tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72240568816998050352024-03-08T01:42:32.914-08:00Two Foodies - One JourneyTWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-52881241902144492742015-03-21T16:33:00.000-07:002015-03-21T16:33:24.426-07:009-Course Tasting Menu at Solare (San Diego)<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The origin
of tasting menus is quite obscure and there are many different theories going
as far back as to the Ancient Greeks and Romans who have been reported to serve
multi-course menu consisting of 16-20 dishes. Individual courses might not have
been as sophisticated as those of today’s cuisine, but these “tasting menus”
already showed a similar progression that we are used to seeing today. Another
important historic influence were traditional Japanese Kaiseki menus with their
specific order, focus on seasonality, and elaborate presentations, highly
reminiscent of today’s Western tasting menus - Thomas Keller cites them as a
significant influence as “the Kaiseki dinner is very similar to the way we
serve food in the French Laundry”. Over the last century, tasting menus were heavily
influenced by French cuisine, and Escoffier is often credited as having
“invented” tasting menus in modern times while working at the Ritz hotels. The
French influence is also apparent with chefs like Paul Bocuse in France, and Thomas
Keller in the US, who were both at the forefront to establish tasting menus at
their restaurants and who thereby had a tremendous influence on later
generations of chefs. Tasting menus present a unique opportunity for chefs to
represent their individual cuisine and philosophy. However, except for French
restaurants and those influenced by Modernist Cuisine, tasting menus are not
that common to find on other types of cuisine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Chef
Accursio Lota was born in Menfi, a small town in Sicily, and was exposed to fresh
ingredients and cooking early on in life as both his mother and grandmother
used fruits and vegetables from their own garden, fish from the local sea, and
olive oil harvested and produced from their own olive trees. So it seems like a
natural progression that he ended up graduating from culinary school. One of
his most influential, early mentors was Chef Sergio Mei at the Four Seasons
Hotel Milan where Chef Lota was able to dive deep into the Italian culinary
tradition. But Chef Mei was also instrumental in motivating him to move to
California to work at the Biltmore Four Seasons Hotel in Santa Barbara which
gave him a different perspective to cooking. Not unlike in Sicily, the Biltmore
kitchen also focused on local produce with Mediterranean flavors, but it also
incorporated numerous other influences from the melting pot of California. In
2009, he returned to Sicily to work as Sous Chef at Hotel Imperiale in Taormina
where, for the first time, he had the culinary freedom to develop his own
style. In 2011, Chef Lota moved back to California to join Chefs Guillas and
Oliver as Sous Chef at the Marine Room which gave him a wide exposure to fusion
cooking. In 2012, he decided to fine tune his personal cooking style even more
by starting Limone, an underground restaurant, focusing on multicourse dinners.
In the same year he accepted the offer from owner Randy Smerik to join Solare
as Executive Chef. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Solare was
started in 2008 by Chef Stefano Ceresoli and his wife Roberta Ruffini, but
in2012 the couple decided to sell Solare to only focus on their other
restaurant at that time, Caffe Bella Italia in Pacific Beach. They recently
closed the latter one as well to start Piazza 1909 in La Jolla. Solare was
bought by Randy Smerik, and his two sons Brian and Tommy Smerik. Randy Smerik
has an unusual background for a restaurant owner as he had originally worked in
the IT field for 25 years, including being a vice president at Intel, a founder
and CEO of Tarari and Osunatech, but he is also on the Board of Directors for
Fortaleza Tequila. Since offering Chef Lota the Executive Chef’s position at
Solare, he has given him free hand to realize his cooking style which also
included implementing an Italian inspired <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">9-course
tasting menu</b>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Solare has a
rather unique set up for their tasting menu which is served at the Chef’s
Table. The Chef’s Table is a kitchen counter with two bar stools and a perfect
view of the action in the kitchen. These types of kitchen counter/Chef’s tables
are one of our favorite ways to dine as it gives you a very close look to the
processes of the kitchen, and interaction of the chefs and cooks. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup>
Course: Shrimp, squid, clam, zucchini carpaccio, onion confit, tomato,
caperberry, dehydrated lobster broth</span></div>
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Three
impeccable pieces of seafood were the stars of this plate and showcasing the
variety of flavors and textures of seafood, ranging from tender and subtly
flavored squid to soft and briny clams. Instead of the obligatory lemon, caper berries,
tomatoes and onion confit added some desired acidity to the dish. The
dehydrated lobster broth sprinkled over the seafood added some salinity and
enhanced the natural flavors.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup>
Course: Squash blossom, ricotta, mint pesto, pomodoro sauce</span></div>
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One of the
classical Italian appetizers which is often served with greasy, soggy blossoms,
tasteless ricotta and drowned in sauce. Here we had a prime example how to make
it right – flavorful homemade ricotta was wrapped in a delicate squash blossom
which allowed us to taste the floral flavor. Small dots of slightly acidic
tomato sauce and herbal, but not overpowering, mint pesto helped to accentuate
the dish yet provided a playful way to mix and match different flavor
combinations so that every bite was different – a beautiful dish.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup>
Course: Carpaccio di Wagyu, wagyu beef sirloin, borrage flowers, arugula,
Parmigiano Reggiano, rosemary salt, balsamico pearls</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The wagyu
beef carpaccio had a surprisingly strong, pleasant beefy flavor, whereas the
arugula provided some textural contrast, and the Parmigiano added the necessary
saltiness. We liked the idea of adding the acidity by balsamico pearls instead
to just some liquid amount of acetic balsamico as it was much easier to include
the desired amount of balsamico in each bite which gave way to a perfect balance
of salty, bitter, acidic and Umami. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Risotto, vino bianco, scorza di limone, squid ink reduction, scallop</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The risotto
had the perfect consistency of creaminess with some bite from the al dente rice
corns. The mixture of white wine, lemon marmalade and squid ink gave a very
interesting combination of bitterness and acidity from the wine and marmalade
with the savori- and saltiness of the squid ink. All these flavors worked
really well with the beautifully seared scallop.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">5<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Ravioli with ricotta & spinach, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, sea
beans, pecorino</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pasta can be
such a simple and yet difficult dish – just semolina, eggs and water - but
rarely do you find such delicate finished pasta like in this dish - substantial
yet thin enough that it didn’t overpower the filling of the homemade ricotta
and spinach. The lightness of the dish continued with the accompanying
vegetables like asparagus, tomatoes and sea beans. By far not the only dish
where we wished we could get a second helping<span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">6<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Tuna, broccolini, fingerling potatoes, nostralina olives, limoncello,
special olive oil, sea asparagus</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A rather
classic dish with the combination of tuna, broccolini, potatoes and olives –
well executed dish with moist fish, not overcooked broccolini - <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but what really elevated it was the olive oil
Chef Lota added at the table – DOP Val di Mazara from his home town. A very complex
olive oil with notes of pistacchio, citrus and artichoke, and a low acidity
which brought the dish together.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> 7<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Rabbit loin, carrots, kale, potato, brussel sprout, demi glace</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Rabbit is
often decried as being as tasteless as badly prepared chicken, but in this dish
the rabbit loin had a nice distinct meaty, slightly sweet flavor which stood up
surprisingly well against the other ingredients. This dish was another example
of the ability of Chef Lota to create very complex but yet balanced flavor
profiles in his dishes spanning from sweetness by the carrots, to bitterness by
the brussel sprouts and kale, to Umami by the demi glace.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">8<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Pistacchio crusted rack of lamb, lamb loin, potato-saffron timbale,
pickled cipollini, pesto</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Placing the
pesto in the middle of the plate clearly indicated the overarching theme of the
dish. The pesto worked equally well with all other components – lamb loin, rack
of lamb and potato-saffron timbale and connected these parts to a coherent
finish of the savory part of the tasting menu.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">9<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Chocolate mousse, crispy almonds, candies pistacchios, berries, orange
peel, amaretto cherry</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The combination
of fruits and chocolate ensured that the night didn’t end in an overly heavy
dessert. The different nut preparations reminded us of some type of granola,
and the dish was a continuation of the savory courses – excellent execution
with very balanced flavors.</span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Every
cuisine is associated with certain attributes which are obviously often strong
generalizations since there is no such thing as a singular type of cuisine: every
country has many regional or even local variations. French cooking is often described
as complex and relying on technique and elaborated sauces, whereas Italian food
is more focused on simpler dishes which let seasonal ingredients shine. Chef
Lota impressed us with how he was able to capture this general “Italian”
philosophy throughout the tasting menu, but at the same time was able to
instill his own style. He presented us each course explaining the seasonality
and the local farms where the ingredients came from, and with his thoughts on
how the different components of the dish should work together. Focusing on few
key ingredients in each dish required flawless execution of each of them. What
really made all these dishes stand out, and seems to be a reflection of his
style, was the complexity and yet effortlessness of the seasoning of the
dishes. Many dishes had seemingly secondary components, like for example the
dehydrated lobster broth or Val di Mazara oil which was essential in bringing
the dishes together. Or dishes like the risotto were the combination of scorza
di limone and squid ink reduction created something greater than the sum of its
parts. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This tasting
menu was a prime example how the menu format of a tasting menu allows a
talented chef to showcase the cuisine from his/her native country, yet
instilled with his/her own interpretations. We wish more chefs, especially from
ethnic restaurants, would use this concept to present the many facets of their
cuisines. We are looking forward to follow Chef Lota in his interpretations of
Italian cuisine throughout the seasons.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.solarelounge.com/" target="_blank">Solare Ristorante</a><br />
2820 Roosevelt Rd<br />
San Diego, CA 92106<br />
(619) 270-9670<br />
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TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-38787020186808675532014-04-22T22:17:00.000-07:002014-04-22T22:24:02.442-07:00Kitchen 1540 (San Diego) – 11-Course Tasting Menu with Chef Jonathan Bautista<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The first
look when deciding on the next restaurant to visit is always for the online
menu to get an idea about the cooking style and creativity of the chef and how
it overlaps with our preferences. But the second look often immediately follows
to the personal background page of the chef. It is always very interesting to
read the vita of a chef and the different restaurants and chefs he worked for
during his career. Having worked for well-known chefs or in prestigious
restaurants obviously doesn’t guarantee that a chef will run a good restaurant
himself but at the same time it is important to have experienced and
successfully worked under high-pressure environments to fully comprehend the
restaurant business. And so it is fascinating to put together “family trees” of
well-known chefs like Thomas Keller, Charlie Trotter or Daniel Boulud to
realize their far reaching impact on the dining scene in pretty much every part
of the US and even beyond. But the impact of established chefs is not only
apparent on the national level but can be quite strong on a local level which
was nicely illustrated recently in an article about the influences of just two
chefs, Daniel Patterson of Coi and David Kinch of Manresa, on the dining scene
in San Francisco. Both chefs have trained and mentored many chefs over the
years in their kitchens that their influence on the culinary landscape in San
Francisco is undeniable through restaurants like Outerland, Commis or Rich
Table but goes even to national acclaimed ice cream shops like Humphry
Slocombe. The impact is perhaps best summed up by Chef Evan Rich with <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“<span style="color: black;">(Kinch and Patterson) don't only teach you to cook. They
teach you how to think about food”. And it illustrates that one of the
backbones of a great culinary city are strong, visionary chefs who provide environments
for aspiring chefs and reasons for them to stay in that city.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">San
Diego might not yet have the depth as a culinary city as San Francisco which
can also be explained by the missing opportunities for young chefs to grow and
get mentored by such established chefs but over the last few years several
chefs, like Trey Foshee, Jeff Jackson, Matt Gordon and Paul McCabe, and their
restaurants have started to fill out this role. We recently had the chance to
experience two former chefs, Zach Hunter and Steven Molina, who had worked
under McCabe at a pop-up dinner at Delicias. Steven Molina has since then moved
to Sea & Smoke to run the day-to-day operations of the restaurant but we
also met Chef Bautista again at that dinner whom we first encountered as sous
chef at a tasting menu at Kitchen 1540. And it reminded us that it was more
than time to set up another tasting menu at Kitchen 1540 where he was now
running the show as Chef de Cuisine. Chef Bautista finished his culinary
education at the Art Institute in San Diego in 2005 before he started working
at Roy’s where he moved up the ranks to sous chef. He then moved over to
Kitchen 1540 where he started working under Paul McCabe, worked briefly at
Michael Voltaggio’s Ink in LA, before returning to Kitchen 1540 as Chef de
Cuisine. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interestingly, when we finally
made the reservation with Chef Bautista we pretty much found out at the same
day that he was planning to start working as Chef de Cuisine at Georges Modern
around the same time. Even though we briefly considered cancelling the
reservation since it would be on one of his last days at Kitchen 1540 we also
felt that it might be a good chance to experience his own cooking before he
would work together with Trey Foshee, and it would be interesting to see how
his cooking style will be influenced in the future. (The restaurant gave us a
very nice but also very dark place and so the pictures are quite grainy)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup>
Course: Hamachi, fermented plum, soy, cucumber, daikon<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Raw
fish is often seen as a start to a tasting menu since the delicate fish acts as
a welcoming canvas for a wide variety of flavors to awaken the palate. Here we
had a nicely done version with hamachi which was lightly torched to give it a
unique flavor that held up against the soy yuzu sauce and the fermented plum. The
daikon and cucumber added some textural contrast. Overall a very good start to
the tasting menu especially with the sake pairing and its floral undertones.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup>
Course: Ocean trout, geoduck, aged parsnip, sorrel, wild trout roe</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Wood
sorrel gave the broth its deep green color and with its tangy, citrusy flavor
paired well with the ocean trout. The crispy skin and a piece of geoduck added
some crunch whereas the trout roe was integral to the dish with the small
bursts of brininess.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7383/13786028655_57883b3a17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7383/13786028655_57883b3a17.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup>
Course: Vegetables, caper, lemon, brown butter</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
bounty of outstanding produce in San Diego is often depicted with a salad
course but Chef Bautista took a different path by showcasing it through some
outstanding lightly grilled/seared vegetables from Chino Farms ranging from
cauliflower, aubergines to turnips. This course was really about the natural
flavors of these vegetables only accentuated by a light lemony sauce. One of
the highlights of the tasting menu, raising the question why not more chefs in
San Diego use these flavors as centerpieces of dishes instead of focusing on
meat. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<a href="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3786/13786365384_50d9e1bcf6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3786/13786365384_50d9e1bcf6.jpg" /></a><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Cuttlefish, parmesan, dashi, basil</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This
course reminded us most on influences from Ink in LA – cuttlefish cut into thin
pieces and pressure cooked so that it resembles visually and texturally pasta
is combined with uni and abalone on one side and a parmesan and dashi sauce on
the other side to give a Japanese inspired version of Spaghetti Carbonara. A
really well thought out course which combines creativity with flawless
execution and you would wish to have a really large bowl. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7344/13786018735_d4f6aabc2f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7344/13786018735_d4f6aabc2f.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Hamachi belly, Chino turnips, nettle chimichurri</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It
was interesting to see the different approaches between this course and the
previous one – the cuttlefish course showcased many different ingredients,
flavors and complexity whereas this course was all about simplicity and clean
flavors. Succulent hamachi belly and slightly sweet turnips complement each
other without blending the flavors. Both are wood roasted to accentuate their
roles and the nettle chimichurri connects both with its herbaceous taste.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2821/13786354714_365b1b2381.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2821/13786354714_365b1b2381.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">6<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Geoduck belly, razor clam, sunchoke, BBQ, yuzu</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tender
geoduck belly stood up surprisingly well against the different variations of
sunchoke, like sauce and chips, with its nutty flavor. The restrained use of
yuzu helped to bring the plate alive. The sunchoke chips and razor clam added
some nice texture.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3747/13786349124_151e1cb19b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3747/13786349124_151e1cb19b.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">7<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Local spiny lobster, fermented onion, crosnes, black trumpet</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This
might have been actually the first time that we had black trumpet mushrooms and
it is easy to understand why they are so thought after with their meaty
consistency and fruity and earthy flavor with reminiscence of black truffles. The
butter poached lobster and the fermented onion sauce with its slightly sour,
funky undertones were unexpected companions to the mushrooms but worked
remarkable well.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3686/13786026103_8562597728.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3686/13786026103_8562597728.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">8<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Pork short ribs, alba white truffles, potato polenta, kohlrabi</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Beef
short ribs might be one of the most overused ingredients on any menu currently
and so it was a nice change to see pork short ribs especially with such an
interesting mole-like glaze. The white truffles were an unexpected pairing but
worked remarkably well as they stood up against the mole without overpowering
the dish. The potato polenta acted as the base of the dish whereas the pickled
kohlrabi, a vegetable which should be used more often by chefs, brightened up
the dish with some acidity and muted sweetness. Another highlight of the night
for which we wished for a much larger portion.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2853/13785996775_60aac549e1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2853/13785996775_60aac549e1.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">9<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Lamb, ash, parley, chestnut, oats</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Very
tender sous vide lamb is coated in ash which gives it a slightly bitter
undertone, but what really sets this dish apart is the combination of three
different sauces/puree – parsley puree, chestnut puree and fermented strawberry
sauce. Each of the three sauces has a very different, distinct flavor which
pairs well with the lamb and it’s interesting to try out various combinations
of them with each bite. And as in many of his dishes Chef Bautista adds some
textural component, here some oats, to avoid a too uniform overall consistency.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3792/13785987225_6e04ee9529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3792/13785987225_6e04ee9529.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">10<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Cinnamon bun, bay leaf ice cream</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kitchen
1540 doesn’t have a regular pastry chef and so Chef Bautista is also
responsible for the sweet part of the tasting menu. We started with a wonderful
light and airy “unwrapped” cinnamon bun which was accompanied by bay leaf ice
cream. Bay leaf is one of these spices you often add to your dishes and it
doesn’t have a very prominent flavor but it adds often an important base to
many dishes. Here bay leafs took the center stage and the ice cream showed some
floral notes with hints of nutmeg and some surprising sweetness. The shaved
apple pieces completed this great dessert with some welcomed tanginess.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7383/13785977865_716c83eaf4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7383/13785977865_716c83eaf4.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">11<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Root beer, persimmon, maple</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We
normally don’t like root beer a lot and so we were a bit skeptical about the
last course but actually the root beer foam had the typical herbal notes which
often remind us on some medicine and toothpaste but paired well with the cake
and the maple ice cream and was a good end to an outstanding tasting menu.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When
we were setting up the tasting menu we were initially a little bit skeptical as
it was on one of the last days of Chef Bautista at Kitchen 1540 and so it was
hard to judge how much he would be willing to put a lot of efforts in this
tasting menu. But at the same time we also felt that it was a last chance to
experience his cooking (and potentially creative cooking in general) at Kitchen
1540. Once we started the tasting menu it turned out to be one of the best we
had experienced in San Diego. This was one of these rare occasions where
everything turned out to be a perfect night – great food, good pairings,
relaxed yet professional service. Often even at the most well known restaurants
or chefs some small annoyance happen, e.g. disappointing courses or rushed
service but here we just sat down, had a great time and were surprised how fast
more than four hours were flying by. Most importantly the food was on a very
high level with many well thought out courses which often showed bold yet
refined and complex flavors, perhaps best characterized by two of the
highlights - the cuttlefish and the pork course. And so it is not really
surprising that Chef Bautista decided to take the next career step by moving to
Georges as Chef de Cuisine as he seems to be ambitious enough not to stay in
this comfortable but not really challenging position at Kitchen1540. And since
his cooking is already on a very high level the only logical step as he
mentioned in a discussion was only to work under Trey Foshee or move somewhere
else. It will be interesting to see where his successor, Chef Brandon Fortune,
formerly of Amaya and Aquamoree, will push Kitchen1540 – continue as bastion of
fine dining or converting it to a “hotel restaurant”. The cooking style of Chef
Bautista shows influences from chefs he worked with and tends to be complex and
perhaps sometimes even a bit overthought whereas Chef Foshee has a focused
style often aiming at the elemental, pure flavor of the ingredients. Having
both work together at Georges will be interesting especially for TBL3 to see
how much they will influence each other and especially if Chef Bautista’s style
will change over time. We are looking to meet him again at our next TBL3
experience !<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.laubergedelmar.com/kitchen1540/"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #003366;">Kitchen 1540</span></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">1540 Camino Del Mar</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Del Mar, CA 92014</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">(858) 793-6460</span></div>
TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-19520590584922596652013-09-30T21:54:00.000-07:002013-09-30T21:54:54.640-07:00TBL3 at Georges California Modern (San Diego)<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When talking
about food with other people, one of the most frequently asked questions we
keep hearing is “So what is your most favorite restaurant in San Diego – or any
other city that you like to visit for great food ?” And most people are rather
surprised to learn that we don’t have one good, universal answer but constantly
struggle with it, as it depends a lot on the context. A well made gobernador
taco at a Marisco truck, a plain pizza, a Japanese Bento box or dinner at a
fine dining restaurant can be equally good and satisfying – as long as you set
realistic expectations for each kitchen’s ambitions and limitations. The most
important factor for us is that a chef or cook cares deeply about the quality of
his/her food preparations, we care more if something is simple but made from
scratch than about misleading by relying on trendy dishes and expensive
ingredients but in some instances soulless cooking.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When
thinking about which meals really stand out for us and are not only good, but
memorable and outstanding, we often draw parallels between reading, one of our
other favorite activities, and meals: every meal has a chance to become
something special, but not unlikely when reading a book, a short story is very
rarely as absorbing, in-depth and well written as a long novel. And so a
regular two or three course dinner can on a rare occasion be outstanding, but
we tend to have much better success with longer tasting menus where similar to
a novel author a chef has the chance to express his/her creativity in an
unhindered manner. At the same time a tasting menu far from guarantees a
special night as too often an author might fail to develop his characters, uses
well known sequences or simply copies other successful books. For us a unique,
great chef is able to “tell a story” with a tasting menu often through notions
of seasonality and locality. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">San Diego
has a rather small number of restaurants that offer tasting menus, and most of
them are quite short, and so it created some buzz when Trey Foshee at Georges California
Modern announced his unique special tasting menu concept TBL3 – one table per
night only from Tuesdays to Thursday with an ever changing 12-14 course tasting.
