Want to train in El Bulli's kitchen?
How to get a stage at El Bulli for season 2005. In 2004, there were 1600 applicants for approximately 40 spots.
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November 30, 2004
November 29, 2004
Kiwis can grow in the Pacific Northwest
Smooth and fuzzy kiwis can grow in the Pacific Northwest (This explains all the kiwis I saw at the Farmer's Market this weekend!)
November 24, 2004
NYTimes Arts & Leisure Weekend
NYC Tickets are now available for the NYTimes Arts & Leisure weekend January 7-9, including “Ingredients: The Quest for the Best," moderated by Frank Bruni and featuring Dan Barber, Mario Batali, Tom Colicchio and Allison Vines-Rushing.
November 18, 2004
SF: Review Roundup
Today's review roundup includes: Bendean, Hog Island Oyster Bar, Bocadillos, Cuvae.
Bendean is a relaxed, casual eatery on Berkeley's Solano Avenue, and the latest venture of Lance Dean Velasquez. SF Chronicle Michael Bauer gives Bendean two stars (1647 Solano Avenue, Berkeley; 510-526-3700):
Velasquez is a versatile chef, and he excels at the rustic cooking style he perfected at Home. He changes the menu regularly at Bendean, but features nine starters and eight main courses, which always include a vegetarian option.
One of the best deals is Ben's Supper, where diners who come between 5 and 6 p.m. are offered a three-course dinner for $12. On a recent night, that was a Caesar salad; a really good version of pork rojo with hominy, guacamole and a Medusa-like tangle of crisp tortilla strips; and cherry bread pudding. After 6 p.m., the main course alone is $17 and it's well worth that price.
The warm fuzziness evoked by Ben's Supper fights with the harsh message printed at the bottom of the menu: "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone, at anytime, for any reason." It's something you expect to see on the wall of a cheesy Midwestern diner, not in a neighborhood restaurant in Berkeley. It's not compatible, either, with comforting selections like tomato basil soup with garlic croutons ($6) and a stew of French lentils with gypsy peppers, butternut squash and curried apples ($15).
Overall, Bendean has the type of menu that makes you feel as if you're snuggling around a fireplace on a cool autumn night. Some combinations fulfill that expectation; with others, Velasquez seems to be coasting.
Pluses: Some dishes are well priced and exceptional, including the pasta carbonara, pork rojo and roast quail.
Minuses: Other combinations seem to lose focus and are only OK. Service, while accommodating, can be a bit scattered.
Value Meal: Design and (over)Eating
Value Meal: Design and (over)Eating: Value Meal: Design and (over)Eating will represent the United States at the International Design Biennale in Saint-Etienne, France, from November 6th through 14th, 2004. Featuring 20 commissioned experimental projects by as many American-based designers, the exhibition seeks to explore design’s potential to address the obesity epidemic currently afflicting the United States and, increasingly, much of the world. Core77 asked Aric Chen and Laetitia Wolff, curators of the show, to provide a few brief comments about their objectives for the exhibition...
November 17, 2004
Lard crisis in the U.K.
On a more serious note (I think): Lard crisis in the U.K., supermarkets fear panic buying in the run-up to Christmas.
Lard Humor
The official British Lard Marketing Board website claims "Lard generally receives a bad press and we aim to put that right in 2004 by
promoting the benefits of lard and lard-based foodstuffs." The website includes recipes (Deep Fried Lard: Freeze a block of lard until really hard. Dip in thick batter
and then fry in hot lard for a few minutes until the batter is golden brown.
Especially good after 14 pints of Tennents), everything you ever wanted to know about lard, and even lard-themed music.
SF Chronicle comprehensive Thanksgiving Guide
SF Chronicle Thanksgiving Guide Lots of great information and ideas.
If I want to eat in bed, I'll stay at home or order room service
NYC According to the NY Post (second item from the bottom), B.E.D., a restaurant that will feature food service on actual beds, is planning a mid-December opening despite delays. "We're sending out pillows to VIPs with a special response-line phone number," says a spokesperson.
