Review: Glen Ellen Star

Spring Pea Soup with Ricotta Gnudi and Miners Lettuce. (Crista Jeremiason/PD)

Chef Ari Weiswasser’s background gives an inkling of why the food at the Glen Ellen Star is exceptional.

In New York, he worked at Restaurant Daniel, Picholine, and Corton, where he was Chef de Cuisine. Oh, and he had a long stint in the demanding kitchen of Thomas Keller at The French Laundry.

The result is food that is very sophisticated for a chef in his 30s, a time when a lot of chefs are trying to make grand statements that leave patrons gasping for simplicity.

For example, on a recent night, fresh peas were at their seasonal peak, and so Chef sent forth a Spring Pea Soup ($10 ****) of pureed green peas enriched with mascarpone and enhanced with mint; it tasted like a walk in the vegetable garden during a cool spring shower. A gnudi (pronounced nyudi) — a light, fluffy, creamy Italian dumpling made with ricotta and a little flour – floats in the center of the soup. The soup is innovative but not ostentatious, a cupful of pleasure in every spoonful.

Weiswasser’s wife is Erinn Benziger-Weiswasser, the daughter of Mike Benziger, general manager of Benziger Family Winery of Glen Ellen. She was the winery’s East Coast sales manager until she and her husband moved to Glen Ellen last year with the dream of opening the restaurant. Together, they’ve turned the dumpy little building that was Saffron into a small but comfortable venue. They broke out the kitchen walls and gave the cooks some elbow room. Trolley benches make for comfy seating at several of the eight tables in the room. (Hint: make reservations well in advance.) There’s more seating outside on a new deck, and the reception stand is outside the front door – at least until the rains return in the fall. So it’s little and crowded and loud, but very much worth the visit.