The French Laundry Revisited - With Mark Van Name!

It's been six years since my first trip to the French Laundry. I'd heard rumors that Thomas Keller had spread himself too thin, opening too many restaurants, too many projects, that the French Laundry had slipped and wasn't as good as it used to be. I don't know what these people are talking about!! And I apologize in advance for the length of this article. It was a nearly 5 hour meal. You'll have to cut me some slack.

But I'm jumping ahead of myself. A few months ago I was contacted by my friend, Ticia, about an interview with Mark Van Name. He was coming out to the West Coast for World Fantasy Con, wanted to go to the French Laundry, and could I get reservations? Oh sure, you betcha! I have no insider connection, I just had to hope, keep my fingers crossed, and war dial the reservation line at 10am. The first day I tried for, I couldn't get in. I called back three days later for the second available date and, miraculously, got a table for five at 6:30 PM. I about dropped the phone I was so excited.


When we arrived, the first thing I asked to do was see the kitchen. I didn't do that last time and was kicking myself for it. I also wanted to do it before we started drinking wine...I figured that was a smart move! I was giddy standing in that kitchen. I was in complete awe. It was so quiet, so clean, and so precise. No one spoke above normal conversation levels and no one was rushing. I watched them assemble a plate of foie gras and it was so perfect (of course if it wasn't it wouldn't have gone out to the table). I felt like I had been granted access to the inner chambers of the food Vatican. I could have stayed there all night, watching, trying to learn, being enamored with the food and the dedication of the chefs. But we also felt we were in the way so we moved along.

We then headed up to our table in the corner of the second-floor. Earlier, when we'd just gotten into our hotel we were early so I took a little nap. The first thing I said when I woke up was, "Salmon Cone." I anxiously awaited the croquette. It was just as heavenly as I remembered. The waiter then went over the menu with us in detail and I conveyed my weird, inconvenient-as-a-foodie, food aversions. These of course would not be a problem for the magicians in the kitchen.

Before we dove into the menu and I wanted to get my standard interview questions out of the way. I knew once we started eating we would want to talk about nothing but the meal! I also liked posing the questions before we ate knowing at some of the answers may end up changing throughout the meal... and I was right.

Chantrelle: What is your favorite comfort food?

Mark: Macaroni and cheese. The kind that is fake cheese, Velveeta. The kind that probably turns your insides orange!

Chantrelle: What is your best childhood food memory?

Mark: I don't have many. I'd have to say Thanksgiving. We were living in a house with two adults and 10 kids and food was scarce. My mom usually worked so the other woman in our house did most of the cooking and she wasn't a very good cook. But on Thanksgiving my mom cooked and it was the only day we had food in such excess. And there were pies! I would eat until I had to lie down, my stomach was so full. The rest of the year we would have things like stuffed peppers with one pound of meat stretched between 12 people. Thanksgiving was the only day we could eat as much as we wanted.

Chantrelle: If you were forced to eat food from only one region or country what would you choose?

Mark: Italy I think. I love Florence. That's if I didn't have to worry about my health. If I were worried about being healthy I'd have to say China. But without taking health into account I'd say Italy with France being a close second.

Chantrelle: I'm always torn between Italy and Japan because I love sushi so much.

Mark: Japan doesn't do breakfast well. Have you ever had natto?

Chantrelle: Funny, I never thought of breakfast when I asked this question! I think that tips the scales for Italy. I make a frittata every week, I will never go anywhere near natto!

Since my interview with one of the cowboy junkies, the way I phrase this next question has changed. And it's changed in a way that is perfect for you!

Mark: Which Cowboy Junkie?

Chantrelle: Alan Anton, the bass player. He's a huge foodie.

Mark: Ah. Margo Timmins' voice is like an angel.

Chantrelle: I agree! I used to ask what you want your last meal be. Apparently that was a little too morbid and depressing. So now, you are about to be shot into space, what do you want your last meal on Earth to be?

Mark: My answer may change after tonight!

Chantrelle: We predicted that may be the case. But as of now....?

Mark: The 16 course truffle menu at Robouchon in Las Vegas. With the banana cream pie from Emeril's.

Chantrelle: Really? Emeril??

Mark: You don't have to eat anything else there. But if you like banana cream pie he has the best.

Chantrelle: And my favorite Food Porn question: What do you consider the sexiest food?

Mark: It depends on who is eating it. Anything can be sexy with the right person eating it! A hot dog eaten correctly by a woman can be quite sexy. But I'd say foie gras. Cooked perfectly but not cooked through so it's just warm in the middle.

(This question was later revised when the white truffle course was served! Wait for it....)

Formalities out of the way, it's time for serious eating.

First up, the famous, now classic, "Oysters and Pearls". I was concerned. I don't like cooked oysters, I don't really like caviar. That was the biggest blob of caviar I've ever seen on a plate in front of me. After my first bite I added to my list of sexiest foods. There was so much sumptuous butter in the dish I don't think I would've cared what was cooked in it. Pure, fatty bliss. I almost licked the bowl but I restrained myself. This was followed by a black truffle brioche. Everyone else got some cheesy thing. I got a hot-air-filled pastry balloon of happiness.

For the next course, it was a choice of soup or foie gras. Mark got the Moulard Duck "Foie Gras au Torchon" with Gingerbread Purée, Tokyo Turnips, Watercress, Pecans and Cranberries. He was a happy, happy man. If I could go back in time I would take a picture of his face upon the first morsel of foie hitting his tongue and pair that with the sexiest food question. The rest of us got the Musquée de Provence Pumpkin Soup with Chestnut Beignets and Whipped Maple Syrup. It was sweet, it was toasty, it was autumn in a bowl...a very refined, fancy, somewhat elitist autumn. Before this course we got some bread. Luckily I had a piece left so I actually got to mop up every last drop of the soup!


