The grand old riverboat Delta King doesn't go anywhere these days. It's securely tied up on the Sacramento River, rocked only by the wake of passing speedboats.
If it looks like it sits a little low in the water, poke your head into the galley and take a look at the food making its way to the shipshape dining room, the amber-hued Pilothouse Restaurant. Almost without exception, it's exceptionally rich and heavy.
With fall just around the next bend, such hearty dishes are welcome. But our visits for this review were in late summer, when it still was too hot to eat on the open-air deck.
Salads were in order, or lighter entrees featuring fish or fowl. That's what we initially drifted toward. Dishes that we expected to be somewhat buoyant, however, were surprisingly robust and weighty.
The entree that sounded the lightest and most refreshing was a vegetarian toss of roasted cauliflower, toasted hazelnuts, penne pasta and spinach in a sauce of smoked gouda ($15.95). The menu includes a wine recommendation with each entree, and the suggestion for this "toasted penne gouda" is a delicate pinot grigio. The dish was way too big for such a fine-boned varietal, however. The boat's sommelier and chef might want to consider trying the entree with a more substantial wine, like zinfandel.
That said, I nevertheless liked the dish very much, for it was sensible and lively, but I would have liked it even more in the fall or winter, when fog, rain and chilly winds call for even vegetarian dishes to be muscular and comforting.
By the time we concluded our visits to the Pilothouse, we had enjoyed some dishes fitting for the season, including deftly handled pan-seared salmon lively with kalamata olives, grape tomatoes and flourishes of fennel, thyme and sorrel ($18.95); excellent mahi-mahi given an Indian spin via curry spices on the fish and coconut broth for the rice on which it rode ($24.95); and a breast of chicken crusted with coconut and stuffed with fresh mango, giving it the clever look of egg white and yolk, but even it was pumped up with a layer of lean, salty and somewhat dry prosciutto ($15.95).
That's the nature of the food on the Delta King - just about every dish comes with a touch more strength than anticipated. Executive chef Layne McCollum came aboard six months ago after years in the Sierra, from the foothills of Jackson, where he owned the Upstairs Restaurant, to the peaks south of Lake Tahoe, where he cooked at Kirkwood and Caples Lake resorts. Big mountains encourage big appetites, and that's what McCollum learned to accommodate, and still is.
But more than power characterizes his cooking. Trained at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, McCollum draws stylistic inspiration from around the world, including the American South, the Mediterranean, continental Europe, and Asia.
Much of his cooking is entertaining, intricate and proud. One example is the house-made table bread, arriving promptly at the table fresh and flavorful, with a chewy crust and dense, moist crumb, ideal for tearing and dipping into the accompanying olive oil, seasoned liberally with herbs.
McCollum dresses up a sweet interpretation of Dungeness crab cakes not only with toasted almonds and red grapes, but also a "green grape fresco," which turned out to be an unusually acidic cream sauce, at once rich but also refreshingly sharp ($11.95).
A fruity and spicy mango coulis was the perfectly spunky counterpoint to crackly spring rolls of sweet and smoky duck that had been smoked in-house ($9.95).
A couple of other starters weren't as impressive, however.
An ambitious take on lobster bisque didn't work either for the bisque, which was dark, thick and listless, or the quenelles of sole lumbering through it, which were heavy and coarse ($7.95).
Manila clams were satisfying for their fresh and tender flavor, aside from a couple tough and gritty, but their tarragon-scented broth lacked zing and finished a touch bitter ($9.95).
Dark-meat entrees tended to be less busy than other main courses, the steaks and chops pretty much allowed to speak for themselves, including succulent and juicy broiled New Zealand lamb chops ($26.95), and a spicy and rich grilled filet warm with garlic, green peppercorns and a whole-grain mustard sauce ($19.95).
Resident pastry chef Stephanie LaRue exercises a steady hand with desserts that range from the fashionable (a substantial and appropriately gooey chocolate volcano cake with vanilla-bean ice cream, raspberry sauce and pistachios) to the traditional (a version of tiramisu with nicely layered flavors of espresso and spirits).
Her mango sorbet was refreshing, her cheesecake quite good not only for its clarity and freshness but for its bright strawberry topping and its correct temperature - not so cool that flavors were dulled, as often happens. All desserts are $5.95.
In short, since I last reviewed the Pilothouse three years ago, the food has become more ambitious in concept and more reliable in execution. The menu is primed to sail full-speed-ahead into fall and winter, but it could be heading for a sandbar in the long term if it doesn't offer more lighter selections, especially in spring and summer.
The restaurant remains handsome and tidy, the wine list has been expanded encouragingly, and service was friendly and bright.
The wine list is notable in several respects, including its embrace of non-mainstream styles (gewürztraminer, chenin blanc, riesling), its eagerness to feature regional wines, its superb pinot-noir selection, its broad pricing, and its program to encourage diners to try new wines by offering sample tastes of several releases.
Service steadily has improved, and these days is marked by an attitude emphatic and upbeat, with delivery attentive and brisk. Hop aboard, for the voyage is smoother now than it has been in years. Must be all that ballast.
Delta King, 1000 Front St., Old Sacramento (916) 441-4440
2.5 stars / $$$-$$$$
FOOD: The culinary cargo aboard the Delta King these days includes a few carefree California backpacks (duck spring rolls, seared salmon, cioppino) but runs most eagerly to heavy-duty continental trunks (grilled steaks, braised lamb, stuffed pork chops).
AMBIENCE: For all sorts of reasons - views of life on the Sacramento River, anticipation of that night's performance either in the downstairs theater or the upstairs lounge, the generally festive mood that prevails through the staterooms - people invariably look to be enjoying themselves in the cozy, polished and historically evocative Pilothouse.
HITS: One appealing element of the smart wine list is the opportunity to order a sample, half glass or glass as well as a bottle for several of the wines. Parking in nearby city garages is validated for up to $5.
MISSES: No nits to pick here. Not that the place is perfect, but it's quiet enough for easy conversation and servers consistently were prompt and conciliatory.
HOURS: Lunch 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday through Saturday; dinner 5-9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 5-10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; brunch 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday.
– By Mike Dunne, Sacramento Bee