We finished up our Napa trip with a meal at Brix. Originally the guys wanted to go to Redd for the tasting menu but they were fully booked. Sam and I were planning on sitting out the Redd tasting menu since it would have been a $200+ hit to feed the both of us. Thankfully Brix was nice enough to give us an early reservation at 5:30 when Redd wasn’t available.
Lots of people = lots of dishes to sample and take pictures!
We got a nice variety of starters to share. The tempura green beans were delicious. Pricey. But delicious. I think the server mentioned something about growing the beans from their own garden. I wasn’t really paying attention since I was drooling over the bread. They bake their own bread and serve it with an awesome butter topped with Alaea sea salt. YUMMERS! 😀
Crispy light tempura green beans! 
I was impressed that they served a tempura that was better than most Japanese restaurants. I still think Okayama still serves up better tempura….
We also got their flatbread to share. It was more like a pizza than flatbread… Came topped with vegetables, proscuitto and creme fraiche.
Since there were non-mussel eaters (Danny who was allergic and yours truly… I can’t get over the mussel gooey-to-chew-ratio) we got clams. The clams were delicious. Divine. Delectable. I’m in love.
Overall in terms of sides, the clams > tempura green beans > flatbread. They were all excellent but the flatbread felt like it was something I could have gotten elsewhere. The toppings were amazing but the crust wasn’t anything to rave about.
I was obsessing about their steak since reading through their menu prior to going up to Napa. Porcini rubbed steak??? I’m in. Topped with trumpet mushrooms? MMMMMmmmm…. Umami delight! Downside is that this steak is wet-aged. And it came with a large slather or blue cheese. *Shudder* For all you blue cheese lovers, please stop reading between the asterisks
***I hate blue cheese. I think its weird. Its moldy. It’s tangy like something went bad. It reminds me of bellybutton fluff. Or toeberry fluff. Bottom line, I don’t like it. ***
Okay blue cheese lovers, you can start reading again. Our server told me that the blue cheese could be put on the side. Thankfully! So let’s review my order: Medium rare, blue cheese on the side. Extra delicious. 😀
Here’s the view of the blue cheese that they put on the side. I think if you zoom in enough, you can actually see some of the fuzz:
I tried the blue cheese. Just a small smidgen. It was probably so small that it was microscopic. With the foods that I absolutely despise (liver, cheese, lamb) I try to muster up the courage to try them again and again at different places just to see if I’d change my mind. Unfortunately that tiny smidgen was pungent enough for me to shudder. And grab a piece of proscuitto off of Ben’s grilled asparagus side to try to cover up the aftertaste since water wasn’t enough to get it out.
The steak I got was medium well. *Grumble* It is especially upsetting when I look over and see Bobby with his lovely red bleeding medium rare steak. The server agreed that it was overcooked and promptly took it back to the kitchen. And then I waited…Â and waited… While everyone else got their entrees.
Ben got the Branzino. It was delicious, and tender, and flaky. Oh branzino fish, you did not die in vain.
Sam got the wild boar. Stupid Yelp. The wild boar was horrible. It was tasteless, bland and textureless. Poor Sam. He had major food envy.
Danny got the duck, in keeping in line with this theory that the cuter the animal was, the tastier it is. I have to say, this probably was a very cute duck since it was delicious. Perfectly tender and the skin was perfect.
And going back to my steak… I still didn’t receive my replacement one yet. I had some of Ben’s branzino… a taste of Danny’s duck… a spoonful of Sam’s dish that was reminiscent of baby food… and then the manager showed up with a fresh steak for me. YIPPEE!!! Except when it was placed in front of me, it was slathered with a huge portion of blue cheese. UGH. I pointed it to him and he had to take it back again. So the waiting started… all over again. By the time our server came with the appropriate steak, everyone was nearly done. I was majorly disappointed with the kitchen. The starters were totally on par but the entrees were two for four. The steak was well seasoned with the porcini rub but the meat itself didn’t develop enough flavor from the aging. The porcini rub and the sauce carried the steak. The steak wouldn’t have carried itself. 
Overall… the hits were huge hits and the misses were huge misses. Takeaway from this meal? Don’t get the wild boar. And pray that your steak is cooked perfectly the first time around.
by Vicky
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