There was an extra "little" menu addition. We happened to show up during white truffle season. Just to add to my weirdness, I'm a fungophile who doesn't really enjoy truffles. I love to smell them and would love to hunt them (I never have) but they are too overwhelming of a flavor for me. I was the only one at the table that did not opt in to the truffle supplement menu. The waiter didn't want me to feel left out so asked if it was okay if he brought me a little egg custard infused with white truffle oil... like I would say no! It was lovely but still too truffley for me. I enjoyed two or three bites and really enjoyed it with our wine (2006 Corton Charlemagne, Coche-Dury that we picked up not too long ago as a pre-arrival at Kermit Lynch).

They brought the truffle humidor around for all of us to smell the beautiful fungus! Then shaved the most truffle I've ever seen on one plate. It was such a beautiful thing, I thought I'd share. Sorry there's no smell-o-vision!


My husband described the truffle experience best when he said, "The wine with the truffles made me taste colors I've never seen before." And when discussing the experience later, "Washing down a mouthful of freshly shaved white truffle with a slurp of Coche Dury Corton Charlemagne was a new peak moment for me as a foodie, though I suspect it guarantees that I will, in fact, be going to hell -- if not for the sheer decadence of such an indulgence, for the so-called "statutory grape" of opening an '06 a decade early."


After the richness of the truffles came a refreshing tartare of Medai Belly with Fuyu Persimmon, Yuzu, Black Sesame, Radish and Mizuna. The plate was a beautiful combination of colors. It was sweet, crunchy, fresh and made my sexy food list longer once again. I think I'll have to add this whole dinner into that list!



Exit fresh and light and return to rich and decadent: Maine Lobster Tail "Pochée au beurre doux" with Michigan Sour Cherries, Sunchokes, Piedmont Hazelnuts, Pearl Onions and Coffee-Chocolate Emulsion. Yes -- coffee-chocolate with lobster. I'm not going to say it was something I'd request on a dish again, but it wasn't bad or as weird as I thought it would be. It didn't take away from the dish, it was quite mild, but I don't think it added anything either. It wasn't a "miss" but it was the only thing all night that wasn't a life changing taste with each bite. The lobster itself was though!


We all had a funny reaction to the delivery of the Fricassée of Liberty Farm Pekin Duck with Cèpe Mushrooms, Toasted Farro and Brussel Sprout Leaves... we forgot it was on the menu, all thought it was the beef course and didn't two of the five of us order lamb? Well, yes they did but this is the duck you dingbats! What, are you getting full?!? You are only halfway through! But was I happy to get this duck afterall! I don't even like duck... or Brussels sprouts. It was moist, juicy, rare, tender, flavorful, roasty-toasty, rich and earthy. Turns out I like duck when it's been run through the Keller-Magic-Pan-of-Yum.

Now, no one else complained about this but me. The Snake River Farms "Calotte de Boeuf Grillée" with Horseradish Dumplings, French Laundry Garden Beets, Romaine Lettuce, Crème Fraîche and "Sauce Borscht" was an abnormally large portion for the French Laundry. I actually said, "Why is that so huge!?" I was already full at this point and had been powering through for a couple of courses. I took a couple of bites and shared the rest with the table (no one objected!). The meat just melted away. Two others at the table shared the Elysian Fields Farm Lamb Saddle with "Cassoulet" of Autumn Beans, Tomato Compote and Garlic "En Persillade". One of those two was my husband and he doesn't like lamb. He had a similar epiphany that I had with the duck. How can the kitchen transform flavors like that?

Thankfully the cheese course, "Camembert" with Black Truffle, "Pain Perdu," Quince, Celery Branch and Brown Butter, was next which meant I got a little refreshing salad break. This is the first time I've been happy about not liking cheese because I think I would have exploded if I tried to consume that much fat and richness at this point in the meal.


Ahhh, on to dessert. Simple, yes? Just sorbet and then a little chocolate, right? WRONG! First up was the Bartlett Pear Sorbet with Roasted Jacobsen's Farm Pears and Chai Tea Sablé. It cooled the senses, gave the illusion that you could keep eating. Pear sorbet has become a favorite dessert for me (Scream Sorbet at our farmers market sells their's, in season) and this one, of course, encapsulated every bite of peariness imaginable.

Second, "Gâtueau Saint Nizier au Manjari" with Mango-Chili Relish, Valrhona Cocoa Nibs, Lime Foam and Coconut Milk Sorbet. Can I just say that for the first time I *EVER* loved foam! Now I finally get the foam thing. It's not like a little pile of flavored bubble bath soap on your food, it's denser and flavorful, still light, and this particular one was like a little, frothy virgin margarita topped with crunchy salt and lime zest. And yes, this paired wonderfully with the chocolate.

That's the end of the menu, so were done. The album is over...Nope! There's that hidden track that's not listed in the liner notes! Now the multilayered box of cookies and confections: nuts, sesame, caramels, toffee, things I don't even recall. Then the plate of truffles: caramel, peanut butter, pumpkin, peppermint, coffee. Good Lord! Just like six years ago, this last surprise course came home with me for breakfast.


Thankfully we didn't have to find room for more food. Sadly, the dinner was concluding. Tea, coffee, a little parting gift of shortbread cookies. We lingered as long as we could. Mark then ventured into the kitchen to be awed by the work in there as well. He came out sufficiently venerated.

