Single Thead (*)

Hey gang – long time lurker, first time poster. I wanted to share my recent experience at Single Thread, which ultimately fell a bit short of my expectations. I should disclose up front that I am a bit of a fine-dining novice compared to many in this sub. My only other 3-star experience was at The French Laundry, which was an almost revelatory experience for me. I have dined at a handful of 1 & 2-star restaurants since, most of which have lived up to the hype.

I was extremely excited to try Single Thread, but was left a little underwhelmed by the experience. By the end of the evening, our entire group agreed that almost every course could be described as challenging, thought-provoking, and creative; contrarily, we felt that none of the courses were conventionally comforting, pleasurable, or outright delicious. I'm wondering what I'm missing here.

1. Early Autumn in Sonoma – Stunning presentation – this first course consists of 10 individual bites that can be eaten in any order. While there were a few interesting bites here (the fig & beet presentation, Hokkaido scallop), overall the flavors were fairly muted & didn't bring the clean, vibrant pop I was expecting. They also served a fried squash blossom stuffed with cheese that was extremely satiating & rich, which caught me off guard this early in the meal.
2. Cucumber Moriawase – Bear with me – I don't like cucumber. That being said, there were actually a few varietals here I did enjoy. The real issue with this dish was under-seasoning – while there was a small amount of sauce at the bottom of the dish, it was not enough to disperse among all the individual components. Once again, the bluefin & accoutrements were slightly understated, and likely would have stood out more if there had been enough sauce for every component.
3. Santa Barbara "Cioppino" – Now we're talking. An elevated take on "catch of the day" soup that features uni, clams, and mussels. Nice umami flavors with a bit of brininess; you could also pick up on the exotic peppers being used. Where this course fall flat was the sourdough; the crust was somewhat gummy & took effort to tear apart. Otherwise would've been a hit.
4. Gravenstein Apple – I had mixed feelings about this course as I felt it was completely dependent on the fried shallot crumbs, which I would've happily eaten by the spoonful. Unfortunately other elements fell flat – almost no acidity coming through from the apple / lime, and very little salinity.
5. Misozuke Managatsuo – The silver pomfret was probably a highlight for me – deep flavors of tamari with a hint of smokiness. Unfortunately the eggplant roulade was a miss. Almost completely flavorless with a rubbery, chewy texture. It looked pretty though!
6. Sungold Tomato – This is really where they lost me. 5 different preparations of tomato, including sorbet & gelatin. Despite the dish being infused with peach, there was virtually no peach flavor or sweetness. It truly tasted like plain tomato juice, besides the fact that it was a textural challenge. We were fortunate enough to dine at Press (*) & Enclos (**) in the evenings following this meal; all three presented some variant of "tomato X different ways," & this was by far the least compelling.
7. Aka Amadai with Tomatoes – More tomatoes? The amadai was fine but ultimately had more of a fishy / briny taste than the buttery, supple taste I was expecting.
8. Caramelized Mugi Shime – Our entire group agreed that this was the best course of the night, which was unfortunate because we were all too full at this point to enjoy it fully. This was the "Ratatouille" moment – comforting, well-balanced flavors that felt familiar & fresh at the same time. This was basically an umami-rich Japanese risotto.
9. Farm Grape – 3 presentations of grape desserts, including a sorbet described as having an "almost grassy taste", with "almost" being the understatement of the century.
10. Wagashi – An assortment of desserts that included a scoop of dark chocolate with sesame. Really no complaints here.

Overall, this was not a bad meal. We all enjoyed our time at Single Thread, felt the service was extremely professional (albeit a tad stiff), and deeply appreciated the freshness / locality of the ingredients. Ultimately, we were just not blown away as we expected to be. Has anyone had a similar experience?