And now....to review the best meal I have ever had....
We arrived at Victoria & Albert's at 5:15 and moments after we had stepped into Citrico's lobby we were escorted past those wood and frosted glass doors and into the beautiful dimly lit world within.
We were seated at a table in the main room, near the entrance of the restaurant. I was thrilled as it was located directly under a potlight. This way my photos would turn out but the light was not glaring and did not take away from the overall atmosphere.
The service is impeccable, your seat is pulled out, napkin placed across your lap, seat pushed in, ladies are offered stools for their purses. Shortly after we were seated Dan, one of our 3 servers for the evening came and filled our water glasses, offered pre-dinner drinks and explained that our serving team would consist of himself, Mike and another gentleman whose name I sadly cannot recall.
Here are some pictures of our table:
As you can see, we were accepted relatively early for our 6pm reservation. I would say the first seating ended up being about 2/3rds full.
Three of the most flawless red roses I have ever seen
A lamp provides soft lighting
Full Centerpiece
Mike, the second member of our serving team (who turned out to be our "primary" server) came to hand us each our menus. My DDad is allergic to white fleshed fish (but can eat tuna, salmon, shellfish etc) and both my DDad and I are allergic to mouldy cheeses such as blue.
Therefore, DMom, DDad and I received three different menus, varying only slightly from one another.
We were all given the same "amuse bouche" which Mike described as a "Celebration of Summer Tomato"
I appologize in advance...I was so excited to try this that I accidently ate the majority of the top left corner before taking a picture
Starting from the top left corner we had:
The chefs take on a Caprese salad - - buffalo mozzarella, heirloom cherry tomatoes, toasted pine nuts and extra virgin olive oil
I will start this off by saying that tomatoes are about the only ingredient I "hate" in their raw form, but there was no way I was leaving any piece of this amuse untouched. I still dislike the texture, but from a taste perspective this was creamy, tangy and rich. A great bright start to the meal. This was the "safest" and most traditional of the amuse offerings.
Top right corner:
An organic hen's egg filled with roasted tomato and fennel custard
Once again, I thought "Oh great, they are batting a thousand, I really don't like fennel either" Oh my god was I wrong. The custard was silky, still warm and tasted like the most wonderful tomato sauce you could ever imagine. It was earthy, slightly sweet with a gentle acidity, I couldn't taste either the tomato or fennel independently, they were simply accents in an overall taste. My favorite of the amuse offerings.
Bottom right corner:
Roma Tomato Sorbet with Olive Oil Powder
What amazed me most about this amuse was that I didn't touch it until VERY last and it was still perfectly cold and set. This was a brighter flavor than the custard and the olive oil powder tasted entirely different than the olive oil drizzled on the caprese salad. This was the most refreshing of the amuse offerings.
Bottom left corner:
Sliver of heirloom tomato with a pesto and cherry tomato vinaigrette, topped with olive oil poached octopus.
I must admit, this was a bit scary at first. I've seen octopus many times and find it rather intimidating. However, as I looked at this amuse, I pondered the fact that I have eaten escargot and that this really can't be any "worse" (I love escargot btw 
). It had a surprising texture, like a cross between chicken and shrimp, it was very lightly seasoned, allowing the natural "sea salt" flavor to come through. All in all I thought it was surprisingly good. This was the most risky amuse in my opinion.
At this point, I will post what we each ordered:
Tink
Sesame Crusted Big Eye Tuna with Tat Soi Salad, Lotus chips, Tamari Honey Foam, Tuna Carpaccio topped with Tuna tartare and wasabi caviar
White King Salmon with California Asparagus, Crab Sphere and Sauce Bearnaise
Duck Breast, Duck Sausage with Rhubarb and Salsify and Duck Confit with Duck Proscuitto, with Cherry Reduction Sauce
Kurobuta Pork Tenderloin and Belly with Baby Beets, Root Vegetable Gratin and Sherry Bacon Vinaigrette
White Chocolate Gelato with Micro Spearmint and Tableside White Chocolate Shavings
Tanzanian Chocolate Pyramid with Hazelnut Crisp, Edible 24 carat gold and strawberries, Hawaiian Kona Chocolate Soufflé with Godiva Anglais, Peruvian Chocolate Ice Cream on Chocolate Puff Pastry
DDad
Sesame Crusted Big Eye Tuna with Tat Soi Salad, Lotus chips, Tamari Honey Foam, Tuna Carpaccio topped with Tuna tartare and wasabi caviar
Timbale of Ratatouille with 100 year old Balsamic
Duck Breast, Duck Sausage with Rhubarb and Salsify and Duck Confit with Duck Proscuitto, with Cherry Reduction Sauce
Niman Ranch Lamb with Fall Vegetables and Celery Root
Gouda Beemster XO, Coach Farm's Goat, 16 month aged parmigiano-reggiano and Thomasville Tomme
Caramelized Banana Gateau
DMom
Sesame Crusted Big Eye Tuna with Tat Soi Salad, Lotus chips, Tamari Honey Foam, Tuna Carpaccio topped with Tuna tartare and wasabi caviar
Halibut with Zellwood Corn and Bamboo Rice Ragout
Poulet Rouge with Mushroom-Truffle Ragout, English Peas and Yellow Chanterrelles
Niman Ranch Lamb with Fall Vegetables and Celery Root
Colston Bassett Stilton, Coach Farm's Goat, 16 month aged parmigiano-reggiano and Thomasville Tomme
Caramelized Banana Gateau
Maybe we will get lucky this year!
but I promise I'll update again tomorrow!
We ate at Citricos the night you were at V&A's and when we were leaving, Diane (who seats you and takes GREAT photos! 
What a wonderful restaurant with the BEST staff EVER!!!! 
