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Located at the entrance to Yosemite National Park and it's well known falls, Erna Kubin-Clanin's "Elderberry House Restaurant" is one of the California landmark country restaurants for those in search of fine cuisine outside of California's cities. When she opened it in 1984 in the small mountain town of Oakhurst, just 45 minutes north of Fresno, it was a dream come true for her. In 1995, she handed over the kitchen to the talented James Overbaugh who is today the Executive Chef.
Their visions meshe, and excellent renderings of culinary imagination arrive from the kitchen to your table. While "fusion", which is a much over used term, is not the essence of this cuisine, nevertheless, chef Overbaugh does remain open to all interesting global influences in creating his modern French based recipes. Thus the dishes that are placed before you are comfortably familiar but enlivened with little unexpected surprises and twists to rejuvenate even the most jaded palates.
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Chef Overbaugh's Roasted Rack of Lamb Barded with Parsnips and Carrots, Red Pepper Jam, Root Vegetable Latke, Pea Tendrils, Napa Cabbage and Shallots and Fenned Seed Veal Juice.
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Chef Overbaugh welcoming us to his dining room.
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Pan seared Halibut Fillet on a Bouillabaisse Broth with Littleneck Clams and Yukon gold Potatoes, Saffron Aioli and Basil Crostini.
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The front entrance to Erna's Elderberry House Restaurant
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Click on the "zoom+" to see larger version.
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© 2005 photos Peter D'Aprix
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Erna established the restaurant first but always dreamt of adding a small, French style Château on the land towards the back of the hillside property. That she did opening the first rooms in 1991 and immedatley receiving acclaim far and wide. It is now a Gold Relais et Château hotel and is a 5 Diamons AAA hotel as well as a 5 Star Mobile hotel. Now the establishment is known as “Château du Sureau” but the restaurant retains its identity as "Elderberry House Restaurant". No need to drive home after dinner; just fall into a 4-poster in front of your own fire place.
The meals at "Elderberry House Restaurant" are served with practiced and relaxed attention by a well trained staff from all over the world. The main dining room transports you to a generic old world European ambiance complete with chandeleers, tapestry covered chairs, wall sconces, deep red walls and a blazing fire place on cool nights. There is a smaller dining room with a more modern air with grey-blue walls and a huge painting filled with life that is a tableau of the kitchen staff with Erna equipped with rolling pin in the foreground, her daughter behind her testing the wine and the staff buys in the background. One last diining area is a mini version of the Barional Hall. Set aside for small groups, it has it's own fire place and a long table with high backed, tapestry covered chairs on either side.
In these "yester year" surroundings, it is easy to relax and enjoy an evening of eating with the courses spaced appart perfectly for digestion, good conversation but never to the point in impatience and/or hunger pangs. The wine cave is well stocked. However, depending on your taste in wine, you may or may not like the recommendations of the wine waiter. The recommendations we acted on were a dissappointment. The meal, however, was not.
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Main dining room with chandeliers and warm fire place.
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Dark Chocolate Ganache Tart and Tangerine Mouse with strawherry sorbet on a bed of crushed nuts.
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The smallest of the three dining rooms. Complete with fireplace for a romantic dinner with friends.
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The menu fix prepared for us had 6 courses of the following:
Amuse Bouche - Guinea Hen-Green peppercorn terrine with Port wine emulsion and grains of Paradise.
Fish Course - Pan seared Halibut Fillet sitting on little neck clams and yukon gold potatoes with a bouillabaisse broth, saffron Aïoli and basil Crostini.
Soup - Kohlrabi with a curry Beignet and Styrian pumpkin seel oil
Meat Course - Roasted rack of Lamb "barded" with parsnips and carrots, red pepper jam, root vegetable Latke, pea tendrils, Napa cabbage and shallots with a fennel seed-veal sauce.
Salad - Young field greens with Pomegranate-thyme vinaigrette, Persimmon sauce and Grenadine foam.
