Cyrus
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 5:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. - Price Range: $$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Dressy
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: No
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: No
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Full Bar
153 Reviews for Cyrus
Jesus. This is the best restaurant I've ever eaten at. Super expensive, I can only go once every few years. But the truffled red-wine risotto is hands down the best dish I;ve ever had. i also like the different butters and salts they give you. The service was amazing. I never felt like I was being watched, but as soon as you finish, they take away plates. If your wine goes down to a certain level, they refill it. If you leave the table, they lead you to the bathroom. Crazy. My boyfriend got this fois grais dish that he still talks about to this day. Once in a lifetime experience.
Very enjoyable evening. Not a rave, but solid, and many inspiring bites. The highlight was a wine-food pairing that I would never have thought of... a sweet German riesling paired with the foie gras - truly amazing. Other nice bites were the Thai marinated lobster with an Alsace riesling and also the porcini risotto - super rich and delish!
Though expensive, this is not outrageous, and you can definitely do a 3-course meal instead of the tasting menu and leave completely satisfied and not drop a mint. We did 5 courses and were stuffed... next time i will have more restraint - maybe - LOL
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It's hard to dislike Cyrus, although I have never been as blown away as I hoped to be. The dining area is within a small Relais & Chateau hotel, but it only feels hotel-y if they ask you to wait in the lobby, which they did once. The bar is small and cramped, and that was the only place we could fit comfortably as we waited for our table.
The meal starts out with a Champagne and caviar cart, however I find that somewhat pretentious... like people would only go there for special occasions or something. Despite my food snobbiness, I have never warmed up to caviar courses and I don't drink alcohol, so that cart will never park long in front of my table. But it's a unique touch.
At Cyrus, you can choose a certain number of courses that you want (I think the minimum is 3) and then select from a wide range of appetizer-like small plates, heavier meat and everything in between. Dessert is considered a course.
The meal works much like a tasting menu, with portion sizes shrinking as the number of courses increase. I am a HUGE fan of tasting menus, so it is right up my alley, however wine pairing is a lovely part of tasting that I no longer enjoy. But you go ahead... I'm sure they do it well here. The bartender is also EXTREMELY creative, so ask to see the bar menu. I know you're in Wine Country and you want wine, but consider all that he has to offer because the man has serious talent.
The menu changes too often for me to suggest certain dishes, but the wait staff here has always been helpful and willing to make recommendations. Cyrus is appropriate for a special meal, a romantic date, or a swanky rendezvous with friends, but it will cost you a chunk of cash... so find someone else to pay or get to work.
Absolute disaster for the price, which was $325 for one person's portion of the dinner tab. For this kinda cash, go to Manresa, which kicks Cyrus' ass up and down Hwy 101.
We did the 8 course chef's tasting and wine pairing. Service was iffy and disinterested. Our server didnt describe what was on the chef's tasting, telling us it was a surprise, but then proceeded to described the chef's tasting menu to the tables on either side. There were way too long intervals between the courses. The tables were too close together, so when the food arrived, the servers were bumping into one another. The servers flubbed some of the dish descriptions. One member of our party had dietary restrictions, which they forgot when replacing utensils and wine pairing glasses.
Dont have a problem with the wine pairings except that the dude pouring the wine could hardly pronounce the names and regions. Cocktails were good, and are served with silver straws, for what that's worth.
I did like the caviar and accompaniments, such as creme fraiche, diced chive, crumbled egg and potato cakes. This was an additional $40.
Good roll options: olive, lemon, gruyer, sourdough, etc.
In general, the food was EXTREMELY salty. One course, the poached lobster, served with a poached egg and sea urchin paste, turned my stomach. I dont think there was anything wrong with the dish, but combination was disgusting. I actually had to throw-up after that course was cleared from the table, but I felt much better afterward and could complete the meal. The duck and lamb dishes were good.
The woman sitting next to us was thoroughly annoying, and we were forced to listen to her chatter incessantly due to the proximity of the tables.
They give you a brownie and a copy of the menu and wine pairings to take with you at the end of the meal, which is a good idea so you know what wines you tried.
All in all, not worth the money. I might go back for cocktails at the bar, but wouldnt bother with the food.
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Oh I think my food baby from this dinner is finally going away. I thought it was a really great meal. I kind of wish I got the 3 course meal instead of the 4 course meal. I didn't realize there would be all these little complimentary meals in between the 4 other meals I chose. (hence the food baby that appeared after this lovely meal)
2 weeks ago: Make reservations on opentable.com I ended up getting a 5:30 reservation. I thought at first it would be too early but it ended up being the perfect time. My friend and I didn't leave Cyrus till around 8pm.
My friend and I arrived a few minutes early for our reservation. The greeter stated that they are just getting the finishing touches done with the dining area. So we waited in the lobby of the very fancy hotel that houses Cyrus. After a few minutes they grabbed us from the lobby and escorted us to our tables.