Many lauded his effort to raise the culinary bar significantly in San Diego,
but not surprisingly others like food editor Troy Johnson downplayed it as the
chef just being envious of other chefs getting more recognition for their
cooking and not wanting to be associated just with his “famous” fish taco. And
so he complained more about “starting to think about deep vein thrombosis” and
his “palate struggled to sustain” and ultimately he mentioned that “<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">the
concept doesn’t work here. Tourists come for the sun, not dinner. And locals
don’t do degustation.” Interestingly one and a half years after this article
TBL3 still exists and actual expanded the days, which is not really surprising
knowing the unique concept and the background of Trey Foshee. He graduated from
CIA Hyde Park in 1990 and worked subsequently at a number of well-known
restaurants in increasingly more important roles including Rockenwagner and
L’Orangerie in Los Angeles, La Folie in San Francisco, Mauna Lani Bay Hotel in
Hawaii before arriving at the Tree Room & Foundry Grill at the Sundance
Resort in Utah in 1997 where he gained national recognition by being named as
one of the “</span>America's Best New Chefs” by Food & Wine Magazine. He
then finally settled in 1999 in La Jolla and became Executive Chef and partner
at George’s at the Cove. Here he is responsible for all the different
restaurant concepts like the Ocean Terrace and the fine dining restaurant
Georges Modern with the TBL3. Even though we had a few, quite memorable dinners
at Georges before, since its inception TBL3 was of highest interest of us, but
only the recent extension of available days worked with our schedule and we
finally could experience what <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TBL3 at
Georges Modern </b>is all about.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5486/10004529054_939de2d5de.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5486/10004529054_939de2d5de.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup>
Course: Northern divine caviar, corn semifreddo</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What a
start to the tasting menu – corn semifreddo which intensified and concentrated
the natural flavor of corn without being overwhelmingly sweet. The caviar acted
as a salty counterpole but was much less salty then most other caviars and
added more of a briny, yet slightly fruity flavor. The grilled baby corn
brought a grilled, smoky component to the dish which worked perfectly with the
other ingredients and created a wonderful complex, yet refreshing course which
helped to open up the taste buds - one of the early highlights of the night. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
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<a href="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2876/10004651323_bfe9d23847.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2876/10004651323_bfe9d23847.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup>
Course: Melon, Tai snapper, finger lie, kale, mustard</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Thinly
sliced Tai snapper was paired with an interesting mixture of fruitiness and
tartness. Melon juice on one side and finger lime and grapefruit on the other
side created a good balance to bring out the delicate sweet flavors of the
fish. The mustard based vinaigrette supplied a foundation for the dish whereas
the fried kale added a textural contrast.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup>
Course: Tomato, cucumber, eggplant<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The broth
made of water eggplant, tomato and basil had a refreshing, almost fruity
quality but didn’t overpower the different slices of tomatoes. It was
interesting to experience the variety of textures and flavor notes of the
different tomatoes. The mini gherkin cucumber added some crunchiness to the
dish.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Potato, truffle, nasturtium, sour cream<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Potatoes
with sour cream and some herbs are classic German comfort food. Here the dish
was brought to the next level with the inclusion of Australian truffles – a
very comforting dish which brought back childhood memories and fittingly paired
with a white Pinot Noir from Rheinhessen. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Local spot prawn, wild fennel butter<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Dishes
throughout tasting menus are often prime examples for complex, well thought-out
creations from chefs showcasing innovative techniques and unique flavor
combination but sometimes a dish just shines through its simplicity and the
quality of its main ingredient. Chef Foshee served here a perfectly prepared
single spot prawn highlighting the succulent tender- and sweetness of the meat
just slightly accentuated by the wild fennel butter.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">6<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Lima beans, squid, dried squid broth<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sometime
you experience surprising combinations in a dish where once you taste them you
wonder why you never thought of them before as they are quite obvious like with
lima beans and squid. Both ingredients not only have an interesting textural
contrast between the slight chewiness and the creaminess but the flavor of the subdued
sweetness of the squid complements nicely with the earthiness of the lima
beans. The strong umami taste of the dried squid broth helped to magnify this
flavor combination</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">7<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Stone crab-uni quesadilla, tomatillo-avocado<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Chef
Foshee’s version of the ubiquitous fish taco has gained quite some recognition
far beyond San Diego and here he brought out his next interpretation of a
Mexican classic – quesadilla. Instead of the standard meat-cheese combination
he chose to replace it with some local stone crab and in a clever twist the
cheese with uni which worked extremely well. The house-made corn tortilla was
the fitting wrapper but could have been a bit thinner so that the filling might
have played an even more prominent role. The tomatillo-avocado salsa completed
this great dish with its acidity. The pairing of the dish with a Mexican Cucuapa
“Lookout” blonde ale was spot on.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">8<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Lamb loin, sunflower, farro, chanterelle, pine<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A dish
which worked through its contrasting textures of tender lamb loin served at
room temperature and the mixture of wonderful nutty puffed farro and sunflower
seeds. The whipped sour cream was the missing link between them and brought the
dish together.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">9<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Scallop, lemon balm, mussel juice<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Not unlike
the course with the spot prawn here we had another course where the quality of
a single main ingredient takes the center stage (and it is not coincidence that
it is again seafood focused). A perfect scallop steamed in the shell showcased
it sweet- and tenderness which was highlighted by the acidity of the lemon
balm. The plating throughout the tasting menu was great but this course was
particular beautiful with the half shell.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">10<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Mesquite dusted rabbit, fig, pea tendril<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Smoking rabbit
using mesquite is quite common but in this dish the rabbit loin was actually
rolled in mesquite dust which gave it still some smoky flavor but also added
some graininess. The pea puree and the mesquite dust both have some related
earthy flavors and so the contrasting sweetness of the figs where key to the
success of the dish.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">11<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Beef, marrow, garlic, parsley, truffles<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The savory
courses ended with a sous vide cooked, tender piece of beef. A very first
reaction to the course was a bit of disappointment as it seemed to be the
“typical” meat focused last course we have seen so often in a “traditional”
tasting menu even though it often seems to be out of place. But fortunately
this course turned out to be much more balanced and the beef wasn’t only
dominating ingredient because the parsley puree, garlic paste and bone marrow
could stand up against the beef and the dish ended up to be quite interesting
by combining conflicting flavors.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">12<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Sorrel granite, meyer lemon curd, Chino Farms strawberries<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A well
thought out transition to the sweet part of the tasting menu – sorrel with its
bright and tart flavor is often used in savory courses but also worked well
with the meyer lemon curd. The well known Chino Farm strawberries added the
right level of sweetness.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">13<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Mango semifreddo, cashew milk ice cream, lemon grass, smoked cashew<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
description of the course sounded unusual and hard to imagine how it should
work together but it turned out to be another highlight of the night. Creamy,
yet slightly nutty ice cream worked together with the sweetness of the
semifreddo and was counterbalanced by the tartness of the lemon grass gelee.
The smoked cashew crumble not only gave some texture but also added a savory component
to the dish.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">14<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Mocha Mousse, espresso salt, sweet cream, cocoa nib<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A light,
yet intense finish to the night – replacing the after dinner espresso or cappuccino
with its flavors. The espresso salt really livened up the dessert and showed
once more that salt is often also in sweet courses key to complete a dish.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We had
experienced Chef Foshee’s cooking as part of regular menu items before at
Georges Modern so we came with high expectations but TBL3 easily met and even
exceeded those. It was impressive to see this high level of cooking throughout
the whole tasting menu without any disappointing course. Moreover the flow of
the courses was very well thought out and it clearly felt like the kitchen
enjoyed TBL3 as an opportunity to cook without any limitations. Chef Foshee’s
style feels very focused and driven by the essence of a few key ingredients in
each dish. Even though many dishes had complex flavor profiles and were playful
the kitchen never seemed to forget what each dish was about. The sweet part of
tasting menus is often good but still can feel more like an afterthought
compared to the complexity of the savory part. TBL3 and pastry chef Lori Sauer
are a clear exception from the rule and the sweet part of the night just felt
like an extension of the savory courses and was able to continue and complete
the experience. But exceptional restaurants go beyond just great food – the
ambience with TBL3 literally the best table in the house with a beautiful view
of the ocean and great service. It is fun when a server like Mark clearly is
enjoying food just beyond as part of his job. Some of the ingredients of the
tasting menu actually were foraged from his garden and he had often some
interesting thoughts about the different dishes. We have often lamented the
lack of outstanding restaurants in San Diego with a unique dining experience,
but Georges with TBL3 clearly plays in the same league as the best restaurants
in cities like San Francisco or Los Angeles. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It will be
interesting to see how the success of a concept like TBL3 will effect fine
dining in San Diego. Hopefully it will provide the kitchen at Georges Modern a
way for dialogue with the guests to test out dishes and get feedback about them
so that they might in some form also make their way to the regular menu. But
perhaps more importantly we hope to see some “trickle-down effect” beyond just
Georges and that other restaurants and chefs might see this concept as an
inspiration to develop their own approaches to test out more adventurous and
creative cuisines and help to further improve the culinary scene in San Diego. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">George’s
California Modern</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1250 Prospect
St.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">San Diego,
CA 92037</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(858)
454-4244</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-63832521505451917012013-08-18T23:17:00.000-07:002013-08-18T23:17:06.103-07:009-Course Tasting Menu as Pop-Up at Delicias with Chefs Zach Hunter and Steven Molina (San Diego)<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
In every
profession people tend to grow throughout their careers and develop their own
style and identity. Part of this development is often based more on a trial and
error approach but another part originates through the influence of
mentors/supervisors. These influences can originate by a teacher-scholar
relationship but more often they form unconsciously over time by just working
together and continuously observing. Cooking on a professional level is perhaps
one of the occupations where such influences are often particular distinct. At
the same time, since chefs early on in their careers often work or stage at a
number of well-known restaurants, these influences get mixed together so that at
the end each chef has his unique style but the different influences are often
noticeable even throughout single dishes.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">San Diego
has a rather fast rotation of chefs especially on a fine dining level so that
very few of them stayed for a longer time and had a significant influence on
subsequent generations of chefs. Some of the notable exceptions are Trey Foshee
at George’s Modern, Jeff Jackson at AR Valentien and Paul McCabe formerly at
Kitchen 1540 and Delicias. The most recent, unexpected move from Chef McCabe to
Arizona was quite a blow to the fine dining scene in San Diego but during his
stint at Delicias he worked with Sous Chef Steve Molina who took over the
kitchen as Chef de Cuisine after McCabe’s departure. Chef Molina graduated in
2008 from the San Diego Culinary Institute and started working in the industry
under Chef Vignau at Savory in Encinitas. He then moved to L’Auberge Del Mar
were he started as a pantry cook before rising up the ranks to become Sous Chef
under McCabe at Kitchen 1540. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">McCabe’s
move to Delicias generated quite some buzz around the restaurant and its future
plans which was throughout the years more known as a kind of neighborhood
restaurant for the wealthy in Rancho Santa Fe with good but not really ambitious
cuisine. The future direction of Delicias was quite uncertain after the recent
changes in the kitchen but we were for some time thinking about trying to set
up a tasting menu with Chef Molina when we heard about a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">9-course tasting menu at Delicias as a pop-up with Chefs Zach Hunter
and Molina</b>. Chef Hunter graduated in 2005 from the Arizona Culinary
Institute to start at Wildfish Seafood Grille in Scottsdale where he quickly
became Executive Chef. He decided afterwards to move to Mugaritz in
Errenteria/Spain, one of the most respected restaurants in the world. After
moving back to the US and working together with Molina under Chef McCabe at
Kitchen 1540 he moved to New York to work as Sous Chef at Atera. Most recently
he made the decision to move to Austin to work on an own restaurant concept in
the near future but had a stopover in San Diego with this pop-up restaurant
night which gave us the opportunity to experience two McCabe alumni with a
hopefully daring tasting menu.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Snack 1:
Albacore, pickled watermelon, pork fat, ice plant</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The night
began with a number of snacks to wet one’s appetite. First we had a small piece
of slightly cured albacore, topped with a layer of pork fat and some pickled
watermelon – light, refreshing and well balanced.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Snack 2:
Chicken skin, romesco, dried corn</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A play on
chicharrones with puffed chicken skin - the slightly smoky romesco with peppery
notes didn’t overwhelm the chicken skin too much and the dried corn not only
added some additional texture but was also well integrated in the playful
presentation with its chicken wire.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Snack 3:
Fermented corn, dried shrimp, panko, aioli</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The
highlight of the four snacks – the corn was fermented for ten days and had a
slightly sour taste not unlike good sauerkraut, the dried shrimp added some
saltiness and panko gave texture to the dish. A wonderful combination of sour,
salty and Umami, of which one was really hoping to have a whole cob of corn. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Snack 4:
Chicken rillette, mole negro, peach butter</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This dish
presented in a small cocotte had a nice interplay of the crostini, smoked
chicken rillette and mole negro but what brought this dish together was the
slight fruitiness of the peach butter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It is always
interesting to see the interactions of a kitchen team during work and this
night was no difference with both chefs and their team working side by side. It
is still surprising why Delicias is not using this open kitchen better to bring
a different dynamic and ambience to the restaurant instead of hiding it behind
some high partition walls.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup>
Course: Uni, crispy grains, dashi gelee, powdered yogurt</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The first
course as the start of the dinner reminded us on breakfast at the start of the
day. Not unlike cereals with milk in the morning we had in this dish a variety
of different grains and seeds with powdered yogurt but what deviated it from
your standard sweet morning dish was the inclusion of some pieces of uni and
dashi gelee which gave the dish a wonderful salty, maritime flavor. Interestingly
this strong dish vaguely reminded us of a course we recently had at Atelier
Crenn</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup>
Course: Tuna tartare, smoked trout roe, lettuce, smoked chicken gelee,
breadcrumbs</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The
presentation of this course was unexpected with a larger piece of lettuce as
the centerpiece and the other ingredient coating or surrounding it. At first
the combination of the crunchy lettuce with the tuna and smoked roe tartare
seemed not really to work but after a few bites the dishes started to grow on
us and ended up as a surprisingly balanced dish.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup>
Course: Salt roasted potatoes, dried squid, egg yolk vinaigrette</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sometimes
good dishes don’t have to rely on unusual ingredients or complex preparations
but live through their simplicity – here we had simple salt roasted potatoes
with a matching vinaigrette – simple and homey yet somehow elegant. The dried
squid chip didn’t add much to the dish and was more of a distraction.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Lobster, shaved Chinese sausage, Meyer lemon – ginger emulsion</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The
presentation reminded us on some fish’n’chips we got when we lived in England
and the pork-fat poached lobster with its “coating” of shaved Chinese sausage
worked also along this lines. As good as the surprisingly large piece of
lobster was, not unlike fish’n’chips, some kind of starch component was missing
in this dish which was a bit too one-dimensional.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">5<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Spot prawns, bone marrow, roasted summer squash, wheatgrass emulsion</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This course
was one of the highlights of the dinner with its perfectly cooked prawns and
the roasted summer squash. The wheatgrass emulsion mixed with the liquid bone
marrow gave the dish an earthy foundation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">6<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Fermented long beans, aged lamb, Meyer lemon emulsion, lamb fat aioli</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This was one
of the dishes where it is necessary to get a little bit of everything at each
bite to get a balanced flavor. The fermented long beans had a surprisingly sour
taste which was tamed by the lamb fat aioli whereas the aged lamb brought some
gaminess and minerality. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">7<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Venison loin, roasted tomato confit, charred onion</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It was
interesting and refreshing to see that throughout the night both chefs used
some unusual successions and presentations of the dishes not always seen with
tasting menus but it appeared with this course they seemed to step back to the
default path of ending the savory part with a meat-heavy course. Even though
technically very well made with tender sous-vide venison and strong tasting
tomato confit the dish seemed to be out of line with the progression of the
tasting menu so far and felt too monotonous with its focus on one large piece
of meat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">8<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Tartare of beet and sour cherry, coconut tapioca</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The use of
vegetables as part of desserts is becoming increasingly popular and this dish
had a very unusual combination of beets and sour cherry which was mainly overshadowed
by the earthiness of the beets with some hardly noticeable sweet undertones
from the cherry and coconut tapioca. This dish was paired with an unusual
cocktail based on champagne and vinegar which actually helped to lighten up the
dish with its acidity but it was still a rather challenging course.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">9<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Candied carrots, chocolate-stout gelato, fermented carrot chocolate
ganache</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The last
course was another, but much more successful, take on vegetables as dessert –
the natural sweetness of the carrots paired perfectly with the maltiness of the
chocolate stout and the fermented carrot ganache acted as an overarching theme
to bring both together with the unexpected funkiness of the fermented carrots –
a perfect ending to the tasting menu on a high note.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A pop-up
restaurant event has always a unique character as the chef doesn’t really have
to rely on return customers and so has the chance to take some culinary risks
and try out some unusual flavor and ingredient pairings. It was good to see
that Chefs Hunter and Molina were willing to take this road and served interesting
courses with some highlights like the uni, spot prawns or the carrot dessert. And
even courses which didn’t really work for us like the beet dessert are laudable
as it shows their willingness to try to express their own culinary vision
without much compromise. Hopefully Delicias will be encouraged by the good
attendance of this pop-up, and GM Alex Campbell mentioned that they are
thinking of having such events as a seasonal occurrence.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When two
chefs cook together it is of course hard to determine who had which influence
on which course but overall it was interesting to see how far the cooking style
of these both chefs has evolved from that of their mentor Paul McCabe. It will
be interesting to track how Chef Hunter’s first attempt at an own restaurant in
Austin will turn out to be (and hopefully it won’t be the last time he cooked
in San Diego) but the night also really reminded us that it is time for us to
set up a tasting menu with Chef Molina at Delicias and experience his cooking
first-hand.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.deliciasrestaurant.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #003366;">Delicias</span></span></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">6106 Paseo Delicias</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">(858) 756-8000</span></div>
</div>
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TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-41668746756033182542012-10-23T23:32:00.005-07:002012-10-23T23:32:53.610-07:00Delicias (San Diego) - 9-Course Tasting Menu or Keeping up with Chef McCabe<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There is
hardly any part of daily life which hasn’t been deeply affected and changed by
the internet over the last two decades. Starting from how we purchase nearly every
kind of goods, how we keep up to date with news, how we gather information or
how we communicate with each other. It is amusing and also sad at the same time
to see how many people you see today in restaurants who instead of talking to
each other are more occupied to stare on their smart phones and communicate through
social networks with each other and the world. Suddenly everybody, even people
you have never met in your life before, are “friends” and the importance of
anything is measured in how much everybody “likes”. All those social networks from
the established to the new ones have/had very little appeal for us as they seem
to be more advertisement platforms or trying to extract every detail of your
life even without any permission but there is one exception – Twitter. While
Twitter is far from something we would truly call communication with its 140
character limitations and often pointless “discussions” it has one major
attraction for us as foodies – the possibility of “direct” interaction with chefs.
There are many ways to contact a restaurant through their web page or Facebook
page but these possibilities normally only give you access to the FOH. Any time
you wanted to discuss dishes or menus with any chef there was hardly any other
way than going straight into the kitchen during a dinner. Twitter changed this
as many chefs started to use it personally to keep in touch with colleagues and
customers and it opened up many new possibilities to interact with them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When we
recently had unexpectedly some reasons for a celebration we considered a few
possible restaurants as good places for an extensive dinner or preferably a
multi-course tasting menu. But when we went over our lists we remembered that
one of our best dinners we had last year was an outstanding tasting menu at
Kitchen 1540 under Chef Paul McCabe. Chef McCabe started to have an impact on
the culinary scene in San Diego about ten years ago when he worked as Executive
Chef first at Top of the Cove and then Star of the Sea. But he really made a
name for himself far beyond San Diego once he started heading the kitchen at
Kitchen 1540 and made it to one of the premier dining spots in San Diego. And
so it took many by surprise when he suddenly announced end of last year that he
would leave Kitchen 1540 for Delicias in Ranch Santa Fe. Delicias was one of
these restaurants which exist for many years, 19 in the case of Delicias, but
never made a real lasting impact on the dining scene in San Diego. Our single
visit some time ago showed good but unremarkable food especially for the
relative high prices. Once more details about the move from Chef McCabe
surfaced it become more apparent that it was quite lucrative as not only he
took over the kitchen but also became partner to owner Owen Perry, at the same
time as Alex Campbell, formerly of Bertrand’s at Mr.A, with not only plans to
revamp Delicias but also opening additional restaurants over the next years. Through
his Twitter account he posted regularly photos of his new dishes and it became
obvious that even though Delicias might not have the same customer base as
Kitchen 1540 the cooking style of McCabe didn’t change much. Once the
renovation of the restaurant and the revamp of the menu were completed recently
we felt that now was a good time to try out Delicias. And after just a few
tweets with Chef McCabe within several minutes we were able to set up a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">tasting menu at Delicias </b>on a short
notice.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
1<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup>
Course: Shrimps - <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">White shrimp blanket, spot prawn sashimi, ceviche, eggs and
tempura<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
This course
was presented as a variation on shrimp ceviche which didn’t do the dish enough
justice. In this complex dish we had a number of different shrimp preparations
yielding a broad range of textures and flavors - starting from the soft and
mild white shrimp blanket to the sweet and tender spot prawn sashimi to the
citrusy ceviche with tempura adding some texture. Ceviches can often dominate a
dish with their citrus-based sauce but in this dish it was well balanced with
some spicy- and saltiness rounding out the flavor profile. A very good start to
the tasting menu as the dish helped to awaken the taste buds.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> Course: <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Salad - Compressed vegetables and fruits<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The trend
of having one dish to showcase the abundance of great produce in San Diego also
continued with this tasting menu but at the same time it was fascinating to see
how different the presentations are between the different chefs or even for
Chef McCabe himself compared to his “produce” course during our tasting menu at
Kitchen 1540. Whereas at Kitchen 1540 we had a very complex presentation with
different dressings and powders here we had the mere opposite – simplicity.
Using modern techniques to vacuum seal fruits and vegetables with looser cell
structures and high water content helps to intensify the flavors yielding in
dishes of stronger tastes of fruits and vegetables like watermelon and cucumber
in this course. A great example that modern technique and pure and
unadulterated flavors don’t have to be a contradiction.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup>
Course: Corn Agnolotti, poached Maine lobster, chanterelle mushrooms, summer
truffles<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">One would
expect that a dish which contains lobster, chanterelle mushrooms and summer
truffles would center around these special ingredients but even though they
were integral for the dish they took a backseat to the most mundane one – corn.
Wonderful sweet but not overly saccharine it elevated the agnolotti to light
pillows of pasta but also formed the fitting foundation for all other
ingredients. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">4rd
Course: Local White Bass, warm summer bean salad, house pancetta, pistou
vinaigrette<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The White
Bass was cooked nicely and very tender and flakey. The bean salad had numerous
different types of beans and was a good choice for the mildly flavored fish.
But what really brought this dish together was the pistou as it paired well
with bean salad as well as the fish and was the overarching theme of the
course.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">5<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Pot Pie - Beef tongue, foie gras, vegetables, puff pastry<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">When we
originally set up this tasting menu we agreed on an 8-course menu with Chef
McCabe but at the beginning of the night he explained to us that there would be
an additional course. For this course McCabe came out of the kitchen to present
this dish as the additional free course – a variation on pot pie which included
foie gras. Obviously with the current ban on foie gras in California having the
rare opportunity to eat this delicacy alone was very exciting but what made the
course really stand out was how it was integrated into the dish. The easy way
to serve foie gras would have been in a classical presentation au torchon or
seared but this pot pie dish was a prime example where the sum is greater than
its parts. Using the often underutilized beef tongue as meat for the pie was
refreshing as it infused a strong, yet unique, beefy flavor but the foie gras
in the sauce elevated the dish to a completely different level. Every bite of
the dish included the taste of foie gras but it was balanced enough not to
dominate everything but yet the dish wouldn’t have worked without it – simply a
brilliant dish and not only a highlight of this tasting menu but one of the
best dishes we had in a long time. And it doesn’t happen very often that we
talk so much about a dish even days after the tasting menu when we were hoping
to have it one more time for dinner at home. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">6<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Colorado lamb rack, faro, harissa yogurt, compressed onion, cucumber,
olive<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It is
always hard to talk about the philosophy of a chef as they often draw their
inspiration from many different sources but perhaps this dish is a good example
of what we feel is part of Chef McCabe’s philosophy. On one side a rather
classical interpretation of a rack of lamb but at the same time supporting the
earthy flavors with an ancient, and rarely seen on menus, grain like faro. On
the other side using modern techniques to create ingredients and flavors like
the compressed onion and cucumber which present an unexpected twist leading to
interesting contrasts, might it be, as in this case, by temperature, texture or
flavor. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">7<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Cheese – Coach Farm Triple Cream Goat, Roaring Forties Blue, condiments<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The cheese
course presented two different extremes – a triple cream goat which was very
mild but rich and had some light tangy flavors. Whereas the Roaring Forties
Blue had a much more pronounced, bolder flavor with nutty undertones.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">8<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Yuzu curd, miso graham cracker, meringue<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Yuzu with
its distinct taste somewhere between grapefruit and mandarin with some floral
notes is a good palate cleanser between the savory courses and the dessert. The
miso graham crackers not only added some texture but also interesting umami
flavor which reinforced the transition from savory to sweet courses.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">9<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Chocolate tart, crunchy praline, toasted marshmallow, chocolate sorbet,
maldon<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
tasting menu finished in a classical way with a chocolate based dessert. The
chocolate tart had some interesting textural variety by the crunchy praline and
toasted marshmallow. Adding some salt flakes helped open up the flavor of the
tart. Using chocolate sorbet instead of the ubiquitous chocolate gelato ensured
a certain lightness of the course. Perhaps not the most creative and unusual
way to end the night but still a satisfying end to a great tasting menu. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
outstanding experience we had with the tasting menu at Kitchen 1540 under Chef
McCabe and his Twitter pictures of some of his dishes since he started working
at Delicias set our expectations quite high. At the same time our first dinner
at Delicias more than a year ago was unremarkable and the expected clientele at
a restaurant in Rancho Santa Fe might imply that a chef has to hold back his
creativity to be successful. In the end our concerns appeared to be unfounded
and our experiences with a tasting menu at Delicias were on a very similar
level as at Kitchen 1540. The creativity and execution of the dishes clearly
showed the style we expected from Chef McCabe and it was interesting to see
that some of the courses of the tasting menu were variation of dishes from the
regular menu, like the lamb or agnolotti. And even though most of the off-menu
courses showed a greater level of creativity the flow between off and on menu
dishes throughout the tasting menu was uninterrupted and indicated the impact
McCabe had on the quality of the regular menu. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As much as
bad service can ruin a dinner with great food, good service as we experienced
at Delicias can elevate an already great night. And it is often the small
details like well paced courses, enough time to enjoy some cocktails without
being “forced” to start the tasting menu and attentive but unintrusive service
which you see surprisingly seldom even at higher end restaurants that set the
tone for great service. If there was perhaps one minor quibble than even though
the current dining room feels less stuffy than on our last visit it was
surprising to see that they used booths with very high backrests close to the
kitchen to separate the dining room from the kitchen instead of creating a
dining room with an open kitchen which would bring a much better dynamic and
liveliness to the restaurant. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It will be
interesting to see how Chef McCabe will position Delicias as a restaurant in
the near future. He has to find a balance to keep the regular menu interesting
but not too unusual to attract his regular customers in Rancho Santa Fe but at
the same time also create creative dishes to expand the influence of Delicias
beyond being just a neighborhood restaurant. Perhaps he might take a similar
approach as Chef Foshee at Georges in La Jolla who has an interesting regular
menu to satisfy his regular customers but also more recently started TBL3, a
special tasting menu, which gained a lot of attention for his restaurant far
beyond San Diego. Using a tasting menu like we experienced with Chef McCabe
will be the right step to make Delicias such a destination restaurant. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.deliciasrestaurant.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Delicias</span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">6106 Paseo Delicias</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">(858) 756-8000</span></div>
TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-64628711549713220082012-08-26T23:50:00.000-07:002012-08-26T23:50:32.188-07:00Cocktail 101: Harvey Wallbanger<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
It is always
very interesting to visit cocktail bars or read one of the cocktail books like
“Joy of Mixology” and to be initially surprised by the sheer amount of diverse
cocktail recipes. When you start diving into the world of cocktails one expects
a rather limited number of cocktails. At the beginning it appears as if there
are only a few hard liquors like gin, vodka, bourbon or tequila and some
additives like bitters or syrups and those can only be combined in a limited
fashion. But it doesn’t take long to realize that for example one gin doesn’t
taste the same as another gin and that there are numerous bitters and syrups
with different flavor profiles. Similar to the market driven cuisine of
restaurants more and more mixologists also create market driven cocktails with
house-made bitters and other additives which opens up a large world of unique
ingredients for all kinds of cocktails. And so instead of a rather limited
number of possible cocktails the vast amount of different ingredients appear
more like a huge matrix of possible combinations and a near infinite number of
cocktails. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Despite a
large number of possible combinations and the “everything goes with everything”
attitude there are still some liqueurs which seem to exist for just one specific
cocktail. Galliano is a liqueur originally created in 1896 in Livorno, Italy
and named after an Italian army officer who became famous during the first
Italo-Ethiopian war. Galliano has a quite large number of ingredients ranging
from star anise, vanilla to ginger, juniper, lavender and citrus. Neutral grain
spirit is first infused with these herbs and then vanilla before finally mixed
with water and sugar. This yields a liqueur which has a strong sweet anise
flavor with some more subtle vanilla and herbal notes. Even though there is
more than just one Galliano containing cocktail known everybody associates this
liqueur with the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Harvey Wallbanger</b>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As with
every famous cocktail name there are many different stories about the origin of
the name. Starting from the legend that mixologist Donato Antone created this
drink at his Blackwatch Bar to cheer up a surfer called Harvey after a lost
competition and after a few of the drinks the surfer collided with the wall.
