Usually, payback is a bad thing, commonly referred to as a B and not in the endearing (I hope?) way my friends refer to me.
In this case, however, my payback for giving John a flight to Alaska for 10 days to visit Drue is an endless supply of the freshest, most delectable smoked salmon! In just over a week, the man caught over 100 lbs of halibut and salmon, which means that annoying, top-loading extra freezer in our kitchen is finally full of something I can't wait to thaw!
Look at my impressive husband-to-be! (if you're impressed by this sort of thing, which I guess I am, even though I have no idea how they got a stick through 6 salmon or whose idea it was to put a stick through the gills of these fish)
We've been eating smoked salmon with nearly every weekend bagel, savoring the texture and barely-there fishiness I've never experience with store-bought lox. The halibut—impressively thick steaks so fresh it's nearly impossible to overcook them to dryness—have provided endless opportunities for new recipes. We've made baked halibut with blue cheese cream sauce (a John concoction), grilled halibut with chipotle lime butter (low-calorie Ellen option), lemon and red onion pan-seared halibut, even white wine and mushroom halibut with fingerling potatoes! I can't get enough of it.
Most girls plan a night of partying and drinking—my bridesmaids knew me well enough to know what I really wanted: amazing food! They took me to Toulouse Petit, a new restaurant in Seattle, well, new enough to be new to an out-of-towner. Atmosphere was totally conducive to a fab girls night out: buzz of conversation without being too loud, fun music (Journey!) even candlelight to put us in the best light.
I somehow convinced them to order a bowl of clams dripping with butter and garlic. They must have agreed we didn't need to worry about our breath tonight! A side of frites with aioli was the perfect accoutrement and what crispy, flavorful fries they were. We attempted to soak up the remaining white wine, garlic, butter deliciousness from the clams with bread but our overeager waiter scooped it right out from under our dipping fingers.
I went for some fresh halibut for my main, delivered in a light lemon sauce with roasted cherry tomatoes, cippolini onions and al dente artichoke hearts. This paired quite well with my champagne and cucumber-infused vodka martini, if I do say so myself.
By the time we departed, I was feeling light as air yet happily satiated. I was actually really impressed with how good all of our food was considering the atmosphere is clearly the draw here. It was even reasonably priced, so it's definitely recommended and a spot I'll look forward to coming back to for happy hour when the New Orleans French menu gets even more exotic!
Warning: Not about food. In fact, about foot. Pretty close, eh?
First this.
Then this.
For the past 3 months, this has been my life. Wanted to document my lack of fine dining these past weeks. I've not been able to cook or make it out much at all! But I am getting back in the saddle right away now that my feet are behaving normally for the most part. Stay tuned.
I wish this photo had come out better! Seated at the bar, which wrapped around the sushi chefs in a medium-sized rectangle so we could watch their practiced sushi-making dance, each time a certain roll was ordered they busted out a blow torch. We scanned the menu to figure out what he was doing exactly and then threw shame out the window and just said "we'll have whatever that is." It happened to be a California roll-type deal with shrimp on top that were ever-so-slightly charred so as to add a carbon element subtle enough to turn average into rather remarkable. Eventually we were also served kingfish "sashimi"—quotation marks signifying my wavering about whether it can still be sashimi if it's crisped by flame—with criss-cross burn marks. Expert. If only I got a shot of the head chef double-flaming with a torch in both hands!
The past few months have been a swirl of wedding planning, feet-icing, and generally keeping busy. To put the world on hold for an evening, John and I planned a night at our favorite romantic bistro. When I first visited John in SF, it was called Chez Maman, but today it's Gamine, finally owned and operated by the friendly Frenchman who always chats us up en Français. We didn't arrive until after 9pm and as reservations aren't accepted, the tiny space was full for another 45 minutes. Absolutely not put off, we claimed a couple chairs outside, a glass of Burgundy and some warm bread.
Once our table was ready, we didn't need to review the menu in order to make our selections. At this point I've probably tasted everything on the menu and there are some gems. However, given the length of time since my last visit, I couldn't wait to indulge in my favorites. There is nothing better than a restaurant specializing in timing. Each dish arrived perfectly timed to our progress through the previous bit, our conversation, held hands and sips of wine. After dinner, the owner brought us a congratulatory chocolate mousse, light as air. He seemed to like hearing that our courtship began at their restaurant, right about the time it opened! The place really does evoke romance in my mind and what fun to have a special spot we can always return to for a special night.