Here's the website for the original B.E.D., located in Miami.
NYC: Review Roundup
Today's review roundup includes: Devi, Una Pizza Napoletana, Fornino, Onera, EN Japanese Brasserie.
NYTimes Restaurants Frank Bruni gives Devi two stars (8 East 18th Street; 212-691-1300):
Devi works its exotic magic through its take on Indian food, more varied, multidimensional, nimble and surprising here than at the scores of samosa factories throughout these vindaloo-bewitched precincts, where a tandoor and delivery menu are sometimes all that a culinary entrepreneur needs to get by.
It casts its spell visually, by making you feel as if you have been lifted — lofted really — to a realm more enchanted than any blue or red state could offer.
... Best of all, Devi has chefs, Suvir Saran and Hemant Mathur, who do not feel bound by your expectations for Indian food. Yes, there is chicken tikka masala on the menu, but you have to hunt for it, and if you ask your server for suggestions, he will steer you in less tired directions.
Toward the crispy fried okra, for example, which is dusted with ground mango peel, pomegranate seed and toasted cumin, for an effect so tangy and salty that this dish could easily oust potato skins or nachos as the new appetizer sensation at a T.G.I. Friday's. (I mean that as an unfettered compliment.)
Or toward the cauliflower with ketchup. That is not, to be truthful, how Devi advertises the dish in question, but that is essentially what it is, and there is positively no shame in that. Manchurian cauliflower, to use the proper tag, pairs firm, crunchy florets with a tomato ketchup that has been spiked with garlic and chili peppers. It is entirely simple, crazily good and a fine example of Mr. Saran's laudable pragmatism: what matters is the bigness and seductiveness of the taste achieved, not the method for achieving it.
RECOMMENDED DISHES Stuffed baby eggplant; crispy fried okra; tandoori prawns; halibut cooked in banana leaf; tandoori lamb chops; Manchurian cauliflower; minced turkey; "falooda" parfait of sorbets and coconut-lemon-grass milk.
November 16, 2004
Show your MetroCard in Chinatown (NYC)
NYC Show your MetroCard, and receive discount offers between November and December 2004 at select Chinatown restaurants. Price-Fixed $8.88 lunch or $18.88 dinner at participating restaurants, 10% discount.
November 15, 2004
A Full Belly's Thanksgiving Guide
DIY Thanksgiving
If you'll be preparing the Thanksgiving day feast yourself, now is the time to start preparing and executing your game plan. The Epicurious Thanksgiving Timeline will guide you through what to do and when to do it. Martha Stewart's "The Ultimate Thanksgiving Planner" is available for download (pdf), and is so comprehensive that it includes a "Stain First Aid" guide. If this all seems too overwhelming, The Morning News offers a slightly different take on the matter.
If you haven't already, one of the first things you'll want to do is buy a turkey. The Cooking Engineer's Guide to Buying a Turkey is a good place to start. There's still time to order a Heritage Foods' fresh American Bronze Turkey. Or perhaps you'd prefer a Turducken. Turducken is a boneless chicken stuffed into a boneless duck stuffed into a turkey.
Cook's Illustrated's Turkeyhelp.com is an excellent turkey resource (registration required to access some sections of the site), including recommended kitchen equipment and an illustrated carving guide.
You may need some help calucating turkey cooking time.
Have you considered frying your turkey? You'll need a turkey fryer, and I'd recommend a fire extinguisher, good for preventing a major turkey frying disaster.
Before your table is set, you'll want to get to work creating the "classic" Thanksgiving centerpiece, the aluminum foil turkey.
Don't forget the wine! Thanksgiving pairing tips.
Dining out on Thanksgiving
If you don't plan on preparing Thanksgiving dinner yourself, or if at the last minute you discover you have a still-frozen turkey on your hands, OpenTable has a list of restaurants confirmed to be open and accepting online reservations for Thanksgiving dinner. Save yourself some time and phone calls by searching all participating restaurants at once. NYC, SF
Manhattan User's Guide list of restaurants open Thanksgiving day.