To be honest, I usually would have more quotes from my interviewee in my write-up. We talked about books: his and others ("Shoes off and the whale!"), tech work (Mark is CEO of Principled Technologies). We discussed many other restaurants: Pigeon, Beast, and Sel Gris in Portland, Little Washington, Alinea and El Bulli). We talked about his upcoming book projects, family, and more food. Alas, my recorder failed and all this has all come from memory. I think that means we have to do this again! We've all agreed to return to the French Laundry together and this time LICK THE PLATES!!! Etiquette be damned!

Trevese - Los Gatos

Trevese
115 North Santa Cruz Avenue
Los Gatos, CA 95030
(408) 354-5551

Just found out Trevese has closed its doors. Guess my scathing review was a little late!

Our 10 year wedding anniversary snuck up on me somewhat. We'd gone on vacation, had been preparing for our son to start kindergarten, and summer was just flying by. But at the last minute I found a babysitter and did a little Googling and found that Trevese had a Michelin star and we hadn't been there. I hired a car to drive us over windy Highway 17 and we had our evening booked.

We quickly vetoed the tasting menu as it had too many things we wouldn't enjoy (pork, lamb, cheese). The vegetarian tasting menu seemed like a joke. The chef has got to be mocking vegetarians. On the vegetarian tasting menu is Tofu TarTar, Granola Rice Roll and Potato Tot... seriously?!? I wanted to order the Tofu TarTar (note, not "tartare") just to see what the heck it was! But I didn't.

The first thing to arrive was a shot glass of heirloom tomato and strawberry gazpacho. It was the inspiration for my own gazpacho shooters. A wonderful balance of sweet and tangy. A great start while we were perusing the menu. We did finally settle on what we'd order and it started off well.

The Crispy Quail with Polenta Cake, Smoked Cherries and Chard was finger licking good. The quail had a fried chicken quality and not in a bad way. In an "I want to suck on the bones and lick my fingers" way. The greens were excellent along with the polenta cake. I didn't have the cherries because I don't like fruit with my meat but my husband liked them.

To accompany the meal we had a bottle of 2004 Domain Leflaive, "Clavillon," Premiere Cru, Puligny-Montrachet. It seemed versatile enough to match most of our courses. The wine list was quite interesting. What was most striking was the entire page and Brunello di Montelcinos. There was no other (especially Italian) wine that took up so much of the list so we inquired about this and found out that one of the main investors in the restaurant has a huge collection of Brunellos and sells them on consignment. Brilliant! This gets wine that has been properly aged onto the wine list without the exorbitant markup you can get by trying to find 10-15-year-old Brunello on the retail market. But back to what we actually drank! The Puligny-Montrachet went beautifully with the quail.

Next up was the Sweet Gem Lettuce with a Sweet Onion Dressing, White Anchovy, and Kalamata Olive. This had a very good Caesar salad flavor so it surprised me that it had no cheese on it—of course I was happy with that! It was served with what really tasted like our favorite quick appetizer: Dinon white anchovies. The other salad we ordered was the Asparagus Salad with Juniper Berry and Basil Vinaigrette and Fennel. This was seasonal and fresh. It was a challenge to get on a fork but we managed. It had something they were calling "asparagus flan" which I think would have been better if they'd not called it a flan. It had the texture of a butter more than a custard or flan. Great flavor in it though, just inaccurately named.

So the first courses were great. And then the, unfortunately, all too familiar happened. The main courses came and were disappointing. I see this in so many fancy pants restaurants it seems. The firsts and desserts are great but the mains fall short. Sometimes it's because of too many ingredients, this time it seemed like it was because of the wrong ingredients.

First up was the Mer Rouge—Prawns, Couscous and Shells Simmered in Marsala Tomato Sauce. This dish was prawny. That's all there was to it. To quote Janice in Chef, "The prawniness borders on the vulgar to be frank." I had about three bites and left the rest. And unfortunately the wine emphasized that flavor as well. Blech!

The other dish was Skillet Seared Loch Duart Salmon with Herbed Rice, Fennel Salad and Basil Saffron Broth. The rice in the basil broth was good, the salmon was cooked well (more cooked than I tend to prefer but not overcooked by any means) and then they smothered the salmon in overpowering mustard sauce! It obliterated the fish and anything it came in contact with. Sad.

I decided to have a simple dessert and got an assortment of sorbets and ice cream which were all very good. The texture was wonderful and the flavors were interesting. I wish the openers and desserts stuck with me as much as the mains did. I'm still perplexed by the Michelin star. Was it an off night? Maybe. The first courses were lovely though. Service was impeccable and the sommelier knew his stuff. The evening wasn't a total loss by any means but not the 10th anniversary extravaganza I was seeking.

Cellar Door - Santa Cruz, CA

Cellar Door Café at Bonny Doon Vineyard
328 Ingalls St
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
831-425-4518

We were in the mood to try something new for lunch the other day. Since we were on that side of town I suggested The Cellar Door since we'd been told to go there so many times but had never made it. I'm really glad we went.

We had an assortment of small plates. I started with local greens with lemon and almonds. A salad was beautifully presented, well dressed and lovely. My husband started with a plate of pedrón peppers which he said were great, but I had to take his word for that, I can't stand the things!

We also started off with some Boquerones. They were beautifully marinated, not at all over salty. We ended up having to order two more plates of them because our five year old ate them all!!

