Longtime readers will know that a lot of my travels are food-driven. Our first trek to Napa in 2018 was to check a restaurant off my bucket list – The French Laundry. This trip was no different. 2018 was supposed to include this restaurant, too, but it didn’t pan out. So, I’m glad to finally have the opportunity to check out Madcap.
What is Madcap, you ask? Well, it’s a one Michelin star restaurant in San Anselmo, which is across the bay from San Francisco in Marin County. But, that’s not why I wanted to dine here. No. I’ve been wanting to din here, or wherever its Madcap’s chef-proprietor was, for over twenty years. Who is the chef? Ron Siegel. Perhaps you’ve seen him before on Iron Chef Japan? In Battle Lobster, Siegel kicked Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai’s ass, who was later crowned the king of Iron Chefs. And since I’ve already been to Sakai’s restaurant in 2009, I couldn’t not dine with Chef Siegel.
Madcap Reservation
Unlike many of the more well-known Michelin starred restaurants in the area, Madcap is a smaller, family-owned neighborhood restaurant. As such, reservations are virtually mandatory here, and you can reserve your spot using Tock, with slots opening up 30s prior to your desired date. A $50 per person deposit is required, which is later applied to your final bill.
Madcap Location
As I mentioned earlier, Madcap is in San Anselmo, which is a roughly 35-minute drive from our hotel. Without traffic. During typical rush hour traffic, you should budget an hour to hour and a half to get here. You’ll also need to allow time to find parking, as the restaurant is street parking only. Luckily, we were able to snag a parking immediately in front of the restaurant.
Service & Ambiance
Madcap is split into two separate dining rooms. One in the front, and one in the back. We didn’t see the one in the back, but the front dining room was elegant, subdued, and quite private. I’d say that the restaurant had a cozy vibe in the best way possible.
Service here is absolutely fantastic. The staff are genuinely friendly and take the time to meaningfully converse with you, without hovering or being intrusive. Oh, and, Chef Siegel came out to serve and explain our dessert course! This is whole section can vary quite significantly amongst one-star restaurants, but I’d say Madcap is among the best.
Madcap Cuisine
The cuisine at Madcap is seasonally-driven, modern American with French and Japanese influences. Being from Hawai’i, you’d think that this description would sound a bit boring, right? No. I know better. Chef Siegel has a style that’s uniquely his own, as you’ll see. It’s also worth noting that Madcap accommodates allergies and dietary restrictions, with the exception of allium, vegan, and dairy-free diets.
Our dinner kicked off with a trio of snacks, which included a porcini espuma with huckleberries and scallops, uni with rice crisp, and bao buns. The most interesting of these had to have been the porcini snack, which had an interesting but delectable blend of sweet, earthy, oceanic, and intensely umami flavors.
The uni was kind of a similar concept, with sweet seafoods and earthy flavors, but this dish was more herbaceous and, of course, had the crispy, airy, rice crisp.
Finally, the bao buns. As you can see, they’re stuffed with minced fresh tuna and some herbs. What you don’t see, though are the citrus zests in here, giving the buns a strong, complex citrus flavor without the acidity of the juice. It was so clean, meaty, and delicious.
Following the snacks was a Shrimp Hasami Age with satay sauce. This is a strong indicator of Japanese influence at Madcap, as Hasami is a Japanese dish composed of ground meat and vegetables sandwiched between lotus root, dredged and fried. Here, it was chunks of shrimp wrapped in shiso, battered and fried. My serving came with an ume sauce because of my allergy, which worked exceedingly well. The sweet shrimp and tart, fruity sauce, paired well with the light and crispy batter and herbaceous shiso.
Next came the Baby Beet Tarte Tatin. As you can see, this is a deconstructed tarte tatin, assembled with tender, yet crisp, sweet, slightly earthy beets, paired with a crispy and buttery piece of crust. This was a fun and tasty savory interpretation of a dish we typically associate with desert.
Our fourth course was Hawaiian Bigeye Tuna, as the best quality ahi we catch in the islands. Here, it came with braised daikon and a madras curry dashi. A California Queen caviar enhancement was available for this dish, which we took. The caviar was worth the up-charge, as its subtle salinity and buttery richness married beautifully with the meaty tuna, the lightly sweet vegetal flavors of the daikon, and the clean, mild curry essence from the dashi
Before the next course, the bread service landed on our table. Madcap features two types of bread from an area bakery – sourdough and a whole wheat sesame. The sourdough is delightfully tart and chewy, while the sesame bread has a beautifully nutty flavor profile.