Something about summertime makes me crazy about hot-off-the-grill burgers. Well....Actually I wasn't even aware of this until I uploaded food photos from the past couple months and noticed a distinct trend. Which makes more sense since it's not really summer here in the fog anyway. My whirlwind burgerama begins with Hubert Keller's Burger Bar. The owner/chef at Fleur de Lys opened this spot opposite Cheesecake Factory in Macy's last year. My expectations were surprisingly high given his rep and I couldn't help myself ordering the signature FdL peppercorn sauce on the side! Three sliders—one buffalo, two different types of beef—all with cheddar on cute lil buns.
Next up: The Butler on Lake Kalamazoo, MI. A very satisfying, very rare, very delicious burger on a charred bun. And then, one of the better burgers I've tasted, a salty masterpiece at Nopa. I'm typically one to slather spicy mustard, ketchup, lettuce, tomato and onion on my burgers; never turning down blue cheese, bacon or mushrooms. But this burger was fine just by itself. I put a thin spread of house aioli for a kick of garlic but otherwise savored the flavorful bun and burger solo. Impressive. Wedding venue Rosewood Hotel is next up: Niman Ranch sliders with soft goat cheese and freshly made tomato sauce. Too small to make a meal but quite good. It was a smart decision to go for the garlic fries with aioli this round. And most recently, the new Marengo on Union Street whose mantra is 'wine, whiskey and sliders.' So yeah, we checked out the sliders. Marengo (named for the street in Pasadena, not the chicken recipe or booze) offered some more unique options like jerk chicken, coconut shrimp cake and mushroom-barley. But they nailed the classic blue cheese and bacon. Mmmm!!
The second attempt at the First Class Cooking green garlic soufflé was a success! Give credit to the real, actual souffle dish or the expert second try, either way it was a fluffy, creamy achievement. Voila!
After hearing about Longrain from nearly everyone I saw in Sydney, how great Longrain is for cocktails and how long you have to wait for a table at Longrain and how the best Asian fusion is at Longrain, I had to try it. Restaurants are so modern in Sydney! Low, super long, family-style tables stretched from the front to the way back of the space. High ceilings with one low table and one high table made the space feel vast and echoing. At first, I thought the reason tables at Longrain were so sought after was because there were barely any seats, but there were actually tons of people just sitting at these two giant tables.
Everything I ate in Sydney was some variation of pan-Asian or Asian Fusion. It became rather hilarious in a really delicious way. Longrain appeared to be heavily Thai but with such a modern twist it could only be described by everyone I asked as, wait for it, Asian fusion. One of the first dishes to arrive appeared to be somewhat famous with its egg net wrapped around pork and shrimp. It was pretty interesting although no one wanted to touch it and break it apart! I tried posting a video of how they make it, pretty cool.
We ordered way too much food, as you always do at family-style restaurants I think. Red curry beef, green curry Kingfish, basted crispy duck, salmon and lemon trout. Betel leaves topped with shrimp, roe and smoked trout. My favorite was the salmon with fennel and giant pearls of roe. Just for fun, even though we barely made our way halfway through the meal, we ordered the dessert platter. It was a smorgasbord of gooey treats like sticky rice, pudding, tapioca, custard, jellies, and caramel. Dinner was so enjoyable, the ambiance was lovely and the food was impressive. My client said the last time she was there, Gordon Ramsey was eating in the private dining room! I don't blame him, it's one of the first places I'd love to return on my next trip.
When your choices are meat pie lathered in mashed potatoes or hot dogs covered in chili, it's less the kind of place you stumble upon and more the kind you seek out. Even if it's a shack by the water in front of your hotel...Enter the Tiger. Meat pie, pastry crust, mashed potatoes, mushy peas and graaaaaaaavy.
Getting out of the cab on the corner Spice Temple is supposed to be on, we spun around a few times looking for a door before noticing a giant digital panel with animation of an exotic curtain rippling in the "wind." Of course this turned out to be the door, which was an appropriate introduction to the place. Winding stairs led down into an underground lair of lush velvet curtains, modern low tables and orchids galore. Our private room had low lights around a square table, as modern as you can get, Sydney signature.