Dessert - Dark Chocolate Ganache tart, a tangerine mousse and a mini-scoup of strawberry sorbet on chopped nuts.
Our reactions (everyone has differen tastes so we just give your our subjective reactions):
The meal was very well prepared with obvious creativity and finely executed. But not all the tastes were to our liking. Did not really matter since everyone was having the same thing and judging by neighboring tables, they were in gastronomic exstacy.
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In the middle sized dining room, the ambience is more modern with cool tones of blue and grey with warmer spots of color in the chairs.
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Back terrace of the restaurant just after sun set. In the summer months and in good weather, dinner can be served al fresco.
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The Amuse Bouche was pleasant but not especially note worthy. The Pan Seared Halibut Fillet on the Bouillabaisse with Littleneck Clams was superb. A perfect ballance of tastes with the Halibut done to perfection and a very light touch with the saffron so it complemented the rest of the tastes just perfeclty.
The soup was also excellent and very tasty.
Then we arrived at the meat course. Chef Overbaugh is a talent to be sure. But we find many chefs today tend to "guild the lilly" to our way of thinking. We found that at the fine restaurant in St. Tropez, Villa Belrose, also with a very fine chef capable of producing marvelous meals but also tempted to take a perfect dish and take it one step to far for our taste. Just as Chef Theircelin stuffed a lovely round of lamb with a strong sheep's cheese that prevented enjoyment of both the fine lamb as well as the marvelous cheese, Chef Overbaugh stuffed his tender and perfect lamb with a roll of ham encasing finely chopped parsnips and carrots. The strong flovor of the ham suffused the lamb with its taste which conflicted rather enhansing the lamb. The rest of the dish was cooked just right.
The salad was a nice balance of baby greens just bitter enough to dance with the slight sweetness of the Pomegranate-Thyme vinaigrette and the Persimmon sauce. A good palatte cleanser after the preceeding meal.
Dessert was not bad but not an award winner. The rich chocolate tart was satisfying for any chocolate lover, but the tangerine mouse fell a bit flat and did not need the cap of whipped cream. The sorbet was refreshing but not anything to write home about.
Other menus have featured Pan Seared Suzuki Fillet, a carrot top soup, Roasted Venison Loin, Diver Sea Scallops, smoked Sweet Potato Soup, Pork Tenderloin "sous vide", Slow Roasted King Salmon Fillet, Grilled Angus Beef Tenderloin. There always seems to be a chocolate delicacy on the dessert plate.
So do visit their site in advance and check the posted menu. Chef Overbaugh will always try to accommodate your diet or preferences if he can, so don't hesitate to chat with him in advance especially if you see something on another menu that you have your heart set on. This you can do by phone in advance or if you are staying at the “Château du Sureau” be sure to meet with him well in advance of the meal.
“The Estate by the Elderberries”
“Château du Sureau”
48688 Victoria Lane (P.O. Box 577)
Oakhurst, CA 93644
Reservations: 559-683-6860
Erna’s Elderberry House Restaurant Reservations: 559-683-6800
Fax: 559-683-0800
Web Site: www.chateausureau.com
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For a link to the Relais & Châteaux Group of hotels and restaurants own site, click on the button left.
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How to get there:
With convenient access to and from three major cities, the Estate is a short 45 minute drive from Fresno, about a 3 hour drive from the San Francisco area, and approximately 4 hours north of Los Angeles. International air service is available in San Francisco and Los Angeles with daily commuter flights to and from Fresno. Car rental is available at all three locations. Simply call reception at 559 683 6860 and they will happily provide you with detailed directions to the Estate from wherever you may be. If you are comfortable with your own map reading expertise, just take which ever set of freeways that will get you to Fresno. Once there, look for highway 41 north to the Sierras with Oakhurst as your destination. The property will be on your left on the hill descending into the town but just before you reach the edge of town.
For www.mapquest.com link click here
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