Mendocino

Mendocino shoreline, looking towards the westering sun over the Pacific Ocean.

Masonic Hall in Mendocino, California, the cupola topped with the sculpture Father Time and the Virgin, crafted from a single redwood trunk. "Time, patience and perserverance will accomplish all things."

Weathered trees in front of an old house in Mendocino. They started building this town in 1866 using local redwood. Obviously a lot of folks started coming to the West Coast after the Gold Rush, but I've seen a lot of circumstantial evidence that folks came out here on the railroads after the Civil War--there's so many towns (Fort Bragg, for example) here that are probably named after towns in North Carolina.

Repurposed well house. You see so many of these around Northern California that you start to overlook them. I don't think I've ever seen one outside of this part of the country, though there's huge swaths from the Midwest to New England & Mid-Atlantic I've never seen.

Love this view of a distant shore down a typical Mendocino street. In case you've never been here before, and are thinking of coming, keep some things in mind. It's pretty windy most of the time, so it's good to bring a wind-breaker and securable hat. Summer's the tourist high season, though I didn't think it was too crowded yesterday (6/23/2018). But on my first visit, a Tuesday in March 2006, it seemed like I had the entire town to myself. Also there weren't quite as many upscale shops and galleries back then. And even though Mendocino can be "spendy," I found plenty of bargains. 

Above and below: Corners Of The Mouth Natural Foods. Authentic Hippie Culture in an old church, doing it absolutely right, offering locally sourced foods (no meat, that I could see), great bulk section, nice selection of dairy, and arguably some of the best produce I've ever seen in a small co-op setting, in terms of quality. Robin pointed out that they source their produce from farmers who grow their lettuces, fruit, and vegetables close to the ocean. Think in terms of the high quality produce from Green Gulch that you find at Good Earth Natural Foods in Marin County. 

Now here's one thing that's very rare: bulk seaweed, all sourced locally, probably most of it from Elk, California. Impressive.

OK, so Corners of the Mouth isn't the only grocery store in town. We also checked out Harvest Market, which has an amazing array of stuff to choose from, including a pretty good spirits selection, but probably the meat section is the most impressive. Check this out: locally sourced Ground Elk? Ever seen that anywhere? I haven't. I got a pound, and we're going to have some of it momentarily. I'm sauteeing a Vidallia onion with Trumpet mushrooms in chicken stock now, about to cook two Elk patties with it. This Elk meat is very lean.

A dozen oysters (these were enormous, each about 3x the size of a regular oyster) from Washington, with fried calimari (incredibly fresh), & pints of Anderson Valley Stout from Booneville. A perfect dinner at Patterson's, an Irish-style pub in Mendocino. They say they have raw oysters on Fridays and Saturdays, & I can honestly say I've never had better, fresher oysters before. Perfect complement with the stout and vice-versa. Especially considering how large and perfect they were, $24/dozen was quite the bargain.

More shots from the Mendocino shoreline. Whales can be spotted from this vantage point.

Ft. Bragg Visit

Selections on ice at Princess Seafood in Ft. Bragg.

We heard it was going to be very hot yesterday (6/23/2018), except at the coast. After weighing our options, we decided to leave early in the morning & head up to Fort Bragg. It was my first chance to see the burn damage around the Santa Rosa area from October 2017 Fires, and though there's been so much cleanup, the scars are still quite visible. Many of the surving trees (especially redwoods) escaped with some burns, but at least they are still alive.

I've visited the Mendocino County coast up to Fort Bragg once before, up Highway 1 from Occidental. Robin said it would be fastest to heading up 101 to Willits, then head due west along State Highway 20 through Jackson State Forest (pictured above). I'd never seen 101 north of Cloverdale, so it was quite an eye-opener for me. Very light traffic. 

I should have taken a shot at the Mariposa Market in Willits, a Natural Foods store with all kinds of local produce, and an impressive bulk section. We missed the turnoff to Willits from 101 because recent construction has built a bypass bridge through some beautiful lowland floodzone country which empties into primordial forest. This entire area smells of flowers, grasses and trees, oxygen rising from the bounteous earth. Mendocino County voted to go all-organic a few years ago, and you can tell. There certainly is a hippie vibe in Willits, but it's not that overwhelming. 