NY Mag's list of restaurants open on Thanksgiving day, and their recommendations, as well as a list of caterers available to prepare, and in some cases, deliver (!) your feast.
Citysearch San Francisco's comprehensive Thanksgiving planner, includes restaurants open, caterers, and take-out turkey.
The Ultimate Apple
Honey Crisps, the new apple standard: "These amazing apples have spoiled me for life and now have become the standard by which I measure and compare all other eating apples. They are the closest one can get to eating Apple Cider. Refreshing and a bit tart, yet sweet and with a lovely finish."
November 12, 2004
R & G Lounge
Highlights from a recent meal at R & G Lounge. From top to bottom:
Salt and Pepper Crab, Three Treasures with Black Bean Sauce (bean curd, eggplant, and hot peppers stuffed with with shrimp meat), Prawns with Honey Walnuts.
R & G Lounge
631 Kearny Street
415-982-7877
November 11, 2004
SF: Review Roundup
Today's review roundup includes: Mangarosa, E & O Trading Company, La Suite, Breads of India.
SF Chronicle Michael Bauer gives Mangarosa two stars (1548 Stockton Street; 415-956-3211):
... The food is orchestrated by Niccolo Leone, who cooked at the well- regarded Verbena in Oakland. He's interpreting the visions of the owners, who are Brazilian with Italian backgrounds: Renato Fusari, who also owns West Brooklyn Pizza Co. in San Rafael, and Gina and Marcelo Betti, who run Red Boy Pizza in Novato. However, you won't find any pizza on the menu at Mangarosa, where the surroundings are upscale, changed only slightly from Jianna.
... The food tries to strike a balance between fine dining and fun, judiciously mixing and matching cultures. You can get a really good Caesar salad ($8), for example, draped with fried anchovies, or a more tropically inspired heart of palm salad ($9) mixed with radicchio, endive, arugula, orange sections and citrus vinaigrette.
... At times the exuberance of the ingredients adversely affects the balance of the finished dish. The crisp chicken ($16) became a little cloying with a too-generous drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar. Sea bass ($22), a little overcooked and dry, was plated with lemon, olives and mango, adding a sweetness that overcompensated for the pungent ingredients.
An appetizer that pairs crab and salt cod cake ($14) was ill conceived. The crab cake was fine, but the cod cake had all the appeal of a salt lick, as if the kitchen forgot to soak the dried fish before combining it with the red bell peppers and other ingredients.
However, the pork chop Milanese ($17), pounded thin and served to fill the plate, with a crisp veneer of breadcrumbs and cheese, hits the mark, especially when accented with light lemon garlic vinaigrette and more lemon that diners can squirt.
Grilled porterhouse ($35), only about a 1/2 inch thick but nearly 10 inches across, is crisscrossed with a thick string of green herb sauce. The complex flavor of the sauce, mingled with the light kiss of wood smoke on the meat, makes this one of the best steaks I've had in quite some time. As with most selections, diners will want to order side dishes to round out the meal, something servers often forgot to suggest.
VinoVenue
SF The Chronicle visits VinoVenue: "Unlike a traditional wine bar, where a few dozen wines are available by the glass or half glass, VinoVenue sells more than 100 wines as machine-poured,1-ounce tastes. It's the first wine "automat" in the United States and one of just a handful worldwide." Other impressions of VinoVenue: Amy, Sam.
November 10, 2004
Review of Thomas Keller's Bouchon Cookbook
A La Cuisine's in-depth review of Thomas Keller's Bouchon Cookbook.
Chocolate
NYC Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate. NYPost chocolate roundup.
NYC: Murray's Cheese Shop
NYC: Murray's Cheese Shop is now open on 254 Bleeker Street, with more than twice the space of the old store. [NYTimes, Gotham Gal]
NYC: Review Roundup
Today's review roundup includes: Tempo, Mancora, Cafe Gray, Little Giant, Philoxenia.
