SIERRA DINING

City Hotel Restaurant—Everything Old Is New Again

By Antoinette May Herndon

I tend to judge restaurants first by the olives in their martinis. Say it’s irrelevant—or even irreverent--—if you like, but the olive test has proven itself surprisingly accurate over the years. A big, plump, fresh, juicy olive signals that the brains behind the restaurant really cares. She or he realizes that the devil’s in the details.

For me, dinner begins with a drink. It signals (hopefully) a farewell to the cares of the day and a salute to good things ahead. Clearly a dinky, over-the-hill olive doesn’t bode well for the dinner to come.

Charles and I frequented Columbia’s City Hotel Restaurant often when it was the Culinary Academy’s test lab. We loved the enthusiasm of the student chefs and wait staff and enjoyed being “guinea pigs.” When that association ended, the restaurant lost its edge. One night a year ago four of us dined on dried out beef, stale bread and . . . I’ve forgotten the rest. Except for the martini olive. That poor relic was ready to incarnate into compost.

We weren’t eager to return, but the City Hotel is so convenient to the Fallon Theatre where we were seeing a play. In a sense we were captives.

Bear with me, this is a story with a nice payoff. Suddenly, it seems, everything old is new again at the City Hotel Restaurant.

The Gold Rush ambience—wonderful old paintings with elaborate gilt frames, handsome dark wood tables and high back chairs—is still there. But fresh and original touches have been added.. Heading the list is the new chef, Jim Potter, who has introduced an excitingly innovative menu.

On a recent Saturday night Charles and I shared Geraldine’s Lobster Cheese cake ($12) for starters. The airy mousse is large, rich—tailored to sharing. The texture and taste are lusciously creamy, perfect foils for the tender, tasty grilled lobster tails imbedded inside. This offbeat dish is a winner.

We moved on to the shrimp gazpacho for two ($12), a very thick soup liberally laced with garlic The “for two” part is a good idea. Without each other it could have been a lonely evening. The play we saw that night was “Dracula.”

I wasn’t a bit scared. The sinister count wouldn’t dare approach me!

Charles picked Morgan’s Medallions of Beef ($24) for his entrée, a grilled filet mignon with a rich tarragon bearnaise sauce. He loved it and would share only a bite. (Very good.) I was equally delighted with my Fallon Roast Duckling ($23), a pan seared marinated breast with raspberry and port wine sauce. Original and flavoursome..

Adding to the charm of the evening was the greatly improved wait staff who got into the spirit of their Victorian garb and seemed to really enjoy recreating a bit of history. Michael Morgan, our server, was really special, the kind of courteous informed waiter you hope to find but rarely do.

Oh, yes, and about that martini olive. It was indeed the perfect portend of a great dinner.

VITALS: 22768 Main St., Columbia. Phone: 532-1479. Lunch : Thursday-Monday, 8 a.m.. Dinner: Wednesday through Sunday. Reservations encouraged. Credit cards accepted. amherndon@sierralodestar.com

3 Pictures, shots of the dining room.

Caption: The City Hotel Restaurant is a page out of the past.