THIS RESTAURANT IS TEMPORARILY CLOSED Campton Place Restaurant Awards

THIS RESTAURANT IS TEMPORARILY CLOSED Campton Place Restaurant Restaurant Review:

About the restaurant and décor: EDITOR'S NOTE: Srijith Gopinathan is no longer executive chef.

Is it because the iconic Taj Campton Place hotel is owned by an Indian company that an Indian chef was brought in to direct the kitchen? Or, is it simply because of chef Srijith Gopinathan’s talent and he just happens to hail from India? In any case, chef Gopinathan has kept the reputation of the fine-dining Union Square restaurant intact, even bringing it to another level --- a few important chefs have come through these doors in the past, like Laurent Manrique, Brian Ogden and Daniel Humm. The décor, under a sculpted glass flower chandelier softly illuminating the room, needs to be refreshed but it is in the books. Right now, the atmosphere is peaceful and quite. There is no distraction to what is yet to come.

About the food: Chef Gopinathan’s love for cooking started at a young age when he was helping his grandmother to prepare the meals for the family. As we know, Indian cuisine is full of flavors created with pungent spices. Gopinathan is a master at integrating them into Californian cuisine, making unique Cal-Indian or Indian-Cal dishes --- it actually works both ways. The best manner to discover them is with the Spice Route menu, offered nightly. After a few eat-with-your-hands amuse-bouches, chef "Sri" adds his own San Francisco mark to his clay pot of greens, by setting it amid a bank of fog created by dry ice on an earthenware plate. Maine poached lobster is pleasingly offset with coastal curry sauce prepared from the chef's grandmother's recipe; it’s redolent with, but not overpowered by, garam masala that lends a touch of heat which lingers on the palate. On the next course, dip the dosa in the kale chutney served with the seared scallops. The Alaskan halibut is accompanied by a spring herb broth, and “dusted” with spiced lentils. The guinea hen is slow roasted, topped with chanterelle mushrooms, with another great well-balanced sauce, which is a spiced tomato vinaigrette. The finale was a grand one with the “Figs and Verbena” served in a ginger gastrique.

About the wine: The sommelier’s wine pairing task here is not an easy one, but it is well done with confidence, predominantly with whites (due to the food) but also well-chosen light reds.