Another variation claims that the drink was invented on a party by Bill Doner
and that a guest later banged his head against the wall and blamed it on the
drink. Perhaps the most boring but at the same time most likely one is that the
name is the idea of the Galliano marketing team when challenged to come up with
the cocktail which showcases the liqueur. This simple cocktail indeed nicely
emphasizes the herbal character of the Galliano as the vodka and the orange
juice stay more in the background. The Harvey Wallbanger is a good cocktail to
slowly sip in the evening after a long day as it is refreshing but at the same time
has some complexity by the Galliano.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Add orange juice to tall glass,
half-filled with ice cubes</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Add vodka</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Float Galliano on top by
carefully pouring it over the back of a spoon. Decorate glass with orange wedge</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Recipe adapted from “500
Cocktails”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Serves 1</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ice cubes</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
60 ml (2 fl oz) Vodka</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
120 ml (4 fl oz) freshly squeezed orange juice</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
15 ml (0.5 fl oz) Galliano </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Orange wedge</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span> </div>
TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-73035932735233658042012-07-22T13:32:00.000-07:002012-07-22T13:32:57.320-07:00Wolvesmouth Dinner (San Diego) – 6-Course Tasting Menu in a Penthouse<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Celebrities are often part of
advertisement campaigns as ad agencies tend to believe that people attracted to
those celebrities will also decide to buy products used by them. Most of these
celebrities often come from the show or music business and only more recently,
mainly since the success of the Food Network channel, we have started to see
chefs as main characters in some advertisements. Most of these celebrity chefs,
like Mario Batali or Bobby Flay, have become such household names even to
people who are not really interested in food that their images somehow got
detached from cooking itself. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Customers
recognize them as being involved with cooking but most people will have problems
to actually specify in more detail what kind of cuisine and cooking they
represent. At the same time in today’s world of increasing importance of a
diverse set of social media, ad agencies have recognized that it might have
many advantages to do more focused ad campaigns addressing only a selected
subset of potential customers. Using this approach also means that the “face”
of the product doesn’t have to have such a broad recognition throughout the
population but that he/she has to have a connection with the product. Instead
of using for example a mainstream music band a more unknown band with a unique
music style might be more attractive - or instead of celebrity chefs choosing
chefs which are actually cooking and trying to push the boundaries of their
cuisine.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">There is of course a large number
of excellent restaurants and chefs in Southern California but to stand out
nowadays it is necessary to have a very unique, creative cooking style but also
noticeable business model beyond your “standard” restaurant. Over the last few
years three chefs have shown for us this distinction – Ludo Lefebvre with his
pop-up restaurant LudoBites, Laurent Quenioux with the different incarnation of
Bistro LQ and Craig Thornton (also known as Wolvesmouth) with his Underground
Dinner Series. Born in Orange County Craig Thornton started going into the
cooking business by working and learning from Thomas McLaughlin at Serratto in
Portland/Oregon. He subsequently went to cooking school at Western Culinary and
started to work at some restaurants including Bouchon in Las Vegas and as
private chef for Nicolas Cage. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the
years he more and more realized that the conventional way of serving dinners in
a restaurant setting isn’t the best way to fully explore his creative visions
and so over time he developed his own Underground Dinner Series at his own loft
in LA also known as Wolvesden. These turn out to be more or less very exclusive
dinner parties for 12 people each time and are some of the most sought-after
reservations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Craig is doing most of the
shopping, prepping, and cooking by himself with some help from friends and since
the first time we have seen descriptions and pictures of one of his tasting
menus we were more than interested to participate in one of those nights.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A few weeks ago we were contacted
by David Brigandi from Edelman that Chef Thornton teamed up with a well known
beer brand (“most interesting man in the world” – Dos Equis) and that they were
planning to have a few<strong> private dinners
with a six course tasting menu</strong> in San Diego reminiscent of the Underground
Dinners during Comic-Con and if we would be interested to join. It didn’t take
much contemplating and we immediately accepted the invitation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The dinner took place at a
penthouse in Little Italy close to State Street. Once you entered the building
you were greeted and escorted to the private elevator for the penthouse. The
elevator opened up to one long room which had two large tables in the center.
Before the dinner started the about 30 guests had the chance to mingle and have
some small talk with a sitar player providing relaxing background music.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Not surprisingly the penthouse
had floor to ceiling windows and even though it was already late night just
seeing the myriads of lights from downtown to Little Italy to Point Loma gave
you already a good idea about the fantastic view one would have during the day</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The kitchen was unexpected meagerly
equipped for such a large dinner and Craig mentioned when we talked before the
dinner that he had to improvise and that this kitchen wasn’t by far on the same
level as he is used to in his Wolvesden. Two pieces he brought with him was an
immersion circulator and a deep fryer. Outside on the patio was also a grill
which would play a role in our first course.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">1<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup> Course: Ribeye
cap, grilled spring onion, pimento cheese, fritter, sweet 100, arugula<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Normally tasting menu start
slowly with some light first courses but Craig decided to go full steam ahead
already with his first course. Ribeye cap is perhaps one of the most overlooked
cuts of beef in a restaurant setting. Also known as “butchers butter” it
combines the best of both worlds by having the great flavor of a ribeye and the
tenderness of a filet. In this dish it was even elevated more by being expertly
finished on the grill to give it the right amount of smoky flavor – clearly
discernable but not</span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">overwhelming the natural beef flavor. The homemade pimento
cheese was a fitting companion with its slight heat and creaminess. Pimento
cheese is often paired with grits which here took the form of some fritters. The
sweet 100 completed the dish with their bursts of sweetness. Overall a really
great start to the tasting menu.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> Course: Corn soup,
crab, agretti, buttermilk, jalapeno, corn<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Summer time is also peak time for
some of our favorite produce, like corn. Now is the time when fresh corn has
this characteristic sweetness and freshness you can’t get from frozen or canned
versions. Craig with his market driven cooking approach not surprisingly
decided to showcase corn in one of his dishes. Smooth corn soup with some
subtle tartness from the buttermilk was the foundation for this chowder-like
dish. The crab pieces were a natural addition to it and the corn kernels added
some texture to the dish. The inclusion of agretti was interesting and the
first time that we tasted this well-sought after Italian vegetable with its
acidity</span>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> Course: Halibut,
gnocchi, squash, zucchini, zucchini blossom, tomato, pesto ricotta<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This was an Italian inspired dish
with the different components well executed in itself and pure, unadulterated
flavors – moist, flaky fish, lightly grilled vegetables, sweet tomatoes,
Roman-style gnocchi with the earthiness from the semolina. What brought this
dish together was the pesto. The saltiness and vibrant freshness of the pesto
paired well with every single other component on the plate and so you dipped
everything into the pesto before you ate it. At the same time the pesto was
balanced enough that it didn’t overwhelm the other flavors but just amplified
them - one of the highlights of the night</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">4<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> Course: Romano
beans, yellow French beans, haricots verts, peach, potato, beet, pistachio,
coffee soil, nectarine, saba, lemon oil, horseradish<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It’s a good trend to see more and
more chefs not shying away from focusing on produce alone as key driver for a
creative dish and ignoring meats altogether, and Craig is no exception. Here we
had a selection of different types of beans with different textures and flavors
accompanied by peaches, potatoes and beets to broaden the flavor spectrum. The
pistachios and the ubiquitous “soil” (it seems every upscale place currently
uses some homemade soil on their menu) provided some textural balance to the
dish. Similar to the pesto in the previous course the horseradish cream tied
this plate together.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">5<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> Course: Pork
belly, avocado, grilled pineapple, radish, sopes<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">An interesting and successful take
on a deconstructed taco – sous-vide pork belly which was so tender that you
didn’t need a knife, sopes for the masa flavor of the tortillas and different
fillings like pineapple, avocado and radish. The sauce was a surprising mix of
pork reduction, burnt tomatoes, ginger, soy sauce and pineapple juice which
combined to a very complex taste covering sweet, sour, salty and tart.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">6<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> Course: Tres
leches cake, dehydrated strawberries, strawberry pop rocks, green tea-lime cream<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The tasting menu was completed by
a tres leches cake which itself would have been an adequate finish. Dehydrating
the strawberries helped to intensify their flavor and sweetness and the green
tea-lime cream with its tartness ensured that the dessert didn’t end up overly
sweet.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">There is always some skepticism
going to such kind of dinners where you don’t know anybody or if they are even
interested in food and facing the possibility of just an advertising event. But
reality couldn’t be further from these doubts. The night turned out to be a
very relaxing event where people with very different backgrounds, most of them
connected through Comic Con, had a chance to experience interesting
conversations and unique, creative food. It was interesting to see that such a
broad range of personalities, covering screen writers, comic book artists,
actors, engineers, former NFL players etc., had no problems to immediately
connect. It was also interesting to experience that even though we had many
interesting discussions covering movies, books, art and science the
conversation always circled back to food once we had a new course in front of
us – the unifying power of creative, thought-provoking food. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We had the chance to talk to
Craig Thornton before the dinner and got some ideas about the logistics to set
up the tasting menu in San Diego as he had to transport all the ingredients
from his trusted vendors at the Wednesday Farmer’s Market in Santa Monica by
refrigerated truck. He also explained that he got no limitations for this dinner
in San Diego about what dishes he would cook but at the same time also admitted
that some of them might not have the same level of uniqueness as he would
normally present at his regular dinners in LA. And this also reflects our
impression of the dinner – a successful night with creative and interesting
courses covering some unusual flavor combinations but compared to some of the
reports and pictures we read and saw about his LA dinners he seemed to hold
back a bit and played safer than usual which is not surprising considering the
circumstances of the dinner. For us it was more of a teaser to experience his
cuisine for a first time and raised our interest even more, and we see this
dinner as a prelude to a real Wolvesmouth dinner in the Wolvesden in the
future. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://wolvesmouth.com/"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Wolvesmouth</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-5100248509919696602012-06-09T23:57:00.000-07:002012-06-09T23:57:27.154-07:00Evolve Cuisine (San Diego) – “Explore your Senses” Tasting Menu<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Trends in
the food world are no different than trends in other parts of life. Some of
them evolve over time and become part of the mainstream food world like
“farm-to-table”. Today hardly any restaurant doesn’t use some kind of play on
the theme of farm-to table to describe their approach towards ingredients and
dishes. And even though the concept gets overused by now it also describes a
pleasant development of a stronger consciousness of restaurants and customers
alike towards a more thoughtful approach regarding sourcing of ingredients.
Some other trends get so overhyped that they become more of a stigma than
description so that they slowly fade away and only might reappear under a
completely different premise as it happened with molecular gastronomy. One of
the big buzzwords of the restaurant world in the 90s with pioneers like Ferran
Adria, it became more and more a cuss word for restaurants who didn’t
understand the original intend but forgot that the quality of the final dish is
key to a successful restaurant not the abundant use of new fancy techniques. Over
time many of the techniques and tools used during the molecular gastronomy
heydays became standard tools of many advanced kitchens like, sous-vide, vacuum
sealer, different stabilizers and enzymes and are used today without much
reluctance. Chefs using these modern tools understand by now that these are
just tools to achieve a better dish and not their main focus. This new attitude
was also captured by the seminal work of<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <span style="color: #222222;">Nathan Myhrvold
and his team who wrote the book which labeled this field – Modernist Cuisine.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We
have seen quite a few restaurants in San Diego using tools from the modernist
cuisine arsenal and incorporating it in very impressive ways, like at Blanca,
Georges and Kitchen 1540 by using for example sous-vide, liquid nitrogen or
transglutaminase to name a few. But at the same time none of these restaurants
strongly advertised their use of these tools as they were just aids to achieve
their final dishes. And so it was just a matter of time until the first chef in
San Diego would use a more “direct” way to clearly advertise his work as part
of the Modernist Cuisine movement – Evolve Cuisine. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Evolve
Cuisine is the brainchild of Chef Daniel Barron. We first heard about Chef
Barron when we read about his work at Anqi in Costa Mesa which is an Asian
Fusion restaurant that also offered special molecular gastronomy tasting menus
at their chefs table. He got his start into the culinary world through t</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">he </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">American Culinary Federation Apprenticeship Program at
the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham, Michigan before he worked successfulyl in a number
of restaurants in Nashville (Mad Platter), New York (Cesca) and Atlantic City (Donald
Trump’s Premier Casino Restaurant). More recently he moved to San Diego to take
a position as Executive Chef at Blue Point Costal Cuisine where, similar to
Anqi, a special molecular gastronomy tasting menu was offered on request beside
the regular standard menu. Finally beginning of this year he decided to be able
to create dishes without any restrictions in a conventional restaurant setting
and started Evolve Cuisine to focus on the “</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">culinary
intersection of modernist cuisine and fresh, organic fare”. Chef Barron is
working at Evolve cuisine together with Pastry Chef Jeff Bonilla, who is best
known in San Diego for his work with Cups and as Executive Pastry Chef at Kitchen
1540, and Mike Yen, mixologist who worked at Nine-Ten, Avenue 5 and Kitchen
1540.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">Evolve Cuisine is at this point not planned as a
restaurant but as a catering service which uses the currently highly popular
pop-up concept to promote its ideas, dishes and philosophy. The most recent
incarnation of the Evolve pop-up was focused on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“</b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">exploring the
senses” with a 7-course tasting menu</b> at Fixtures Living.</span></div>
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Fixtures
Living is during the day an interesting place to buy furniture for kitchen,
bath and outdoor but not the first place you think about for a pop-up
restaurant. As it turns out the space is very well suited for such an event
with its few communal tables, several small booths and bar. It’s a beautiful
open space which allowed a lot of interaction between the guests.</span></div>
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The open
kitchen gave everybody the chance to see the chef and his team preparing and
plating the different courses.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Amuse Bouche
1: Duck confit ravioli</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
The night
started with a reception and three amuse bouches prepared by the three cooks
helping Chef Barron throughout the night. The first one was a deep-fried
ravioli filled with duck confit. The ample duck confit had a good but delicate
flavor which was easily overshadowed by the fried pasta dough. The amuse bouche
would have been more successful if the pasta wouldn’t have been deep-fried to
let the duck confit shine. So the dish had mainly the ubiquitous flavor of deep
fried food.</span></div>
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Amuse Bouche
2: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Smoked duck breast</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
If there is
one kind of utensil which symbolizes best what went wrong with molecular
gastronomy it is any kind of syringe – unwieldy, awkward to use in a restaurant
setting, doesn’t add anything to any dish and should simply be forbidden to be
used by any chef. This amuse bouche proved the point as the idea of combining
smoked duck breast, bing cherries and coconut milk was interesting but the
execution lacked and it was hard to get a good taste of all the components.</span></div>
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Amuse Bouche
3: Seared Yellowfin tuna</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
For us clearly
the most successful amuse bouche of the night – Conceptually a simple dish with
some seared tuna and a yuzu based aioli but the flavors of the fish and the
aioli nicely came together to form a very tasty bite which we would have liked
to have as a larger portion.</span></div>
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Cocktail 1:
Tequila shooter</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Mike Yen
also prepared two excellent small cocktails to go with the amuse-bouches during
the reception. The tequila shooter resembled visually a hefeweizen beer but
also the flavors reminded us of this class of beers with its slight fruitiness
and subdued tartness.</span></div>
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Cocktail 2:
Cranberry-lime Cosmopolitan</span></div>
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The
Cosmopolitan was slightly on the sweet side but nicely balanced by the
encapsulated cranberry and lime juice. A good play on this classical cocktail
and we couldn’t resist to ask for seconds.</span></div>
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1<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup>
Course: Smell – Crab consommé, sweet pea, truffle</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
For this
dish we were instructed to pour the broth over the peas and pea shots and stir
everything. By this, one created a kind of chowder with a wonderful mix of
truffle and crab aroma. The flavor of the liquid resembled the heady aroma with
a very delectable taste of the crustaceans which was never overwhelmed by the
truffle flavor. The balance between both flavors was impressive. The peas
delivered a welcomed textural counterpoint and made this dish to one of the
highlights of the tasting menu.</span></div>
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2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup>
Course: Sight – Sculpin, honeysuckle, red chile</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Sculpins,
also known as scorpion fish, are very unusual looking creatures and even though
we weren’t served a whole one this dish was a good example for mildly flavor
fish. This piece of fish was lightly coated but the crust didn’t interfere with
the flavor of the sculpin. Both sauces, one of them characterized from Chef
Barron as an Asian-inspired pesto, accompanying the fish had some Asian
influences and the red chile added some heat to the dish. The dish would have
benefited from another component, like a vegetable, otherwise it was too
protein heavy and felt one-dimensional.</span></div>
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3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup>
Course: Sound – Lavender, pork jowl, mustard</span></div>
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Some
grassfed beef, smoked, sous-vided and then seared, was the foundation of the
dish. It was combined with pork jowl, starting point of guanciale, mustard
green and a lavender based vinaigrette to yield an impressive salad which only
had the “mistake” of being too small. The pop rock made from mustard were a
nice gimmick but didn’t add much to the dish.</span></div>
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4<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Touch – Chicken liver, ahi, pumpernickel, peach</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
With the controversy
around foie gras in California and a few protesters somewhere outside Chef
Barron decided to rename all foie gras into “chicken liver” for the evening. Here
the foie gras was incorporated into a panna cotta which still had the
characteristic taste of the foie gras but at the same time made it particular
light. Pairing foie gras with ahi is quite unusual but due to the lightness of
the foie gras panna cotta this combination worked really well as the foie gras
didn’t overwhelm the fish. The pieces of peach brought some burst of fruitiness
and sweetness and completed the dish.</span></div>
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Cocktail
Intermezzo: Acid rain</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Mixologist
Mike Yen introduced another one of his creations midway through the tasting
menu. In addition to having a nice flavor profile with strong notes on
lemongrass and some sweetness from the pink cotton candy rose which slowly
dissolved in the cocktail the visual aspect of the cocktail was also entertaining
– once you poured the cocktail over the small rocks in the glass you created
some “fog” from the dry ice.</span></div>
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5<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Taste – Beef cheek, uni, fava beans</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
This course
showed again the advantages of sous-vide cooking. Instead of braising the beef
cheeks which would result in tender meat with a more fibrous texture cooking it
sous-vide gave an equally tender meat but with a much more satisfying texture
resembling a steak. The beef checks were paired nicely with some grits made out
of hominy and pumpernickel and a sauce created from uni and eel as two main
components -a strong dish and one of the highlights of the night.</span></div>
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6<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Sensory overload – Duck confit, spot prawn, blackberry, horseradish</span></div>
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Chef Barron
described this dish as using every part of the duck – the spot prawn was filled
with duck confit accompanied by some seared foie gras, dried duck sausage and a
blackberry sauce. Even though the different components were executed well this
dish also showed what happens if you are using too many techniques just for the
sake of it. The dried duck sausage didn’t add anything to the flavor and had a
distracting texture but would have been much more enjoyable if it wouldn’t have
been unnecessarily dried. This dish also was again too protein-heavy and felt
unbalanced, some non-protein components would have helped the dish.</span></div>
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7<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
Course: Dessert – Watermelon, prosciutto, basil, love & break dancing</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Pastry Chef
Bonilla mentioned that he wanted to capture different parts of summer and the
dish indeed included variations on ingredients which are associated with summer
and its grilling season – grilled corncake, candy prosciutto, caramelized goat
cheese, lemon air and watermelon semifreddo. All components of this dessert
came nicely together and created a great finale of the tasting menu. Especially
the watermelon semifreddo was exceptional and so it was no surprise that an
extra portion of it was successfully requested at our table.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We went to
this tasting menu from Evolve Cuisine with little expectations and were even a
little bit skeptical if we would witness an evening where technique trumps flavor
and creativity. But we came away quite impressed from this night and enjoyed
the whole experience a lot. Starting from the location with its communal tables
which created a nice setting for interesting conversations to the professional
but yet pleasant service to the good pacing of the menu. But most importantly
the food presented throughout the night turned out to be creative, well
executed and used all kinds of techniques just trying to achieve the best
flavors for any dish. It was good to see another new chef in San Diego who
could bring new creativity and culinary momentum to this city which recently
lost some of its best chefs. If there could have been perhaps one improvement
to this tasting menu it would be that Chef Barron tended to cook quite
protein-focused but those dishes which had more vegetables and other
components, like the consommé, mustard green salad and beef cheeks, were the highlights
of the night and hopefully he can extend this to all of his dishes. Evolve
Cuisine positions itself as focusing on modernist cuisine and even though they
use, like many other chefs, modern techniques advertising themselves in this direction
might limit their customer base. Buzzwords like modernist cuisine might attract
a few foodies but still discourage many other potential guests and it also
doesn’t do dishes of Evolve Cuisine justice enough. They should instead
describe themselves as what they are – a team of very talented chefs focusing
on developing creative, well executed dishes exploring new flavor combinations.