NYTimes Restaurants Frank Bruni gives Park Slope's Tempo one star (256 Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn; 718- 636-2020):
A decade ago, maybe even five years ago, Tempo would have been awash in buzz, heralded as a relatively rare example of Manhattan-style sophistication and Manhattan-caliber aspirations on Brooklyn's spotty restaurant landscape. But the opening of Tempo in September did not draw any special attention, and I have not heard all that much chatter about it since.
There should be a bit more talk, because Tempo does a few things remarkably well. It does many other things respectably. While it has its share of flaws and disappointments — for example, too few of the main courses measure up to the best appetizers and pasta dishes — its kitchen on balance makes a solid effort, turning out a fair share of accomplished food. The setting, moreover, is seductive: spacious, romantically lighted, warm and gleaming with immaculately polished wood.
. . . The only portion of Tempo's menu that held more letdowns than delights, however, was the stretch devoted to entrees. On the night I tried it, the grilled pork chop was dry. The "smothered steak" had been suffocated with a too distracting layer of mushrooms, and the very fine beef would have benefited from a crisper exterior. The accents that had been lavished on steamed red snapper — orange, clove, cumin, black onion seeds — produced a disconcerting, overly perfumed effect that brought to mind air freshener.
RECOMMENDED DISHES Porchetta; lentil soup; sheep's milk ricotta lune, or moons; bucatini with pistachio pesto; sautéed skate wing; butternut squash; date and toffee pudding; gelato.
November 09, 2004
Anthony Bourdain
SF: Anthony Bourdain will be appearing at A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books tomorrow, Wednesday 11/10 at 7:00 p.m. [601 Van Ness Avenue, 415-441-6670].
Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking
The much anticipated second edition of Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking is now available in bookstores. Be sure to check out his Q & A on eGullet this week. You can also catch him at one of his scheduled appearances in the Bay area this week and next.
Fong Inn Too
NYC: Tasting Menu reports on a visit to Fong Inn Too, one of my favorite, easy-to-miss spots in Chinatown.
Good Food Without Attitude
In Rarefied Napa, Good Food Without Attitude: NYTimes Eric Asimov reviews Martini House, Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen, and Stomp. Don't miss the audio slideshow.
November 05, 2004
I run to eat
On Sunday, I will be running the world's greatest marathon in the world's greatest city -- the ING New York City Marathon. Operation Carbo Loading begins as soon as I arrive tonight. First stop, Brooklyn's Savoia. Regular posts to resume Tuesday.
November 04, 2004
SF: Review Roundup
Today's review roundup includes: Antidote, Pearl Oyster Bar, Swan Oyster Depot, Hog Island Oyster Company, Blue Jay Cafe.
SF Chronicle Michael Bauer gives Antidote one and a half stars (201 Bridgeway, Sausalito; 415-331-9463):
. . . A meal at this Sausalito restaurant -- previously Valhalla and, before that, the longtime restaurant of former madam Sally Stanford -- could be prime material for a "Saturday Night Live" skit.
Torralba's deconstructionist sensibilities make for some very weird encounters of the food kind. Shots of truffle soup are served in test tubes. As you throw back your head to down the dark, murky contents, visions of Jonestown creep into memory.
. . . Torralba draws miniature full-color sketches of each dish on his 11-course tasting menu ($80) and colorful confetti-like dots and lines around sections of the a la carte menu.
We spent the first few minutes trying to unravel the riddles. What, for example, is "Like a sardine touched for the very first time!" ($14), the "Peach's problem" ($10), or "Implosion of lobster ... as a tease!'' ($25)? These bons mots pepper the menu, leaving me scratching my head. It must be a French thing, I decided, so I rolled the dice and ordered.
The chef, or "Cuisenaire,'' as he calls himself, deconstructs many dishes. The nicoise salad ($18), for example, had triangles of cool seared tuna fanned next to a tower of potato coins topped with a quail egg, sliced artichoke hearts standing stem-up, a lattice of haricot verts and other vegetables and a whole anchovy fillet draped jauntily over the top, all on a mat of anchovy basil cream. It was a pretty plate, but with so much arranging, the flavors seemed a little shopworn. The sardine dish ($14) turned out to be a half-dozen fillets layered over tomatoes and peppers, as if someone had laid out the ingredients for a terrine and forgot to mold them together. Yet even after eating the dish, I'm not sure what "touched for the very first time'' meant.
