During our outing in Sonoma County, we stopped at the Kenwood Bar and Grill. It’s located on Rte. 12 between Imagery Winery and Chateau St. Jean, two of the places we were visiting. At the Kenwood B & G you can eat inside or out. It is bright and airy. We started by ordering a couple of glasses of wine, an 04 Berthoud chasselas dore. This had kind of pink grapefruity taste which John liked but I did not, so I gave him my glass and ordered the 03 St. Francis chardonnay. It was fine. Then the rolls came and they are really good rolls. Crusty and soft. They are much like my favorite rolls from Legal Seafoods (Boston area and a really fine seafood restaurant.) John then had the shrimp bisque. It was not as rich as the lobster bisque that I had at Emeril’s Seafood House but still good especially after John doctored it up with some additional butter and salt. Some odd things about it were that it had little salad size shrimp in it and was served in a glass salad bowl. For a main course, John had the mussels mueniere. He is a big mussel fan. He said they were very fresh, with no grit and just barely cooked through. They were seasoned with shallots and parsley. He felt that the broth could have used a little more Pernod. I have no opinion. Mussels are too strong for me. I had poached salmon. It was served with a lemon cream sauce. The salmon was soft and lovely, the sauce went well with the new potatoes. There were also some pieces of yellow squash, asparagus (which should have either been peeled or snapped a little closer to the tip), and a giant slab of carrot. The carrot was probably 4 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. I realize that it was cut on the diagonal from a very large carrot but I think smaller pieces would have been better. We both really enjoyed our meals and would dine at the Kenwood Bar and Grill again. You always get a reliably good dining experience.
John grade – B+
Mary grade – B+