusing the menu.  Our server explained that Calafia creates its own blend from three different types of beans.  I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but I tried a cappuccino and it was tasty.  Lots of foam like I like it.  Georges had an espresso (surprise!) which he deemed good, but not as good as the Mayfield Bakery next door.  There's also a full wine list and an assortment of Shoju cocktails, but not a full bar.  

The menu, as expected, is split between breakfast fare and lunch offerings.  We ordered Tobias' Famous Coffee Cake, Lamb Sausage and Eggs and the Smoked Salmon with Red Pepper Hollandaise and Crispy Potato Cake.  While we sipped coffee and the house-filtered water, we watched other diners and tried to see their plates.  The atmosphere was lively and plates seemed to be going back to the kitchen empty.  Another good sign.  

Here's where expectation meets reality.  The coffeecake was pretty good, if a little dry, but it had fresh apples which were a nice surprise.  Then came the entrees. First, Georges' eggs arrived fried, not scrambled as requested.  The plate was quickly changed out, but the eggs were overcooked.  The lamb sausage were delicious.  The smoked salmon dish looked beautiful, except for the blackened potato cake underneath.  The eggs were perfectly poached and the salmon was silky.  However, each bite was ruined by the burned potatoes. After trying to suffer through, I had to tell the waiter (Chad) when he came over to check on us.  He was apologetic and fetched me a much better cooked hash brown from the kitchen.  I transferred the remaining benedict to the new potatoes and got an idea of how the dish should taste.  The hollandaise was well prepared, but not as flavorful as one would expect.  Unfortunately, I think my palate had suffered too long with the burned potato and I could not overcome that taste.  

My first impression of Calafia is mixed.  The atmosphere and service were good, but the food, which I really wanted to love, was not up to par.  We saw many other plates going out with the burned hash browns.  That is not acceptable at a restaurant at this level.  One of the keys to the locavore/organic movement is to simplify the cooking method to let the flavor of the food shine through.  Mistakes like this kill the flavor of all the elements of a dish.  That said, I will give the restaurant another chance, for lunch or dinner.  In a few weeks, they will also open their Market a Gogo, a Whole Foods style marketplace of prepared foods and an organic soup and salad bar and I'll report on that in a separate review.