Saturday, April 8, 2023

Seasonal Offerings & Vietnamese

 

Strawberries at the peak of the season, grown in Watsonville, sold at the Calistoga Farmer's Market.

Papaya Salad with Beef Jerky at Pho King in Oakland.

Spring Rolls with Lemongrass Grilled Pork at Pho King.


Garlic roasted with Extra Virgin Olive Oil





Saturday, April 1, 2023

Grand Lake Farmer's Market


 This from a vendor who makes textile items using vintage maps and travel posters.




Rainbow chard.

Thursday, January 5, 2023

2022 Culinary Highlights

 

Chiles En Nogada at El Molino Central


It's been a tough time for folks in the culinary field, first with the pandemic, second with labor shortages (which were around before 2020 in the Bay Area), and finally with inflation. I guess some folks are well off enough that they don't think the latter is a problem, but with staples like toilet paper, dog food and near everything else being twice or triple the price of a year ago, most of us regular working folks are feeling the pinch. And now they say gas prices are going to start heading back up soon, higher than ever.

What this means for many folks like me is we can't afford to go out to eat as much. You'll notice that a large number of what I'm covering here are Bay Area Farmer's Markets, that's because I was helping my girlfriend who sells her gourmet mushroom designed shirts & aprons at such events. Given the fact that prices at restaurants are much more expensive than they used to be, coupled with the reality that my wages have not kept pace with the avarice of the bloodsucker Petroleum Industry who is sucking dry the public while our "representatives" do fuck all about it, I'm lucky if I can afford to pay for one meal at a restaurant per month. Looking at the big picture, one wonders how mom and pop restaurants and other local culinary businesses are going to be able to stay afloat.

Starting with the restaurant featured in the photo above, El Molino Central in the town of Sonoma, I'd say we have a new champion of Mexican cuisine in the Bay Area. I'm sure that the great Mexican restaurants in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland, the Mission in San Francisco, and in Richmond (more on that in a minute) are still great, but El Molino Central is playing at such a high level. Definitive versions of classics such as Chicken Mole and Chile Relleno are served along with seasonal offerings like Chiles En Nogada. All the little things are perfected--the quality of the ingredients shine through, and are cooked perfectly. Tortillas are made in house, and the salsa is spicy and bright. The two meals we had there in 2022 are as good as it gets. 

Speaking of great Mexican cuisine, we read that the weekend Flea Market in Richmond has a number of good food vendors, especially the two Barbacoa vendors, Barbacoa Mejia and El Chaparro. 
Mutton barbacoa served by El Chaparro at the weekend Flea Market in Richmond, CA.

Mutton is hard to find anywhere in the USA, which is kind of weird if you've ever lived abroad--in most of the world, mutton is considered a delicacy. According to the great French chef Escoffier, the best quality mutton is the basis of all fine French cuisine, because, as he describes at the beginning of his book, you have to roast mutton bones to make the sauce that is the basis of all mother sauces. In case you don't know, mutton is just older lamb, i.e. two years or older (lamb less than one year, yearlings in between). If you've never had authentic mutton barbacoa, it's sort of the same idea as carnitas--a fatty cut of red meat that's cooked low and slow for at least a few hours. The Barbacoas served by both these vendors is perfection itself--unctuous, tender, an umami explosion. All the sides are as they should be, no half steps with the salsa, rice or beans, and of course the tortillas are made fresh.
Barbacoa Mejia, Richmond, CA.

If you're looking for a Mexican restaurant here in Vallejo, I recommend El Tesoro Mazatlan. Fresh ingredients, classics done right.
Their chile relleno is on point, and they've got a variety of salsas, at all heat levels. Also, unlike some others I've tried around here, they keep the sodium levels in check.

Many of our favorites transitioned from take out only, to dining in house. Our favorite Indian restaurant close to home, Mirchi, is now serving on the premises:
Curry at Mirchi, in Benicia, CA.
The closest Chettinad restaurant is Aapakadai in Pleasanton, always top notch, highly spiced fare.
Non-Veg Thali at Aapakadai in Pleasanton, CA.
Same thing is true about our favorite Thai restaurants, such as Maya Thai and Chai Thai:
Papaya Salad at Maya Thai in Vallejo, CA.
Duck noodle soup at Chai Thai in Oakland, CA.
We tried a great new Thai restaurant in Benicia, highly recommended:
Papaya Salad at Lim Ros Thai in Benicia, CA.

Oakland hosts some of the best Ethiopian cuisine I've ever had. Here's two such restaurants I can't recommend any higher, both with a highly nuanced level of spice:
Injera Bread at Ensarro Indian Restaurant in Oakland, CA.
Meat Combination Plate at Cafe Colucci in Oakland, CA.



Wood Ear Mushroom Salad at Guilin Rice Noodle in Oakland, CA.

Ravioli at Italian Homemade Company in Berkeley, CA.

