Revved Up for Ramen, Part II: Kisetsu Ramen Pop-Up at Cyrus
Ramen originated as a humble, working-class dish meant to be cheap and eaten in a hurry.
But when a Michelin-starred Wine Country restaurant debuts a ramen pop-up in its sleek, glass and concrete building with a view of vineyards, you know it will be anything but that.
That is definitely the case at this winter kisetsu ramen pop-up at Cyrus in Geyserville, which I happened to catch on its inaugural night last Thursday.
The pop-up, available Thursday through Saturday evenings, accommodates 12 diners max in the front portion of the lounge. The rest of the lounge remains the starting point for diners indulging in the full tasting-menu progressive experience at $325 per person, which takes about 3 hours.
In contrast, the ramen menu is $75 for three courses, which my husband and I finished in about 75 minutes.
The pop-up will last at least through winter. If it proves popular, it may stick around longer.
It comes with the same elegant yet warm service, starting with the complimentary glasses of Champagne.
Chef-Owner Douglas Keane’s cooking has long leaned into Asian flavors, so ramen is definitely not far out of his wheelhouse.
If you’re inclined to imbibe, three alcoholic beverages are available with this menu: Geisthaus Brewing Company Folding Fractals Rice Lager ($15); Shiraiwa Kura IWA 5 Assemblage 3 sake, made from three varieties of sake rice ($40); and a Whiskey Sour ($20).
The vintage sake boasts an umami backbone with a hint of melon, while the Whiskey Sour, made with rye, houji genmaicha, and blood orange, is tart with a roasty-toasty note from the tea.
Up first, a long black tray is brought to the table, holding the first course. The series of small plates hold sweet-earthy red beets minced finely to mimic beef tartare and dressed with an ume reduction; cabbage in a creamy sesame dressing; pickled carrots, daikon, and ginger; and house-made chili crisp.
There are also small, lidded bowls of chawanmushi, the quivering egg custard topped with sliced shiitakes. On a chilly evening, it is especially comforting and welcome.
Next, okonomiyaki, the golden veggie pancake as crisp as the best hash brown. It’s conveniently already sliced, so you can eat it with your hands, too.
For the ramen, there’s a choice of winter vegetable with miso-butter broth; lobster tail with spicy kimchee broth; or pork “money muscle” with shoyu broth.
Not surprisingly, my husband (aka Meat Boy) chose the shoyu one that sported two large, meltingly tender bricks of pork collar, nicknamed the “money muscle” because it is so highly marbled and coveted. To say he was in his happy place is an understatement. The ramen noodles were delightfully chewy, and came embellished with jammy soy sauce-egg halves, bean sprouts, seaweed, and tatsoi. The broth was deeply savory with a clean taste to it.
The spicy kimchee broth, on the other hand, does pack a medium kick of heat that warms you through and through. If you want more, you could always add some chili crisp. There’s a whole shelled lobster tail in the bowl, too. The flesh isn’t as yielding as if it were butter-poached, but is still tender with a little chew to it.
While mom-and-pop ramen joints fill bowls almost too the brim with broth, which I am hard pressed to ever finish to the last drop, the amount here is more modest. It probably comes up a third of the way up the bowl, meaning I was able to consume every last spoonful.
Dinner ends with a beautiful profiterole done up with a crunchy topping akin to a Mexican concha. It’s filled with vivid ube ice cream and rests on a pool of thick, coconut cream.
Alas, there’s no visit to the hidden chocolate room included. For that, you’ll have to spring for the full tasting menu experience.
And: Revved Up for Ramen, Part I: HiroNori
More: The Tasting Menu Experience at Cyrus