I finished up with the Crisp Steelhead with local squid, cannellini bean brodo, corn and Sungold tomatoes. This was fantastic. The skin on the trout really was very crispy and tasty. The squid was cooked perfectly so it wasn't chewy and the brodo was drinkably good. I've got a thing about corn in dishes, it tends to taste like a cheap filler to me (I think this comes from school lunches as a kid). This corn was so sweet still so crisp that it added to the dish rather than taking away from it.

I'd like to return to taste more of the menu and try their tasting menus sometime.

Something More Besides Food - My Interview with Cowboy Junkies' Alan Anton

I had such a rock star week. It began with seeing Tori Amos two nights, one of which was from front row center seats. It continued with catching up with Neil Gaiman and meeting Amanda Palmer, and immediately leaving them and going to pick up my lunch date interviewee, Alan Anton of the fantabulous Cowboy Junkies. I could get used to this lifestyle. Since the band was playing Villa Montalvo that night, I made reservations at Le Papillon in Saratoga which I'd never been to but had heard good things about.

We were having a lovely conversation when the waiter brought our amuse bouche: Halibut Green Curry Mousse Garnished With Mango Chutney, which went over very well with many "mmmmmms." Alan and his family left Toronto a while back and now live on Vancouver Island, one of my favorite places on the planet. I reminisced with him about Sooke Harbour House and Point No Point. I must go back!

We settled on ordering the chefs tasting menu and got back into our conversation:

Alan: "Do you ever make terrines and things like that?"

Me: "No, I tend not to do the stuff that takes that much processing."

Alan: "I used to but then I ran out of time for that kind of stuff. I loved making sauces but it was such a process."

Me: "I tend to do the grab-the-stuff-out-of-the-garden-and-throw-it-together kind of menu"

Alan: "Do you know Mark Bittman? I really like his stuff. He's got a video site where he shows the basic steps for recipes. He's got a great sort of New York, laid-back attitude and everything looks so easy, and it is. He reduces everything down, 'You don't need this, forget about this, most people say do this but it just takes too much time...' and he comes up with some really great flavors that you'd never think of."

Me: "I've been finding that with Eric Ripert's Le Bernadin cookbook. Seafood is our main protein most of the time. It's all really simple stuff. There are a few elements to each dish that you still taste the fish. You're not piling so many things on it. His recipes are all very simple and precise but not complicated."

Alan: "It's hard to find a place that cooks fish right, they tend to overcook it. A friend of mine has a boat and we go fishing at home and eating it two hours later out of the water is unbelievable. You don't need to do anything to it, a little salt and pepper, it's unbelievable."

Me: "At the farmers market they'll have locally caught sardines, which are basically bait. My son absolutely loves them and I'm sure not going to discourage that! I love having a four-year-old that runs up and yells 'Hey mommy, they have sardines, let's get some!!'"

Alan: "Does he eat avocado?"

Me: "I think every kid in California eats avocado. It's a great first food."

Alan: "Oh right, it's a California thing."

Me: "We get these marinated white anchovies, the brand is Dinon, they have them at Whole Foods but we get them at our local market. He just loves them! It always freaks out anybody that comes to our house for dinner parties."

Alan: "Living in the city, not on the West Coast, in Toronto, you're just surrounded by processed foods. It's what your kid is exposed to at school and it becomes so hard to get them to taste stuff. Anything with flavor and texture they don't want.

Me: "I basically consider food my religion so it goes against everything I believe to go to fast food. I'm a Slow Food person. My son doesn't like anything breaded. He doesn't even like things like gyoza, he just wants what's inside. He doesn't like breaded chicken, he just wants chicken. It's great. He tells McDonald's "The M. place, pleh!" We just go there to use the bathroom on road trips. It makes me proud as a foodie."

Alan: "The whole food issue in this country is pathetic. It's got the worst food, and the cheapest food so you've got a third of the population living on that. McDonald's, or whatever, which leads to obesity which leads to heart disease."

Me: "And these people would never consider picking up fresh vegetables or anything like that. Why would you do that when you can get a hamburger for $.59?

Alan: "I don't know if you saw Michael Moore's movie Sicko but it talks about how a large portion of this country's health issue would go away if we started to eat right which means taking on the huge agribusiness guys. Which can be done starting on a local basis, starting on a small basis, even in the cities. Make sure your kids don't take crap to school. Get the food out of a good organic situation, or a local situation."

Me: "I think local is even more important than anything. Organic or not it's better if it's coming from up the road than being shipped around the world."

Alan: "Right, and you've got the energy issue in that as well."

We went on to talk about heat waves, global warming, the fact that neither of our towns have air conditioning. I felt as if we were old friends.

Alan: " I went to a scotch bar that a friend of mine owns in Denver when we were just there on this tour. It's got, he claims, the largest selection of scotch in the country by the glass. 260 bottles. While I was in there looking at the list there's one that is $850 a shot. And I said, 'Wow, do you ever sell any of these?' And five minutes later these guys walk in. They'd driven from two hours away with their little books. You know how birders have their books to check off all the birds they see? They had one of these for Scotch. Each of them opened up their books and started looking at the menu and sure enough one of them bought the $850 shot! It was really weird, he said he hadn't sold one in six months. He paid $10,000 for this bottle. He'd had it for about seven years or so. It was really weird, as soon as I said, 'Who buys this stuff?' The guy walks in and buys one.

While we're waiting for our first course, I pulled out my questions.

Me: "What's your favorite comfort food?"

Alan: "Any kind of sausage. I love the sausage. Smoked chorizo. Something hard, smoked, little slices. If I'm in a bad mood I have one of those and it's all gone."