Even though Evolve Cuisine won’t have any pop-up events until fall we are
already looking forward to visit them again in the future and take part in
their culinary journey.</span></div>
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<a href="http://evolvecuisine.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Evolve Cuisine</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(239) 287-5463</span></div>
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<br /></div>TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-86380731326847346042012-04-30T23:57:00.002-07:002012-05-01T00:02:39.813-07:00Pork and Tomatillo Stew – Cooking with “Green Tomatoes”<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you read a tourist guide of San Diego or just walk through the
streets of some of the more popular neighborhoods like North Park or Hillcrest
you get the impression that the culinary scene of this city covers a wide
variety of restaurants. There are many variations of “Western” influenced
restaurants, like Italian or French but also many “Asian“ restaurants ranging
from Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese to Thai. You will also find many unique
restaurants using the outstanding produce of this region and showcasing the
world class beer scene of San Diego but one cuisine is strangely at the same
time under- as well as overrepresented in San Diego – Mexican. San Diego is in
a unique location as it forms a large bi-national/transborder community with
Tijuana and one would expect that this would also have a significant impact on
the variety of the Mexican cuisine in San Diego. You can find some kind of taco
shop at nearly every street or shopping mall in San Diego but otherwise one
would get the impression that the Mexican diet only consists of tacos and
burritos and hardly anything else. There are a few unique Mexican restaurants
throughout San Diego representing less Americanized versions of Mexican food
but it took us quite some time to realize it before we slowly started to
explore it. The books from Diana Kennedy and Rick Bayless were very helpful
guides to get a better understanding of the vast variety of regional culinary differences
in Mexico and its unique use of unusual ingredients and flavors not often found
in Western and Asian cuisines.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you visit one of the ubiquitous taco shops in San Diego you will
always find a salsa bar to dress up your tacos or burritos and part of it will
be some kind of salsa verde. Salsa verde has often a very interesting and
complex flavor including some tartness with floral undertones. One of the key
ingredients for salsa verde are tomatillos, one of these unusual ingredients
associated with Mexico and not found as much in other cuisines. Tomatillos
might look like green unripe tomatoes and both plants belong to the nightshade
family but tomatillos are actually related to cape gooseberries. </span></div>
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Tomatillos with their unusual papery husk were domesticated by the Aztecs more than three thousand years ago and remained all the time an important food staple in this region. The culinary use of tomatillos is quite broad ranging from raw as a salad ingredient to jams and marmelades to cooked in stews and sauces for meats. For our first own use of tomatillos we decided to cook them appropriately in a Mexican inspired Pork and Tomatillo Stew.</div>
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Instead of using only tomatillos in the braising liquid as the main flavor component we decided to go for a more complex flavor profile supporting and at the same time balancing out the tartness and fruitiness of the tomatillos by incorporating tomatoes, orange juice and beer into the stew. The pork turned out to be as fork tender as expected in such a stew but initially the stew overall had a stronger tartness than expected and the desired counterbalancing fruitiness was subdued and hardly noticeable. One of the golden rules of braising is to rest stews overnight so that the flavors can blend together but we hardly ever do it with our stews as we don’t think that the overall flavor improves significantly. But the exception proves the rule as with this stew it was critical to rest it overnight. Eaten on the same day the stew was good but nothing exceptional. Once we reheated it the next day all the flavors came together and we had a wonderful balanced stew without any overwhelming tartness. It made for a very satisfying Mexican influenced dinner when served together with rice and lime-spiked sour cream.</div>
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Combine tomatillos, tomatoes, beer and orange juice in a pot bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Heat oil in pot over medium high heat, add garlic and cook for two
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Add pork in batches and cook for 8 minutes, turning occasionally, until
brown, remove to bowl.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Add onions to pot over medium heat and cook for 8 minutes. </span></div>
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Add tomatillo mixture, pork, cilantro, jalapeno, 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp black pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer partially covered for two hours. </div>
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Season stew with salt and pepper. Add kidney beans and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Mix lime juice with sour cream and serve stew with white rice and sour cream.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Recipe adapted from “Gourmet Today”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Serves 6</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">900 g (2 lbs) boneless pork should, cut into 1.5 inch cubes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4 tbsp canola oil</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">8 garlic cloves, peeled</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">350 ml (12 ounces) Chimay Red</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">450 g (1 lb) tomatillos, husked, washed and quartered</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1 can (28 oz) whole tomatoes, drained, juice reserved and chopped</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2 large onions, coarsely chopped</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1 bunch cilantro, leaves and stems chopped</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1 jalapeno, chopped</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1 can (16 oz) kidney beans, rinsed and drained</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1 tbsp lime juice</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">225 g (8 oz) sour cream</span></div>TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-37156704263172630922012-02-27T22:51:00.000-08:002012-04-19T22:35:45.039-07:00Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton (San Francisco) – Belated Farewell with a 9-Course Tasting Menu<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Travel time – the best time to indulge in one of our favorite hobbies. There is hardly any day when we don’t talk about our next potential trip, and for us arranging and planning a journey is already part of the fun. First we will have long discussions where we should go next going back and forth between new destinations we haven’t visited before and revisiting places we liked a lot but never feel we have visited extensively enough. Once we decide on a place the next question circles around how we will get there – driving/flying directly or should we travel slowly with several stopovers to get to know even more locations. But the most extensive planning is always around the time at the destination itself. Starting with finding the best hotels and reading many travel review pages the most time is spent on finding the most unique points of interest and best places to eat. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are many different ways to explore the culinary scene of any city – starting from discussion boards as Chowhound and eGullet, local newspapers to the numerous food blogs every part of the world seems to have by now. And so it is rather easy to come up with a very long list of interesting restaurants covering a wide range of cuisines for every city, but the hard part is to decide how to prioritize this list to make a final decision on the restaurants. As much as we like to explore new places there are a few cities we visit quite regularly – Los Angeles and Las Vegas are fairly close to San Diego and we go to them, especially Los Angeles, many times every year. One city which isn’t as close by but we really started to enjoy the moment we visited it for the first time several years ago is San Francisco. Over the years we kind of lost our heart to San Francisco and hope to live there at one time but until then we try to visit the city at least once a year. There are many attractive features about San Francisco far beyond just food but the vast culinary scene of the city has always attracted us and makes the selection of the restaurants for each visit fun and painful at the same time. We always try to find the right balance between the many different ethnic restaurants often with unique regional places, e.g. diverse Italian restaurants from different regions, old-established places, like Chez Panisse and high-end places with unique tasting menus. On one of our last trips we were contemplating a number of places with more conventional tasting menus to add to our mix of restaurants for that particular trip. Some of the restaurants we were considering were Gary Danko, Campton Place or Murray Circle but in the end we decided to go for the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">9-course tasting menu at the Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton</b>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">One of the aspects which attracted us to the Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton was its chef Ron Siegel. He has a quite interesting and impressive background with many diverse influences throughout his career covering several well known and influential mentors. Born in New York he moved as a child to San Francisco and started to work as a butcher at John’s Town and Country Market in Palo Alto when he was 16. During the next several years he worked at several different jobs outside of the culinary world like construction and maintenance but finally decided to focus on his culinary passion and enrolled at the California Culinary Academy. In 1991 he found his first mentor with George Morrone, opening chef of Aqua, and worked under him for two years as a line cook. Morrone was also responsible for helping Siegel to find a position at Daniel in New York under the guidance Chef Daniel Boulud. It was here that he met one of his key mentors with Thomas Keller who was in the process of opening the French Laundry and hired Chef Siegel as the opening sous chef. The successful start of the French Laundry facilitated his first position as executive chef at Charles Nob Hill focusing on the fusion of French and California cuisine. After five years he moved to Masa’s in San Francisco as the executive chef before in 2004 he took over the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton. Throughout his career Chef Siegel had a strong foundation from French cuisine which he combined with different other influences. Perhaps the most unusual one, Japanese, came through the one event which made him famous far beyond the close circle of foodies – becoming the first US chef in 1998 winning Iron Chef Japan in a battle using lobster against Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai. All these features combined let us hope to be in for an exciting and unusual tasting menu at the Dining Room.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The restaurant is located inside the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in San Francisco which opened 20 years ago but is located in a more than a century old building. The hallways inside the hotel towards the restaurant are fittingly decorated to match the history of the landmark building.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The interior of the restaurant continues the theme from outside and looks very much like a restaurant from the 50s or 60s with very old fashioned décor. Once we entered the restaurant we significantly lowered the average age of the guests...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Even our seats had covers which we had last seen in one of the old movies. Overall we weren’t expecting that the Ritz-Carlton and its restaurant would be outfitted overly modern but were still surprised how old fashioned and partly also worn everything looked. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Pomegranate Martini and Old Fashioned</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As always we wanted to start the night with some cocktails but that caught the restaurant a bit by surprise as they didn’t even have a cocktail menu/list but were willing to mix us something. The pomegranate juice gave the martini a good balance between sweetness and some sourness. The old fashioned was one of the better versions we had in quite some time. This cocktail often tends to be unbalanced either focusing too much on the interplay of sugar and bitters or the bourbon. In this version all three components could easily be tasted but at the same time worked perfectly together to be a true cocktail where the sum is greater than its parts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Amuse Bouche 1: Pastry, white bean paste</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Somehow this amuse bouche appeared like a reminiscence to the famed <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Gougères at French Laundry but with a nod to Asian influence due to the white bean paste - a simple but nice start to the tasting menu.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Good interplay between the raw anise-flavored fennel and the sweetness of the scallops. The fennel also had a nice textural contrast to the soft scallops.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Amuse Bouche 3: Poached quail egg, prosciutto, white truffle, brioche</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Classical breakfast pairing of runny egg with some prosciutto and white truffle shavings. Lightly toasted brioche sticks to soak up the white truffle infused egg yolk – unfortunately the egg yolk was completely set and not runny so that a key component of the dish was missing. It was quite disappointing that a kitchen on that level had problems to serve a poached egg. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup> Course: Sashimi of Kampachi, yuzu gelee, asian pear marinade</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This dish clearly showed the Japanese influences from Chef Siegel. Flawless Hawaiian yellowtail with its mild flavor and buttery, tender texture was paired with the delicate sweetness of the Asian pear and the unmistakable complex citrus and floral flavor of yuzu. A dish you could also find in a better sushi place.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> Course: Abalone, shiitake mushrooms, chard, dashi broth</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Abalone harvest season in California has very tight regulations due to the dwindling population over a long time and so you don’t see it often on restaurant menus. Abalone had a mild slightly sweet flavor with a not overly rubbery texture. The dashi broth enhanced the maritime flavor of the dish whereas we hoped to get some bitterness from the chard but it was hardly noticeable and didn’t add much to the dish which appeared a bit one-dimensional.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> Course: Black cod, elephant garlic, shortrib ravioli, watermelon radish</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Pairing braised meats with fish is getting more and more common in recent times and to avoid that the braised shortribs overpower the delicate black cod Chef Siegel tamed the braised meat by using it as a filling for the ravioli. The pasta acts as a buffer between the flavors of the meat and fish and allows both of them to shine. The elephant garlic added a very mild garlic flavor to the dish whereas the braised watermelon radish just offered some texture to the dish.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">4<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> Course: Lobster, marina di chiogga squash puree, sunchoke chips, red wine shallots</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The tender lobster and the squash puree paired nicely but both ingredients have naturally a sweet component which rendered this dish on the overly sweet side. The shallots brought some welcomed slight bitterness but overall the dish was missing some balance. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">5<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> Course: Hot foie gras, huckleberries, brioche, rome apple juice with longpepper</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A large piece of foie gras with the wonderful buttery and livery flavor one expects, expertly prepared with a slight smokey, crunchy exterior. The sides covered the well known spectrum of sweet ingredients to counteract the richness of foie gras but stayed only within established culinary boundaries. More and more chefs try, especially in tasting menus, to present unusual pairings of ingredients to explore new culinary areas. We wished that Chef Siegel would have tried something more unusual here otherwise this dish felt like a foie gras dish we had in many tasting menus before.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">6<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> Course: Quail, salsify, pomegranate, matsutake, Madera sauce</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">One of the dishes were we saw some attempts to bridge French and Japanese flavors. Quail and salsify with the Madera sauce were classical French cuisine whereas the matsutake mushroom, even though often picked at the US West coast, is strongly associated with Japanese cooking. The strong, meaty matsutake flavor went well with the quail and the pomegranate seeds added a nice tartness and some texture. Overall one of the stronger dishes of the night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">7<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> Course: Beef ribeye, celery root, porcini mushrooms, sancho pepper reduction</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Another dish which was very well executed on a technical level with perfectly medium rare and tender ribeye but paired, here with porcini mushrooms, celery root, potatoes, as we have seen it many times before. The sancho pepper reduction didn’t really add much to the dish and so it felt like a déjà vu with prior tasting menus.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">8<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> Course: Cheese selection, bread, condiments</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Normally we expect in such high-end restaurants that it is possible to select a few cheeses from a cheese cart. Unfortunately here at the Dining Room no cheese cart was to be seen and the selection was made for us. The bread was just regular baguette with the condiments just a few slices of apple and some almonds – one of the more disappointing cheese courses.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Intermezzo: Persimmon sorbet, carrot granite</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Refreshing and unusual combination between persimmon and carrot with the vegetable providing the sweet component whereas the fruit added some tartness. A surprising palate cleanser which we wished to be much larger.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">9<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> Course: Chocolate-layered cake, vanilla ice cream, pineapple puree, gingerbread cake, pear sorbet, caramel sauce</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Dessert came with two variations of cake - both of them moist and not too heavy but also not too far from the expected norm. The dessert was lightened up by some fruit sorbet and puree but overall followed the theme of the savory courses – well made on a technical level but it felt like we had the same course in many tasting menus before.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We finished the tasting menu with an espresso</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mignardises:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As much as we had hoped for a cheese cart we were surprised about the large selection on the mignardises cart and were able to taste a large selection of their very good sweets.</span></div>
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Ritz-Carlton hotels are not really known as edgy, modern places but once we entered the hotel we were surprised how old-fashioned everything looked and started wondering how much the Dining Room would fit in. Part of the fascination of every great restaurant is not only the cuisine and service but also the ambience which should form a coherent unit with the philosophy of the chef. Chef Siegel’s reputation was letting us to expect a tasting menu anchored in French cuisine but with modern interpretations, often including Japanese influences, and brimming with creativity. The technical execution of many dishes revealed indeed the strong French cuisine background of Chef Siegel and was mostly on a high level, perhaps with the major exception of the failed poached egg. But what we were completely missing were the creativity and surprises one expects from tasting menus at this level. There were sometimes sprinkles of Japanese influences by the use of some Japanese ingredients but mostly the dishes had either a clear French or Japanese background without many efforts to create any new directions. But even the many dishes with French influences were staying very close to the expected norm without any surprises. There was hardly any dish throughout the tasting menu were we didn’t comment how they reminded us of dishes we had eaten at other occasions before, everything felt like repeats. It speaks volume that the two things we remember most from this dinner were the intermezzo, with its unusual and successful combination of persimmon and carrot, and the huge mignardises cart – both are normally only a side notes of a tasting menu.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Besides the uninspired dishes the service at the Dining Room was far from its very good reputation. Prior to our visit we often read about the flawless and polished service at the restaurant but that was different from our experience. Starting from a very rushed service at the beginning which slowed down after we asked for a more reasonable pace to servers which didn’t really know what they were serving (and had to help each other to get together all components of a dish which they were serving) the service was simply not very professional. But worst was when the maitre’d started to bad-mouthing restaurants when talking with other guests. He compared other one star Michelin restaurants in San Francisco to the Dining Room and in particular slandered about One Market and its “horrible food and service” which was quite ironic as we just ate there a few days before and had a much better experience than at the Dining Room. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It didn’t came as a surprise when some time after our visit to the Dining Room we read that Chef Siegel was closing the restaurant to renovate and reopen it under a different name and different, more casual, concept. On one side we particularly enjoy restaurants which offer tasting menus and so seeing another one closing or changing its direction wasn’t encouraging. But at the same we felt that the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton was clearly past its prime and was in need of a readjustment. Perhaps this new concept will give Chef Siegel the opportunity to go back to his roots of creative cooking.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.ritzcarltondiningroom.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">600 Stockton Street</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">San Francisco, CA 94108</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(415) 296-7465</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-70546474929780170412012-02-03T23:18:00.000-08:002012-02-03T23:18:25.239-08:00Cocktail 101: Tom Collins<div style="text-align: justify;">
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One interesting discussion about critics, might it be for food, music, art, one often can find in blogs or newspapers circles around the question how much in depth knowledge do they need to be respected critics. There is little doubt that nearly everybody can recognize and enjoy a great meal, painting or piece of music but does it also encompass a deeper understanding of it ? Is it necessary to play an instrument to truly appreciate a musical composition or have an interest in cooking to really enjoy great dinners ? For us the interest in cooking and restaurants always went hand in hand and both benefited from each other. Cooking all the time at home really gives us a good understanding about techniques, flavors, ingredients and how they work together in any kind of dish whereas restaurant visits show us what is possible in the professional culinary world which again also influences how we cook at home. Over the years it also pushed us to try new things at home like charcuterie and cheese making as we wanted to replicate those creations we enjoyed at many places. </div>
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If somebody reads this blog on a regular basis it will be quite obvious that we often enjoy to start our dinners with a cocktail before we even start to look on the menu. And we also often end up winding down the night after a relaxed dinner with a late night cocktail at a nearby bar. But over time we also realized that different than when we read a regular restaurant menu where just glancing over the ingredient list gives us a good idea about the flavors of the final dish, reading a cocktail menu was quite different and that we lacked the knowledge about many of the spirits. So what better way to learn about and diving into the world of cocktails than by starting to build up our own cocktail bar and start making our own cocktails at home. One of the very first cocktails we tried was a <strong>Tom Collins</strong>.</div>
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The Tom Collins cocktail has a long history as it was first mentioned by Jerry Thomas, “the father of American mixology”, in 1876 and is a drink similar to the Gin Fizz with the difference of a larger amount of lemon juice, essentially making the Tom Collins a gin with sparkling lemonade. Originally a Tom Collins was made with Holland gin but by the end of the 19th century Old Tom gin (which some believe also accounts for the name of the cocktail), a lightly sweetened version of gin was used, whereas today a dry gin is preferred. Tom Collins is an ideal drink to get used to the floral, herbaceous flavor of gin as the inclusion of sugar and lemon tends to smooth out those flavor components. The Tom Collins with its proximity to lemonade is predestinated as a refreshing summer drink. </div>
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Add gin to tall glass, three-quarters filled with ice cubes</div>
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Add freshly squeezed lemon juice</div>
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Add sugar syrup</div>
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Top glass of with soda water, stir and decorate the glass with a slice of lemon</div>
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Recipe adapted from “500 Cocktails”</div>
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Serves 1</div>
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60 ml (2 fl oz) Gin</div>
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30 ml (1 fl oz) freshly squeezed lemon juice</div>
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1 tbsp sugar syrup</div>
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Ice cubes</div>
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Soda water</div>
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Lemon slice</div>TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-31280365898924411782012-01-06T23:17:00.000-08:002012-01-07T22:50:29.402-08:00Braised Turkey Legs with Onions & Butternut Squash – Thanksgiving Dinner for the Small Family<div style="text-align: justify;">
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Thanksgiving
is normally for us a good reason to take time off and travel around. The last
few years we went to extended trips to San Francisco and Las Vegas and so
didn’t really have to worry about what to cook for Thanksgiving. This year with
a new baby we didn’t feel she was old enough yet to travel for a longer time
and decided for the first time in six years to stay at home during the holidays,
which also meant we had to think about what we wanted to cook for that special
day. Even though Thanksgiving isn’t really known and celebrated in Germany and
so isn’t associated with a special dish or ingredient we felt that we should try
to capture the spirit of this holiday in the US with our dish. At the same time
the idea to cook a large turkey and having turkey leftovers for the next
several weeks wasn’t appealing to us as normally we try to avoid eating the
same thing again and again as it gets boring very fast. We thought about using
some other poultry or just braising some beef for this occasion but somehow it
didn’t feel right for Thanksgiving.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">When we
started to look into the history of what was served for Thanksgiving in the US
it became very fast clear that turkey was now for centuries the preferred main
dish for Thanksgiving. There are several different theories why turkey is the preferred
meat for Thanksgiving including one with Queen Elizabeth who celebrated during
a harvest fest the news of the destruction of the Spanish Armada on its way to
England with a roasted goose which later became a turkey when the pilgrims
arrived in America. But the most likely explanation might be also the most
unexciting one – cows and chickens were too valuable, pork not fit for a
special occasion, venison would require hunting and geese were more difficult
to raise so that turkeys remained as a best choice – cheap, plentiful and easy
to raise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And so it
was clear for us that we would have to have turkey for Thanksgiving but instead
of cooking up a whole one we decided to pick up one of the tastier parts -
legs. Since one of the main problems with roasting a turkey is often that
they end up dry we thought that braising would resolve this issue and yield a
moist piece of turkey. And what better to capture the fall season with a
Thanksgiving dish than also to include squash so that in the end we settled on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Braised Turkey Legs with Onions &
Butternut Squash</b>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The turkey
legs turned out to be as moist as we hoped for and had the right consistency
of being very tender without being too soft. We prefer the dark meat flavor
which can stand up against stronger tasting side dishes compared to the often
rather flavorless white meat. Braising of course has the disadvantage that even
though it will not provide you a dried out piece of meat it can’t give you the
crispy skin which is often a very nice feature of poultry. But the major
drawback for us was that the turkey legs had still some tough
tendon/connective tissue that didn’t soften enough even after braising and
which required some knife work to still enjoy the turkey. As much as we enjoyed
the meat the real star of the dish for us were the vegetables and the sauce
made of out the braising liquid and pancetta. Both butternut squash and sweet
onions provided a wonderful foundation for the whole dish with a combination of
sweetness and certain earthiness characteristic for especially winter squash. The
vegetables were also briefly braised in the braising liquid of the turkey
legs which helped to permeate the vegetables with the herbs and the crumbled pancetta completed this dish. Next
time we will try to braise the legs for a longer time at a lower temperature
to remove all connective tissue and it should make this dish perfect as great
meal for a festive day.</span></div>
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in skillet over medium-high heat and sauté pancetta for eight minutes until
crisp and brown. Transfer pancetta to plate lined with paper towels to drain
and remove half of the pancetta fat to a jar. Preheat oven to 150 <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;">°</span></span>C/300 <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;">°</span></span>F.</span></div>
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turkey legs with salt and pepper and sear thighs on both sides for six
minutes per side. If skillet is too small do this in two batches to avoid
overcrowding the skillet. Transfer legs to plate.</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Add onion,
carrots, celery and garlic to skillet and season lightly with salt and pepper.