When we sat down at our table a server greeted us and presented us with a caviar champagne menu. My friend and I decided against it since I heard the courses were quite filling.
We were then presented with the dinner & wine menu. The waiter was very nice and answered all our questions regarding the menu.
My friend and I ended up deciding on the following menu:
MY FRIEND:
Roasted Beets with Goat Cheese, Arugula and Pistachios
Seared Foie Gras with Cherry-Almond Doughnut
Crispy Poussin with Potato Puree, Haricots Verts and Morels
Artisanal and Farmhouse Cheeses Presented Tableside
ME: (German Riesling)
Thai Marinated Lobster with Avocado, Melon and Hearts of Palm
Terrine of Foie Gras with Lychee & Duck Confit, Toasted Crumpets
Lamb Loin with Cranberry Beans and Cippolini Onion, Vin Santo sauce
Floral Dessert
Every dish we had was amazing. All the dishes were perfectly presented and perfectly made. No dish, I felt, was over cooked.
I really never felt so pampered in my life. Each course was served to us at the same exact time. Dishes were cleared out in a timely fashion. New utensils were always given after every course. The table was always cleaned up after each course. The bread basket came around in a timely fashion (BTW the goats milk butter is DIVINE). When I got out of my seat to wash my hands in the rest room I was guided by a server to the restroom. I thought the service was great and very tastefully done. It didn't come off as fake at all to me. It felt really genuine. Maybe I'm a sucker for feeling that but after getting presented with a menu of what my friend and I had during our meal WITH my name printed on it along with more after dinner snacks in a box, it definitely made me feel like a princess for a few hours.
Price wise it didn't seem bad to me at all. I've spent about the same amount of money in NYC in a less formal place and didn't get the same type of service I received here. But I'm probably comparing apples to oranges.
I think next time I head here I'll have try a tasting menu with a wine pairing. Or at least have the wine pairing with the 3 course meal. YUM!
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Has Cyrus has gone downhill lately? There are a lot a bad reviews recently, I noticed they usually mention price. Is that the issue here? You pay ~$300 per person, so what?
I have been here twice, chef's tasting menu both times. The first time was not long after they opened, it was and still is the best meal I've ever had. Every single course blew me away! The service was perfect, the staff was gracious, everything was perfect.
The second time I went was in 2007, is wasn't as good as the first time, it was only the second best meal I've ever had :) Every dish was very well executed, though I didn't find everything to be amazing. Maybe my expectations are too high for food now; the flavors were all great, everything worked well together, I just wasn't consistently blown away.
The service both times was so perfectly executed I have trouble believing it has gone so downhill that people could complain about it. It wasn't warm, that's true, it was machine-like in its perfection. But how can you complain about a place with a staff full of people fulfilling your every need?
Cyrus is the best restaurant I've ever been to. If you want to splurge, and aren't going to be one of these people that complains about the price, I highly recommend going.
This is a hard review. The food was good, but not good enough for what they are charging. The service also needs to be dramatically improved.
First things first - the tables are too close together. We were forced to listen to everyone around us ordered. The waiter's canned patter stopped being cute and the woman sitting next to us was not nearly as clever or amusing as she thought she was. Listening to her inane commentary really ruined my experience. There was frequently a traffic jam when we were being served. Rather than waiting for the person with the bread tray to clear our area, our servers would just barge right in. NOT professional. If they can get this right at Naan 'n curry, they should get this right here.
The person serving our wine couldn't pronounce the wine. The wrong place settings were placed in front of the wrong people. Our comments on preferences as far as cheese go were totally ignored. ("I don't like goat cheese," "well, there will be others on the plate." ) At the end of the evening, our server was literally staring off at another table while taking our order.
As far as the food, I agree, way, way too salty. Some of it was also just bizarre. Who really wants to each salted cucumber jell-o? Just because you can do it, does't mean you should. The poached lobster was stringy and tough.
My recommendation? Cocktails and maybe some bar food. No need to stay for dinner.
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It was good but not great. I think I was there when the chef was off though. it just didn't seem to click. some flavors were just very unbalanced.
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Ok, I know people see 3 stars for this place and think, "they've got to be crazy", so let me explain.
First of all, the place was good. The food was solid, the service excellent and the presentation and environment exceptional. It truly is a bit of theatre to dine at Cyrus.
So, why the 3 stars? Here it is:
There were 4 of us and we all had the chef's tasting with wine paring. 130 for food and 89 for wine. So 220 a person sans tax and tip.
*The uniforms of the waiters, every one of them, was visibly dirty. They wore black suits and look like they hadn't been cleaned in days.
*Timing of the dishes was not consistent. Some were fast, others were slow. Some might dismiss that as 'timing due to the portions, but I seriously doubt it.
