Ever had such great food at a restaurant that all you wanted to do was go back? Go back and tell everyone about it so there just green with culinary envy and can't wait to try it?
I'll do you one better, and add the small fact that this is pretty much a locals only restaurant at the bottom of a Volcano, and is the sister restaurant to what Blair Anthony Roberston (the SacBee's Fine Dining writer) calls some of the best food in Northern California. Welcome to The Union.
UNION mac & cheese bacon, broccoli 7
I've written about this place before in some short and sweet detail, but my first impression could never do it the justice that it deserved. While sitting out on a golden sunlit patio at a stone table we tore through the menu.
The above is the "Union" mac and cheese, creamy, savory, crunchy, broccoli was a great infusion (as it was also crispy was quite nice), and chives as a garnish.
whole grain mustard cream sauce, asparagus, crispy beef 10
Ok, this gnocchi was the best I've ever had - and that's saying a lot. It was soft and fluffy like clouds, but seared in the pan on the outside to the point it was blackened crisp - like a burnt smore marshmallow, add that with the kick of mustard seed, asparagus, and the crispy beef - of all the food this was one of my favorites.
herbs, garlic, cheese, cream, mushrooms over grilled bread 8
This dish literally converted a professed mushroom hater - it wasn't the bread, or the cheese - it was the perfectly cooked mushrooms, savory, succulent, with white wine and lots of butter - fantastic.
house made pickles 2
House made pickled items are beginning to really make a comeback on menus as appetizers - this will make a lot of french fry only people unhappy - whereas the rest of us will be quite pleased! from carrots to cucumbers (fun fact: cucumbers when pickled, become pickles) to even the garlic was raw but less spicy when pickled, and made for a delightful starter.
FRIED CHICKEN
smoked cheddar macaroni & cheese, fresh greens 15
Crispy and slightly spicy
BABY BACK RIBS
house-made ancho BBQ sauce, red potato salad, fennel slaw 18
it's all about the sauce
GRILLED NEW YORK STEAK
garlic mashed potato, grilled asparagus, béarnaise sauce 23
perfectly cooked steak with bearnaise and potatoes? done and done
PORK TENDERLOIN
fresh peach salad, wild and brown rice, pecan and cilantro pesto 18
it was the peach salad, and the cilantro pesto that makes this such an intensely wonderful dish
STRAWBERRY CRISP
warm and a la mode 7
PEACH NEAPOLITAN
blueberry, herbs, whipped cream 7
CHOCOLATE SILK PIE
chocolate crème fraiche, chocolate sauce 8
be it ever so humble.
This place is not only worth a find along the way, it's the destination.
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