Three Forks, Three Stars

On 1/26/08, we went to Three Forks Chop House in Claremont, California on Greg West's nickel. Claremont, for those who don't know, is somewhere between Pasadena and Needles. I was blown away by how great an experience the staff had created. The appetizers were outstanding, including homemade (or "house-made" in the current jargon) charcuterie and sausages. The selection of dry-aged beef was tremendous, each one specially prepared with a variety of specialty salts (from fleur de sel to Hawaiian red) and fine sauces (such as a fennel-pollen bearnaise). We did not partake of the game, which looked good, because the cow meat looked too enticing, even for Roger.

The only misstep of the evening was Dan's first cocktail. He ordered a Basil Hayden's (bourbon) on the rocks. What came was a martini glass with some sort of bourbonized slush in it, as if someone had tried to make a manhattan with bourbon in a squishie machine. They expertly fixed it.

Thanks, Greg.