*The food was arranged exceptionally well and the ingredients were top notch, however the taste was off; most of the dishes never 'sang'.
*The wine was good and unique; the parings were, for the most part, right on.
*The service was exceptional and our waiter, busser, everyone did outstanding jobs. Really couldn't be better.
After dining at quince, french laundry, michael mina's, aqua, 5th floor, masa, postrio and many others, I can tell you confidently that the overall experience at cyrus was good, but not great. To be honest, it felt that they're resting on their laurels a bit and that since everyone says they're great, they must be great.
Don't forget, this was 220 a person. For that price, it must be an exceptional experience all around.
If anyone from Cyrus is reading this, please know that I respect your restaurant and if anything you should take this as a caution to not ever rest in this industry, you never know when a real food critic might show up.
sincerely
-RA
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Wow. After three small tasting courses, I was full. That is gauge number one of a quality, gourmet, freaking delicious restaurant. After nine courses (chef's tasting - fucking phenomenal) I was not physically ill. I was stuffed but not I just ate a burger and fries stuffed. More like I just ate the best food of my life stuffed.
The wine list was great and the service was exceptional. The waiters and waitresses timed placing our plates on the table and coordinating pouring sauces and other delightful things over our food. It was highly impressive. We also got full descriptions of everything we were eating. I'll tell you what we were eating. DELICIOUSNESS. Try Cyrus, seriously, do it. Now.
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Everyone seems so impressed with this place, but I have to say I was slightly disappointed for a couple reasons...
We wanted to go "all-out" for our 9th anniversary, so my husband ordered 5 courses and I ordered 4 courses (which was later billed as 5 courses b/c my huband said yes to 6 tastes of cheese @ the end, instead of 3, but no one explained that this would be considered an extra course??...but hey- what's an extra $15 when you're already throwing down more than $500 on dinner for 2?). In addition, we both had individual wine pairings w/ each course.
We did not have any coffee or dessert @ the end b/c I seriously could not fit one single more thing into my belly (In fact after the 3rd course, I had to sneak off to the restroom to unzip the back of my tight dress and then wear my jacket to hide my exposed backside for the rest of the dinner! Note to self: wear looser clothing when going our to fancy dinners!!!)
Each individual course (plus all of the "amuse bouches") were beautifully presented and tasted amazing, but collectively I felt that everything was too rich. I wish that the waitstaff had better advised us on which items would go together, b/c the net result was that I felt over-stuffed and nauseous by the time the 4th course arrived...
Unfortunately, my 4th course also happened to be the most expensive one: the imported Japanese beef strip loin (which comes w/ a $17 supplemental fee). The meat was amazingly marbled & tender, but the porcini sauce was so salty, it was almost inedible.
I think our two favorite dishes of the evening, were the thai marinated lobster and the soft shell crab...both were simply divine!!!
Most of the waitstaff was quite good with the exception of the guy who handled the cheese cart @ the end. I asked him how long he'd been working with cheese, and he said that all of the servers there are trained on the cheeses they offer. He was probably about our age (30-something), and was actually quite snobby. As he was going through each cheese description, my husband (who works in the gourmet food business and has a special interest in cheese), started a friendly discussion about one of the specific cheeses on offer. He'd recently met the proprietor, who'd come to his store to do a training, so he was describing how it was made, and the caves they built to age it, etc. The cheese server acted like he couldn't have been less interested in the story.
I'm sorry, but if we're paying for a 2 michelin star dining experience, I would expect the wait-staff to be warm, gracious, and interested in whatever discussion the patrons have to offer, in an effort towards making you feel welcome and appreciated. This guy's attitude left us feeling cold, and unfortunately put a sour note on the end of an overall lovely meal.
Would I go back? probably not. While the food was great and it's worth trying at least once, I'd say the price tag seemed exorbidant. We spent less $$$ at Gary Danko for last year's anniversary, and the food was equally as good, but the service was a whole lot friendlier...
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How did this place get so many bad reviews? Of course it's expensive. You don't come here for a regular meal, you come here for an extravagant meal.
For my birthday I told my boyfriend not to get me any gifts but to take me out for an amazing meal instead. We had a great time, despite the fact that we were both on the verge of vomming afterward. We ordered the 8-course tasting menu with wine pairings. If you're going to go big, then go all the way. In addition to all the courses, they brought out all these extra apertifs and palette cleansers and desserts. I wish I hadn't eaten anything else that day. The wines were paired so beautifully with the food I think it was definitely worth getting the pairing.
A couple of the waiters were sort of douchey, but when you have 9 different people waiting on your every desire I can deal with that. Besides it gave us something to laugh about.
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WOW. Wooooooow.