Saute vegetables for five minutes until they start to brown. Add thyme, sage,
bay leaf and orange juice and deglaze skillet by bringing the orange juice to a
strong simmer and scraping bottom of the pan. Simmer orange juice for one
minute until reduced by half.</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Add the
turkey legs and stock to vegetable mixture and bring to simmer. Place skillet
in oven and braise for 70 minutes with turning the legs once after 30
minutes. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">While the
legs are braising heat reserved pancetta fat in another skillet over
medium-high heat, add onions and garlic and some salt and pepper and sauté the
vegetables for 12 minutes until browned. Transfer vegetables to plate. Add
butter to skillet and sauté squash for ten minutes with frequent stirring until
browned. Remove from heat and set aside until legs are done.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Once turkey
legs are finished braising remove them from skillet and cover them with foil
on a plate to keep warm. Strain the braising liquid and discard the vegetables.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Return
squash to medium-high heat, add the onion garlic mixture and sauté for two
minutes. Add the braising liquid with the sage and parsley, cover the pot and
braise the squash over low heat for 15 minutes until tender. Crumble the reserved
pancetta and add to the squash mixture. Increase the heat to high and cook for
two minutes to thicken the sauce. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve with turkey
legs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Recipe
adapted from “All about Braising”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Serves 4</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">1 tbsp
butter</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">120 g (1/4
lb) pancetta, diced</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">4 bone-in,
skin-on turkey legs</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">1 yellow
onion, coarsely chopped</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">1 carrot,
coarsely chopped</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">1 celery
stalk, coarsely chopped</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">2 garlic
cloves, minced</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">3 thyme
sprigs</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">2 sage
sprigs</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">1 bay leaf</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">120 ml (1/2
cup) freshly squeezed orange juice</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">240 ml (1
cup) chicken stock</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">450 g (1 lb)
sweet onions, coarsely chopped</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">2 garlic
cloves, minced</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">1 tbsp
butter</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">950 g (2 lb)
butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch chuncks</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">¼ cup
flat-leaf parsley, chopped</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">2 tbsp sage,
chopped</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-71244360524836360592011-11-30T23:26:00.001-08:002011-12-01T01:05:11.247-08:00Kitchen 1540 (San Diego) – 20 Dishes, 10 Courses – White Flag Tasting Menu<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Our interest in everything about food, cooking and
restaurants isn’t much of a secret to our co-workers and so it is not
surprising that often discussions at work center around these topics. One
question we are asked regularly is about the best restaurant and special memorable
meals. It is impossible to answer about “the” best restaurant as we like a
broad spectrum of restaurants ranging from small ethnic hole in the walls to high-end
upscale restaurants and it really depends on the occasion and mood which ones
we prefer on a given day. And so it is easier to just agree on general criteria
for a good restaurant – quality of food and service paired with a fitting
ambience. The more interesting question is about special memorable meals and how
they are defined for us. Even though we are not fixed on one particular cuisine
it became more apparent for us over the years that we truly remember and
discuss for a long time those dinners in restaurants which are trying to
combine unusual flavor and ingredient combinations far outside of what the
majority of restaurants are serving often incorporating modern techniques. Most
of the restaurants we enjoy most, like Bistro LQ, Saam or Coi are located in
Los Angeles and San Francisco. San Diego has a number of restaurants we have on
our heavy rotation list but for a long time none of them really belonged to the
list of restaurants for one of these memorable dinners. At the same time the background
and reputation of several chefs in San Diego is on par with their peers in LA
and San Francisco and so we often wondered if there are hidden gems in San
Diego we are missing. More recently we decided to focus on finding those unique
restaurants in San Diego and were quite happy to indeed find those special
places like </span><a href="http://twofoodiesonejourney.blogspot.com/2010/11/blanca-san-diego-seven-course-tasting.html"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Blanca under Gavin Schmidt</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> and </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://twofoodiesonejourney.blogspot.com/2011/05/restaurant-at-rancho-valencia-resort.html"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rancho Valencia with Aaron Martinez</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Encouraged by these findings we decided recently to contact more
restaurants in San Diego to discuss with several chefs if they would be
interested in preparing special tasting menus without any limitations. One of
the restaurants which was on the top of our list was Kitchen 1540 in the
L’Auberge Hotel in Del Mar. The restaurant under Chef McCabe was our very first
fine dining experience in San Diego several years ago when it was still named
J. Taylor. But we still discuss today some of the dishes we had like a venison
entrée or a dessert with a selection of different crème brulees. Paul McCabe,
born in Arizona, started his culinary career as an apprentice under Chef Michel
Blanchet at the L’Ermitage in Los Angeles. Over the next few years Chef McCabe held
different positions with increasingly more responsibility at restaurants in
California, Arizona and Hawaii including Sous Chef and Chef de Cuisine at the
Enchantment Resort, Sous Chef at the L’Ermitage before in 2001 he finally
settled in San Diego as Executive Chef at Top of the Cove. He moved in 2002 to
the Star of the Sea before becoming Executive Chef at J.Taylor which after
extensive renovation in 2008 reopened as Kitchen 1540.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">After some email exchange with GM Bryan LaFontaine <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">we finally settled on a 10-course White
Flag Tasting Menu</b> where we served up to ten courses but could “throw up the
white flag at anytime we feel that we cannot eat anymore”.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hibiscus Caipirinha: Leblon Cachaca, Domaine de Canton,
fresh lime, house made hibiscus syrup</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We started the night with an interesting twist on this
classical Brazilian cocktail which got some refreshing floral notes from the
hibiscus syrup balanced by the ginger liqueur. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Bread Service: Kitchen 1540 serves several different breads
for the bread service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the
selection is decent with the highlight of the grape-fleur de sel foccacia</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Course 1A: Bison tartare, smoked bacon Sabayon, brioche,
chives</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We had many different tartars so far covering beef or venison but this was the first time with bison. The bison had a surprisingly strong
and rich flavor with some subtle background notes from the mixed-in lemon oil. The
bacon sabayon added a complementing smoothness to this excellent dish.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Course 1B: Hamachi crudo, shishito peppers, grapefruit
supremes, shaved bottarga</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We expected to get the same courses throughout the tasting
menu but were surprised when our server brought us two different first courses
and mentioned that Chef McCabe was planning to continue so for the entire menu
so that we had a chance to taste more different dishes – a nice and welcome
surprise. Here we had some beautiful pieces of hamachi with a firm but yet
melting, tender consistency which were paired in a classical fashion for crudo with
a sour-salty-peppery mix consistent of grapefruit, bottarga and shishito peppers.
A very good example of McCabe’s approach to show his own interpretation of well
known dishes by adding unexpected but yet fitting components.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Course 2A: Organic beets, Valdeon blue, pistachio brittle,
caramelized yogurt</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Beets can be a difficult ingredient to work with as it
easily can overshadow a dish with its earthy sometimes even muddy flavor. And
so we like beets as part of a dish but are often wary about it as the main
ingredient. Here we have a prime example how it can take the center stage but
its flavors are impressively incorporated into the whole dish – tender beets
perfectly cooked so that they also show their subdued natural sweetness are
nicely balanced with the sharpness and saltiness of the strong cow and goat’s
milk cheese whereas the pistachio brittle not only gives a textural contrast
but also some appreciated sweetness.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<div align="center" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Course 2B: Farm house salad - organic vegetables, sundried
tomato puree, pistou gelee, orange blossom vinaigrette</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s interesting to see that some of the fine dining
restaurants, like Blanca and Rancho Valencia, had on their recent tasting menus
some interpretations of salads showcasing the abundance of outstanding local
produce covering it from very different angles. Whereas Blanca’s approach
focused on the flavors of the produce itself with very minimal distraction from
anything else, e.g. vinaigrette, Kitchen 1540 incorporated the produce in a
much more complex dish with many different flavor components including some
dehydrated goat cheese, sundried tomato puree, orange blossom vinaigrette and
olive powder. Both variations were very different but highlights of their
tasting menus and for us a kind of “signature dish” for San Diego.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Course 3A: Bacon & egg - house made pancetta, 62<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">°</span>C
egg, brioche, smoked ketchup</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are dishes where you immediately known that they are a
success when they are brought to the table even before you taste them. What can
go wrong if you combine pancetta, a runny egg and some brioche and perfected by
some tangy ketchup and arugula to cut through the richness. A dish you want to
have for breakfast every day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Course 3B: Diver scallop, popcorn puree, candied almonds,
salted caramel, nasturtium</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The combination of tender diver scallop and popcorn puree
with its intensified corn flavor worked surprisingly well. The candied almonds
gave some additional sweetness and textural contrast to the dish and so the
salted caramel played a key role as it provide some much need saltiness to
counter the sweetness of the other ingredients. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Course 4A: Pan roasted sweetbreads, smoked almond milk, blis
maple, apple celery salad</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Too often sweetbreads are covered in a thick crust of
breading so that it is hard to discern their natural flavor. Here we had a
perfectly roasted sweetbread without any distracting coating just with a crisp
outer layer and a creamy core. The apple celery salad gave a refreshing touch
to the dish whereas the smoked almond milk acted as overarching component
pairing nicely with the sweetbreads and the apple celery salad independently.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Course 4B: Stone seared foie gras, tangerine pop rocks,
tangerine reduction, black pepper financier</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Very interesting preparation and presentation of a flawless
piece of foie gras seared by the hot stone. The thyme under the hot stone added
an enticing aroma component to the dish. The tangerine reduction proved to be
sweet enough to cut through the richness of the foie gras but not to be overly
sweet to dominate the dish. The tangerine pop rocks were a nice gimmick adding
some acidity whereas the black pepper financier had some noticeable spiciness
from the pepper.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Course 5A: Pan seared Barramundi, clams, Yukon potato,
pancetta, celery, Tabasco</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This dish was a play on a deconstructed clam chowder
centered around the moist barramundi with its crispy skin. The clams brought
some of their characteristic brininess which was enhanced by the saltiness of
the pancetta. The potato and the celery acted as the base of the dish with
earthiness and tied the components of this successful “clam chowder” together.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Course 5B: Pan seared Black Cod, cipollini onions,
fingerlings potatoes, chorizo-mussel broth</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Conceptionally a similar approach but with a different
flavor profile as the other fish dish – centered around the very flaky black
cod, a good combination of brininess and saltiness from the chorizo and mussel
broth and again potatoes, this time accompanied by cipollini onions, as the
base of the dish. Both dishes showed that the strength of Kitchen 1540 of
working with fish.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Course 6A: Organic chicken – sous vide breast, crispy thigh,
chicken-fennel sausage, lobster mushroom, scrambled cauliflower, jalapeno-apple
gastrique</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Chicken is often dreaded in tasting menus as too boring and
flavorless but here we had an impressive take on different parts of the chicken
– chicken breast which was cooked by sous-vide to ensure a very tender and
moist piece, crispy, flavorful thigh and housemade chicken sausage. The
jalapeno-apple sauce was a key part of the dish as it added a complex
sweet-sour-spicy mix which lightened up the preparation.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Course 6B: Braised Kurobuta pork shoulder, herb gnocchi, braised
cabbage, bacon, pickled onion</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The most rustic dish of the tasting menu was appropriately
served in small Staub cocotte. The braised pork shoulder and cabbage was quite
close to dishes we have made at home but what elevated this dish for us were
the herb gnocchi – light and fluffy yet with distinct flavor supporting the
braised ingredients and at the time they transformed the dish to a surprisingly
light course.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Course 7A: Natural beef tenderloin, kim chi fried farro,
fried egg</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Farro is one of the grains you don’t see too often on menus
which is a shame as it has a wonderful nutty flavor which works nicely with
many different dishes. Here is was quite uniquely combined with kimchi to give
the dish a subtle sour character which paired well with the tender, sous vide
cooked, beef tenderloin and the fried egg. The dish appeared to be a strange
combination of components which didn’t really fit at first but really grow on
us after a few bites.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Course 7B: Pork belly, smoked potato croquettes, lobster
mushrooms, tomato-cabernet reduction</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Pork belly might be one of our favorite cuts of meat and it
didn’t disappoint here - very tender with a crisp skin it clearly showed all
the strong points one expects. Even though the pork belly took the center stage
in this dish it was fittingly accompanied by potato croquettes which could have
a stronger smoked flavor and the tomato-cabernet reduction which added some
acidity to cut through the richness of the pork belly. </span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Course 8A + 8B: Cheeses with accompaniments</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The cheese plates presented a surprisingly large array of
cheeses covering different flavors and textures mainly focusing on cow milk
cheese with Schlosskrans, Vintage Gouda, Morbier, Valdeon Blue and Roaring
Forties Blue and one goat cheese with Boucheron.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Definitely one of the better cheese plates we
had in San Diego.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Course 9A: Chocolate caramel tart, orange marshmellow, carbonated
orange</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A rather classical chocolate caramel tart which came alive
by the inclusion of orange. The fruitiness balanced out the sweetness and
richness of the chocolate to lighten the dessert. We also liked the addition of
marshmellow as it provided an interesting textural contrast to the tart.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Course 9B: Frozen key lime pie, coconut streusel, fried
cashews, dehydrated mering</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Overall for us the more successful dessert with a very good
combination of different textures, temperatures and well balanced flavors. The
frozen key lime pie showed the right amount of sweetness and tartness to be
refreshing without being too rich. The coconut and cashew flavors helped to
tame the sweet- and tartness of the pie even more and added a welcomed
complexity to the dish.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Course 10A + B: N<sub><span style="font-size: x-small;">2</span></sub>-Ice cream Sunday</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">At this time of the tasting menu we were one of the last
guests in the restaurant and once the server brought out a large metal bowl,
ladle and dewar vessel to the table next us a number of servers and cooks
gathered around our table to watch the preparation of our last course.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sous chef Jonathan Bautista came and started to do his work
with an iSi creamer and liquid nitrogen…</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">…to form a sphere of frozen vanilla cream. Together with an
array of condiments, like chocolate and caramel sauce, nuts, whipped cream and
macerated raspberries, we could than build our own ice cream sunday. The liquid
nitrogen gave the frozen vanilla cream a range of different consistencies. The
outer layers were frozen very hard whereas the inner layers became softer and
softer - a perfect ending to an outstanding tasting menu.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;">We came with high expectations after our good experience
with J. Taylor and Kitchen 1540 easily met and exceeded them. It was refreshing
to see that after Blanca and Rancho Valenica there is another restaurant and
chef in San Diego who doesn’t only try to satisfy the mainstream by playing it
safe but trying to create a unique restaurant with its own identity. The dishes
at Kitchen 1540 covered a wide range of ingredients, flavors and inspirations
but it always felt as Chef McCabe was trying to create his own vision and not
just mimicking other well known restaurants. It was also nice to have a chance
to talk to the chef a few times throughout the night and hearing about
different topics including the sourcing of his ingredients but also his whole
grilled pig which he prepared for a Chef Confab dinner some time ago. </span><br />
<br />
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</div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The excellent impression of Kitchen 1540 didn’t stop at the
kitchen but was equally spotless with the service – very knowledgable and we never
felt rushed so that the food was perfectly paced which was especially welcomed as
the dishes were considerable larger than at regular tasting menus and we could
understand why it was called white flag tasting menu. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It seems that it is indeed possible to get excellent and
creative food in San Diego even though it might take a little bit more efforts
than in other cities as it is often necessary to contact many chefs directly to
give them the creative freedom they need to create memorable tasting menus. And
so we were pleased when shortly after our visit Kitchen 1540 made the white flag
tasting menu a regular menu option without any necessary prior notice. Unfortunately
very recently Chef McCabe surprisingly decided to leave Kitchen 1540 to become
partner at the Delicias restaurant. Even though he mentioned in interviews that
the culinary direction at Delicias won’t be as ambitious as at Kitchen 1540 we
hope there will be some kind of creative outlet at the restaurant for him to
continue to present such outstanding food. It will be also very interesting to
see who will follow him as Executive Chef at Kitchen 1540 and if the management
at L’Auberge Del Mar is willing to continue to support such an ambitious
restaurant concept or if it will convert it to a more “conventional” hotel
restaurant. It would be disappointing to lose another important restaurant for
San Diego after the closing of Blanca and the changes at Rancho Valenica.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.laubergedelmar.com/kitchen1540/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kitchen 1540</span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">1540 Camino Del Mar</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Del Mar, CA 92014</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">(858) 793-6460</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-5765232290745997182011-08-29T08:41:00.000-07:002011-08-29T08:41:43.956-07:00Two and a Half Foodies - One JourneyWe might have to contemplate changing our blog name from "Two Foodies - One Journey" to "Two and a Half Foodies - One Journey" due to the birth of our cute little daughter Saskia last week. <br />
<br />
Here is her first blog post for you:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6066/6093383724_060a6c9f28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qaa="true" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6066/6093383724_060a6c9f28.jpg" /></a></div><div align="center"><br />
</div>Hello,<br />
<br />
I am here !!! My name is Saskia, I was born on August 24, 2011 at 3:26 pm, 20 inches long, weighing 8 pounds 1 ounce. I am a little cutie with lots of black hair (from my dad!) and enjoy entertaining my proud parents Nicole and Robert day and night. My mom is recovering well from my long delivery, and we are all happy to be together.<br />
<br />
Greetings to all Foodies ! I am very excited to enter the culinary world... <br />
<br />
SaskiaTWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-41116771255749695382011-08-10T22:50:00.000-07:002011-08-10T23:52:23.734-07:00Chicken and Crab Callaloo – A Culinary Visit to the Caribbean<div style="text-align: justify;">When we normally decide what to cook for the next meal we often get inspired by what might be in season and available at the farmer’s market or one of the supermarkets which sells local produce, but sometimes cooking can also be a chance to explore new regions throughout the world. Though not in person, a culinary trip to another country gives you often a good idea about the history and influences of that country. One region many people associate with beautiful beaches, sunshine and vacation but also with poverty and colonialism is the Caribbean. When we started to look into typical dishes from this region one dish which was often mentioned was Callaloo. But the more we looked into the history and background of the dish the more we realized saying that we look for a typical dish of the Caribbean is like saying we would look for a typical dish of Europe. The Caribbean might be home to just 35 million people but consists of many different countries or still dependent territories and many of them have a very diverse history and population. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The background of Callaloo is even more complex as the word not only describes the dish but also the main ingredient which can mean a different plant depending on the part of the Caribbean. The common ground between all different versions is that Callaloo is a spicy soup or stew which is made out of edible leaves from different tropical plants. In Trinidad and Tobago for example taro leaves are used for Callaloo, Jamaicans use amaranth leaves whereas malanga is used in Puerto Rico. But also the preparations vary strongly between different countries in this region – Jamaicans make a simpler version by just using the callaloo leaf and salt whereas in Trinidad and Tobago okra and coconut milk are added to give a very different flavor profile. Callaloo is often served with rice and some seafood or meat and so in the end we decided to go for a version close to one from Trinidad and Tobago with a <strong>chicken and crab callaloo</strong>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6204/6030997927_777f77884f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" naa="true" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6204/6030997927_777f77884f.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Callaloo is also often named pepper pot but this name doesn’t really do this version justice. Even though the dish had a pleasant spicyness from the Serrano chili the flavor profile was much more complex. The base of the dish comes from the typical Callaloo seasoning – garlic, scallions and thyme. Bacon and ham add saltiness, whereas the coconut milk balances the spicyness but also contributes a special character reminiscent of the tropical origin of the dish. The crab displays the abundance of seafood of the region. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get hold of taro leaves but spinach is often mentioned as an adequate replacement. The okra not only helped to thicken the stew but also showed the African influences of the dish. Taken together this dish not only includes many typical ingredients of the Caribbean but represents with its different culinary influences part of the history of the region - it is a quite unique dish clearly related to its region. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6123/6030998511_a3a958c69b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" naa="true" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6123/6030998511_a3a958c69b.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Saute bacon for 7-8 minutes until it starts to crisp. Drain with a slotted spoon and put aside.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6143/6030996801_e34db32075.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" naa="true" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6143/6030996801_e34db32075.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Brown chicken and ham in bacon drippings for 7 minutes. Add onion, garlic and thyme and cook for additional 5 minutes until onion starts to soften. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6147/6031555754_917dcfe4be.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" naa="true" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6147/6031555754_917dcfe4be.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Add broth, bring to a boil and simmer it covered for 10 minutes.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6078/6031556288_32698e12b5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" naa="true" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6078/6031556288_32698e12b5.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Add spinach, okra, coconut milk, bacon and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in scallions and Serrano chile and season with pepper and salt. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6136/6030997463_7c81b719b1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" naa="true" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6136/6030997463_7c81b719b1.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Serve by ladling over freshly cooked rice and some of the crabmeat.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Recipe adapted from “Cuisine at Home”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Serves 4</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">4 slices thick-cut bacon, diced</div><div style="text-align: justify;">250 g (8.5 oz) chicken breast, cubed and seasoned with salt and pepper</div><div style="text-align: justify;">125 g (4.5 oz) ham, cubed</div><div style="text-align: justify;">2 white onions, diced</div><div style="text-align: justify;">2 garlic cloves, minced</div><div style="text-align: justify;">½ tsp dried thyme</div><div style="text-align: justify;">1.4 L (6 cups) chicken broth</div><div style="text-align: justify;">2 bunches spinach, chopped</div><div style="text-align: justify;">200 g (7 oz) frozen okra, sliced</div><div style="text-align: justify;">240 ml (1 cup) coconut milk</div><div style="text-align: justify;">2 bunches scallions, sliced</div><div style="text-align: justify;">2 serrano chilies, diced</div><div style="text-align: justify;">230 g (8 oz) crabmeat</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div>TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-4592140832722977882011-07-13T22:52:00.000-07:002011-08-10T23:49:06.428-07:00Cavaillon (San Diego) – Two Chefs, One Tasting Menu<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are normally two ways how the time of a chef at a restaurant often ends – either the restaurant runs out of money and it has to close or the owner of the restaurant decides on a different culinary direction of the restaurant and hires a new chef to initiate these changes. When recently chef and owner Philippe Verpiand of the Cavaillon restaurant announced that he was unhappy with his current situation and the general state of affair of restaurants in San Diego and plans to move to Houston we expected a similar fast end of his restaurant. Cavaillon occupied an interesting niche for us in San Diego covering the culinary space of strongly French inspired food somewhere between bistro and haute cuisine and we had many excellent dinners there including some <a href="http://twofoodiesonejourney.blogspot.com/2011/04/cavaillon-san-diego-two-black-truffles.html">memorable black truffles tasting menus</a>. After reading that Chef Verpiand thought “California is way too complicated. Little laws. Too much taxes. Not enough customers. I can do the same thing with a better lifestyle… Everybody wants to bring his own wine and they complain about I’m charging corkage… It’s a sad joke” we didn’t expect any future for his restaurant. So we were caught by surprise when after a few weeks we heard the news that he was actively searching for a new owner and successor in the kitchen who could continue his restaurant and cuisine even under the same name of the restaurant. And indeed soon thereafter the restaurant webpage announced that the search was successful and Cavaillon had a new owner and chef – Michael van Euw.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Chef van Euw was born in the German speaking part of Switzerland and originally pursued a completely different career path by getting a degree in economics and environmental studies. But he then decided to switch gears and followed his culinary interest and enrolled at Le Cordon Blue in London with a focus on French cuisine and patisserie. After apprenticing at the Capital Restaurant in London under Chef Erick Chavot he moved to the Culinary Art School in Tijuana in Mexico to establish a pastry curriculum. An important career step for him was then his work as Executive Chef at the Le Cordon Blue supper club Signatures Restaurant on board of the Seven Sea Mariner. He then recently came to San Diego not only to acquire Cavaillon but also to start VE Chocolates, a private label chocolatier.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">His background seemed to make him a perfect candidate to take over Cavaillon and continue the tradition of French cuisine but at the same time incorporate his own style. When we recently received an e-mail from the restaurant that Cavaillon would offer a <strong>special tasting menu featuring both chefs at the same time (two chefs, one tasting menu)</strong> we saw this as a good opportunity to experience and compare the cooking styles of both chefs. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6148/5936176486_1521034da1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" m$="true" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6148/5936176486_1521034da1.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Despite the year round great weather in San Diego there are surprisingly few upscale restaurants with a nice patio for an extended lunch or dinner. Even though Cavaillon doesn’t have an ocean view it is still a great place for al fresco dining as it is located in the quite suburb of Santa Luz with no significant traffic close by. And since the summer just recently started and the temperatures are getting higher it was the perfect night to sit outside for a relaxing dinner.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6141/5935618151_99c4b5f8e7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" m$="true" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6141/5935618151_99c4b5f8e7.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cavaillon just offers their house made rolls as the only choice for bread but the fresh, warm rolls are addictive and we never end up with just one basket.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6027/5936177678_a0d9655f48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" m$="true" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6027/5936177678_a0d9655f48.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">1st Course: House cured salmon, micro fennel, lemon mustard vinaigrette (von Euw)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The salmon was a very good start to the tasting menu with its elegant flavor and distinct but restraint taste of spices in the background. We wished the salmon would have been cut a little bit thicker to have more pronounced flavor. The vinaigrette with its lemony taste brought some acidity which helped to brighten the flavor of the dish. Only the presentation of the dish with its swirls of vinaigrette reminded us more of something from a cafeteria and didn’t really fit to this good dish.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6003/5935619335_7c3174bd28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" m$="true" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6003/5935619335_7c3174bd28.