Restaurant Review: The Lounge Menu @ Solage’s Solbar, Calistoga

Why, yes, that is a fried pickle garnish.

For a few weeks now, I’ve been hearing that the Michelin crew is touring the Napa Valley, no doubt making their final determinations for their 2011 Michelin Guide, which is due in stores on October 27th. I will offer my own insightful predictions as that release date approaches, but for now, I need to experience a few things for myself. A lunch at Solbar was long overdue. In fact, I don’t think that I had dined at Solbar at all since they had earned their first Michelin star in the 2010 guide. I’ll be honest, it proves difficult for one person to keep pace with all of the food and wine offered here in the Napa Valley. It’s impossible, really, to stay current with everything, but it is fun to try. That said, I won’t make a Michelin prediction based upon lunch, and especially not a double cheeseburger (pictured above). I’ll eventually revisit Solbar for a proper dinner, although I won’t be ordering the “Lucky Pig” this time around (I’ve proudly tamed that two-person beast in the past).

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Today, I felt that a relaxing late lunch would be the perfect way to reacquaint myself with Solbar, which I’d last visited on a different Tuesday, some time ago, for their fried chicken night. I have to confess, I didn’t care one bit for Solbar’s version of fried chicken, which featured a formidable “shell” of breading that could easily be removed from each piece in just two or three large, crunchy modules. Of course, I do lean heavily towards the “minimal-breading, crispy-skin camp” when it comes to fried yardbird, so this preparation represented a fundamental philosophical difference compared to what I feel is delicious and correct. Then again, one might argue that these preferences are subjective, but I just won’t be convinced that heavily-breaded chicken is anything but clumsy and boorish, a distraction from the bird itself, a culinary transgression against crispy, well-seasoned skin. Subconsciously, I believe that this fried-chicken issue had possibly prolonged my absence from Solbar (that, plus the drive to Calistoga from the City of Napa, where I reside).

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Lunch at Solbar began with the salmon rillette, pictured below, which arrives with an interesting accoutrement. I enjoyed the idea of a freshly-baked pretzel as the starch in this dish. Although toast points might be far more traditional (and intuitive) in this situation, I discovered that the pretzel could actually work quite well in this context. The key for me was to break the pretzel into cork-sized pieces, and then to split each piece open down the middle. Once each segment of the oven-fresh pretzel is splayed open, it can then be loaded heavily with salmon rillette, pickled onions, and Dijon mustard. The pretzel presents a bold twist (pathetic, I apologize) on a classic French first-course that rarely garners too much outside-the-box consideration. To be sure, you certainly won’t be presented with a Phillie-style pretzel if you order the salmon rillette at Bouchon in Yountville (though I do enjoy their version, as well).

The double cheeseburger, pictured above, is easily recognized as such, but the fried pickle garnish tells another story entirely. Hats off for another interesting take on a classic. The deep-fried pickles are a wonderful curiosity, although they’re not ever going to dethrone bacon as the ultimate burger addition. That said, I would argue that nobody can rightfully accuse Solbar of just phoning in their menu. I respect that the cheeseburger at Solbar is a double, by default, making it a very weighty endeavor. Regardless of your appetite, there’s just nothing at all quaint about two delicious hamburger patties hopelessly fused together with a layer of melted yellow cheese (and you’ll notice by the photo, the cheese has had ample time to merge with the meat). I was a little surprised that the waitstaff didn’t inquire about my preferred degree of “doneness” for the burger, but that may have just been an oversight. Regardless, the Solbar cheeseburger was juicy to the last, even though it was cooked to medium-well.