The weekend was too pre-planned for us to have dinner here, but we did stop in at the bar for some the best cocktails we've ever had. If not THE best. Impeccable - I mean, truly flawlessly polished - service, lovely atmosphere, and did I mention the cocktails?
A trio of micromarigolds garnish the white peach Bellinis, ruffly pink carnation petals, the tipsily-dropped bloomers of angels, top the Olloliberry Go Lightly, and OMf'gG the basil, spearmint & coconut milk rum creation, served with a stainless steel cocktail straw, was jaw-droppingly good.
Apparently we missed out on the Rhubarbarella, as not all the ingredients were available or in season. Hee hee - besides the fresh, seasonal & locally-sourced ingredients & garnishes, the great names make 'em that much more fun to order!
Truly spectacular bar.
The Monarch of Mixology, Scott Beattie, authored the most entertaining cocktail menu in the history of boozing, which we read whilst we sipped, and which, happily, is also available online: http://www.cyrusrestau...
The beau was delighted by Mr. Beattie's description of Fernet (SERIOUSLY delighted, as he and his best guy friend are Fernet worshippers in teh extreme - hehehe). The bartender and menu provided an entertaining & informative lesson in Amaros.
We cannot wait to go back and have a full meal... and MANY more of their outstanding cocktails!
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Excellent Food, great presentation, and wonderful service. I liked how all the portions were small, but there are so many different tasting options that you slowly start to fill up. They give you lots of "free stuff" before-during-and after the meal.
We ordered the chef tasting menu, it started off slow with a cucumber consumme, then a vegatable-salmon soup. Both were lighter and were a good way to start the meal, then it started to get a bit more savory. We a had a very tasty foie gras and apricot spread. The fattyness of the foie gras went well with the sweetness of the apricot. Then we had a maine lobster, egg, and sea urchid dish. This was only okay. The flavors didn't really mix together, and the egg overpowered everything.
Following that was an excellent duck and mushroom dish. Probably the best duck I've ever had. Then this was followed with some Kobe beef, very fatty...good. I can see why people spend $150 for a piece of this. Best beef I've had, I only wish the portion was bigger. Outside was slightly seared, and inside was medium rare and marbleized.
Dessert was only okay. I would give this portion of the meal 3 stars. The first dessert was a lemon fizz - rhubard sorbet. Very original, not too sweet, but just kinda of missed the mark for me. The second desert was a chocolate-strawberry brownie-cookie thing. I found this to be a bit dry, and the chocolate wasn't very rich. I just expected a bit more...
Overall Cyrus is an excellent restaurant, but given the price I couldn't give it 5 stars.
If you are contemplating a nice dinner to enjoy a special occasion away from the hustle and bustle of the Bay Area, you need to consider Cyrus. Located way up north in Healdsburg, it has been mentioned as rivaling the likes of French Laundry and Gary Danko. It is situated off the main street in town within a upscale hotel and the setting is warm and romantic. I'd recommend to dress slightly better than casual and expect a 2-3 hour stay.
The food is served as a (you pick) 3,5, or 8 course (tasting menu) that does change with the season and availability of items. Before that menu even comes, you are offered the optional caviar and champagne menu where you can choose from several variations in 1/2 or full oz. Served with fried little biscuits and mini potato lakas, as well as the condiment tray of creme fraiche, chives and egg yolks.
Being that my lady doesn't eat much, I ended up with 10 course meal for myself (5+5). Their dishes focus on the full range of flavors by having sweet, salty and sour with almost every dish. The chef does send out mini tastes to either kick off you meal or to clean your palate. Every dish is served simultaneously with your other parties dish, as if the servers were competing in a synchronized event. With so many dishes, my favorites include:
*Waygu (the real marbleize Japanese meat) Strip Loin of Beef with Gnocchi, Maitakes and Ramps
*Sea Bass with Sweet Corn and Spring Onions, Mussel-Saffron Sauce
*Pappardelle with Braised Rabbit and Red Cabbage, Mustard Froth
*Pea and Pancetta Risotto, Parmesan Broth
*Thai Marinated Lobster
Their desserts are served as themes (carnival, sweet&sour, floral) with each plated with a number of goodies. The carnival isn't to be missed with the cracker jack topped with peanut butter mousse, lime shaved ice with mint ice cream, rocky road marshmallow, and raspberry taffy! I couldn't even take more than 2 sips of my coffee after that dish.
Cyrus' focus once you sit down is all about you and you having a memorable experience. Since it was my lady's birthday, they greeted her several times happy birthday and brought out an additional birthday dessert of chocolate chips, as well as printing out a menu with her name and the occasion after the meal. Customized service and the wide range of flavors, makes Cyrus a restaurant that deserves to be spoken among the same class as French Laundry and Gary Danko.
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A destination restaurant with all the fan fare to back it up. Truly in the top 10 restauraunts in the world. The Le Mars Hotel is equally spectacular housed inside the same location.