Highway 20 through Jackson State Forest is essentially about 30 miles of state highway switchbacks winding up and down heavily forested tall hills and low mountains, and I understand this was major logging land. We had windows down most of the way, and the heavy oxygen really had a positive effect on all of us (our pooch Frances was much calmer on this portion). Then there was a point where we could smell the ocean air, about 5 miles out, then we could see it, then before you knew it, we were in Ft. Bragg, then descending into Noyo Harbor, a real working fishing harbor.

Above and below: the cases at Princess Seafood in Fort Bragg. These folks are well-known in Bay Area culinary circles, and vend at Farmers Markets in the region. Amazing selection of fresh caught salmon, tuna, cod, halibut above, crab, oysters, shrimp, and smoked marlin & salmon below. We got a crab louie salad to eat right away, flash frozen prawns, and smoked salmon to go. Glad we brought the ice chest.

Gigantic piece of weathered wood along the harbor road.

A flat of Pacific Purple Sea Urchin, likely from the recent urchin removal project on Memorial Day weekend. Urchins have been decimating the abalone population.

We explored the Noyo Harbor after eating the crab salad. I find dilapidated scenes like this have a strange beauty. Stuff's not all chi-chi here.

I thought Robin had lost her bloody mind when we were viewing all the incredible fresh-caught seafood on display at Princess Seafood, and she said she was craving Fish & Chips. But one of the things I have learned in a long-term relationship: one doesn't have to voice every single criticism that comes to mind, especially in cases where said criticism is maybe just your opinion, man. There was another restaurant in Noyo Harbor (Cap'n Flints) that Robin said had the best Fish & Chips, but we found out they are long closed.

So instead we went to Sea Pal Cove, a no frills spot where you order fried food and beer, then sit somewhere on the massive deck. We ordered Fish & Chips, a cup of North Coast Brewing Company Rasputin Imperial Stout and a cup of Emerald Triangle IPA (photo above). I have gotta say my initial impulse was completely wrong, and I was right to keep my mouth shut. I've never had Fish & Chips (mainly the ample serving of fried fish, the chips were meh, but who cares) anywhere as close to good as this in the United States (and also I'm thinking this was better than any I ever had in Old Blighty). It doesn't take a genius to figure out why. 

Most people were ordering Fish & Chips, and you should too. The Fry Cook is obviously a pro. And nothing else was cooked in that fryer, I'm sure. Even the darn-tootin' tartar sauce was great, tasted nothing like tartar sauce delivered in giant cans from the back of an eighteen wheeler. They offer other stuff at Sea Pal Cove, but take it from me: just get the Fish & Chips. And keep an eye out for the swooping Sea Gulls, matey.

A shot of Robin looking out from a deck at Noyo Harbor toward the bridge and the Pacific Ocean.

I realize I didn't shoot anything related to the rest of our visit to Fort Bragg. Mostly, we explored the downtown area, around where the North Coast Brewing Company is located. Even though we opted not to wait for a table at the North Coast Taproom (we weren't hungry, just wanted to get 2nd ale), that was OK, I'm delighted to see they are doing such good business. Plus we wanted to be outside to enjoy the jacket weather, and see more of the town. 

I was impressed to find several decent bookstores downtown, and came close to buying a book I didn't know existed, the first English Translation (complete with all the woodcuts) of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphilo (from 1999?). This should give one some idea of the range of the bookstores here.

Another highlight was a visit to Roundman's Smoke House where I bought Smoked Lamb Sausage, Pork Jalapeno Sausage, and some Smoked Turkey Thigh (which Robin wants to use in a batch of beans). They had quite a selection of smoked sausages and meats, including Smoked Game Hen, something I've never seen before. I should have gotten one of those.

Our final visit was to Overtime Brewing, a brew/gastro pub with excellent quality ales (I had Stout & Robin had an excellent English-style Bitter), and an intriguing menu. We were still quite full from the Fish & Chips, but had a good time sipping our Ales on the back porch with Frances, enjoying the weather, and looking at the tops of cypress trees waving in the ocean wind.

Above: from outside the Noyo Harbor Bridge looking into the harbor. Below: same spot looking out to the ocean, and waves in the distance battering the cliffs.

El Pitayo Mexican Restaurant in Fairfield, CA

Carne Asada (7/9/18): very flavorful beef cut and cooked so perfectly tender, thick sauteed pieces of onion and chile with crunch & flavor. House made tortillas, frijoles, rice, pico all made from scratch.

