Sona Dinner Recap

Last week, we had our company Holiday Party at Sona Restaurant. As seen in the picture, the restaurant is pretty small. We reserved their private room, which according to their website sits up to 25 people. There were about 20 people in our group and we were pretty tight in that room. The room is long so it was pretty much one long table with no room to move.

When I arrived, a few people were already there. I asked for a Grey Goose tonic and to my surprise they didn't have Grey Goose. They only have 4 different vodkas, a Polish vodka, some vodka from Oakland, a potato vodka and an organic vodka. I decided to try the organic vodka when our Chief Counsel's wife started saying, "That's ridiculous. Vodka is a poison to your body and you're gonna call it organic. That's ridiculous." I was so flustered (and surprised) by her outburst that I ordered white wine instead. I also took my stuff and sat on the other end of the table away from her.

Dinner started around 8:30pm. Red and white wines were ordered for the table. I opted for the red (Pinot Noir) since red meats were on the menu. We had a Salmon Bellini with Mint and Yogurt Parfait for an amuse bouche. It was a little bite of heaven and the yogurt parfait tasted like the Persian drink (doogh, sp?). The flavors blended well together. The tartness of the yogurt complented the saltiness of the caviar. We had Hawaiian Poke Tuna with Celery Root Puree as an appetizer. Again, a bite out of heaven. One of our co-workers hasn't eaten yet at this point. She's extremely picky so I knew she was going to have a problem with the food. I ended up eating her appetizer. It was ok since 1.) she wasn't going to eat it and 2.) it was bite-size so no harm, no foul. The next item up was squash soup. It was probably the best-tasting squash soup I've ever had. It was sweet and savory. The only thing I didn't like about it were the squash seeds but I picked those off and finished the soup. The main entree was probably the star of the night. Braised short rib and beef tenderloin duo. The short rib was perfectly braised that it practically melts in you mouth. The beef tenderloin was perfectly cooked, soft and juicy. Desert was some sort of mousse and gelato (sorry, I forgot what it was called).

Overall, the food was awesome. I'd probably go back and order something from the regular menu. The tasting menu was great and the flavors blended perfectly but the portions were TOO small. We're big eaters and a bite and a nibble is not going to satisfy us. I think that was the biggest complaint of the evening. Everyone had a great time, but everyone left still hungry.