Me: "What's your best childhood food memory?"

Alan: "There are so many. I grew up with parents that were East European: Croatia and Serbia. My grandmother moved in with us when we were little and she did all the cooking. I had this authentic cooking from a woman who was doing all the cooking at the turn-of-the-century for her family. She would put an enormous spread on the table every night. Way too much food for everybody. She had seven or eight standard weekly meals and every weekend she would make strudel on this huge table. She'd be stretching the dough until it was paperthin. Waving it in the air and laying it down. She'd make cheese and apple strudel every weekend. We had it all week long. During the week it was tons of meats, stuffed peppers or cabbage rolls. All beautifully done, very rich, heavy stuff. There were always sausages hanging, ham hocks hanging."

Me: "I guess this is where your sausage comfort food comes from?"

Alan: "For sure, yeah. Every second weekend my dad and I would go to the local Serbian meat store. Everything would come from over there, so it was all smoked and made a certain way. I learned all about the different meats and how they did it. I had my favorites. We'd walk back with a basket full of smoked stuff to get us through the next couple of weeks. I grew up with very rich, heavy, delicious food...nothing like this."

...Our first course arrived: Hokkaido Scallop Ceviche with Lemon, Sunflower Salad and Browned Butter Powder. A very fresh, sweet scallop, thinly sliced. A wonderful start.

Alan: "I grew up in an environment where my friends were all pretty much eating processed foods so I never had them over for dinner because they didn't like what I was eating and I didn't like eating what they were eating."

Me: "It's so important that you expose your kids to real food. We always had a garden when I was growing up, I could just go into the backyard and pick stuff. I've got this really vivid memory of me, really really little, just sitting in the dirt in the garden eating peas."

Alan: "That's one thing I haven't gotten around to yet, having a garden at home. It's a lot of work. We have a lot of animals around so you have to build a huge enclosure, it's a big deal or else it's all eaten. You have to keep the birds out too. Birds just appear, anytime of the year, just a million of them, they'll land on your stuff and five minutes later they disappear and everything's eaten. Lots of deer. And we have a bear right now."

Me: "That's got to be scary!

If you were limited to eating food from only one region for the rest of your life, where would you choose?"

Alan: "Anywhere in the world? Any country? Somewhere in Italy for sure. I don't know where exactly. Not the south, anywhere in the upper half. Is that good enough? Can I have the whole upper half?"

Me: "Sure, I'd say the same thing actually. But I'm torn, because if I choose northern Italy I can't have sushi."

Alan: "I'm not really a sushi guy."

Me: "I go back and forth. David Sedaris said Northern Italy as well."

Alan: "Well there you go! It's a popular spot. I think that anyone that goes there and eats just falls in love. It's amazing."

Me: "What would you want your last meal to be?"

Alan: "That's a bit depressing. A much more pleasant way to think about that would be: 'You're about to embark on a space mission to another planet so it's your last chance to eat on Earth.' That's a tough one. I think I'd need a week to design the menu and the wines to go with it. It would be a lot of food, many courses, and many wines. I'll get you a list."

[I will post the last meal menu when I get it from Alan.]

A second course is delivered: Gulf Prawn and Linguine "Turban" with Brandy-Truffle Cream. I'm always leery of truffle dishes. The truffle tends to overpower. Alan agrees:

Alan: "Truffle is a hard thing to get right. I've had really bad truffle in restaurants. This is very good."

Me: "It's rich but I thought it would be richer from the looks of it. Yum."

Alan: "Do you know of any good raw food restaurants?"

Me: "No, haven't been to any."

Alan: "There's a really good one in Vancouver called Salt that I went to recently. There's no kitchen, you just look around and pick out what you want. They do a lot of meat which is great, sausages and things like that. Cheese, meat, and vegetables."

Note to self: try that place!!!

Course three is presented: Grilled Medallion of Durham Ranch Buffalo with Syrah Jus, Parsnip Puree And Cocoa Nibs. This was a course I was slightly concerned with since I'd never had buffalo before but it is a hit. In a blind tasting, neither of us would be able to tell this from beef and it is very, very tender.

Alan: "I was trying to think of musicians that are into food, there's not a lot of them."

Me: "No, when you tour you don't get to be. Do you guys get to eat relatively well when you're touring?"

Alan: "It's hard. On our days off we look for the good restaurant but the days of shows there's no time. We're stuck with either catering or a local restaurant."

Me: "Do you guys have your rider demands of decent food?"

Alan: "We have a little rider but there's just not that much stuff."

Me: "No brown M&Ms?"

Alan: "Yeah."

Me: "When it's your turn to cook dinner, what are you making?"

Alan: "It depends on the season."

Me: "You may answer seasonally. Let's say it's right now, July."

Alan: "July is good. It would probably be a grilled thing. Definitely be a grilled thing. Outdoor. I have to say it would be probably halibut. All the big halibut catches happen in July at home. I get phone call right away, it's a rare thing. Halibut are huge fish and they chop them up right away, right on the dock. And whoever is down their first gets to buy some. It takes about six or eight hours before the thing's sold. Its great, we go down and buy, probably, 100 pounds. If we can, if we get there early enough. The fish will come in at between 400 and 1,000 pounds. Then we freeze them."

Me: "How do you make them, because it's really easy to dry out halibut?"

Alan: "We have a great little pot this guy gave to me. It's really thin. We use it instead of aluminum foil. We pack, like, a 5 or 6 pound piece in there, fill it up. Add just a little bit of water and then just pack in all the garlic and seasonings and cook it for maybe two minutes."