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">2nd Course: Seared scallops, white corn risotto, vanilla foam (Verpiand)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Risottos were always one of the signature dishes at Cavaillon and this one was an interesting variation. This risotto appeared to be soupier than usual which was also caused by the vanilla foam which had a strong aroma. At first it appeared that the vanilla flavor would be too dominant and cover all other ingredients but once we mixed all components the risotto was very well balanced with some sweetness from the corn and some saltiness from the parmesan countering the vanilla. The perfectly seared and tender scallops completed the dish.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6129/5936178838_565ed372d6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" m$="true" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6129/5936178838_565ed372d6.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">3rd Course: Pan roasted wild turbot with truffled gnocchi, mushroom sauce (von Euw)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pan roasting a fish can easily dry out the filet and especially with such delicate fish as the turbot it was impressive to see how moist and perfectly cooked this piece of turbot ended up. The light gnocchi had some truffle aroma which was subdued enough to not overwhelm the dish. The spinach and mushroom sauce were rather classical accompaniments for the strongest dish of the tasting menu.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6023/5935620599_b9985eec21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" m$="true" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6023/5935620599_b9985eec21.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">4th Course: Roasted duck breast “a l’orange”, glazed mushrooms, daikon radish (Verpiand)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">A fine example of classical French cuisine – very tender duck breast with a light orange sauce accompanied by braised daikon and butternut squash puree. The glazed mushrooms were a good addition to the dish as the vegetable component but the previous course also had some mushrooms flavors which seemed too much overlap between both courses and we thought that a different vegetable for this dish would have been a better progression for the tasting menu. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6147/5936179822_0d732b9913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" m$="true" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6147/5936179822_0d732b9913.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">5th Course: Warm chocolate molleux, lime ginger sorbet, warm chocolate froth (Verpiand, von Euw)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">With the strong pastry background of Chef von Euw we were particular curious about his dessert. The combination of chocolate lava cake and a chocolate soup/froth looked first like chocolate overkill but the combination with the strong lemony sorbet really elevated this dessert. The chocolate components or the sorbet by itself were both well made but rather one dimensional but once you ate both together they were nicely balanced. This dish was for us similar to the risotto course as it really grew on us the longer we tasted it. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6122/5935621547_36c91db3e3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" m$="true" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6122/5935621547_36c91db3e3.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Mignardise</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">On our way to Cavaillon we discussed how much of the restaurant we would recognize from our last visit several weeks before when the kitchen was still run by Chef Verpiand. But once we entered the restaurant we immediately recognized many of the waiters and had some small talks with them and it felt not much had changed. One notable difference was the new GM Michael who was very involved with many guests throughout the night and worked efficiently with his team to make it a good experience for everybody. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Chef von Euw’s decision to have a combined tasting menu with dishes from former Chef Verpiand was a similarly well thought out approach to combine well established parts of Cavaillon with his own new ideas. His own cooking style is similarly to Verpiand also founded in French cuisine and so his interpretation of the dishes, his own and Verpiand’s, felt cohesive throughout the tasting menu. At the same time his own dishes were the highlights of the tasting menus and one could feel that he felt more comfortable with them and that they are a good sign in which direction Cavaillon will go in the future. And indeed when we had the chance to talk with Chef von Euw after the tasting menu he indicated that he didn’t want to overwhelm the regulars at Cavaillon with too many changes from the start but at the same time also give his own team enough time to adapt to his own style and dishes by offering a menu with several “classics” from Verpiand even though he had left the restaurant several weeks before. Throughout the month of July he is planning to change the menu more and more so that by the end of the month all of the dishes will be his own creations. He also mentioned that he wants to continuously evolve the menu at Cavaillon. We felt that Chef von Euw is up to a good start at his new restaurant and that if he continues in the direction he is planning he should be able to keep the regulars with familiar French cuisine but at the same attract new clientele with more modern interpretation and techniques like sous vide. We are looking forward to have the next tasting menu at Cavaillon solely based on Chef von Euw’s own ideas.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.cavaillonrestaurant.com/">Cavaillon</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">14701 Via Bettona</div>San Diego, CA 92127-4808<br />
(858) 433-0483TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-3005313743286326492011-06-25T09:20:00.000-07:002011-06-25T09:20:05.582-07:00Fooding around in LA with Laurent Quenioux at Starry Kitchen (Los Angeles)<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There is probably hardly anybody who wouldn’t agree that music, art, books or food are an important part of our life and that everybody is enjoying it in one way or the other. We all like to listen to music or read a book to relax, visit a museum or gallery to look at paintings or remember fondly certain dishes made by our parents when we were younger. But once you start asking different people what are their true favorite bands, artists or restaurants there will hardly be any agreement and everybody has their favorite band or restaurant often based on certain memories or connections they feel to them. Over the years we have visited many different restaurants and often came repeatedly back to some because we like them so much. But if anybody would ask us what was our favorite restaurant over the last 1-2 years our answer would be without doubt – <a href="http://twofoodiesonejourney.blogspot.com/2010/02/bistro-lq-los-angeles_07.html">Bistro LQ</a>. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is always hard to describe what makes for us a good dish to become special or a chef to stand out, but with Chef Laurent we felt from the very first visit at Bistro LQ a unique connection/resonance how he interprets food, creativity and execution which is very close to our idea of a perfect meal. Rooted in French cooking techniques and preparations he hasn’t limited himself to any style or country anymore and takes ingredients, flavors and conceptions from anywhere and combines them in his own, unique way. He constantly challenges common notions which flavors and ingredients shouldn’t work together and every dish tells its own story, and it is quite stimulating for us to try to come up with our own interpretation which is part of the appeal of Bistro LQ. And so it is no surprise that Bistro LQ became our second “living room” on our frequent trips to LA and that GM Eric Bouty even mentioned to us that we were among the most frequent guests of the restaurant. Unfortunately excellent cooking and good reviews don’t guarantee success especially if you are cooking far away from the mainstream in a style that might be better fitting with restaurants in San Francisco. This together with issues with the landlord led to the closing of Bistro LQ in March of this year – a very sad day for us.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">After a very short time Chef Laurent appeared back on the culinary scene as Executive Chef at Vertical Wine Bistro in Pasadena, at collaborations with Chef Walter Manzke, and perhaps most interesting with a pop-up like concept <strong>LQ Fooding Around in LA at Starry Kitchen</strong>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">What appears at first as an odd combination is actual a nicely matching one. Not unlike Laurent Quenioux the owners of <a href="http://www.starrykitchen.com/">Starry Kitchen</a>, Thi and Nguyen Tran, took an unconventional approach to realize their ideas. Starry Kitchen originally started in their Hollywood apartment in which they served home cooked meals. Once their home restaurant became too successful it got shut down by the health inspection for not having a commercial kitchen. Despite this setback they didn’t give up but decided in the beginning of 2010 to open their “official” restaurant in Downtown LA. Starry Kitchen serves lunch throughout the week but only dinner on Thursdays and Fridays, and so it was a perfect match to have a Bistro LQ pop up from Sundays to Wednesdays. And it was no question for us to visit LQ Fooding as soon as we had heard about it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5153/5869026352_0fcd3e7135.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5153/5869026352_0fcd3e7135.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Starry Kitchen is located in downtown LA at the California Plaza</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3141/5869026746_00e143ae2d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3141/5869026746_00e143ae2d.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The restaurant has more a feel of a lunch place, but the team around Nguyen did a great job to make it a very welcoming and relaxing place for dinner as well. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5261/5869027178_36e3867710.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5261/5869027178_36e3867710.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Starry Kitchen has a partly open kitchen and you could see Chef Laurent and his staff busy at work.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6055/5869027560_7f747811d7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6055/5869027560_7f747811d7.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A few items like the water glasses seemed to have come from Bistro LQ as well as their signature cucumber-lemon water.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5187/5869027866_3be64a4dfb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5187/5869027866_3be64a4dfb.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The bread from Bread Lounge was perhaps the weakest part of the meal but good enough to sop up some of the sauces throughout the night. It was served with good olive oil instead of the more common butter.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5263/5869028164_e143f1147e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5263/5869028164_e143f1147e.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Amuse Bouche: Sea snail, soy butter</div><div style="text-align: justify;">French meals often start with escargots, but the whole dinner had Asian influences and so it was just fitting to serve a sea snail as a starter and accentuating it by pairing it with soy butter instead of garlic butter. The sea snail had a slight rubbery texture not unlike geoduck and tasted sweet and was faintly reminiscent of the ocean.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3270/5868468863_0443814b75.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3270/5868468863_0443814b75.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">1st Course: Summer vegetables, hamachi, lemon miso curd, black sesame soil, yuzu kosho, herbs and sea weeds</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The hamachi had an impressive marbeling and a smooth and buttery taste. At first the summer vegetables, like peas, corn, fava beans, seemed like an unusual pairing but with their natural sweetness and the tartness of the lemon miso curd and yuzu kosho the whole dish was perfectly balanced. The sea weed added an interesting textural crunch to the dish which reminded us of a spring dish.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3167/5869028852_38a1747479.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3167/5869028852_38a1747479.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">2nd Course: Carlsbad oysters and mussels, kimchi sabayon, Chinese celery, cauliflower</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Both the mussels and oysters were very tender and had a similar consistency as the cauliflower. The kimchi sabayon had a slightly sour flavor but also some hidden spicyness which kicked in after a short while. The fried Chinese celery leaves added an unexpected flavor which brightened up the dish.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3080/5868469563_9f9d592729.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3080/5868469563_9f9d592729.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">3rd Course: Mu shu foie gras</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mu shu is a staple of Chinese restaurants in the US which are heavily Westernized. It often consists of shredded pork and vegetables wrapped in a pancake. In Laurent’s playful interpretation, the pork was replaced by a perfectly seared piece of foie gras. Foie gras is often paired with strong sweet or savory flavors to counterbalance its richness but in this dish the subtle flavors of the vegetables and the hoisin sauces created a nice balance so that the foie gras was always noticeable in every bite but it never overpowered the other ingredients. We easily could have eaten several of these wraps.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5316/5869029576_e77478230a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5316/5869029576_e77478230a.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">4th Course: Squab, veal feet, ginger cone boudin noir, mashed potatoes, apple</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This dish featured two ingredients Chef Laurent used regularly at Bistro LQ – squab and boudin noir. The outstanding boudin noir was always a highlight and this was no exception. Served in a cone with mashed potatoes and apple puree it reminded us on dishes from Alsace. The squab which can easily be dry and tough was cooked perfectly. Both main ingredients were brought together by the veal feet which were small morsels of gelatinous meatiness. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6029/5869030024_9126b1dc9d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6029/5869030024_9126b1dc9d.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">5th Course: Rhubarb, hazelnut soil, curacao cubes, sour cream sorbet</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Rhubarb has often a very tart flavor but here it was cooked until tender with spices like cardamom and was in itself already tasty. The sour cream sorbet mellowed the tartness even more and proved to be the right balance - a strong finish for the tasting menu.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tasting menus at Bistro LQ always provided rollercoaster rides through the culinary world with its different flavors, and this pop up incarnation was no difference. You often read the menu and wonder how these flavors could work together but once you taste the dish it becomes clear and obvious and you wonder why nobody else might have thought about that before. It’s not very often that we have a tasting menu in which every single dish worked, and after every single course we talk about that we wish we could get a second portion. Before this event we were curious if a pop up of Bistro LQ would change anything how Chef Laurent would cook, but beside a bit more Asian influences than before, perhaps as an homage to his hosts, the pop-up concept was an extension of his regular Bistro LQ. The ambience and service was even more relaxed and laid back than before but was always professional and fitting for the occasion. It was interesting to see the energy of Nguyen while he talked with every guest and explained different dishes, and hopefully even once LQ Fooding around LA stops at Starry Kitchen Nguyen will continue do similar concepts in the future as he, his team and the location seem to be a good match for such events. He definitely made us curious to stop by at Starry Kitchen itself in the near future.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was great to eat dishes from Chef Laurent after the painfully long break since March, and we realized how much we missed it that we seriously considered to ask for a place on the patio of the restaurant for the sold out second seating at that night to start the menu over once more. Not unlike as with your favorite band it’s nice to listen to a single to remind yourself why you like them but what you are really interested in is to be able to listen to a complete LP/CD to be able to really dive into the music. Restaurants are no different and pop up events are a welcoming “snack” but what we really hope for is to have the possibility to again taste full blown tasting menus with Chef Laurent, and it was great to hear from him after dinner in the kitchen that he is planning to open a restaurant in Pasadena. We can’t wait for that to happen and will be among his first guests !</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.bistrolq.com/LQ/SK/Foodings/">LQ Fooding around in LA at Starry Kitchen</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">350 S Grand Ave</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Los Angeles, CA 90071</div><div style="text-align: justify;">(213) 617-3474</div>TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-8184895490765902222011-05-26T22:48:00.000-07:002011-05-26T22:48:12.959-07:00Restaurant at Rancho Valencia Resort (San Diego) – 11-Course Tasting Menu<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Several years ago when we were planning to get married in San Diego we were searching for a good location for the reception dinner with our families coming from Germany. We were looking for a quiet place with very good food and a certain “California” feel. We had compiled a list of several places which looked promising and as part of our “survey” of all these places we also decided to visit the different restaurants to get a general feeling of the quality of the food and the capabilities of the kitchens. One of the possible locations was the Rancho Valencia Resort. The resort is situated in a beautiful part of Rancho Santa Fe and has a relaxed feeling and was overall close to something we were looking for. Unfortunately when we visited the Restaurant at Rancho Valencia Resort the experience and food was very underwhelming and perhaps one of the most overpriced dinners we yet had in San Diego. Obviously we decided to have our reception somewhere else and tried to forget about our restaurant experience.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fast-forward several years to 2011 – you always hear that a new chef can have a tremendous effect on the quality of a restaurant kitchen but that didn’t originally impress us when we heard that the Restaurant at Rancho Valencia Resort had hired Chef Eric Bauer as new executive chef. But over the last few weeks we read on several occasions very encouraging reports that he had completely overhauled the menu and really stepped up game to bring the quality of the kitchen to something you would expect for such a well respected resort. Chef Bauer was born in Chicago and finished his culinary training in 2000 at the School of Culinary Arts at Kendall College in Chicago before he started working at the city’s Ritz-Carlton. He then joined the Four Season hotel chain and worked at different locations, including Carlsbad, Westlake Village and Costa Rica moving up the ranks. He left the hotel chain in 2007 for his first executive chef position as opening chef at the Morel French Steakhouse in Las Vegas. In May 2009 he moved to San Diego to become chef at Anthology were he stayed for a year before finding his current position. Executive Chef Bauer works together at the kitchen with Chef de Cuisine Aaron Martinez. Chef Martinez completed his culinary education in 2003 at the Arizona Culinary Institute in Scottsdale, worked as sous chef at the Addison in San Diego, at In de Wulf in Belgium and staged at famous Martin Berasategui in San Sebastian before coming to Rancho Valencia last year. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">All these indicators of significant changes at the Restaurant at Rancho Valencia Resort gave us hope that it might be worth changing our mind and giving it a second chance. As usual, a tasting menu would give us the best chance to really experience a “new” restaurant and kitchen team by giving them all creative freedom. Together with a few other San Diego foodies we contacted the restaurant and found out that even though there is currently no tasting menu on the official menu they are willing to create one for everybody who is interested, and so we finally settled on an <strong>11-course tasting menu at Restaurant at Rancho Valencia Resort</strong>. After a few cocktails outside on the patio we went into the rustic and old looking but still comfortable dinner room to be greeted by some snacks to start the night.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5262/5764162704_3fa3b095aa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5262/5764162704_3fa3b095aa.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Snack 1: Cheese & Crackers</div><div style="text-align: justify;">An interesting mix of a cheese cracker and krupuk – dehydrated cheese wafers with a consistency of krupuk but the taste of a mild cheese cracker.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5306/5764163234_215bbd8bf4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5306/5764163234_215bbd8bf4.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Snack 2: Chicken skin, fava beans, herbs</div><div style="text-align: justify;">What again looked like a regular cracker was compressed chicken skin which had an addictive salty flavor and was supported by the earthiness of the fava bean puree. Really outstanding finger food and we could have easily eaten a large bowl of such “crackers”</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5107/5763614293_82f59713a6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5107/5763614293_82f59713a6.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Amuse Bouche: Veggies</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We recently have seen in several upscale restaurants in San Diego very interesting takes on some of the best ingredients one can get in this city – fresh produce - and this amuse bouche was no exception. Showcasing the pure and fresh taste of vegetables as romesco, peas, broccoli, cauliflower and adding a surprising twists with some lettuce granite. A good palate cleanser which also set the right tone for the tasting menu – clean, natural flavors accentuated by unexpected, modern twists.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2450/5764161442_b335c1cd1d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2450/5764161442_b335c1cd1d.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The bread service showed a wide variety of different breads but most of them lacking the quality of really good bread, often too soft and more reminding us of sandwich bread. This was particular disappointing as the bread was accompanied by outstanding ramp and horseradish butter which would have deserved better bread.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5228/5764164178_0b200c3ef2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5228/5764164178_0b200c3ef2.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">1st Course: Cucumber, mackerel, verbena, borage</div><div style="text-align: justify;">A very popular dish in the northern part of Germany is Soused Herring, and this dish with its strong, oily flavor of the mackerel reminded us of it. The cucumber sauce and the borage with its cucumber-like flavor added some freshness, and together with the slight bitterness of the verbena helped to balance the richness of the mackerel. A very strong dish and it was good to see that the kitchen didn’t shy away to use bold flavors.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5022/5763615363_bef74b0ed6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5022/5763615363_bef74b0ed6.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">2nd Course: Carrots & radish, flowers, herb infusion</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The roasted carrots and radishes had a very good balance between the “grilled” flavor and the inherent sweetness of vegetables at their peak of ripeness. But what really put the dish together was the use of ham flavored foam. Foam is often seen as a useless gimmick but here it was cleverly used to bring some saltiness and additional layers of flavors to the dish. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5222/5764165322_3764d56d19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5222/5764165322_3764d56d19.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">3rd Course: Coriander, RV escargot, seaweed, zucchini</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Escargots are one of these ingredients one unfortunately doesn’t see often on a menu and if they are part of it they tend to be rubbery because they came out of a can or are completely covered in garlic flavor. These fresh local snails actually showed nicely the natural flavor of escargots and were perfectly cooked. Unfortunately the kitchen tried to add too many other different flavors to the dish with the seaweed, coriander flowers etc. which didn’t cover the flavor of the snails but tried to pull the whole dish in many different directions so that it appeared unfocused. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2421/5764166046_35ba004d6a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2421/5764166046_35ba004d6a.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">4th Course: Potato, lovage, peas, marrow</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This seemingly simple dish of potatoes turned out to be another highlight of the tasting menu. Perfectly roasted young potatoes with some pieces of fried potato skin highlighted the simple but satisfying taste of a potato. Potatoes are often eaten together with butter which was here substituted by bone marrow crème. Lovage is in Germany also known as “Maggi” spice as it has a similar flavor profile and added some depth to this dish with its umami-like flavor.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3199/5763617183_e9d6ff0f47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3199/5763617183_e9d6ff0f47.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">5th Course: Halibut, mussel, salsify</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Perfectly cooked halibut had a mild taste but the “sea” flavor was accentuated by the slightly smoked mussels. The salsify and the pickled shallots added some freshness to this simple but satisfying dish. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5222/5764167092_0ffc4fa037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5222/5764167092_0ffc4fa037.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">6th Course: Veal tongue, asparagus, rocket, mustard</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was a good idea to serve green and white asparagus next to each other – both tender with the white having a mellower and less bitter taste. The perfectly cooked veal tongue was classically accompanied by some mustard and the rocket brought a second, different level of spicyness to the dish. A well composed dish even though the tongue could have been cut thicker as the subtle flavor was nearly covered by the other ingredients.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3235/5764167590_bd7f93882d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3235/5764167590_bd7f93882d.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">7th Course: Foie gras, red onion, beet, eel mousse, sorrel</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Foie gras is normally either served with savory or sweet fixings but this dish went into both directions. Both the red onion and the beets are normally savory components but by their preparation showed also some sweetness. The eel flavor of the mousse was hardly noticeable and didn’t add anything to the dish. Chef Bauer seemed to incorporate too many different ideas in this dish without any of them really thought through and so the dish appeared aimless and was perhaps the weakest of the night.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3237/5764168064_dc059f3427.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3237/5764168064_dc059f3427.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">8th Course: Morels, ramps, lamb, barley</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Lamb in restaurants is often unfortunately served in such a way that its characteristic slight gaminess which makes it unique isn’t too pronounced as chefs seem to fear it would otherwise not be ordered by guests. So it was refreshing to see that this tasting menu included not the ubiquitous lamb rack or filet but lamb neck which especially if not all fat is cut away like it was the case here has a wonderful “natural” lamb flavor. This rather rustic cut of lamb was fittingly served with barley ramp risotto and morels to underline bold flavor - One of the highlights of the night.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2679/5763619551_92f2e002f1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2679/5763619551_92f2e002f1.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">9th Course: Apple foam, celery</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We had recently several examples of palate cleansers which use combinations of vegetables and fruits and this was another successful one – Refreshing celery granite was well balanced with some slightly tart apple foam.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2606/5763620015_b0c6d12db6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2606/5763620015_b0c6d12db6.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">10th Course: Fennel meringues, chocolate, licorice</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The strong licorice flavor of the ice cream and the related anise flavor of the fennel meringues were successfully balanced by the chocolate ganache. This was a nice example of a chef taking some risks by using strong and unusual flavors like licorice and at the same time counterbalancing them enough so that they are subdued enough to not overshadow the dish but still clearly noticeable. These kind of dishes are a prime examples why we prefer tasting menus in restaurants to give chefs the possibility to successfully experiment with dishes they can’t serve a la carte – very strong dessert.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5107/5763620553_75fb1dfde0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5107/5763620553_75fb1dfde0.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">11th Course: Goat cheese, rhubarb, rose geranium</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another dessert with rather bold flavors – On one side a tart goat cheese flan and on the other side refreshing, sweet rose geranium sorbet. The rhubarb with its combination of tart- and sweetness connected these opposing flavors. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5108/5763621099_5fe1a9b836.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5108/5763621099_5fe1a9b836.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Mignardise: Pistachio macarons</div><div style="text-align: center;">A rather classical ending to a tasting menu with some macarons</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3405/5763612823_259c06ae08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3405/5763612823_259c06ae08.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Before going home everybody was presented with a small box for some sweets at home – Salted caramel and orange truffles.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Based on our history with the Restaurant at Rancho Valencia Resort we were initially skeptical what we could expect with this tasting menu but already starting with the amuse bouche and the first few courses it became very quickly clear that this was cooking on a completely different level than several years ago. Chef Bauer and his team showed throughout the tasting menu creativity with nearly flawless execution. Even though one might argue that the techniques used here might be founded in French cuisine the influences throughout the night were diverse and added up to an own style. Chef Bauer showed his strength when his dishes honed in on a few key ingredients, e.g mackerel and carrot dishes, potato and lamb courses but sometimes tended to lose focus and tried to add to many ideas to one dish, e.g. foie gras course and escargot dish. The service throughout the night on par with the kitchen was professional and attentive. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It won’t be difficult to convince foodies with such kinds of tasting menus to visit the restaurant but the real challenge for Chef Bauer will be to overhaul and modernize the regular a la carte menu in such way that he is still adding his own ideas and style without driving away the regular customers which tend to be not overly adventurous eaters. Some of the night’s dishes like the lamb could be good starting points with some small modifications. At the same time it would help if such a tasting menu or at least a shorter version, perhaps a 5-course menu, would be regularly available on their menu to make this place better known for its high quality food beyond just the resort guests. It will be interesting to see if the team at Restaurant at Rancho Valencia is able to master the balance between cooking interesting but not too complex food for their regular clientele and at the same time attracting new customers interested in high end food with unusal and creative dishes.</div><div align="center" style="text-align: justify;"></div><div align="center" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.ranchovalencia.com/dining/the-restaurant">Restaurant at Rancho Valencia Resort</a></div><div align="center" style="text-align: justify;">5921 Valencia Circle</div>Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92091<br />