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Finally a place that deserves all of the praise heaped upon it!
Firstly, being a budding mixologist myself, I was immediately enamored by Scott Beattie and his nuevo cocktails while waiting at the hotel bar. He is the Alice Waters of the new cocktail set. Each of our cocktails was phenomenal, with local fresh quality ingredients making infused cocktail flavor explosions the likes of which I had never experienced before. Rumor is his first book will be available this fall (2008) through 'Ten Speed Press'. I plan to give copies to all of my friends for the holidays.
I also tend to judge service nearly as highly as I rate food as part of the overall dining experience. Although I have yet to eat at French Laundry, Cyrus was the best service experience I have EVER had. It seemed there was nearly a 1:1 ratio of servers to patrons. There is also a fine line between attentive service and hovering. Plates seemed to vanish almost immediately after each course was completed, but was never intrusive. The only thing they didn't do was wipe my butt after going to the bathroom. ;^}
The food was also a wonderful new taste treat with each of us having random selections off of the three course menu after starting with the caviar. Portions were a tad small in some cases, probably exacerbated by the nibbling off of everyone else's plates, but the option existed to add other courses at additional cost.
The total w/tip for 4 exceeded $700 (including wine but not bar), so this is a special occasion place for me only... until I win the Lotto. Although, it was definitely worth the one-time experience. Unfortunately, other places now only seem to pale by comparison.
Exceptional food.
Exceptional serivce.
Exceptional atmosphere.
Exceptional prices (but as you'd expect for a truly exceptional place).
Exceptional.
If you love cocktails and you make your reservations at Cyrus, you must arrive at least 15 minutes to half an hour early, and sit at the bar, have a drink, and speak to Scott Beattie, reigning mixologist extraordinaire. His creations are nothing but inspired, with combinations and tastes and scents amazing and exquisite. Danny D. and I had one each of the 4 featured new cocktails, which change with the season. We started with a Meyer Beautiful, gorgeous and subtle, lemony, foamy, perfectly sweet-sour; contrasted with the bold lemongrass, ginger and chili flavors of the Hot Indian Date, topped with house-pickled hearts of palm. By the way: Scott recommends the following for cocktails in SF: Absinthe (the *one* who started it all); and Bourbon & Branch.
Sipping Scott's concoctions at the bar was a lovely way to start a beautiful evening...
Via Opentable I had requested a table under some lighting (in order to take better photos) and the hosts acknowledged this and actually gave us a choice of seats - a nice banquette where we could cuddle up next to each other, or a smaller round table directly under a lamp whose light pooled nicely on the tabletop. We opted for the better lighting.
No other than the owner and maitre d'hotel Nick Peyton himself came to provide an introduction to the menu, and ask about our wine pairings. As I am sorely underequipped for imbibing copious amounts of alcohol, I can never really handle the accompanying wine pairing for each course. Rather than trying to choose 2-3 wines to accompany the tasting menu, Nick suggested sharing the full pairing with my companion. This is something we've done before, and it has worked out well for us.
And it must be said that we loved both butters provided-- a very pale, very pungent, very barnyardy goat cheese, and an amazing salted traditional beurre... sooo good. It was all I could do to restrain myself from gobbling the lot down...
The tasting menu was fairly similar to what Steven S. had below, with a few differences:
Amuse: Canapes - a tower of tiny bites that represent the various tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter & umami. We got spoonfuls of this and teeny bits of that; it was fun and playful and a good way to finish up the rest of my cocktail.
Amuse: Smidgeon of Kampachi - with streaks of banyuls vinegar and parsnip puree (I think?)
First Course: Waygu beef with oxtail and umeshu (plum liquor) consomme -- I agreed with the boy that this was a pretty bold way to start off the tasting menu, but it definitely was fantastic.
2nd Course: Salt cured Foie Torchon studded with ham, serves with dates and sherry gastrique. The Schmitt Riesling paired with this dish elevated it to the sublime, but then, how could one really go wrong with foie?
3rd Course: Red Snapper (Tai) with another consomme of oolong tea, served over soba noodles and crab. This time our captain came and condoned the boy's slurping the last of the consomme from the shallow plate -- "It's permitted here, you know..."
4th Course: Trio of Duck -- the breast portion was the best, and for some reason I cannot remember the other two preparations; we were served 2 wine pairings with this dish: a fantastic Pinot Noir from Lutea; and a very sweet Riesling Spatlese.
5th Course: Veal Loin wrapped in bacon & chard; mushrooms and sweetbreads; rosti potatoes (good flavors, but just a little too salty).