Descriptions are printed on the menu like the notes of a deranged scientist: "Veg from the moment ... splash of virgin oil" ($16) is eight different riffs on the same seasonal vegetable; "John Dory, black olive cream and artichokes upside up!'' ($29) refers to the placement of the artichokes.
Ancient cooking
Julie Powell accepts the challenge of ancient cooking: "Long before superstar chefs started experimenting with trout ice cream or tomato foam, adventurous foodies from Mongolia to Mesopotamia to Mayapán were paving the way. I decided to retrace their culinary steps as best I could, and re-create some of their most appealing dishes for a group of brave guests. . . "
November 03, 2004
For the love of Pho
SF For the love of Pho. The SF Chronicle's 4 best bets for pho in SF's Little Saigon are: Turtle Tower, Hung Ky, Pho Hoa and Pho Kien Giang. Includes handy guide to reading a pho menu.
Chocolate soup dumplings
NYC: Chocolate soup dumplings? According to this dumpling roundup by NY Daily News, Rickshaw, opening this month, will offer a chocolate soup dumpling for dessert. "Wrapped in. . . mochi, it will taste like warm chocolate soup." The mind boggles.
NYC: Review Roundup
Today's review roundup includes: Sripraphai, Thomas Beisl, Tia Pol, Applewood.
NYTimes Restaurants Frank Bruni gives Sripraphai two stars (64-13 39th Avenue, Woodside, Queens; 718- 899-9599):
Sripraphai has been around for more than a decade, and the most committed restaurant adventurers from outside Queens have long made pilgrimages to it. But plenty of less obsessive food lovers who would gladly venture to Woodside for something special do not know that this delicious destination awaits. They should. Sripraphai is to your corner Thai takeout what P. D. James is to Mary Higgins Clark: the real deal, well worth the extra time and effort.
I ordered that roasted duck salad on two occasions, rationalizing that I was performing a vital check of the restaurant's consistency and almost believing my argument. The truth: I was wild about this dish, and only partly because the ribbons of duck were more tender and flavorful than meat at many similarly inexpensive Asian restaurants, which tend to stint on the quality of flesh. What struck me even more forcefully were the variety and coordination of vegetables, herbs, spices and accents in the salad. Scallions, red onions, cucumbers, tomato, cilantro, lime juice, fish sauce, dried chili peppers and ground peanuts were all present in perfect proportion and perfect counterpoint, something tangy yielding to something soothing, a burst of cool mellowing a bit of fire.
The balance of sweet, sour, salty and hot is what is often praised about Thai cooking, which focuses on bold flavors in blissful harmony. But at too many Thai restaurants in this country and this city the heat is tempered and the sweetness amplified as concessions to American palates. The spices are muted, the herbs less fresh than they could be and the lemon grass permitted to run roughshod over all else. Not at Sripraphai. Here the star anise, coriander and galangal sing clearly, identifiable voices that swell and recede as they hew to their carefully calibrated roles in a broader chorus.
RECOMMENDED DISHES Roasted duck salad; sweet sausage with cucumber, chili and lime; pickled barbecued pork; sautéed drunken noodles; sautéed crispy pork with Chinese broccoli; barbecued chicken with coconut rice.
November 02, 2004
Thanksgiving Dinner Reservations
Don't want to tango with roasting the turkey this Thanksgiving? Opentable.com now has listings of restaurants confirmed to be open on Thanksgiving, along with descriptions of the day's menu. Links to New York City and San Francisco.
Carrot Ginger Soup
[Since moving to San Francisco in July our lives have changed in many ways, including the way we eat. Instead of eating out or ordering in most nights of the week like typical New Yorkers, on average we now eat out once a week. I enjoy learning and experimenting in the kitchen, and thought it might be fun to begin sharing some of my favorite recipes here as I discover them. Bon apetit!]