(858) 756-1123TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-91036985738085755812011-05-03T23:28:00.000-07:002011-05-03T23:31:11.021-07:00Chef Celebration Dinner 2011 at Cowboy Star (San Diego)<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Over the last few years more and more restaurants in San Diego started to offer special dinners like winemakers or brewers dinners which present them with a good opportunity to prepare an unique menu and thereby attract a more unusual customer base for their restaurant. Even though this is just a more recent trend in San Diego there are a few well established dinner series like Cooks Confab and perhaps as the longest running one – Chef Celebration. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Chef Celebration dinner series started 16 years ago and is a way for the foundation to collect money for their main goal “to enhance the knowledge and potential of promising young chefs and lay a foundation of excellence for San Diego’s culinary future.” Through this money of the dinner series the Chef Celebration foundation provided many scholarships to chefs like Hanis Cavin and Victor Jimenez at the beginning of their careers. Over the last years we have visited and enjoyed many different Chef Celebration dinners. During the last years the foundation typically organized 5-6 dinners per year but this year only three of them were announced. After looking through the different set ups we decided to focus on one dinner this year which had the best potential for an interesting night – <strong>Chef Celebration at Cowboy Star</strong>. This dinner had a nice mix of chefs from established restaurants as Christian Graves (JSix), Chris Kurth (Grant Grill), Stephane Voitzwinkler (Mr. A’s) and Victor Jimenez (Cowboy Star) and new, upcoming restaurants with Sam Burman (Quality Social) and Craig Jimenez (Craft & Commerce) who was accompanied by his mixologist Nathan Stanton.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5184/5686386512_58df85b95f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" j8="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5184/5686386512_58df85b95f.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cowboy Star is located close to the corner of 10th Avenue and Market in a red brickstone building about a block from Café Chloe. What makes this restaurant quite unique is its own butcher store.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5181/5685818275_bdd1a9238f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" j8="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5181/5685818275_bdd1a9238f.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Part of the charm of Cowboy Star is its rustic “Western” influenced interior starting with the bar close to the entrance…</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5228/5686387526_ddf3903abd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" j8="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5228/5686387526_ddf3903abd.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">…and animal skulls and appropriate pictures throughout the room.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5301/5686388222_a7a7bb0f5b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" j8="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5301/5686388222_a7a7bb0f5b.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Bread service consisted of a good multigrain roll with soft butter.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5181/5686388624_5a53c783b2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" j8="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5181/5686388624_5a53c783b2.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cocktail 1: The Broken Arrow – Skyy passion fruit vodka, pineapple chipotle simple syrup, pink grapefruit juice, topped with champagne – We decided to do a limited cocktail pairing by picking a cocktail for each two courses. The Broken Arrow was a good combination of some fruitiness from the passion fruit and pineapple with some slight tartness from the grapefruit and a nice spicy kick form the chipotle.</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5291/5685820385_bae328a566.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" j8="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5291/5685820385_bae328a566.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">1st Course: Brandt beef carpaccio, English pea relish, barrage flowers, house-made lemon oil, parmesan reggiano puree, toasted bread (Christian Graves). Carpaccio is normally very thinly sliced beef but this version was a much thicker cut and was more a hybrid between carpaccio and steak tartare. The very tender meat when eating together with the delicate pea relish and slightly salty parmesan reggiano puree showed a perfect balance of flavors. The toasted bread was sprinkled with fresh black pepper and gave the dish a surprising spicy component. Overall a very strong start of the tasting menu and one of the highlights of the night which showed once more the ability of Chef Graves to combine a few “basic” ingredients to create a very complex and flavorful dish.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5230/5686389598_1a665b415e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" j8="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5230/5686389598_1a665b415e.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">2nd Course: Grilled Baja octopus, pickled ramps, green grapes, marcona almonds, white gazpacho (Sam Burman). Octopus sometimes tends to be tough and rubbery when not prepared with enough care but here it was wonderfully tender with a pronounced but not overwhelming grill flavor. The pickled ramps, grapes and almonds added different interesting flavor and textural components to the dish but what made it truly special was the use of white gazpacho as a foundation. The gazpacho wasn’t served too cold but at room temperature and had a strong cucumber flavor which complemented the octopus and gave the dish a Spanish character. Another very strong dish and also a reminder for us that it’s time to visit Quality Social.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5102/5686390072_8107b5d88d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" j8="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5102/5686390072_8107b5d88d.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">2. Cocktail: Orange Blossom Special – Maker’s Mark, velvet falernum, ginger syrup, tangerine juice, essence of orange blossom flower – This cocktail had a stronger but still smooth alcohol taste than the first one with a refreshing tartness from the tangerine and ginger.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5300/5685821771_3c253355de.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" j8="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5300/5685821771_3c253355de.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">3rd Course: Soft poached duck egg, spring onion bullion, flavors of rosemary & sage flowers, hazelnut, chanterelle mushrooms, parmesan (Chris Kurth). Poached eggs with their runny yolk are often a key ingredient to elevate a good dish to an outstanding one. Here the soft poached duck egg was the focus of the dish especially since it was a duck egg which is much larger than a regular chicken egg. The spring onion bullion with its light rosemary and sage flavor gave the impression of a spring dish whereas the chanterelles and parmesan gave the dish some umami flavor and body.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5268/5685822159_153ca6a193.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" j8="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5268/5685822159_153ca6a193.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">4th Course: Fresh line caught wild salmon en croute, beluga black lentils, morel mushrooms, red verjus sauce (Stephane Voitzwinkler). Wrapping the salmon in pastry ensured that the fish stayed moist and flaky. Both the lentils and the morels added some earthiness to the dish and were good matches for the fish. The verjus sauce and the thinly shaved fennel added some acidity and unexpected bright flavors.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5148/5686391320_96cdc74a13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" j8="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5148/5686391320_96cdc74a13.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">3. Cocktail: Old Fashioned - Jim Beam rye, orange bitters, Monin ginger syrup, brown sugar, ginger ale – Old fashioned are often our go-to cocktails to “test out” a cocktail bar and this one didn’t disappoint. It had a good balance between the sweetness of the sugar and the bitterness from the orange bitters and the ginger ale like a good version should have.</div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5250/5685823059_91e393ca88.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" j8="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5250/5685823059_91e393ca88.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">5th Course: Roasted Meyer natural beef strip loin, herbed-salt crust, asparagus, creamed forage mushrooms (Victor Jimenez). The beef was served not really hot but just warm and was quite dried out. The asparagus spears were cooked uneven and had some very soft and also hard parts. The best component of the dish was the creamed mushrooms. Overall not a complete disappointment but the weakest dish of the night.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5025/5686387838_6c171cbeba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" j8="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5025/5686387838_6c171cbeba.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">6th Course: Ginger spiced Marcona almond crumb cake, horchata tuile, strawberries and meyer lemons (Craig Jimenez and Nathan Stanton). Written on the menu this dessert sounded very interesting and promising but the actual cake tasted very much like regular almond cake without any hints of ginger and quite dry. What saved the dish for us was the small cocktail served with the cake which was a play on the Deep Dark Secret cocktail with its combination of aged rum, Kahlua liquor and heavy cream.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
This year’s visit of a Chef Celebration dinner was again a nice way to explore the cooking of some of the better known chefs in San Diego. It is always interesting to see that for most of these dinners the different chefs seems to talk with each other beforehand to have some continuity within the different courses. Similar to last year’s <a href="http://twofoodiesonejourney.blogspot.com/2010/05/chef-celebration-dinner-at-cowboy-star.html">Chef Celebration dinner at Cowboy Star</a> this year all dishes seemed to be focusing on a few key ingredients and showcased the natural flavor of them. But especially the first four courses all had very thoughtful components, e.g. white gazpacho, English pea relish, parmesan reggiano puree which added an unexpected depth to the dishes. The last two courses seemed to be less balanced and would have benefited from a better execution. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We are looking forward to another round of Chef Celebration dinners next year but were also wondering if spreading out these dinners over a much longer period of time, e.g. one dinner every one or two months, would help to highlight each dinner and attract more people instead of cramming all of them in just a few weeks which sometimes feels like too much.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.thecowboystar.com/">Cowboy Star</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">640 Tenth Ave.</div>San Diego, CA 92101<br />
(619) 450-5880TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-41411645880278607432011-04-08T18:43:00.000-07:002011-04-08T18:43:12.021-07:00Cavaillon (San Diego) – Two Black Truffles Tasting Menus<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When we started our food blog about a year ago we hoped that we would be able to write quite frequently new posts every few days. We rather quickly found out that we really enjoyed to document our culinary adventures, might it be cooking at home or visiting a restaurant by photographing everything and writing about it, but at the same time we also started to realize that each post takes much longer time than we expected. As a consequence we have a continuously growing list of to-do-posts which we slowly work off. There is nothing wrong with writing about a restaurant some time after the actual visit since it still provides all the information but we always tried to post immediately after visiting special seasonal restaurant events. Unfortunately sometimes the best intentions don’t turn out to be accomplishable and somehow some special dinners fall through the cracks as it happened last year with one very enjoyable visit to Cavaillon. One advantage of special seasonal dinners are that they most of the time return after a year. Since we always want to highlight the progression and evolution of restaurants and its dishes we felt that writing about the <strong>two Black Truffles Tasting Menus at Cavaillon</strong> last and this year would be a good start.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fine dining restaurants have of course hardly any limits on what kinds of ingredients they use but there are few which are often directly associated with haute cuisine – foie gras, caviar and truffles. We had many tasting menus where foie gras played a special role or tasting menus which heavily focused on caviar like at <a href="http://twofoodiesonejourney.blogspot.com/2010/09/petrossian-los-angeles-eight-course.html">Petrossian under Chef Ben Bailly</a>, but even though we often had single dishes which involved truffles we never had a full tasting menu solely build around them which really got us interested in the tasting menu at Cavaillon. Truffles were called “diamonds of the kitchen” by Brillat-Savarin and are in a simplified way underground mushrooms. Since truffle mainly exist in a symbiosis with plant roots they are commonly found in close association of trees. Pigs and dogs can easily recognize their characteristic odor and therefore are predestined for the truffle “hunt”. Even though there are hundreds of species of truffle only two are really of culinary interest – white truffles mainly from Piedmont and black truffles which predominantly come from France, Spain and Italy. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Black truffles are harvested and used in many different cuisines but they are still often closely associated with French cuisine. So what would be better than having a truffle menu prepared by one of the most talented French chefs in San Diego – Philippe Verpiand at Cavaillon. He was born in Cavaillon in the Vaucluse region in the South-East of France. Quite typical for the European system he started already at the age of 16 at the culinary school in Avignon and graduated after two years. He then honed his skills by working at numerous Michelin starred restaurants throughout France for the next ten years often only staying for one year. Some of his stations included Café de Paris in Biarritz, La Poulard near Lyon and Hotel Juana in Juan Les Pins. With the help of his friend Patrick Ponsaty, now at Mistral in Coronado, he was able to start in the US as Chef de Cuisine of Tapenade in La Jolla. After working for more than seven years under Jean-Michel Diot he finally was able to fulfill his dream of his own restaurant in 2005 named after his place of birth.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5025/5599459747_155f2767a5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5025/5599459747_155f2767a5.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cavaillon is in a quiet unusual location for a restaurant – several miles north of I-56 in the upscale community of Santa Luz. You have to drive on Camino del Sur for some time passing several residential communities until you see the restaurant sign which is the only thing distinguishing it from the surrounding residential houses. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5109/5600042290_6ec82beba7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5109/5600042290_6ec82beba7.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The restaurant consists of one big room which even though the tables are quite close and it is often well attended is actually not too loud to have a nice conversation. The restaurant might not resemble something you would find in Chef Verpiand’s hometown but it still has its charm and we like the ambience. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>First black truffle tasting menu</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5149/5600043026_4dc741c2d8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5149/5600043026_4dc741c2d8.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">1st Course: Celery root risotto with black truffles</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Even though Chef Verpiand is French one of his signature dishes are his risottos. The risottos at Cavaillon are perfect examples of this dish – the rice cooked to the right creaminess but still with some bite, not to saucy, not too dry, the appropriate amount of parmesan cheese to give the desired saltiness. This variation had the unusual inclusion of celery root which gave some slight sweetness and earthiness which worked particularly well with the shaved truffle. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5024/5600043490_01b1012d38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5024/5600043490_01b1012d38.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">2nd Course: Seared scallops, roasted caulifowers & fingerling potatoes, black truffles, watercress.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Wonderful roasted cauliflower and fingerling potatoes in a cream-based sauce form a strong foundation in this dish which helped to accentuate the truffle flavor without overpowering the dish. The watercress added some slight spicyness whereas the perfectly seared scallops showed some of their characteristical sweetness. This dish was a good example for a composition where the whole dish is stronger than the sum of its parts.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5147/5599460989_582aa6b4c7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5147/5599460989_582aa6b4c7.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bread service at Cavaillon consists of one type of bread roll which is freshly made in-house and comes still warm to your table. It’s perfect to eat with the butter but even better to soap up the delicious sauces of the different dishes. There is hardly ever a visit at Cavaillon where we don’t have at least a second round of bread rolls. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5223/5599461483_38eb00a958.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5223/5599461483_38eb00a958.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">3rd Course: Petrale sole, white bean ragout, tomatoes, olives, oyster mushrooms, black truffles</div><div style="text-align: justify;">When this dish arrived at the table we were first surprised that hardly any black truffles were included in the dish. Once we cut and tried a piece of the fish we realized where all the truffles were – the fish was cut into two halves and had a thick layer of black truffles in between. But even though this was a fish preparation we would like to see more often in restaurants, the star of the dish was the bean ragout. Perfectly cooked white beans in a very rich broth with olives and tomatoes which added a nice acidity and balanced the dish. We could have easily eaten a large bowl of the white bean ragout alone.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5230/5600044892_a55283bc87.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5230/5600044892_a55283bc87.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">4th Course: Filet Mignon, black truffles, asparagus, potato cake</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The focus of this dish was clearly on the filet and black truffles. The asparagus and the potato cake were nice additions and completed the dish but taking a bite of the melting tender filet mignon together with some black truffle shavings convinced us that these both were a perfect match.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5229/5600045302_58f3e6c5b8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5229/5600045302_58f3e6c5b8.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">5th Course: Truffle short bread, vanilla ice cream, truffle honey, shaved truffle</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Reading this dish on the menu we suspected some truffle overkill but as with all dishes Chef Verpiand understood how to balance all ingredients, especially the black truffles, but was at the same time also able to showcase its distinctiveness. The ice cream with its strong vanilla flavor worked hand in hand with the sweetness of the honey and the earthiness of the black truffle. The short bread which only had a faint truffle taste added some textural variety.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<strong>Second black truffle tasting menu</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5064/5600045612_eab47b4c40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5064/5600045612_eab47b4c40.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">1st Course: Truffle “torchon” foie gras, cherry mousse.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">One highlight at Cavaillon is always the foie gras course and this one was no exception. Chef Verpiand is specifically known for his foie gras au torchon which has an outstanding creaminess without diminishing the livery taste like so many other variations. Foie gras and truffles are always a great pair and here the chef decided to add some cherry mousse which had the right amount of sweetness to cut through the richness of the foie gras without being overly sweet. The dish was accompanied appropriately by some toasted brioche.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5145/5600045904_decab5543c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5145/5600045904_decab5543c.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">2nd Course: Black truffle risotto.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">No black truffle tasting menu without risotto – and risotto is something Cavaillon is always delivering perfectly. This time Chef Verpiand decided to use a risotto bianco to really focus on the interplay of the truffle, rice and cheese. There is a reason why risotto al tartufo is a dish in Italy reserved for only special celebratory occasions.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5064/5599463351_6456705203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5064/5599463351_6456705203.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">3nd Course: Scallops carpaccio, chestnut and celery root velouté, black truffles</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Velouté means velvety in French and best describes this dish. Velouté is made out of stock and a blond roux to give its creaminess which was in this dish combined with chestnut and celery root. Both components worked perfectly together with the black truffle stripes to give the velouté a luxurious feeling. What really put this dish over the top was the inclusion of scallop carpaccio – slightly warmed from the heat of the velouté this completed the dish by adding some sweetness and texture. The best dish of both tasting menus.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5023/5599463639_6b6e909e25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5023/5599463639_6b6e909e25.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">4th Course: Duck breast Rossini, squash puree, port wine demi-glace.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Perhaps one of the most famous preparation including truffles is tournedos Rossini – seared foie gras, truffles and filet mignon. Chef Verpiand used here tender duck breast instead of the filet but the interplay of the foie gras, truffles and meat was as good as you would expect from such a classic. We also liked his use of the sweet squash puree to cut through the richness of the dish. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5310/5599463993_6af23f6e25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5310/5599463993_6af23f6e25.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">5th Course: Truffle cheesecake</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We ended this truffle tasting menu with a deconstructed cheesecake consisting of some shortbread, scoops of the filling, truffle honey and shavings of truffles. Somehow this dish didn’t really work for us and we didn’t feel that it came together. The honey made the cheesecake too sweet, the shortbread didn’t complement the fillings and this was the one dish for us where the truffle flavor didn’t add much to the dish.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We don’t really have a favorite neighborhood restaurant in the area we are , but Cavaillon is as close as it gets for us to have such a restaurant. We come here fairly regular, enjoy the relaxed atmosphere, and the cooking style from Chef Verpiand reminds us of French bistro and comfort food but often with an interesting twist towards more upscale French cuisine. Even though we also sometimes pick from the regular menu we often enjoy just letting Chef Verpiand choose for us with one of his tasting menus. Based on these many positive experiences here we were really looking forward to have our first black truffle tasting menus in this setting and the restaurant didn’t let us down. Tasting menus focused around a certain ingredient are difficult for chefs as the guests can easily get bored from having the same component over and over again in every dish. It might be even more challenging if this ingredient is truffle with its very characteristic, dominant taste. Initially we were wondering if we would get a truffle overkill after a few dishes but the chef creatively was able to incorporate truffles in every dish in such a way that it was always present but never overpowering. Many of these dishes would have been interesting without any truffles but the addition of the black truffle really put every dish on a completely different and elevated level. Black truffles were the key ingredients in these dishes and the focus of the tasting menu but never the lone reason any of the dishes worked. It was also beneficial that Chef Verpiand only used real truffles in all of his dishes and forbear from using any truffle oil which is an easy way many chefs use to have a dominant, often overpowering, truffle flavor in their dishes but it also gives these dishes a distinct artificial truffle taste.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">A few years ago Cavaillon had service issues with some inattentive and unprofessional servers but after some significant changes at the front of the house some time ago the restaurant has now one of the better waiting staffs in San Diego. The servers are friendly, attentive and knowledgeable enough to provide an enjoyable dinner experience. The outstanding food with the good service would make Cavaillon one of the most notable restaurants in San Diego and so it was quite a disappointment for us when Chef Verpiand recently announced that he is unhappy with his situation in San Diego and that he is planning to sell Cavaillon soon to move to Texas. Not only will San Diego lose one of the most talented chefs but also a unique restaurant which covered a niche with its mix of French bistro and haute cuisine not seen anywhere else in San Diego on that level. Cavaillon was perhaps one of the most underrated restaurants in San Diego due to its location and the chef not being involved in one of the chef organizations like Cooks Confab important for far-reaching publicity. We can only hope that the new owner and chef will either continue with Cavaillon on such high quality level or find their own unique niche to adequately replace Cavaillon.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.cavaillonrestaurant.com/">Cavaillon</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">14701 Via Bettona</div>San Diego, CA 92127-4808<br />
(858) 433-0483TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-28942208780158043242011-03-14T21:53:00.000-07:002011-08-10T23:51:17.517-07:00Chard Quiche with Pine Nuts<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">During our graduate school time we lived for two years close to Basel in Switzerland. Even though during this period we never had much time to really explore the culinary scene of Basel or other parts of Switzerland we were able to experience a few of the typical treats like Basler Leckerli which is a hard biscuit made with an unique spice mixture or Rivella, a soft drink made out of milk whey. The food we most often enjoyed was “Wähen”. Wähen are essentially the Swiss version of tartes and quiches. Originally reported in 1556 as a fruit quiche, over the centuries many savory versions also appeared and we were often starting our weekends going to a bakery and eating a piece of one of the many different Wähen on display. This was of course not the first time we ever had a quiche since these are popular throughout Germany as well but they originated from the region of Alsace and Lorraine which are close to Basel. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Quiches were originally food of the poor and made by the women in Alsace to feed their families with a few, cheap available ingredients – egg, milk and bacon as a cheap and nonperishable form of meat. Since at those times, a few hundred years ago, most families baked their own bread making quiches was an efficient way to use leftover bread dough. What started as quiche Lorraine for the poor developed over time to a well-regarded class of dishes everybody around the world is enjoying. Today a large variety of toppings are used with different kinds of meat, vegetables and cheese. A consistency between these many variations is the use of eggs, milk or cream and shortcrust pastry. What started for us as a weekly visit to the bakery led to a continuous interest in making quiches at home like this <strong>chard quiche with pine nuts</strong>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5020/5528537918_108d8ea130.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" q6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5020/5528537918_108d8ea130.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">For this quiche we used a few more unusual ingredients to underline the uniqueness of chard. Whole spelt flour has a more robust and nuttier flavor than the often used regular wheat flour which helps accentuate the delicate flavor of the chard. Instead of using only eggs and cream for the filling we also added ricotta which gave the quiche more body and at the same time added a slight sweet note. The complex flavor of sage with its spicy, aromatic and slightly bitter tones helps to bring an unexpected taste to the quiche. The long baking time helps to mellow out these flavors so that the sage doesn’t dominate the dish. A salad and a nice glass of white wine made this quiche a wonderful dinner.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5258/5528534634_3c8b03b244.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" q6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5258/5528534634_3c8b03b244.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sift flour on working surface, form a well in the flour and add egg with some salt. Place the butter in small pieces around the flour and mix everything using a knife.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5215/5528538358_3164b2fd18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" q6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5215/5528538358_3164b2fd18.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Knead dough until smooth and store it covered in fridge for 30 minutes.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5291/5528535398_3662a1b1b2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" q6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5291/5528535398_3662a1b1b2.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Heat oil in pot over medium-high heat and cook spring onions, chard stems and sage for five minutes. Add chard leaves and cook for three minutes until wilted. Season with salt and nutmeg. Preheat oven to 200C/400F.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5172/5528536172_1bb47087a6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" q6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5172/5528536172_1bb47087a6.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Roll out dough on a little bit of flour and put dough into 30 cm/12 inch spring form.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5179/5528536822_c30ffb88d0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" q6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5179/5528536822_c30ffb88d0.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mix ricotta with heavy cream and eggs. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Fill chard mixture into spring form and add ricotta mixture. Bake quiche for 25 minutes in the oven. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5017/5528537444_3e56cbc08a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" q6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5017/5528537444_3e56cbc08a.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sprinkle provolone and pine nuts over the quiche and bake for another 15 minutes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Recipe adapted from “Quiche, Tarte und Co.” by Gräfe und Unzer</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Serves 4</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">250 g (9 oz) whole spelt flour</div><div style="text-align: justify;">1 egg</div><div style="text-align: justify;">150 g (5.5 oz) butter</div><div style="text-align: justify;">750 (27 oz) rainbow chard, leaves cut into stripes, stems diced</div><div style="text-align: justify;">1 bunch spring onions, diced</div><div style="text-align: justify;">4 leaves of sage, finely chopped</div><div style="text-align: justify;">2 tbsp Canola oil</div><div style="text-align: justify;">nutmeg</div><div style="text-align: justify;">200 g (7 oz) soft ricotta</div><div style="text-align: justify;">100 (3.5 oz) heavy cream</div><div style="text-align: justify;">2 eggs</div><div style="text-align: justify;">40 g (1.5 oz) pine nuts</div><div style="text-align: justify;">50 g (2 oz) provolone, freshly grated</div>TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-85172238731556858912011-03-04T23:31:00.000-08:002011-03-04T23:33:37.100-08:00French Laundry (Yountville) – Special Extended 18-Course Tasting Menu<div style="text-align: justify;">In today’s media-driven world you constantly hear and read about new interesting restaurants opening or closing somewhere. If you are interested in food it is really hard not to get continuously bombarded by news on discussion boards, blogs or magazines about new restaurant trends emerging or new chefs making an impact in the culinary scene. And so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that like many foodies we also have many different lists of interesting restaurants we want to visit all over the US and the world. At the same time every foodie seems to have the one special restaurant which fascinated them early on, which they always wanted to visit and which is their ultimate destination. Similar to explaining why a certain music band is so special or a why a painting has this particular fascination it is often hard to explain why one restaurant sticks out to all the others. Of course the food and cuisine is a major factor in the interest for a restaurant but real fascination goes far beyond and includes also the mindset and philosophy of the chef, the focus on ingredients and techniques and even the location. Since moving to California about ten years ago and getting highly interested in high-end restaurants this special restaurant for us was always Thomas Keller’s French Laundry in Yountville.