Intermezzo: a tiny bite of something gloriously refreshing, perched on sticks, lined up like teensy little lollipops...served with a flourish and instructions to take the whole lot in one bite
6th Course: the cheese course -- a variety of generously-sliced cheeses, served with paneforte, candied macadamias & pecans (having just had an amazing cheese plate at Cav 2 weeks prior, I sort of missed the truffle honey) - we could have sworn someone was behind the captain, writing our selections down, but we didn't find any reference to them in our customized menu.
7th courses: Desserts - Rhubarb Spoom with lemon fizz (--think of a light airy rhubarb foam, nestled in a cool soup with tapioca-like "noodles"--) very refreshing, and a very welcome part of the evening); chocolate beignets and creme fraiche? ice cream; mignardises. The wine pairing for these two courses was an amazing rosy red and sparkling Brachetto ... definitely an unexpected highlight of the evening.
Take-home: leftover mignardises and individually-packaged brownies
All in all, a fantastic experience. I didn't experience the same levels of food coma post French Laundry, but was pretty close. I'm not sure that the quality and execution is as refined as TFL; but I'm glad Cyrus is there; that it's not difficult to get into; and as long as Scott Beattie is behind the bar, there's a double reason for us to return...
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The experience is well worthwhile. Even doing the 3-course menu, it is immensely satisfying. I had foie gras terrine, risotto with many forms of peas (including vines and snap peas) and parmesan foam, and soft shell crab with soba noodles and oolong broth. It's exciting and a gift to be given the chance to eat new flavors you've never had before.
The sommelier helped us with wine. Despite being reasonably wine-literate, the list was overwhelming. We ended up with an interesting Southern Italian wine that is extremely rare, where the wine is fermented underground in amphora, following an ancient technique. How f-in' cool is that!?! Again, it's getting an experience that I would never have had without the help of the wonderful service.
We caved and shared a dessert which was the tart and tangy themed one. Delicious, and it lived up to its name. Then they fill you up with candies and send you home with brownies for tomorrow(?). Cyrus, an excellent meal. You deserve your Michelin stars!
OH MY GOD.
All around, Cyrus was an incredible experience. My BF and I went there during a stay in Healdsburg (at Hotel Healdsburg, just a 2 min walk from Cyrus), and the restaurant did not disappoint.
We both had the tasting menu paired with a nice bottle of wine. The dining experience started as soon as we sat down for what turned out to be a 2.5 hour meal. What was most impressive was the pacing -- unlike some tasting menus that can leave you feeling cramped and overfilled, Cyrus did a great job of portioning the dishes properly. In addition to the 5 star food, the service was impeccable, as well.
And in the style of Gary Danko (the chef did a stint at Danko), you leave with a boxed treat for the next day and a printed menu of all that you feasted on.
I'm not going to go into detail about the dishes -- just go!
When: Sat, May 03, 2008
Time: 8 pm
Occassion: Birthday
We got the 8-course tasting menu ($120) with regular wine pairing ($89). We couldn't justify getting the grand tasting wine pairing - at $185, it was more expensive than the meals. But had we known that the regular wine pairing did not work well with the food, we might have splurged on the grand tasting. The wine factor knocked 1 star off.
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Ate here with a friend Sunday, the 1st of June.
It was a difficult choice for me between 4 and 5 stars for this review. Why? Because I felt that my dinner at the Laundry around a month ago was simply better, and realistically, not that much more expensive.
Ended up going with 5-stars though, simply because the food was still amazing, easily the second-best meal I've ever had. Also, the service and staff were much more friendly and knowledgeable than the Laundry. It's a very casual place for a really fancy dinner, which is always a lot of fun. Pretentiousness causes indigestion, after all ;)
We did the 8-course tasting menu and all of the dishes were creative and tasty. One of the better ones was lobster with a poached egg - brilliant because the egg yolk seemed to compliment the flavor of the lobster better than clarified butter does. My favorite dish was duck served with creamed corn and chanterelle mushrooms, the tastes blended together perfectly. Also it made eating the second dish (foie gras) more amusing; after four well-portioned previous courses I almost felt like *I* was being force fed corn (and the duck too!).
I would think in the future this restaurant would be better just to go with a simple 3 or 4-course meal. You don't get the whole experience, but you do get great food (set to the courses you want the most rather than eating what you get) and a faster meal. Sure, it's nice spending 3+ hours eating here - especially if you're with good company like I was - but who has the time to do that on a regular basis?
Overall I would highly recommend giving Cyrus a shot. It's not quite the French Laundry, but the service is certainly a lot less stuffy, it's far easier to get into, and the food is still above and beyond virtually everything else out there.
My boyfriend took me here for our 1 year anniversary. It was soooooooooo awesome.
I guess what we have in the Bay Area is pretty special because we have many, many great restaurants to choose from. Tasting unique food, or creative dishes has become so common. But even in this crowd, Cyrus stood out. Everything tasted fresh and all the dishes had a creative twist, and the presentation was excellent.