Course five that night was a slow-cooked egg topped with a pistachio and candy cap mushroom “crunch,” and a buttery, toasted slice of the sesame bread from above. This rich dish, is filled with umami, brown butter notes from the toast, nuttiness from the crumble topping and bread, and freshness of the lemongrass foam.
If I’m honest, the next course was the one I was looking forward to the least – Shima Aji. I’m not a huge fan of mackerel, as it can be a bit strong for my liking. On this night, Chef Siegel serves thin slices of shima aji with in-season persimmon, ikura, lime, and pomegranate. Let me tell you, this dish surprised me. The fish was clean and meaty with just the right amount of character. The typical oiliness of the fish was offset by the light vegetal flavors, the sweet persimmon, and a light, fruity acidity. Amazing.
Our seventh course was another fish one. This time, however, the star of the show was California hatched & raised Mt Lassen Trout with cauliflower and dashi. If you’ve never had it, Mt Lassen Trout is an excellent fish, made even more special here with Chef Siegel’s skill and attention to detail.
While the trout dish at Arquet was very good, Chef Siegel’s interpretation at Madcap blew their’s out of the water. Here, the fish is cooked impossibly perfect, with a shatteringly crisp, yet delicate skin, and an unctuous, buttery slab of medium-rare fish. The rich and creamy cauliflower puree somehow further enhanced the fish, while the clean, salty, umami of the shiro dashi helps to add depth and tie everything together. A lone piece of charred broccolini provides a gorgeous counterpoint to all of the rich flavors.
I love me a good pasta, so course eight was one I was really looking forward to (though, in fairness, I’ve been dreaming of this meal for over 20 years 😉). Here, Chef Siegel put forth a Honey Nut Squash Tortelloni with charred cabbage. As you’d expect, the pasta couldn’t have been more perfect. It had a lovely, toothsome texture to it, which contrasted nicely with the velvety, sweet, cheesy filling. The charred cabbage is one of my favorite things and helped to add additional depth to the dish. Superb!
Course nine was another exciting one, featuring black cod, also known as butterfish. Chef Siegel pairs his black cod with a chanterelle miso and grape leaf-wrapped short rib (mushrooms for me). Now, I’m no stranger to black cod. But, crispy black cod? Blew my mind! While the top was very crisp, the rest of the fish remained buttery and flakey, pairing fiendishly well with that umami-bomb of a miso. This has to be one of the best fish dishes I’ve had. Ever.
Our final savory dish for the night was a dry-aged Flannery Beef ribeye with matsutake mushroom and Banyuls. My dish was the exact same thing, with the steak swapped out for a filet of dorado (mahi mahi). The fish was, of course, perfectly cooked, and came atop a vibrant and delightful smear of creamed spinach. This all paired incredibly well with the intensely woodsy-earthy aroma of the matsutake, a luxurious fall treat in its own right.
All of our sweets landed next, which included Passion Citrus Cake, Canelés, and a chocolate birthday cake for Mrs. Island Miler. The Passion Citrus Cake was very nicely balanced. It was appropriately sweet with an ethereal texture, and a wonderfully fruity flavor profile. The huckleberry ice cream was delicate and slightly tart, with a hint of earthiness. It was a fantastic pairing with the cake.
The Canelés were exquisite. The exterior had the perfect amount of crunch, with lovely caramel, charred flavors, while the interior was chewy, yet custardy. I kid you not, this is only the second time I’ve ever had a proper canelé. All the others have been gummy or dry disappointments. So, props to the Madcap team for this utter delight.
The birthday cake was an airy chocolatey delight with a lovely hazelnut cream. The candle was in a square of intensely flavored guava pâte de fruit. So good. Not pictured are the boxes they gave us that included more of that pâte and sea salt caramel chocolates.
It’s worth noting that we did order a bottle of non-alcoholic Prima Pavé sparkling wine to accompany our meal, which was shockingly good. Non-alcoholic wines can often taste/feel thin or lacking. But, this one? This one tasted pretty damn close to the real thing. We liked it enough that we tracked down a retailer at home and bought several bottles for the holidays.
Madcap, Final Thoughts
Never meet your heroes, right? Going in, my concern was that I built up Madcap in my mind so much and for so long that the experience couldn’t possibly meet my expectations. But, you know what? Chef Siegel and his team managed to exceed my stratospherically high hopes and dreams.
Given my past experiences, I’m sure many of you want to know how Madcap stacks up. Well, let’s put it this way. The French Laundry was a much more over-the-top experience. While I’d 100% return to TFL, I’d actually prefer to revisit Madcap over TFL. Even if price wasn’t part of the consideration. I find Madcap’s cuisine to be more enjoyable overall, and it was certainly the dining highlight of this entire trip.
Leave a Reply