This is a slightly modified version of a recipe I found on Epicurious.com for Carrot Ginger Soup. I love anything ginger, and this soup tastes, looks, and smells just like fall to me. Preparation is simple and straight-forward. To make it even easier, I use my mini food processor to mince the onions and fresh ginger. An immersion blender eliminates the need to work in batches and reduces some of your clean-up.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup minced onion
1/4 cup minced peeled fresh ginger
3 cups (or more) chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth
4 cups peeled and sliced carrots (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup half and half
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and minced ginger and sauté until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add chicken stock and sliced carrots. Cover and simmer until carrots are tender, about 30 minutes.
Working in batches, puree mixture in blender or processor. Return soup to saucepan. Or alternately, remove from heat and puree with immersion blender. Mix in orange juice, then half and half. Cook over low heat 5 minutes. Mix in ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to simmer before continuing, thinning with more stock if desired. Ladle soup into bowls and serve!
Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.
November 01, 2004
NYC: Opening this week
NYC Restaurants opening this week: Bottega del Vino, Abboccato, and Sapa.
l’armement du cuisinier
Peter Hertzmann has compiled a list of tools required for the preparation of French food, l’armement du cuisinier, organized according to their usefulness.
Eatingchinese.org
Eatingchinese.org is a new website all about Chinese food: ". . . [T]his website will not be slickly professional, but will adhere to the wisdom that everything related to the experience of eating and cooking Chinese food, from home-style cooking in Xinjiang to a detailed history of La Choy are important to our understanding of the reach of Chinese food." [via Wrapped in Dough]
NYC: November Food and Wine Events at the 92nd Street Y
The 92nd Street Y's Fall Calendar is full of food and wine events worth checking out this month, including how to roll your own sushi, a culinary walking tour of Hell's Kitchen, and several wine tastings. Unless otherwise noted, all programs take place at the 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue (between 91st and 92nd Streets). Registration/Tickets: www.92Y.org or 212-415-5500.
Panel - In Memory’s Kitchen
Sunday, November 7, 7:30 pm, $25
Join us for an unforgettable evening featuring Cara De Silva, editor, and Bianca Steiner Brown, translator of one of the most unusual cookbooks ever published, In Memory’s Kitchen, written by the women of the Terezin concentration camp. De Silva will recount the genesis of this important work and the remarkable survival of the manuscript on which it is based. Ms. Steiner Brown will speak about the book’s contents from the very personal perspective of someone interned in the camp for three years. Culinary historian and author Alexandra Leaf moderates.
Tasting - Wines of the New World
Tuesday, November 9, 7-9 pm, 2 sessions, $120 (includes materials)
Bold Cabernet from Chile, spicy Malbec from Argentina, silky Shiraz from Australia, crisp Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand—these are just a few of the exciting wines coming from the developing wine regions of the New World. Taste a wide sampling of wines from the Southern Hemisphere as you explore their variety and value under the guidance of wine expert Meg O’Connell. Eight wines per session.
Talk - Culinary Memories
Wed, Nov 10, 12-1 pm, $15
Michelle Greenwald, a food aficionado and author of the celebrated cookbook "The Magical Melting Pot," cooks up a sampling from the childhood memories and cultural influences of some of the country’s great chefs. Come hear about the culinary memories that inspired Zarela Martinez (Zarela’s in NYC), Chava Volman, longtime chef to the Israeli Ambassador to the U.N., and Ella Brennan (Commanders Palace restaurant in New Orleans), among others. This program takes place at MAKOR, the 92nd Street Y’s West Side location, at 35 West 67th Street between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West.
Workshop - Roll-Your-Own Sushi
Begins Thu, Nov 11, 7-8:30 pm, 2 sessions, $70
For the price of dinner out, chef Simon Feil will teach you to prepare sushi – that healthful haute cuisine – in your own kitchen. Entertain friends, impress a date or enjoy a quiet evening at home with your newfound skills.
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