Chocolate cake at Sarmentine in Santa Rosa, CA.

Heirloom Apples from Hale's Apples in Petaluma, CA.

Tomatoes at Marin Farmer's Market.

Leafy Greens at Stonestown Farmer's Market, San Francisco, CA.

Yuzu lemons at Grand Lake Farmer's Market, Oakland, CA.

Purple broccoli at Grand Lake Farmer's Market, Oakland, CA.

Mulberries at Grand Lake Farmer's Market, Oakland, CA

Habanada Chile Peppers (Habaneros without the picante heat) at Grand Lake Farmer's Market, Oakland, CA.

Blood Oranges at Grand Lake Farmer's Market, Oakland, CA.























































Sunday, January 2, 2022

2021 Culinary Highlights

Fried Chicken, BBQ Pork, and fixins at House Of Soul in Vallejo. Utterly superb soul food, chicken tastes tender like it should be, I'm guessing soaked in buttermilk. My favorite restaurant in Vallejo.



Smoked meats and eggplant using my new Weber Grill.



Bottle of Edradour Single Malt Scotch, one of my favorites, from the Scottish Midlands.



Delicious treats from an Italian cafe in Benicia, Amore. Great pastries, coffee and sundries to take home.


Kouign Amann, Almond Croissant and a Parisian Flan from Le Marais Bakery in San Francisco. Up there with the best bakeries in the Bay Area.


Huitlacoche Quesadilla at Cafe de Olla, on Mission Street in San Francisco.



Larb from BhanMaeVane, Lao & Thai cuisine in Alameda, CA. In my estimation, the best Lao I've ever had.



A seafood aspic at Maison Nico, downtown San Francisco. Otherwordly.



Uni from H Mart San Francisco.



Pho by Pho King in Oakland. Richest beef broth I've ever tasted in a bowl of Pho.

 


Syma's Mexican & Persian Grill in Albany, CA. Saffron Rice With Barberries and Lamb, and Chicken Mole. Both outstanding and definitive.


Turkey with Wild Rice Stuffing (with Walnuts and Dried Cranberries). What's different about this year's Thanksgiving feast I made at home is after defrosting the turkey, I marinated it in buttermilk for two days. Plus, I used the Chinese approach to roasting fowl--first at high heat (475F) for 30 minutes, then @ 250F for 3 hours. This produced a turkey that was perfectly cooked all the way, especially the white meat, which was tender and juicy. I'll never go back to the old way, though I might smoke it for the last couple of hours.





 

Saturday, May 29, 2021

Cafe de Olla

Huitlacoche Quesadilla at Cafe de Olla.

 


I've been hearing raves about Cafe de Olla in SF's Mission neighborhood for years now, and we recently checked it out. Located in an indoor shared space with offices, their kitchen has no vent hood, oven or other heavy equipment that we could see, which means some of their prep must be happening in a commercial kitchen, though some of the items we had were clearly put together on the spot. All the tortillas tasted like they were pressed and cooked fresh. Above is a Mexican Mocha, and, as is typical of this coffee drink, the chocolate is seriously dark, and there's a hint of cinammon. So good that Robin ordered a second one. 



Everything here is Oaxacan, so you'll get Mexican cuisine atypical of what we Yanks normally associate  with these classic dishes. As in here above, a Chileajo Tamale, wrapped in a banana leaf rather than a corn husk. Like every other great Mexican meal I've had, whether in someone's house, or at a restaurant, or even from a taco truck, this is food made with love. The tamale was perfectly moist, and exploding with the flavor of the pork and chile costeno. Notice the salsa--that's not just any salsa. It had just enough picante heat, but mostly it tasted fruity, consisting of ingredients (chiles mostly, possibly tomatillo & tomato) that were at ripest perfection. Even the side salad was on point.




Memela. First time to have one of these. Thick tortilla, spread with frijoles, sauteed onion, salsa & queso fresca. The texture differences in the ingredients sparred with the great flavor. I'll definitely order this again.



Cross section of the tamale. Notice the moist, unctuous mixture of pork and chile costeno. We had another kind of tamale in mind, but a customer bought up a huge quantity of them the night before. If they're anything like this, I can understand why.



Quesadillas with freshly made tortilla. Store bought don't look (or smell or taste) like this. Notice there's  that fruity salsa again.



Huitlacoche quesadilla. Huitlacoche is the old name for corn truffles or, in the English vernacular, "corn smut." It is a fungus that grows on corn, and many farmers hate it. Fortunately, more and more Mexican restaurants are featuring them on their menu. The flavor is like very nutty corn with some slight similarity to truffles.



Quesadilla Rajas & Epazote (serranos & epazote.) 

I consider this one of the best examples of Mexican cuisine that I have experienced, and am looking forward to return to explore more of their menu.


For more information check out their website: https://www.cafedeollasf.com