What really set Cyrus apart was the service. Everyone, from the waiter to the person passing out the bread, knew it was our anniversary! They really made me feel cared for, and at the end, they even printed a menu of what we ate for us to keep.
I should warn you, though, don't underestimate the amount of food. We did the 3 course tasting menu. My boyfriend was actually thinking of the 4 course... with all the dessert and in-between stuff they throw in there, 3 course was plenty of food!
I had a big smile walking out of this place and I know my boyfriend felt it was money well spent. I guess that's the real test of any good place.
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This may be the easiest 5 star rating I have ever given.
They do everything just right, the waitstaff can read a table like a 2nd grade school book.
I cannot even begin to tell you just how much I loved the food and each preparation. But I can tell you what I had and it will make your mouth water.
For my starter, I went with the Green garlic, potato and buttermilk with poached egg soup. The soup was perfectly seasoned and was complex yet retained it's roots of a true comfort food.
My second course was one of the most heavenly created risottos I have ever encountered. Pea, pancetta in a parmesan broth that I still dream about. Cooked not a minute too long and not a second too short. The brilliance and colors were amazing with the presentation making me all hot and bothered the minutes I set eyes on it.
My third course was off the menu and included a mini surf and turf, scallop with red lentils and a fillet of beef with a fois gras sauce reduction. ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Need I say more??
Of course a cheese course and dessert followed.
I had to be rolled out the front door.
Sweet dreams!
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My personal menu (which they printed out and gave to us in the form of a card):
- Canapes (free - to activate all your taste buds)
- Amuse Bouche (free)
- A Tasting of Asparagus
- Pappardelle with Rabbit and red cabbage, mustard froth
- Three presentations of duck
- Artisanal and farmhouse cheeses with breads, fruits, and accompaniments
Everything was very good and tasty. Would go over and over. Minus one star because they carded for wine... I guess everyone around us DID have white hair and a 4-door Jaguar sedan.
Plan on spending at least $400-500 for two people with wine, but worth it!
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Really delicious food, have to agree that service makes the difference. Otherwise we get too spoiled here in the Bay Area / wine country with lots of great restaurants. If you aren't planning to drink lots of wine, you can ask them to choose wines to suit particular courses rather than the whole thing. Just be wary...the German riesling that the sommelier picked out for our lobster and foie gras courses was $20 for the glass.
We managed to snag the 5:30 pm reservation for 2 people on Opentable for Saturday, tends to be booked about a week or two in advance.
We did the prix fixe with a couple glasses of wine (perfect!). I highly suggest sharing the cheese plate and dessert.
As an FYI, the "Waygu (the real marbleize Japanese meat) Strip Loin of Beef with Gnocchi, Maitakes and Ramps" is an extra $35.
Here's our menu:
Appetizers:
- Canapes
- Amuse Bouche
Course 1:
- Thai Marinated Lobster with Avocado, Mango, and Hearts of Palm (his, looks just like the picture)
- Seared foie gras with ginger-pineapple pain perdu, rum flambe (mine) - this was the rum flambe version with pixie dust (cinnamon) and pineapple syrup something to cool it off. Very big piece of foie gras...yum!
Course 2:
- Terrine of foie gras with rhubarb and sassafras, toasted crumpets (his) - this is the spreadable foie gras, also large piece of foie. Very creamy.
- Sea bass with sweet corn and spring onions, mussel-saffron sauce (mine) - sea bass was seared/lightly fried with skin on, sweet corn was mashed for a good grainy texture
Course 3:
- Lamb loin with black rice, haricot verts, capers and raisins (his)
- Crispy poussin "Grand Mere", thyme jus (mine) - chicken dish, very similar to the picture, greens were different
Course 4: Cheese and Dessert
- Artisanal and farmhouse cheeses with breads, fruits, and accompaniments (his, but we shared) - goat cheese with creme fraiche, blue cheese, stinky cheese (was under the glass cover). Served with ginger soaked fuji apples, mixed nuts, and pan forte - a fruitcake like thing made in house (tasted like fruit and nuts pressed together)
- Tart and Tangy (other options were Flowers and Carnival)
Passion fruit baked alaska, apricot tartlet, and lemon almond custard (mine, but we shared)
Apertif (well, we had this with coffee):
- Mignardises: loved the dark chocolate one, the praline melt-away in cocoa powder really melts in your mouth, raspberry pain du fruit was also very good
I came here the week they opened and again about 2 years later. It feels like a more relaxed Gary Danko....if you aren't doing the full tasting menu you can select 3, 4, or 5 courses (you can have 5 apps if you want...me personally I would get 5 rounds of the damn cheese cart). It's formal, but being in wine country it didn't feel stuffy.