We were celebrating the wrap of another long shoot so our producer who was familiar with the trendy spot handled the ordering. I started off with a Dragon: Tanqueray gin with lemon, lime and ginger. Each dish was spicier than the last, like a gimmick without escape, not that you would want to. Calamari steaks with a dry rub were hot enough without the chili paste we dipped them in. Crispy eggplant and chicken was so overrun with chilies that when I accidentally bit down on a small one, an antiseptic numbness inside my entire mouth ensued for minutes. Dragon was the only cure! The impressive dish was the Leather Jacket, a white fish that arrived in a bowl of broth with 3 inches of chopped, roasted peppers and a pepper expert waiter. He described the mix of pepper types while he allowed them to steep in the broth. One had notes of citrus, you know, once you got past the ear-popping fire explosion on your tongue. Another was known for the antiseptic I discovered previously and yet another was supposedly smoky. As he scooped out one after another heaping basket of peppers, about a 10 ounce fillet of fish was hiding in the broth beneath. I couldn't believe the flavor. By the time we got to the Leather Jacket, so many spicy dishes (and so much Dragon) had been sampled that I felt like I had worked up to it. I could handle more and more spice, so I could actually taste the delicate citrus and smoky flavor right before my tongue became completely numb. Dinner at Spice Temple was more like an adventure or a trip somewhere exotic where you can't wait to try the local specialty than any other fusion restaurant I've been to. I would highly recommend a group experience here so you can try as many plates as possible.
I'm about to head back to Sydney so I was thinking about my favorite spots from when I was visiting in January. I was fortunate to be wined and DINED a few months back: China Doll, The Malay, Pony, Toko, Speedos, Busshari and Bambino.
I still think about how amazing Busshari was. I've come to a point where I'm not impressed with sushi (what's wrong with me?!) but seriously, there's only so much you can say about a California roll. Busshari got me excited about sushi again. Lea and I watched a nearby table being served what looked like a halibut where chunks of meat were cut out, fried, and plopped back on the plate in what might not sound like a lovely presentation but really was.
This year, 7x7 offered a prize to the first person to make their way through the 2010 100. And you know, for like, a good 10 minutes, I thought it could be me. I pictured a cover story where I got to tell San Franciscans what my favorite little gems were in the city; green salsa at Tacolicious, smoked salmon at Boulette's Larder, coconut chutney at Udupi Palace...and then I snapped out of it and I think that was right about when the winner was crowned. No joke, it took less than 3 weeks for some guy with a family who dragged his wife and kids to Michael Mina and Quince. Can he be my dad?
Anyway. This year's list reveals even more uncharted territory within SF's 49 square miles. I don't know how anyone has enough time to explore all these spots, let alone how the magazine decides which dishes make the list—all I can picture (in my happy food-driven imagination) is a team sitting around reminiscing and salivating over their exploits. I want that job.
Ok, so now that I've established my envy of the list's creators and conquerors, here is the list:
I count 22 so far. The crazy thing is, a bunch of these items on the list are seasonal or even on the menu by chef's daily discretion! Even with the best intentions, I can't imagine getting through this without gaining about 50% body mass and blowing through my savings account. However, if you want to meet up and cross one of these off, I am there.
Who doesn't love getting dressed up and being taken out? Um, obviously if you are even bothering to read this, you do. Because you know I do.
Ha.
Just for kicks, and to celebrate my future mother-in-law's birthday, we glammed and glittered up for the Black & White Ball. Absinthe was the obvious choice for pre-party-in-the-middle-of-Van-Ness-in-front-of-City-Hall. I mean, where else would you go. Every time I'm here, I feel like I could stick around all night drinking French wine and ordering more combo plates of cheese. This time I chose a smart and sexy sea bass with salty fingerling potatoes. The fish tasted like it was poached in broth, a method I can appreciate but don't love as much as a seared, crispy fillet. Even though the marinated asparagus was awesome, the spicy pepper puree wasn't spicy and I was pretty bored with my fish. Ah well, just another sign I should stick to wine and cheese.
You know what most dishes are missing? Presentation! Our friends had us over for dinner last weekend and impressed us with a multi-flavor masterpiece presented as beautifully as if we were dining in their restaurant. (Yes, they own a restaurant) My favorite part of the meal were the crispy fried shallots sprinkled on top. Great idea and it turned the down-home American dish into a work of art. Sliced, marinated steak topped garlic mashed potatoes and fresh creamed corn. I'm looking forward to attempting the cream corn with chopped red onion and parsley. Crimini and shitake mushrooms added some texture to the plate: mushy potatoes, crunchy corn, chewy mushrooms, tender steak and crunchy shallots. Texture-tastic!