Me: "Nice. I never ever order halibut because it is always overcooked"

Alan: "Salmon is always overcooked as well, even when you ask for it rare."

Me: "I've made some really nice salmon for family before and had them request that I cook it all the way through and that just kills me!"

Alan: "Another good thing... Have you ever done corn on the barbecue where you soak it in water for a while then you put it on the barbecue for two or three minutes. Then you put butter on it and put it back on the grill. Roll it around the grill until it starts getting caramelized and the sugars come out of the corn and the butter starts getting browned. It's great"

Me: "Corn is just coming into season, I'll have to try that."

Our soufflé arrives. They are enormous! Dessert was supposed to be a chocolate-coconut dish. Neither of us like coconut so they substituted dessert for us.

Me: "I plan vacations around restaurants. That's how I ended up at Sooke Harbour House. When we were in Minnesota earlier this summer, we were heading out to lunch and my husband asked me where we should go...when I didn't know he was very surprised. I always research the restaurants in towns we're visiting! We had a terrible lunch. So I went back to the hotel room and researched dinner. Found a wonderful place so I was redeemed."

Alan: "You never hear of musicians opening up restaurants. Every second movie star does that, every second sports hero does that. I guess writers don't either."

Me: "Maynard from Tool opened a winery."

Alan: "Yeah, I guess there's wineries. Sting has a winery now too."

Me: "We have a bottle of Maynard's wine we haven't tried it yet. It's, I think, a 2007 cab so it will little be a while before we drink that."

Time was running out so we wrapped up lunch and headed off to sound check. I got to drive right up to where the tour bus was parked by using phrases like, "I'm with the band." I'm such a fan girl!! The show that night was wonderful as usual. You can't beat a day with excellent food, excellent company, and excellent music. Hopefully when we are in the same town, Alan and I will get together to grab a bite or just chat. He was a lovely lunch companion.

Cafe Rouge

Cafe Rouge
1782 Fourth St
Berkeley, CA 94710
510-525-1440

I've been to Café Rouge a few times now. We always seem to get out to Kermit Lynch late in the day and by the time we get out of there we're starving. The café is always busy but we've always gotten a table. I've had a variety of dishes there. My favorite being the steak, it is incredible. The fries that come with it are perfectly crispy. But this time around I got something different

First, the Hog Island Manila clams. Clams used to be one of my favorite dishes. When I was pregnant with my son they were my most intense craving. Husband would come home and all I would say was, "Clams... now!" and we'd head out to dinner. Now, sometimes they are too, well, clammy for me unless they're cooked perfectly in any good broth... and aren't too big. These were the tiniest, cutest little clams ever! The broth was super salty (in a good way) with fennel, green garlic and just a hint of chili flakes.

After practically drinking the clam juice, the salad arrived. The Romaine was sweet and lightly dressed. It was topped with the most intense, crunchy, toasty, tiny little pumpkin seeds. They were more the size of sunflower seeds with a very concentrated flavor. Contrasted against these were creamy chunks of avocado and fresh, crunchy radish. They worked so well together. Crunchy, toasty, creamy, sweet. My whole tongue was happy.

The Salmon main was surrounded by baby red beets (my husband got to have all those, blech!!), spring onions, potatoes and beurre rouge. The salmon was cooked perfectly, in other words, undercooked as fish should be.

To drink with all this we had a 2007 Domaine Sylvain Bailly Sancerre. It was a bouquet of flowers in liquid form. Amazing! It would be perfect on the back deck on a hot summer day.

And for dessert, I had what I really think is one of the best dessert inventions in history: bonbons! Really dark chocolate. It was an excellently messy experience. Thought it odd that the server offered silverware for them though. Who uses silverware for bonbons?? Part of the joy is licking all the chocolate and ice cream off your fingers when you're done!

We will be returning to Café Rouge again. The staff is always lovely and we always seem to have to pick up wine from Kermit Lynch anyway!

Recchiuti Salt and Chocolate Tasting

The second I saw the notice about this salt and chocolate event, I signed up. I think those two things work so magically well together, I even dreamed of them when I was pregnant with my son. That's how I came to know about Recchiuti's Fleur de Sel caramel chocolates. I had a dream about having salted chocolate, got out of bed, Googled salt and chocolate and found Recchiuti's site. Two great things that taste great together. This class was a collaboration between Michael Recchiuti and Mark Bitterman. Both love to talk and played hysterically off of each other.

We started the event in the hallway outside of the Recchiuti kitchens with a drink that was a bit of a spin on a Bloody Mary. It is a blend of apricots, celery, and radish with Schramsberg Blanc de Noir. They weren't shy with the champagne!! The combination worked really well, the celery added a savoriness that cut the sweetness of the apricot. It was a bit of a challenge to drink at first with the chocolate swizzle stick-like thing in it but we all managed! The chocolate was sprinkled with Murray River salt from Australia which we discovered and fell in love with when we were in Sydney, brought back a few bags for us and family and then not long ago found it at Stonehouse olive oil. Turns out we weren't the only ones to love it.


Next we filed into the tasting room via a Himalayan salt block that was sitting on a hot plate heating it to 120° topped with a large block of 65% Sur de Lago chocolate. Grab a graham cracker, scoop up some melty chocolate and enjoy! The salt block thing absolutely fascinated me. Like I really needed another reason to love salt, the idea of cooking on salt itself (not encasing something in salt but using the salt as the frying pan!) is amazing. You can heat these blocks to 500° and seer your scallops on them and get this amazing caramelization process happening. You can freeze the ones that have been made into bowls and use them to make ice cream. These salt blocks are around 600,000 years old. Mark explained that when you taste the salt you were really tasting the ocean from the time before plants existed on Earth!

