Two weeks ago, right around this time, I was in the midst of dining at the Los Gatos restaurant Manresa. I’d meant to tell you all about the meal long before now, but first I had to survive and recover from the Nebula Awards weekend, then complete my second new short story of the year, then host Geoff Landis and Mary Turzillo as they stopped here for a night on the way to Balticon, then start in on another new story. But before any more time passes, let’s get to it!

I’d made my reservation at Manresa having no idea who might join me, but sure that I’d find three other foodies at the Nebula weekend who’d want to take part. I’ve done that before with restaurants I trusted would deliver peak dining experiences, and haven’t been left with an empty seat yet. Based on what I’d been told, if I could eat only one meal in San Jose, it should be at David Kinch’s restaurant, so I knew that there’d be eager co-conspirators.

Joining me two weeks ago were Jenn Reese, her agent Barry Goldbatt (who snapped the picture above), and Jaym Gates. This was taken after we returned from our meal. Can you tell that we’re happy and satiated? Well, after spending five hours and 12 minutes at Manresa … we’d better be!

Thanks to intense cluelessness on the part of a woman at the San Jose Marriott’s front desk, we arrived at the restaurant half an hour earlier than necessary. When I’d asked that afternoon at what time we’d have to take off in a cab to make sure we arrived for our 8:00 p.m. reservation, I was told … 5:30. Seriously? I should set aside 2 1/2 hours to get to a restaurant that was only 11 miles away? The woman insisted I’d need that much time because the traffic around San Jose was crazy, and was quite insistent about it.

But when I phoned the restaurant and asked the same question, whoever answered the phone laughed. It normally takes only 15 minutes, I was told. Leaving half an hour was sufficient. And even if there was an accident, 45 minutes would surely do. So we all hopped in a cab at 7:15, and arrived 15 minutes later … or half an hour early.

Because the timing of tasting menus is usually exact, they were of course not quite ready to seat us, so we waited in the bar, which didn’t bother this non-drinker, as Manresa offers a wonderful selection of non-alcoholic beverages. I ordered a Lavender Spice, which was made of lavender, hibiscus infusion, and lime. The half hour passed quickly as we sipped and traded foodie stories, including the recent brouhaha about a Chinese student who’d recently ordered “cooked sushi” at Tokyo’s Sukiyabashi Jiro.

But then, we were ready to begin!

We started with an amuse-bouche of savory petit fours (red pepper jellies, black olive madeleines) …

… followed by another of kohlrabi and meyer lemon croquettes, which we told had to be eaten in a single bite. And it was a good thing we all listened, because the liquid center exploded!

It was a wonderful way to begin, but then came the first course: Olive oil (ice cream) and spring savory.

And here’s where Manresa began to mix things up a bit. The restaurant is known for the quality and variety of its fruits and vegetables—so much so that a documentary has been made about its partnership with Love Apple Farms. And since our party consisted of two vegetarians and two omnivores, we got to see the best of both worlds.

So for the second course, the omnivores were served abalone and local milk panna cotta.

While the vegetarians received a dish called Arpege farm egg.

For one of the diners, that was the star course of the night.

We continued to diverge during the third course, when the vegetarians were served cara cara orange with fennel and hazelnut …

… while the omnivores received cherry salmon and its roe, fennel.

And that might have been my favorite dish of the night.

The four of us converged for the fourth and fifth courses—asparagus with norinade, grapefruit gelee, meyer lemon …

… and a presentation simply called — “Into the vegetable garden.”

We debated a bit whose hands those were on the plates, and concluded (whether rightly or wrongly) that the hand on the left was that of Cynthia Sandberg, the owner of Love Apple Farms, while that on the right was Chef Kinch. Guess we should have asked! But we were in too much of a food trance to remember.

The vegetarians and omnivores parted ways for the four remaining main courses, starting with (for the vegetarians ) sweet potato with beets and apple aioli.

The omnivores were served sweet potato and Spanish mackerel, apple aioli, which was another of my favorite dishes of the night.

I’ve only one image of the seventh course, which was carrot and onion with candied olive, because the only difference between the vegetarian and omnivore versions was, I believe, that the latter was in a beef broth, nothing that would have appeared different in a photo. This course delivered umami like no other. (Well, for the meat eaters, anyway.)

For the eighth course, the vegetarians were served morels with fava beans …

… while the omnivores received black cod, salted then roasted, fava bean purée and morels.

For the ninth and final of the main courses, the vegetarians were served parsnip with chickpeas and chamomile …

… while the omnivores received spring lamb, chick peas, and chamomile.

Before we switched over to the dessert courses, it was time for an optional cheese course. And when given that option in restaurants like these, my rule is—always take it. So here comes the cheese cart!

After much debate, we winnowed our choices down to a taleggio, a goat’s milk aged in moonshine-soaked fig leaves, a mild sheep’s cheese, and a sheep’s milk Gouda.

And then it was time for the first of three dessert courses—rhubarb compote with elderflower …

… followed by strawberry shortbread, fennel and lemon verjus …

… after which we were served sorrel and chocolate.

As I think back on the three desserts, it’s hard picking a winner. I wish I could eat each of them all over again.

And after that came a series of mignardises, beginning with petit-fours that visually mirrored our first amuse-bouche, which were instead “strawberry-chocolate” in flavor.

Then came sesame truffles and almond clusters.

And we ended with our choice of macaroons. I went with the pistachio, while the others chose coffee and vanilla. And may I say that it was one of the best macaroons I’ve ever eaten, if not the best, with the truest jolt of pistachio?

But now that I think of it, actually, no, that wasn’t the end. For Chef Kinch came by our table to chat. I loved talking with him, but as it was way past midnight, I tried to surrender his attention so he could close out for the night, but he would have none of it.

We kept talking and posing for pictures, and as we headed toward the front door, he followed us, pulled out a bowl and handed out fresh caramels. So perhaps that was the true end of our dinner.

Based on nothing more than our brief encounter, Kinch seemed a happy, joyful man. Which in the restaurant business, isn’t an easy thing.

We tumbled out of the restaurant and into a cab at 12:42 a.m.—which was, as I wrote above, five hours and 12 minutes after we’d arrived. If your subtract the half an hour in the bar, that still makes the meal 4 hours and 42 minutes long—which is three minutes longer than my 2012 dinner at Alinea. That being said, the meal didn’t seem long. It was properly paced, with each successive course arriving exactly when it should. And when it was all over, we weren’t stuffed, but satiated. In fact, not everyone left the chocolate muffins we were handed as we departed for the following morning’s breakfast the way we were meant to. (We’ll keep that person’s identity a secret … )

Thanks to everyone who told me that I had to eat at Manresa, and thanks to Chef Kinch and his staff for a wonderful meal. Fingers crossed that next year you make it to the 2015 list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants the way you deserve!