The Restaurant at JUSTIN - Paso Robles
Indoors dining room
Rating: 15/20
Where: Paso Robles, California
When: Dinner for 4 on 19 August 2023
Cost per Person: Tasting menu $125, Wine pairing $110
Accolades: 1 Michelin Star
Why: Solid Californian cuisine, nicely paired local wines
The name of “The Restaurant at JUSTIN” makes no mystery of its location: it's on the grounds of the JUSTIN winery, just outside of Paso Robles. JUSTIN has been making wines for decades in this part of Central California, and is one of the biggest producers there. Its entry-level wines can be found on supermarket shelves, but the high-end bottles are available exclusively on site or through its wine club - and are actually pretty good, assuming that one likes big, bold California Cabernets.
When dining at the restaurant, one can either sit on a terrace facing the vineyards, or inside a farmhouse-style building. Given the heat of the Paso Robles summer, we opted for the latter option. The restaurant was not very large, with around ten tables. A small number of indoor tables remained empty during our Saturday night dinner - possibly these were held in reserve in case of rain.
There was a single tasting menu which was adjusted according to dietary restrictions. Two additional courses could be added as well: a savory caviar course, and a cheese soufflé - we tried them both. A wine pairing featured exclusively wines made by JUSTIN and a sister winery called Landmark. While some of the wines might readily be found elsewhere, the majority was aged (up to 15 years), and would not even be poured in the winery tasting room next door. And, most importantly, the wines generally went quite well with the food. Definitely a recommended pairing. When it came to bottles, we were happily surprised to see that JUSTIN’s own wines were available at retail prices without any markups.
Our dinner started with a complimentary glass of sauvignon blanc, and a few amuse bouches. First, we received a trio of bites. A small oyster with lemon verbena and a sauvignon blanc foam sadly didn't taste of much 13. Much better was a squid ink cracker pillow filled with ocean trout rillettes and crème fraîche. This bite was salty and creamy, with a very nice fish tartare - better than the one we had at Le Bernardin recently 16. Finally, a small tartlet shell filled with chicken liver and cherries. Light for a liver dish, it was creamy and sweet thanks to the cherries. Not bad 15. The pescatarian alternative of walnut and blue cheese foam was even sweeter, and had a noticeable aftertaste of blue cheese. Maybe a tiny bit less exciting than the chicken liver version 15.
A multigrain sourdough bread was underwhelming: not crunchy at all and quite dense. Its only saving grace were the grains that gave it a little texture throughout 13.
The last appetizer was a “taco” filled with beet tartare, goat cheese and egg yolk. The design of the taco was very delicate. Tastewise, it was pretty light though, with a subdued beet flavor, a nice crunch from the taco, and (we think) some red onions adding more texture. Fine, but not particularly exciting 14. On the other hand, my wife thought that this bite was excellent and would have given it a 17.
Course number one was crudo-style halibut, served with a corn puree, crunchy quinoa, radishes, grapes, tamari and an agua chile made from shishito peppers, cucumbers, limes and cilantro. The fish was amazing in quality and preparation - it almost melted in one's mouth. Add to that some sweetness from the grapes, crunchiness from the quinoa and a surprisingly spicy sauce, and you had a nice example of Cal-Mexican fusion. The paired 2020 Rose did a great job of cutting through the heat without affecting the taste of the dish 17. My wife was even more smitten here, and thought the dish deserved a 19.
The supplemental caviar course arrived next. A small tartlet contained caviar, a beef tartare, and sour cream, and was accompanied by purple potato chips and cauliflower chips. It's hard to go wrong with caviar, sour cream and chips. The beef tartare was pretty light in flavor, and added just a little texture. The cauliflower chips (made from cauliflower flour, presumably) were oddly sweet and stuck to one's teeth - the dish might have been better off without them. Tasty? For sure. But also something that didn't seem overly elaborate, and therefore probably not worth the $95 surcharge 16.
An artfully arranged dish of abalone and ratatouille followed. The abalone had been smoked and seared, and was served in three small slices. A zucchini blossom (with attached baby zucchini) was filled with the ratatouille. Basil powder, a red pepper sauce and a squid ink sauce completed the dish. Given that the abalone had the main billing for this dish, it was surprising how little there was of it - this was definitely more of a ratatouille dish than an abalone dish. What there was of the abalone was nice enough, though, and on the chewy side. The ratatouille was fine, a bit sweet, and made the dish feel rustic overall. It also went well with the excellent pepper sauce. The basil powder on the side was so light in flavor that it got lost in the dish 15.
For our main course, we received a ribeye cap that was served with pommes pavé, tokyo turnips, some bone marrow, a bordelaise sauce and a blueberry sauce made with JUSTIN’s Isosceles wine. The beef was flavorful, but a bit chewy - not melt-in-your-mouth-wagyu for sure. Thankfully, the sauce was more savory rather than sweet. The potatoes were tasty, but didn't feel particularly special. The turnips were quite crunchy, cooking them a tad more might have been better 16. The pescatarian replacement featured ocean trout, with the same sides. The fish was lovely and well prepared, only cooked a little too long 17.
The second optional course was a cheese soufflé seasoned with fleur de sel, and served with a small salad and dollops of plum sauce. A lovely, cheesy soufflé that went well with the slightly acidic sauce and the very light salad 16.
The palate cleanser before the desserts was a strawberry lime sorbet wrapped inside a “strawberry paper” and topped with finger limes. This dish was very, very tart - almost everything in it was sour rather than sweet. The exception was the “paper” - a lightly sweet cracker version of a fruit rollup that stuck to one's teeth almost as much as the original 14.
Our main dessert was based on strawberries and pistachios. It had a quite pretty presentation, which the photo unfortunately doesn't do justice. The bottom of the bowl was covered with slices of fresh strawberries. On a cookie ring along the inside of the bowl we found glazed pistachios, florentines biscuits, a lemon financier and Bavarian cream. Overall, a tasty combination of strawberries and pistachios, equal parts creamy, crunchy and fruity 16.
At the end of our meal, five petit fours arrived in a big box. A cherry chocolate praline was very heavy on the chocolate part, but sadly it wasn't particularly great chocolate 14. A honey cocoa nib macaroon was very sweet and had a strong honey taste 13. A wonderberry pate de fruits showed me that wonderberries were apparently not my favorites - not something I'd order again 13. A dark chocolate praline version of a Snickers bar was ok, but less sweet than the original, and also not as tasty 14. Finally, a dark chocolate praline made with Cabernet sauvignon was fine as well 14.
The service throughout our dinner was good, maybe a bit more formal than one would generally expect in California wine country. After some back-and-worth we were able to adapt the wine pairing for one of us to avoid whites and dessert wines. And a miscommunication during the ordering of the caviar course led to us getting one such dish for free (at $95 a quite remarkable example of customer service).
Overall: A solid dinner of Californian cuisine with nicely paired wines. The one Michelin star rating is well deserved, and the prices seemed fair for what one received. Combining a dinner here with a wine tasting tour of western Paso Robles is a worthwhile use of a day 15.