When the Tarte Tatin on the menu was brought to us it was topped by this beautiful nest of spun sugar and suspended in the sugar was a deep-sea harvested Japanese salt. Truly an enjoyable dish. Really you can't go wrong with apples, caramel and salt (well, some can, but these guys can't!)


The "Palette" cleanser (cute little play on words) was something that I would buy given the chance. A disc of single origin "Ocumare" dark chocolate topped with three caramelized and buttery pistachios, minced rosemary and roasted Korean bamboo salt. The salt is roasted in a bamboo canister in a furnace upwards of 1000°. This particular one was roasted three times and wasn't overly funky or sulfuric. Apparently the nine times roasted becomes quite intense in a use-it-in parts-per-million sort of way.

Our frosty beverage was a chocolate milk that I could enjoy anytime. It was malted with a roasted barley malt, not too rich, not too creamy and the glass was rimmed with ground and sifted cocoa nib powder mixed with Iburi Jio Cherry Salt. It was another deep sea harvested and evaporated salt that was then roasted with cherry wood which gave it a very distinct flavor. It works beautifully with the nibs. It didn't step on the subtle chocolate flavors, it just enhanced them.

At this point we all got up to take a tour of the kitchen. Michael's got a lot of cool, fancy toys. The Windows XP-controlled squirter, the long conveyor belt cooler, the walk-in hot room that keeps the chocolate melted at 120°, and a giant copper pot full of boiling water to clean the floor (oh, and the giant pot also used for making caramel!). I'd love to be in there during production.


We returned to our tables that had been set up with a flight of six artisan salt caramels. From left to right it was a square of caramel, a square of chocolate covered caramel, and six squares of chocolate covered caramel each with a different salt sprinkled on top. Number 1, Pangasinan salt which is a fleur de sel very similar to what Michael uses regularly in his caramels. Number 2, Kona salt, similar to #1 but a fresher, lighter mouth feel. Number 3, Cypruss Silver flake salt was more intense because of it's more geometric shapes. Number 4, Amabito No Moshio (aka algae salt) tasted a lot like iodized, table salt but without chemical aspects that table salt has. It does have a very high iodine level. Number 5, oak smoked salt that was not subtle on the oak flavors. It was like licking a salty barrel! And number 6 was my favorite with the caramels, Shinkai Deep Sea Salt.


We finished with an incredibly rich, creamy ice cream with Stonehouse olive oil drizzled on top making it even more rich and creamy. To sprinkle on top of that Mark provided a Haleakala Ruby salt and, as good as the ice cream was, I don't think I could eat it without the salt. It was so rich, but not overly sweet, the salt really sliced right through all that fat and made it a wonderful closer to the tasting.

I've been a fan of Recchiuti for many, many years. I get the gift club subscription for Christmas every year. Every time we're in San Francisco and we can make it to the Ferry Building we stock up and, if we can't, we order from the website for any holiday we can come up with to give each other chocolates. Now I'll have another site to frequent and somewhere else to visit when I'm in Portland: The Meadow. Michael and the entire Recchiuti staff and family were wonderful hosts. This only increased my love and hopefully their fanbase.

Lillian's Italian Kitchen

Lillian's Italian Kitchen
1116 Soquel Ave
Santa Cruz, CA 95062
831-425-2288

You can't throw something in Santa Cruz without hitting an Italian restaurant it seems. Ristorante Avanti, Lucio's, Limoncello, La Posta, all favorites of mine. I was looking for a simple lunch today and remembered that Lillian's was open for lunch so decided to finally check it out.

Lillian's isn't like any of those. It's more casual, more like something maybe from Little Italy. Granted I was there for lunch and I've heard they've got some items on their dinner menu that are must-haves. I got the lunch special which is a cup of soup and a half order of one of their pastas. The soup was Pasta Fagioli, cannellini beans, chard, just a hint of heat. I devoured it and mopped up the bowl with my French bread. Quite tasty!

And since I wanted something just basic and simple, I got the Penne Arrabiatta. It had a good amount of heat but not so much to destroy my taste buds. I would have added a little more salt and fresh basil (there was fresh basil on top but not enough to get some in every bite). But overall it was a good dish, I didn't leave much!

I need to go back for dinner and not by myself so I can try more dishes. But all in all a very good lunch special and I walked out of there paying only $10! You don't find that very often these days.

Sushi Groove South - San Francisco

Sushi Groove South
1516 Folsom St
San Francisco, CA 94103
415-503-1950


This is our new pre-Slim's-show dinner. You could easily miss it if you don't have the address and aren't really looking for it. Just keep an eye out, you'll find it. Slip past the thick curtain over the entry and excellent fish and sake awaits.

Hamachi sashimi, never a disappointment. Waloo nigiri I'd never tried and it was a buttery, yummy experience. Sake nigiri, a silken, and beautiful slice of salmon.

The sake, we ordered Ozeki Karatamba, is served in martini glasses so don't get confused like I did and not think it's your drink! I've yet to have anything here that I didn't thoroughly enjoy.

It also makes me quite proud that the last time I went was with a friend of mine who hadn't had sushi and doesn't like fish but she was really open to trying new things. It turns out she likes raw fish, just not cooked or "fishy" fish. Yay! Sushi for all!

