Five-Sixty-One: A Restaurant and Classroom

For those of you who are not familiar with Five-Sixty-One, it is the restaurant connected with the California School of Culinary Arts. A sort of “working classroom” if you will. Under the instruction of Chef Instructor Matthew Zboray and Dining Room Instructor Andrew Grani, students rotate every three weeks into the restaurant serving patrons, plating food and preparing dishes. The menu changes every quarter and their tasting menu changes every week, so there are always fresh new dishes to sample.

The restaurant sits at the corner of Green and Madison. The interior is very tastefully decorated with fresh flowers, art and crisp clean linens. The staff is pleasant and eager to please. Upon being seated we were greeted by Chef Zboray who asked what we would like to eat. I left the choices in his capable hands.

We started our meal with an assortment of fresh breads served with butter and the most delicious green olive tapenade. The Amuse bouche was braised squab in crispy feuillete de brik pastry with curried lentils, hibiscus reduction, and lemon marmalade. The hibiscus reduction was a brilliant red sweet-perfumed sauce that complimented the curry in the lentils and the richness of the squab.

An Artichoke Tempura was our next dish. The artichoke hearts were encased in a crispy-light tempura batter and accompanied by a Meyer lemon allioli, molten goat cheese, and chrysanthemum jam. I liked the tempura and goat cheese but was a little disappointed with the saltiness of the allioli, it really over-powered the light delicate artichoke hearts.

Chef’s next dish was the Calamari Tinto, sautéed squid, celeriac puree, rhubarb relish and foam of tomato and squid ink. The presentation was very dramatic (how often does one see “black food”?). The squid was a ***image4:left***bit chewy, but the celeriac puree (a much underused vegetable) was rich, savory and complemented the squid nicely.

“Everything But the Quack” was a multi-dish affair using almost all portions of the duck “but the quack”. The duck breast was poached in butter, the foie gras torchon was seared, the tongue was served as a brochette and the cracklings were crispy. Accompanying this tour de duck was chicory and prune sauce and five spice sweet and sour sauce. A confit cornbread dressing completed the dish. Whereas, the cornbread stuffing and chicory sauce were delightful, I found the duck breast and foie gras to be a bit underdone. I know that the trend is to serve most meats medium rare and I agree that for far too long American’s have cooked the life out of their meat, however, I felt that these items would have benefited from just a few more moments on the fire. As for the duck tongue and cracklings, some things should just not be eaten.

Seared Lamb Chops were presented as our final dish. The lamb was sautéed (again, a bit too rare for my tastes-they were raw in the middle) and served with smashing roasted garlic and chevre mashed potatoes, smoked cherries which complemented the lamb to a “T” and rosemary-mint jelly. The meal was topped off with an assortment of cheeses.

When dining at Five-Sixty-One, one must have an open mind and be ready for an adventure. Some dishes work and some don’t. It also depends on when you come in the cycle of student workers. We were there at the beginning of a cycle and they were still working some of the kinks out of the menu. Having said this I would like to add that the quality of the food is top-notch, the plating inventive and dramatic and the dishes innovative. They are moderately priced; appetizers from $12.00 to $16.00 and main dishes from $22.00 to $28.00. The restaurant is located at 561 East Green Street, Pasadena. Their hours are Lunch; 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and Dinner; 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Because of their proximity to the Playhouse, reservations are suggested. For reservations and to learn more about 561 call (626) 405-1561 or log onto www.561restaurant.com.