So I did not get to eat here, my husband did(sniff sniff hint hint). He brought me back desert and it was lovely. They even printed the menu for him and I am green over the selections he had. Anyhow it is the second best brownie I had in my life. First going to Greyston. I cant wait to eat here and indulge my inner gourmand. Curse you Yelp you always make me hungry.
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This review is for the bar only.
I have been begging and pleading with just about anyone to accompany me to this restaurant. For some reason the desperation in my voice, until now, has driven people away from this place instead of towards it. Well I have finally gotten my way, albiet only to the bar, but I consider this a stepping stone.
I headed up to wine country this weekend to enjoy the annual Sonoma Barrel Tasting event with a few (read 13) other women. Most behaved responsibly and worked through Friday, but I got all naughty and ditched out on work. My partners in crime both decided to do the same so we arrived early in Healdsburg and had time to relax (read: Drink) before the others arrived.
I convinced the ladies to pull up barstools at Cyrus and we were blown away! We all started out with the signature cocktails that this place is known for. I had a meyer lemon concoction completed with grey and black sea salt on the rim and an egg white float. My friends both had cocktails with oranges and tangerines, a nod to the new springtime weather. They were AMAZING.
We also splurged and ordered and ounce of caviar, OMYGOD. Wow, it arrived with thin potato and latka cakes and all the necessary accoutrements. We also got the three cheese platter with amazing walnut bread and fig crackers. Seriously, uncommonly amazing.
I would love to return for dinner but for now this was the perfect compromise. The bar scene was quite bumping so I would recommend getting their early, particularly on a weekend. We arrived at 5 on the dot and had quite a nice time chatting with the bartenders before the crowd descended. This was an amazing treat.
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Cyrus, to me, is a simple equation, the ingredients used don't travel more than 100 miles. Lettuce cut that morning, fish caught the night before, Niman Ranch Beef, local lamb, etc... freshness is an understatement. A skilled, charming and humble chef Douglas Keane seems to prepare what could easily deemed next to perfect simple cuisine, each bite of food cooked and seasoned to maximize each flavor to the fullest. The Chef is surrounded by Jim Rollston, sommelier phenom and a wait staff that reflects the training required to be true to their art and business, haut cuisine.
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Simply put, I've had some wonderful and amazing meals over the course of my life-time... This was the best.
Food, ambiance, pre-dinner cocktails, wait-staff... Did I mention the food?
One word... UNBELIEVABLE!
Just go...
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The hour hand struck midnight, and a few seconds after, Nick Peyton (the Maitre 'd transplant from Gary Danko, SF) took the sword, ran it up the shaft of the quad-magnum Champagne bottle, caught the cork and popped it right off. The cork shot into a white table cloth held up by to waiters. What a show that followed 'the Show' by Chef Douglas Keane (Gary Danko's foremer sous chef).
The tripod presentation of four amuse bouches was explained they represented the four tastes: sweet, sour, salty and bitter. It not only represented the four tastes, but they tickled my tongue. Wait! My tongue laughed out loud with pleasure.
For the New Year's Eve offering, my wife and I each had the four course tasting, of course, we chose six different options (so we could share each other's meal), and both had the one dessert offered. The French-Asian fusion menu did not disappoint: Foie gras, soup with poached egg, lobster, seared bass, duck three ways, and rack of lamb were perfect: moisture, crispiness, smoothness, plus succulent, and temperature was just right.
My wife and I shared a half bottle of pinot noir; and sparkling water. The bread was rustic and there was the traditional unsalted butter; and a mild goat milk butter.
Though the dessert flambe made with pineapple and topped with creme fraiche was elaborate, it was not what we expected to end the meal. The 'soda pop' dessert drink was playful -like a sarsaparilla pop. The metal tube was the straw. The pleasant surprise was the brownie in the Cyrus box we got to take home...rich and chocolaty.
The service was not pretentious, but approachable, humorous at times, and friendly. They answered all our questions we had on the menu. They passed our napkin fold test (when one of us leaves the table, the napkin is folded by the wait staff before we return to the table).
The Champagne was flowing that night; and definitely, the compliments were too! We're having to come back to Cyrus and have a better choice of desserts.
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Absolutely, positively the best dining experience I've ever had. Romantic setting, sumptuous 7 course tasting menu, and stellar service made this a night to remember. We ordered from the caviar cart to start. As soon as we finished the last potato Johnny cakes, a new plate arrived silently without request. Now that's service...
The chef is not stuffy. He experiments with classic California cuisine and adds modern, asian influences. Douglas Keane wants guests to enjoy the experience-If you want to modify the 7-course tasting menu to suit your needs-no problem! Seared Foie Gras, Beef Wellington with wasabi froth, fresh seafood, cheese cart with dried fruits, wow.
Our waiter encouraged us to take some of the petit fours home as we were satiated on great Napa Valley wine and food, and presented a menu with our name printed out at the top to remind us of our fantastic culinary adventure. Bravo.
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