Another perfect Chile Relleno like last time.

Guacamole, salsas, salad.

We supped at El Pitayo once again last night (6/19/18), & it was even better than the first time which is hard to believe. Above and below is the spot-on Chile Relleno.

Enchiladas Suizas. Rare to have enchiladas using freshly made tortillas. This is the definitive version of the dish, and probably the best enchiladas I've ever had, because everything was made from scratch, with love.

Carne Asada Taco. Never had a taco like this before, which was a combination, really, quesadilla (melted cheese on tortilla, with meat, lettuce, tomato and sour cream on top). Sweet luscious perfection.

And finally the otherworldly pork tamale, which had a very soft and loose mouth-feel, the masa didn't taste very pressed, which allowed the masa and meat inside to equally soak in the red sauce with melted cheese.

Guacamole, Salsa Verde and Salad at El Pitayo Mexican Restaurant in Fairfield, CA.

Earlier today, we're heading down some back roads towards Suisun Valley Road, and we passed this place. Online reviews look good, so we head back over there after running our errands. Turns out this is one of the best Mexican restaurants in the entire Bay Area.

What a find! Salsa Verde and Rojo the way they're supposed to be made: fresh & from scratch!

So we order our entrees, and munch on some more tostadas with guacamole, salsa verde, while Robin eats her salad with chunks of avocado in it.

Instead of salad, I ordered chicken soup, and guess what? Completely made from scratch (& with love). No Knorrs or other MSG powder BS in here. Delicious and straightforward. This isn't some soup made from a mix delivered from a Sysco Truck like you'd have a big chain, this is more like something made by a sweet Aunt or Nana or Mama.

Here's what Robin got: Pollo en Crema de Chipotle. The corn tasted fresh off the cob. Perfect frijoles and rice, the former made with manteca and the latter with stock (probably chicken). Probably not a good idea to come here if you're a committed vegan. Chipotle notes were just right, not too intense. The chicken in all the dishes was moist and delicious.

I got Mole Poblano with chicken. Note that this style uses chopped chicken, from the breast, that's the style we usually see around Northern California, but some place do serve it with the Mole sauce poured over a leg & thigh. This version is filling and delicious, redolent of chiles, my guess would be anchos, pasillas and maybe cascabels. Definitely made with chicken stock.

And the much overlooked part: freshly made tortillas (corn). Used to be de rigeur, but now less and less common. But El Pitayo is the kind of place that makes everything from scratch. In my mind, it's not a proper Mexican restaurant without tortillas made from scratch.

For what it's worth, we got a whole lot of food for our money, even though it was pretty cheap. We have a lot of leftovers which we'll have for breakfast in the morning. Also the service was fantastic--very friendly people made us feel at home. The place was empty when we arrived, but filled up fast. We could tell these seasoned folks could handle anything.

El Pitayo Mexican Restaurant

http://el-pitayo-mexican-restaurant.cafe-inspector.com 

Pings Bistro in Fremont

Fried Pork Ribs, French Fries at Ping's Bistro in Fremont.

Been hearing about how great Ping's is for years, and we finally made it down to Fremont this evening. It didn't just live up to the hype, it exceeded it. So many young, intelligent Asians confirmed I was lucky to be in the know. I've never had better Hunan cuisine.

Above and below, Raw Snowflake Beef Cook Shallow--essentially thin sliced beef, cilantro stems and onions cooked in a delicious chile sauce, the texture of the beef and cilantro seeming like a web or netting or even a snowflake--extraordinary texture!

Pan Fried Lotus Root Minced Pork. Fabulous lotus root dish, crunchy with soft minced pork inside. Spicy sweet chile sauce on the side. More incredible texture & flavor.

Here's the Fried Pork Ribs again, with the "French Fries" which is all the onion, scallion, leeks and more surrounding the ribs, which were tender yet a solid satisfying bite, tender to the tooth, intense flavors.

Squid Tentacles Reserved Recipe Steel Pot. Sorta like Korean Chile Squid, but with much more complex flavors throughout, nice fat slices of ginger and garlic mixes in and cuts the combination of the chiles and preserved fish.

Ping's Bistro

(510) 744-9988