I think you are wrong on that. Seems he’s in a broader food writing entertainment category. He can’t just keep peddling restaurants for decades. That’s too boring for someone with that much curiosity. He’s describing experiences.
I loved that corn bread–was there something about the butter you didn’t like? Too salty?
I also recently was in HH for a rather wonderful meal.
Might as well well toss up some photos since many of the dishes are new.
Mezcal Negroni with Grand Byrrh and Gran Classico
Not on the menu, but my favorite way of kicking off a meal here. Like Linus, I prefer it to the Ol’ Waylon on the menu. They have an “Old Man Negroni” in the Old Man Bar that is also superb.
Buttermilk Fried Sweetbreads
These may have been the best sweetbreads I’ve ever had. The buttermilk batter didn’t feel heavy or overly crunchy, but perfectly light and crispy. The sweetbreads were turned into the glorious meat custard that they are capable of becoming when handled properly. The textures counterbalanced and melded perfectly, and the accompanying brown butter sauce and grilled lemon juice as sauces were not even necessary to enjoy them, but added a sort of “sweet and tart” combination to them that gave them an extraordinary complexity above and beyond what one would expect from such a dish.
Lobster n’ Grits
A rather hefty portion of succulent butter-poached lobster in a sherry, tarragon, brandy gravy with Rosebank grits that were a bit like a savory rice pudding here. The more toothsome grits balanced the soft lobster nicely. Kicked up by a touch of lemon, it was a buttery, softly briny and immensely pleasant dish to gobble up.
Smothered Rabbit’s Legs
These are actually what got me into the restaurant when they popped up on the online menu. They were utterly splendid. They are brined for 2 days, and then fried and smothered in sausage and cream gravy. Despite the frying and the thick gravy it was a shockingly light dish. For those who want to enjoy the best of succulent and savory qualities of rabbit in a Southern type dish without the outright hedonism of Animal’s rabbit leg’s, this is an incredible dish. The batter was really light and crispy as well; I should have taken more detailed photos of how perfectly it melded into the rabbit meat. I suspect that if HH fried chicken it would be as good as Howlin’ Rays given how adeptly they fried the sweetbreads and rabbit’s legs in this meal.
Wine
I had two wines, a Jura Chardonnay and an Aligote; both so nice I couldn’t decide which to have, so I went with both. Although I end up drinking cocktails often at HH, I still really like their wine program. For a different meal, they have a glass of Umbrian red by the glass. For some reason, I feel I don’t see regions like Jura or Umbria represented on glass lists, so it’s nice to see. They are also one of the few places with some of Bichi’s Mexican natural wines on their list, which I hope sparks a trend in having Mexican wine on lists.
Benne Crepe, Buttermilk Ice Cream, Meyer-Lemon Butter
I wanted a lighter dessert, so I opted for this, but it was a failure for me. The delicate crepe was nice on its own, highlighting the benne in an interesting way, and the buttermilk ice cream tasted ok, but was a bit hard for me, however the major problem was that the peel in the meyer-lemon butter was so prominently bitter that it ruined the dish and rendered it inedible. I had to send it back.
Strawberry Semifreddo Pie
I had the crepe replaced by this pie, which seemed like the next lightest dessert. It was pure pleasure on a plate. The strawberry semifreddo itself was not overly hard, really creamy and bursting with strawberry flavor. The idea of layering even more concentrated strawberry in the form of preserves turned out to be brilliant. A sort of way of enjoying strawberries in two forms that recalled the sundae cups of childhood in the best way possible. The cornmeal crumble was also quite light, yet immensely savory, almost addictive, and added an excellent balance to strawberry, also making the dish take on a bit of a strawberry shortcake element that was delightful.
I think I had some excellent tokai with the pie as well, but forgot to photograph it.
All in all, I was quite happy to see new dishes being placed on the menu, and cooked so wonderfully, as well as semi-unusual wines appearing more and more on the glass list. Although the crepe was a failure, overall, it was a highly successful meal; though I am sure everyone could have predicted that by now haha
Also, for some reason, this meal reminded me that I really like Hatchet Hall’s plates a lot.
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Yes - you summed up JGold well. He’s not the typical food writer - I don’t even want to say critic in the same breath as criticism isn’t in his repertoire.
Speaking for myself, I find his writing to be excellent. He conveys his thoughts and experiences with metaphors and similes that only he can so vividly apply to food.
The galbi jjim at Sun Nong Dan is Hendrix shredding a Bob Dylan song or David Choe slapping paint onto a wall, all the sensations of the dish run through a distortion pedal and cranked up to 10. You’ll be getting the dish extra-spicy (although the waiter will try to talk you out of it), and the amount of garlic that will seep out of your pores afterward is almost surreal.<
Who does this and makes it work?
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it wasn’t the salt, it was the sweetness. and that cornbread didn’t need any
butter at all, actually.
i just ordered a mezcal negroni. was it made with these ingredients, or
do you request them?
i’m not complaining, just curious.
the negroni is such a hero of a cocktail. you can swap all kinds
of ingredients and it still turns out interesting and often special.