Sushi Tomi - Mountain View

Sushi Tomi Restaurant
635 W Dana St
Mountain View, CA 94041
650-968-3227


I discovered Sushitomi when I worked in Mountain View just a few blocks away. Unfortunately, I found it just a few weeks before our office moved to San Francisco. I had been on a search for good sushi in downtown Mountain View and had failed for a year. Then we went out for a department lunch at this little place that, from the outside, didn't look like much but once the food was served I knew I'd be coming back.

Well, I now have to go out of my way to get there but it's worth it. The latest Sushitomi visit was due to a friend visiting from New Mexico. We were arranging a place to get sushi, I suggested Sushitomi and she quickly got very excited because when she used to live in the area she was a regular there and missed it.


My friend ordered a bottle of Soju which I had never had before. It's basically a cross between Sake and vodka. To be honest, it's a little strong for me but it sure looks cool in a shot glass with a quail egg floating in it! They brought the quail egg perched beautifully atop a little mound of wasabi. If you want to try Soju, make sure you get the kind made from rice and not sweet potatoes...bleh!

It has become my habit to order the chef specials. This time I ordered the extra fancy nigiri plate. I've done that before and was not disappointed. And it exposes me to various imported fish that I wouldn't necessarily know to pick off of the menu. To be totally honest, I don't exactly know what I ate. There were some standards: hamachi, ebi, sake. Then there were the ones I thought I could identify as mackerel and scallop but it turns out the mackerel was something I didn't get the name of but it was great (I know that's no help is it?!) and the scallop was octopus!! It was so tender I never would've guessed.

I need to keep looking for excuses to go to Mountain View for sushi. I love this hidden gem.

Michael Mina - San Francisco

Michael Mina
Westin St. Francis
335 Powell St
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-397-9222



After the great meal we had at Michael Mina Vegas, knowing the San Francisco restaurant was rumored to be even better, I was very much looking forward to the meal. We decided before we even arrived that we would most likely do the seasonal tasting menu. Luckily it was perfectly laid out for us with the "or" choices on just the right dishes.

Course one was Grilled Japanese Kanburi (tatsoi, Asian pear, ginger vinaigrette). This was amazing. The fish was perfectly cooked. The savory and sweet had an absolute perfect balance. It was a wonderful start. The wine pairing did not start well though. There is this trend that we've been experiencing with the chef's tastings and pairings of sweet, fruity wines served with Asian flavored dishes. This one was a Spanish Moscatel Seco (2007 Jorge Ordonez Botani) that was full of pineapple and mango. It was dry but had a coy sweetness from the tropical fruit flavors. This would be a good hot day quaffing wine, but did not pair with the food.

The next dish was one I thought I would love but it ended up being my least favorite of the evening: Extra Virgin Olive Oil-poached Wild Sturgeon (pickled cabbage, pumpernickel panade, dijon emulsion). It was an interesting flavor combination but the mustard overwhelmed everything else and, combined with the pickled cabbage, reminded me of a hot dog! "I'll have the sturgeon with mustard and kraut please!"



I'm not usually a fan of squab. I mean, really, it's pigeon! Why the fancy name? Anyway, WOW! It was practically rare, but a tender, perfect texture, not at all squab-like. It wasn't stringy or gamey although it was intensely smoky. Luckily, the sommelier paired this one with a Pinot Noir (2006 Whetstone Pinot Noir, Jon Boat) that cut through the smoke.


Michael Mina isn't immune to the influence of the Kobe trend. They have added a great twist to it though: "Thai Beef Salad" (grilled little gems, serrano peppers, green curry). The beef was tender, the curry had some heat and, unpredictably, this was our favorite dish of the evening. The other surprise was that the 2007 Celebration Gamay Noir (Eola-Amity Hills, Oregon) worked so well. Red wine with beef, sure, of course! Red wine with spicy serrano, Thai curry... what? It was awesome.

The Apple Tarte Tatin (Burnt cinnamon ice cream, cider foam, toffee) for dessert was spiced and sweet and tart cinnamony. The 2003 Tokaji brought out a brown sugar in the dish which made it a very good pairing. There was an extra little bite that came out, a sort of s'more gelée. I don't tend to like the textures gelées and foams but this little bite was so intensely S'MORE! Great finish to the meal.

We had a lovely time -- oh, and this was my birthday dinner so they wrote "Happy Birthday" on my Tarte Tatin plate in chocolate... cute!

I'm looking forward to my next opportunity to return to Michael Mina. It's an extravagant meal but there's nothing wrong with that if the dishes deliver and these sure did.

La Posta

La Posta
538 Seabright Ave.
Santa Cruz, CA 95062
831-457-2782


We had an excellent dinner tonight at La Posta. I've been meaning go there for ages and we finally made it down. My husband and son devoured the mixed salumi plate (everything on the plate was house-cured except for the imported prosciutto). I had the Baby mixed lettuces with anchovy vinaigrette and was very much looking forward to the anchovy vinaigrette. I was not disappointed, it was overwhelmingly anchovied and amazing.


My main course was the Roasted Striped Bass with clams,artichokes, fingerling potatoes, and leeks. The fish was perfectly cooked, the leeks still had a bit of a good crunch to them, the clams were flavorful, everything meshed very well together. I accompanied the meal with a glass of 2005 La Spinetta "Ca di Pian" Barbera d'Asti, careful not to drink it with the artichokes! It was a beautiful wine.

I finished the meal with two incredible scoops of Strawberry Gelato. It's made in-house and is the essence of strawberry. It's served atop strawberry puree and with a large, yummy in-season, local strawberry. A perfect dessert, that is if you're a strawberry freak! It was awesome.

I'm glad we finally made it down there, it was worth the wait. We'll be back soon.