I am not sure, they might’ve just subbed mezcal for gin with campari and vermouth in your version; they specifically had this version with grand byrrh and gran clasico on the menu before and I usually request with via mezcal and grand byrrh.
Highly recommended to try it out if you make it back again. I agree, though, negronis are great drinks, especially ith mezcal I’ve found, for me personally anyway.
I’ve had the breakfast negroni several times at Wildhawk haha it’s a very sippable negroni with s much more subtle infusion if the coco puffs on the finish than one might expect.a must try for negroni fiends indeed.
But if I’m up there I’m drinking at Hordrfeather these days. Maybe my favorite bar anywhere, although not for negronis.
thank you people for the info.
Some new things on the menu.
“brown mushrooms
salsa verde, spring pea aioli, walnuts”
Seriously excellent.
Toast with greens and a fried egg (I don’t know what it’s called, it is not on the online menu).
Again, seriously excellent. And I generally dislike the adding of fried eggs on top of food trend. This worked, though.
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I’m so with you on this lol. Makes it all the more pleasantly surprising when it does work, as it did here.
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I love a fried egg on my scrambled eggs.
#JustBecause
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i went last night too and had the ramps toast. Super good. The pork chop was nice, I wish it had less fat on it but that’s a preference. Flavor was awesome. Hatchet Hall is firing on all cylinders. Even dessert is good now.
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Ramps! That’s what is was. I didn’t know we have ramps on the West Coast; I thought it was an East Coast thing.
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In tribute to the oft controversial, but now missing (and missed, for all his/her pugnaciousness) contributor Aesthete, I bump this thread with a recent visit.
Started with the Tehachapi wheat yeast rolls which were delicious, but pretty pricey at something like $8 for two. (There were four of us, so two orders.) The price probably reflects the special nature of the ingredients (I think they grow their own wheat or this is artisan wheat of some sort --California not being known as the wheat capitol of the country) and they are delicious, but still, I have had equally delicious rolls/bread for much less.
Though Hatchet Hall is known for their meat dishes, I have always found that their salad and vegetable dishes are equally good, and are often what we remember. We started with a tomato salad with Blue Cheese and Bacon, and it was perfect. The heirloom tomatoes were perfectly ripe, with wonderful flavor. The cheese was a nice counterpoint, and the bacon, just by itself a nice salty bite. Also had a field greens salad with garlic dressing that was delicious --garlicky, without being over powering. Also had a peach salad with herbs, that hit the prefect balance between sweet and savory.
For mains, we had the mushroom encrusted pork chop with smoked lard and herbs and grilled trout with Chow-Chow and herbs. Along with that we had blue lake beans, grilled onions, bacon, vinaigrette, peanut, and basil, and an order of beef fat potatoes. All were terrific. We were pretty full (all of the dishes are very intense), but still managed dessert.
For dessert we had a chocolate pudding that was properly bitter and sweet, a delicious oatmeal crumble with seasonal fruit --peaches and/or nectarines I believe – and a wonderful almond butter cake.
For drinks, a Martini variation with aquavit and fresh dill, dry and bracing, a perfect way to start a meal, followed by dry Lambrusco, which I am always surprised not to find offered at more places, given how well it pairs with rich food. (I have found it at Chi Spacca and the other Mozza related spots, but nowhere else on a regular basis.)
We are fans of Hatchet Hall. It can be loud, which is why we always make it a point to sit outside, but the service is very good (although off the charts casual --waiter clad in baseball hat, T-shirt and jeans – proving that dress means nothing), and the food is consistently interesting and delicious.
Nice to see that after being around awhile, and not quite the “place of the month” that they still seem to be hitting on all cylinders. (Old, internal combustion engine reference for those of us of a certain age.)
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The best soft-shell crab I’ve had this season. Why has it been so rare on menus this year?
The fry was a bit oily for my taste, but the crab itself was so delicate and sweet. I couldn’t believe I was eating a crab this good on the West Coast. Excellent sourcing.
Perfect wine for the crab.
Tomato soup with strawberries, herbs, and flowers.
Nowhere in the menu description does it mention a handful of diced raw red onion thrown in as a garnish. I couldn’t eat it, which brings us to:
Stone fruit, sour cream, honey, sweet herbs, nuts & seeds.
I couldn’t decide if I wanted stone fruit salad or Benton’s ham and melon, so I told the server to have the chef choose for me. Maybe the chef was irritated by the soup rejection or he was offended that I asked him choose the salad, but what I got was sour, hard fruit with no discernible honey that was not pleasant to eat. Then again, maybe it’s not all about me and it was just a bad salad.
This is a great neighborhood space, though, and we had fun. The drinks and service were great as always. A beautiful, balmy summer night at Hatchet Hall is always enjoyable, and if they mess up the food once in a rare while, I’m willing to give them a pass. 
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This is a pet peeve of mine.
Such a strong flaver should be transparent to the orderer.
Another is when they substitute cheap, bitter frisee lettuce for bibb or romaine without specifying.
Finally returning and have no idea what I’m going to eat
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