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thomas Keller was born in California but lived most of his youth in Palm Beach, Florida. During this time he started to work during summers or after school first as a dishwasher at the Palm Beach Yacht Club but also soon as a line cook which ignited his interest in cooking. During summers he also started working at the Dunes Club in Rhode Island where he met his key mentor – Chef Roland Henin. Henin was important in exposing to and teaching him French cuisine but also to start developing his own philosophy of cooking. After working several cooking positions in Florida Thomas Keller started working at La Rive in the Hudson Valley River valley where he had for the first time larger responsibilities but also the possibility to work more with local and seasonal produce and farmers. Unable to buy La Rive Keller decided to hone his skills by working in several Michelin starred restaurants in France like Guy Savoy and Taillevent. After returning to New York he worked at La Reserve and Restaurant Raphael before opening in 1986 his first own restaurant – Rakel. Rakel got good reviews but due to the hard financial times the restaurant didn’t survive for a long time. He then had a period of time where he worked at different restaurants in New York and Los Angeles before he finally found in 1992 the French Laundry at that time owned by Don and Sally Schmidt. After raising money for quite some time Thomas Keller could finally purchase the French Laundry and open it in 1994. Even though since then Thomas Keller opened several other successful restaurants for us the biggest fascination always focused on the French Laundry. Not unlike with music albums of rock bands the earliest releases often represent the purest and most honest approaches and tend to give the best chances to experience the original work and philosophy. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Even though we visited many high-end restaurants over the last years and the French Laundry was for a long time high on our restaurant list we somehow never really started seriously tackling getting a reservation at the restaurant. But recently we decided to go on a three week culinary trip to the Bay area and felt that it was finally time to experience the French Laundry. After some preparation we were able to get a reservation on our preferred day for the last seating – what better day to choose for our first visit than a special birthday celebration. Like we have done with many restaurants before we contacted the French Laundry and we wanted to give the chef absolute creative freedom and asked for an earlier seating to have a chance for a special tasting menu without any limitations. After some extended phone discussions over a few weeks we finally got a table for the first seating and a promise to have a special menu on our visit which turned out to be a memorable <strong>extended 18-course tasting menu at the French Laundry</strong> highlighting why this restaurant had and still has such an impact on the culinary scene. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5257/5498665008_65d277e3d7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5257/5498665008_65d277e3d7.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The French Laundry is located in the small village of Yountville a few miles north of Napa. Yountville seems to be existing mainly to host a large number of restaurants and hotels for its small size. Yountville is also the epicenter of the Thomas Keller culinary empire with French Laundry, Bouchon, Bouchon Bakery and Ad Hoc within walking distance. Whereas all other three restaurants are closer to the center of the village French Laundry is a little bit more outside. Across from the French Laundry are the restaurant’s vegetable gardens which should play an important role for many of the ingredients on our visit. These gardens are quite impressive with their large variety of often unusual produce.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5213/5498665894_603b85c113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5213/5498665894_603b85c113.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The French Laundry restaurant is in a historic building which was built more than one hundred years ago as a saloon before it was converted in the 1920s into a French steam laundry. The building was renovated in 1978 before it was used as a restaurant. If one wouldn’t know that the building was used as restaurant it would easily go through as a residential building. Only a smaller sign reveals the true purpose of the building. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5175/5498667314_b7fc4ea1ff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5175/5498667314_b7fc4ea1ff.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The restaurant is spread out over two floors with the main dining room on the lower floor. The maitre’d knew of our long tasting menu and gave as a nice four top in the corner of the main room. We were once asked if we were interested to see the menu before or if we trust the chef and just want to be surprised. Obviously we just wanted to sit back and start the journey into the culinary world of Thomas Keller and the French Laundry.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5260/5498072797_3d035a5f79.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5260/5498072797_3d035a5f79.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">1st Amuse Bouche: Gougères</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pâte à choux filled with warm aged Gruyère mornay sauce. Very light pillows filled with a slightly salty crème which still showed the typical aged Gruyère flavor. A rather classic French start to the dinner and for us a kind of palate cleanser for the coming dishes.</div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5177/5498073197_a6c030a276.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5177/5498073197_a6c030a276.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">2nd Amuse Bouche: Scottish Salmon Coronets</div><div style="text-align: justify;">One of the signature amuse bouche’s of the French Laundry. The cone had a buttery and soft texture with some sesame seeds. The salmon was almost pate-like with a delicate taste. The bottom tip of the cone was filled with some crème fraiche to give it a slightly tangy finish.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5135/5498668616_0179041fab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5135/5498668616_0179041fab.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">1st Course: Nantes carrot velouté, medjool date, marcona almonds and cilantro</div><div style="text-align: justify;">As the next course the server put small bowls of an orange soup in front of us and informed us that the carrots for this velouté were harvested just a few hours ago in the gardens across the street. This carrot soup was unlike any other carrot soup we had before. It had a very intense carrot flavor like it was made out of carrot extracts but at the same time a velvety and light texture. The dates gave the soup just the right sweetness to balance the flavors and almond added some nice textural change. We could have easily eaten a large bowl of the velouté.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5211/5498073995_dbf71fe56d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5211/5498073995_dbf71fe56d.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">2nd Course: “Oysters and pearls” - “Sabayon” of pearl tapioca with island creek oysters and white sturgeon caviar.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Perhaps the most written about savory course at the French Laundry and one of the few courses which are part of nearly all tasting menus. Even though we wanted to experience the French Laundry as a whole event we were looking forward to finally try this dish – and it didn’t disappoint. The creamy and rich sabayon laid the foundation for the dish and the tapioca supported this richness with its texture. The perfectly cooked oysters had a wonderful sweetness whereas the quenelle of caviar provided the right balance of saltiness. It’s easy to understand why this dish has such a reputation as being a showcase for Thomas Keller’s cooking as it is a perfect combination of texture, flavor and creativity. The use of a mother-of-pearl spoon to serve the dish fits perfectly into the picture.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5098/5498074397_404e8d92cb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5098/5498074397_404e8d92cb.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">3rd Course: Salad of Dungeness crab, apple gelée and “fines herbes”</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another course which demonstrated Thomas Keller’s cooking philosophy – on one side high quality ingredients like cooked Dungeness crab which was presented in a way that its natural flavors speak for itself. At the same time he uses every kind of technique necessary to add components to the dish which complements and enhance this flavor and brings it to a new and often unexpected level. Here the slightly sweet and tangy apple gelée was key to the success of the dish.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5099/5498669820_74144dd2c9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5099/5498669820_74144dd2c9.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">4th Course: Hokkaido coast “uni” with sake granité</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Over the years we really have learned to love uni and its unique flavor reminding us of ocean, salt and sea air. Normally we had Santa Barbara uni which has a light yellow color whereas the Hokkaido uni had a much darker orange color. The flavor of the Hokkaido uni was similar to one from Santa Barbara perhaps a bit more pronounced and stronger. The sake granite was a good addition as itself had similar to the uni first a slight sweetness which changed after melting in the mouth to some bitterness without overpowering the delicate flavor of the uni.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5058/5498075237_19e203892f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5058/5498075237_19e203892f.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">5th Course: “Ris de veau en croûte” with “pruneaux d’Agen”</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We had to smile when the server brought this dish to the table as its shape reminded us of a caterpillar. The flaky, light puff pastry shell broke easily to reveal its tasty inside – perfectly seared veal sweetbreads. Sweetbreads can easily be overcooked but this version had the right consistency – not too soft without being too dry. The dish got some refreshing fruitiness from the prune sauce made out of the famous prunes from the region of Agen in France.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5100/5498670574_776c8442d9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5100/5498670574_776c8442d9.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">6th Course: Hen egg custard, ragout of Périgord truffles</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This plain looking egg had some amazing content – at the bottom was white truffle custard which was topped with a ragout of black truffles made out of veal stock. This creation was crowned by a chive potato chip perfect for mixing the tasty mixture. Not only could you smell this course long before it reached our table but was an impressive flavor explosion when eaten from the different truffles and the veal stock.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5134/5498076053_43c2193b06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5134/5498076053_43c2193b06.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">7th Course: Salad of French Laundry new crop potatoes, baby beets, broccoli and horseradish mousseline.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another dish in which the garden of the French Laundry across the street played a major role. A few new potatoes were slightly roasted so that the roasting flavor didn’t overwhelm the tastes of the different vegetables. Especially the baby beets added some nice earthy component to the dish. The horseradish mousseline helped to add some mild spicyness.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5133/5498666384_0bd2c3586d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5133/5498666384_0bd2c3586d.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">All these courses so far really didn’t need any bread but now we were presented with the pain au lait from the Bouchon Bakery down the street. This warm and buttery role had a wonderful soft texture and was accompanied by two different butters - an unsalted goat’s milk butter from Andante Diary in Petaluma and a whipped salted cow’s milk butter from Animal Farm in Vermont. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5055/5498076515_079c0f95bd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5055/5498076515_079c0f95bd.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Before bringing the next course our server came to our table and presented this – white truffles from Alba. The smell was so strong that people at other tables turned around to look at our table.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5256/5498076867_38d4dab160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5256/5498076867_38d4dab160.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">8th Course: Castelmagno cheese “lasagna” with white truffles from Alba</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The lasagna was a good vehicle for the white truffles. Many layers of perfectly al dente pasta where covered in noisette sauce which helped to bring out some of the truffle flavor. We were a little bit surprised that despite the very strong aroma of the truffle and the generous slices the actual truffle taste was quite subdued.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5019/5498672064_4ff352cd11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5019/5498672064_4ff352cd11.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For the first part of the menu we decided on a Gruener Veltliner – Hirsch, Heiligenstein, 2008 – which was a light-bodied wine with some acidity and some green apple and lemon aroma.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5300/5498672384_bbb6042a38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5300/5498672384_bbb6042a38.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The second part of the dinner was accompanied by a Burgundy – Denis Mortet, Gevrey Chambertin 2007 – which had some quite strong berry flavors, some earthiness and a long aftertaste.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5092/5498672684_4139ea09d0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5092/5498672684_4139ea09d0.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">9th Course: Sautéed fillet of striped bass, razor clams, butter beans “en persillade”, San Marzano tomato compote, petite lettuces and extra virgin olive oil emulsion.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Perfectly cooked striped bass filet was tender and flaky, the razor clams were also tender but still had some “bite” whereas butter beans remained, as you would expect by their name, soft and buttery without being mushy. The “en persillade” coating, bread crumbs and parsley, was a nice textural change as were the “al dente” haricot verts. Key component of this dish was the tomato compote which brought the dish together with its acidity and slight sweetness.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5131/5498673048_6f09e8ed8b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5131/5498673048_6f09e8ed8b.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">10th Course: Sweet butter-poached Maine lobster tail, piperade, young fennel and “sauce Noilly Prat”</div><div style="text-align: justify;">A large piece of succulent lobster tail which had the wonderful slight sweetness of perfectly poached lobster. The soft piece of young fennel added unexpected slight anise flavor which worked nicely with the Noilly Prat based sauce. Similar to the tomato compote in the course before here the piperade helped to bring the dish together with its more subdued acidity.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5054/5498071753_a155526909.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5054/5498071753_a155526909.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">11th Course: Moulard duck “foie gras au torchon”, Gros Michel banana, celery, cashew, oxalis and honey-banyuls “gastrique”</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thomas Keller is well known for his great dishes including foie gras, and this classic foie gras au torchon was no exception. Wonderful buttery foie gras smeared on the warm brioche showed its characteristic melt-in-your-mouth livery flavor. The foie gras was outstanding but what really elevated the dish were the “condiments”. Foie gras is often accompanied by some sweet and savory components but it was first surprising to see bananas and celery with this foie gras and we were initially skeptical if it would work. After just a few bites it was clear that this was a fantastic combination. The banana puree and the celery provided just the right amount of sweetness with some savory undertones without being cloying and worked nicely with the foie gras. The roasted cashews added some textural variety. After we had eaten about half of our brioche the server brought us new warm pieces of brioche to ensure the best foundation for the foie gras. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5255/5498673378_6c0a80ec79.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5255/5498673378_6c0a80ec79.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For this and the next few courses we were provided with an array of different salts. It was really fun to taste these and it was astonishing how such small amounts of “impurities” have not only such an effect on the color of the salt but also the flavor.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5216/5498078893_b35245b737.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5216/5498078893_b35245b737.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">12th Course: “Aiguillette” of Liberty Farm pekin duck, melted cabbage, Satsuma mandarin, chestnut purée and ginger”jus”</div><div style="text-align: justify;">An interesting “asian” take on duck – very tender sous-vide cooked duck breast where especially the ginger-infused jus gave the dish an “asian” touch which was intensified by the chestnut puree. The sweetness of the Satsuma mandarin helped to cut through the fat of the duck.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5214/5498674120_15f07ab3ea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5214/5498674120_15f07ab3ea.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">13th Course: Broken Arrow Ranch venison, Hobbs’ bacon, arrowleaf spinach, flowering quince, white pearl onion and juniper-scented “soubise”</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Very tender vension wrapped in bacon was rather classical accompanied, as game often does, by a juniper-scented sauce. The small ball of arrowleaf spinach was not only a nice visual variety in this dish but also helped to lighten up the dish.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5171/5498079601_a3c02b541b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5171/5498079601_a3c02b541b.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">14th Course: “Sweet potato pie”, “Cavatina”, marshmellow, pickled huckleberries, watercress and black winter truffle</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Instead of an “official” cheese course we were served this combination of a dessert and a cheese course. This was a cheese cake made out of cavatina goat cheese from Andante Diary and had a pronounced, slightly salty, typical goat cheese flavor. The pickled huckleberries and the black truffle sauce were similar to what you expect as condiments for a cheese course. An interesting and well executed course but we felt that a regular cheese course would have been a better progression between savory and sweet courses and that this course didn’t really fit in at this point of the tasting menu.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5011/5498079987_3dff060215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5011/5498079987_3dff060215.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">15th Course: Feijoa sorbet, “tres leches”, coconut and pineapple</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This was the first time for us that we had feijoa which is also known as pineapple guava or guavasteen and it had an interesting flavor combination of kiwi and papaya with some slight banana flavors in the background. It matched perfectly to the light tres leches cake. The coconut powder and the lightly roasted pineapple completed this very refreshing and light dessert which was an outstanding start for the sweet part of the tasting menu.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5260/5498675234_f0f11fe880.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5260/5498675234_f0f11fe880.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">16th Course: “Coffee and doughnuts”, cinnamon-sugared doughnuts and “cappuccino semifreddo”</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The most famous dessert of the French Laundry – wonderful light freshly made and still warm doughnut and doughnut hole with a light cinnamon flavor which was perfectly matched with the espresso semifreddo. The popularity of this dessert is not surprising and fully justified.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5054/5498675584_2851bcc873.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5054/5498675584_2851bcc873.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">17th Course: Gianduja chocolate “ganache”, Guiness “génoise”, sour cherry, hazelnut and malt ice cream</div><div style="text-align: justify;">As the last dessert we were presented a plate with a “collection” of different “classic” desserts like sponge cake, ganache and malt ice cream which all by itself were already great but eaten together really showed a nice variety of complementing flavors.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5095/5498676010_d1e0923116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5095/5498676010_d1e0923116.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">18th Course: Granny Smith cake with streusel</div><div style="text-align: justify;">When we thought that we were finished with our tasting menu one of our servers came, presented us with these cakes and mentioned that the kitchen thought we would like to have another dessert. How can you not like such a classic approach to an apple cake – light, fruity and with a good balance between sweetness and sourness of the apple – a perfect ending to the dinner.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5259/5498676832_53c685e403.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5259/5498676832_53c685e403.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The espresso was brought in unique cups which according to our server are nicknamed “flying saucers” by everybody and it’s easy to see why. The espresso was surprisingly good for restaurant espresso with a good crema.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5139/5498081573_e7f9ec0583.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5139/5498081573_e7f9ec0583.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Mignardies: And the night ended with some tasty treats</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5094/5498082285_59bc2520f8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5094/5498082285_59bc2520f8.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Before we left the French Laundry we were given several bags of shortbread cookies and chocolate which we would enjoy over the next few days</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
We were really looking forward over several years to visit the French Laundry but at the same time once we scored a reservation we were also a bit anxious if we would be expecting too much and ultimately be disappointed. It was similar to liking a rock band for many years and then finally meeting the musicians in person, and quite often you might find out that the imagination is better than the reality (except when we met the Scorpions last year). But we were very happy to find out that the reputation of the French Laundry is more than justified and the restaurant lives up to the hype, yet it even exceeded our already high expectations. One of the criticisms you hear sometimes about Thomas Keller and the French Laundry is that the cooking is soulless and just focuses on techniques. After our visit to the restaurant these accusations are hard to understand as we felt that the cooking and the dishes at the French Laundry not only showed an extremely high level of technical sophistication but also true dedication to creativity and food and ingredients in itself. It was impressive to see how much the produce grown in their own garden across the street had an impact on different dishes throughout the tasting menu. At the same time the restaurant is looking to also use the best ingredients available anywhere for all their dishes – it’s a symbiosis of cooking locally and globally driven by such a high interest of the culinary team in the quality of their dishes. We also liked that even though the dishes showed such a high level of creativity and often unexpected twists the chef always made sure to use all the techniques to still let the natural flavors of the ingredients speak and not muddle them unnecessarily. For us the French Laundry is an ingredient-driven restaurant which just uses all available techniques in a very creative way to get the most out of the flavors of all ingredients. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The service at the French Laundry is, as you would expect for a three-star Michelin restaurant, very good and professional, even though they made a few small mistakes like forgetting to ask if we wanted coffee before bringing the bill, and formal but also a bit impersonal. We have seen at other high-end restaurants like Providence in LA that professional and formal service can be at the same time warm and personal. An outstanding service team is able to adapt their service style throughout a dinner according to the style of the customers. The exception was the sommelier who clearly was able to judge fast what kind and style of service each customer wanted and adapted his style accordingly so that everybody felt comfortable with him. It was very nice from the maitre’d that he invited us to the kitchen after our dinner so that we had a chance to see inside, including the famous video screen to Per Se and the “Sense of Urgency” sign under the clock, and exchange a few words with chef de cuisine Timothy Hollingsworth. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Overall our first visit to the French Laundry was an outstanding night and even though we hesitate to name any restaurant visit as the best we ever had, since this can often change depending on our mood, there is no doubt that this visit was and will always be one of the highlights in our culinary journey. Over the last few years we regularly visited many favorite high-end restaurants like <a href="http://twofoodiesonejourney.blogspot.com/2010/08/providence-los-angeles-thirteen-course.html">Providence</a> and <a href="http://twofoodiesonejourney.blogspot.com/2010/02/bistro-lq-los-angeles_07.html">Bistro LQ</a> in LA which deliver outstanding food and service and were wondering before our visit to the French Laundry if a restaurant can really be better than those. The visit made us realize two things – restaurants like <a href="http://twofoodiesonejourney.blogspot.com/2010/08/providence-los-angeles-thirteen-course.html">Providence</a> and <a href="http://twofoodiesonejourney.blogspot.com/2010/02/bistro-lq-los-angeles_07.html">Bistro LQ</a> perform indeed on a very high level but it also showed us that the French Laundry is a class of its own. It’s very rare that there is not a single course in a long tasting menu which disappoints but even more each course was always a new and unexpected culinary exploration. The French Laundry is not a restaurant you put on your regular rotation list but when we left the restaurant after more than six hours we already discussed how and when we will return to the French Laundry.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<a href="http://www.frenchlaundry.com/">French Laundry</a><br />
6640 Washington Street<br />
Yountville, CA 94599<br />
(707) 944-2380</div>TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-38641758130301631702011-02-12T17:30:00.000-08:002011-02-12T17:30:03.591-08:00Relate Restaurant at St. Germain’s Café (Encinitas) or San Diego’s first pop-up restaurant<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Most trends in the restaurant industry are focused on variations of the food by using new techniques, different ethnic influences or ingredients characterized by buzzwords as molecular gastronomy or farm-to-table. The restaurant as a business entity and the base for a restaurateur to conduct business always remained the same over the years. The chef and cuisine could change but the location and the name normally stayed the same and was the characteristics of this business. Only in recent years did some restaurateurs start to think about the concept of the restaurant as a business entity as itself and how it could be transformed. As a consequence two new restaurants styles recently emerged – food trucks and pop-up restaurants. Food trucks could be described as a new twist on fast food places whereas pop-up restaurants try to establish themselves as the trendy version of more upscale restaurants. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pop-up restaurants are an interesting concept as they could be described as temporary restaurants within a restaurant - restaurants which only serve breakfast or lunch rent out their space for a limited time to other restaurateurs for dinner service. This deal appears to have many advantages for everybody: the pop-up restaurateur doesn’t need a long term lease and has much less overhead costs. The temporary character of the pop-up restaurant often creates a lot of interest without much advertisement and ensures a well booked restaurant. The renter gets money for renting out the unused restaurant for dinner. The customer often has the chance to experience some very creative and unusual cuisine at pop-up restaurants.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is hard to track down or agree when the first pop-up restaurant started but some people think that the Chinese restaurant Lung Shan in San Francisco was the starting place of the pop-up restaurant boom several years ago as it transformed twice a week to host the Mission Street Food as a venue for chefs to cook without many limitations. Over the last few years more and more chefs started their own pop-up restaurants and today there is hardly any bigger city which doesn’t have its own versions and it was just a matter of time until even San Diego would have a first pop-up restaurant.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Perhaps the most well-known pop-up restaurant currently is LudoBites from Chef Ludo Lefebvre in Los Angeles. Sous Chef for LudoBites incarnation 4.0, 5.0 and 6.0 was Chef Dan Moody. Chef Moody has San Diego connections as he graduated from Torrey Pines High School before enrolling at CIA at Hyde Park. Already during his time at CIA he worked for Ludo at L’Orangerie. After some years in the restaurant industry he decided to change fields and started working in the financial sector after earning a degree in economics. But after a few years he realized that his true interest was really in the restaurant business, got back in touch with Ludo and worked first as line cook and then as sous chef at LudoBites. Seeing the success of the pop-up restaurant concept he decided to move it to San Diego. He choose St. Germain’s Café in Encinitas as the location for <strong>Relate - San Diego’s first pop-up restaurant</strong>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5220/5440292382_ae618c2bb0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5220/5440292382_ae618c2bb0.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">St. Germain’s Café is located on the Pacific Coast Highway close to the city center of Encinitas. The signs of the café are hard to miss whereas only a few small signs show that during the night this is the home of the Relate Restaurant</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5017/5439690077_9f7c975bb2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5017/5439690077_9f7c975bb2.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">About 1/3 of the seats are located outside on the patio where some heating lamps help to make the area comfortable. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4139/5440292998_11e0787997.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4139/5440292998_11e0787997.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The inside of the restaurant reminds that it is during the day a café with its rustic table and chairs. Overall the ambience was lively and at the same time relaxed. It’s a nice feature to be able to see Chef Moody throughout the night work between the kitchen and the front of the house coordinating everything. He also took the time to visit every table at least once during the service. Relate has every night a five course tasting menu with the possibility to add one or two extra dishes.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5140/5439690649_84a71a59e1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5140/5439690649_84a71a59e1.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Amuse Bouche: “French Onion Soup”</div><div style="text-align: justify;">A regular French onion soup has bread surrounded by the liquid. This amuse bouche was a clever play on an inverse soup where the bread is surrounding the liquid. Once you bite on the pillow the warm onion soup is oozing out. A very promising start of the tasting menu.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5211/5440294748_eff45acb9d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5211/5440294748_eff45acb9d.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">1st Course: Foie gras & chicken liver mousse, sautéed apples, onion jam, baby lettuce, golden beet vinaigrette.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Even though foie gras and chicken liver mousse both start from livers they have quite distinct different flavors. Mixing them together in one mousse blurred the unique character of both. It might have been better to have both mousses on one plate but separated. One of them could have a sweet pairing with the sautéed apple whereas the second mousse would have worked nicely with a more savory onion jam. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5297/5439691639_20db12433f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5297/5439691639_20db12433f.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Supplement: Crispy escargots on toast with garlic crème anglaise.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We decided to order one extra course with the crispy escargots. The escargots were indeed crispy without being rubbery which is often a problem with escargots. The garlic crème anglaise was a good idea for the classic pairing of escargots and garlic but would have needed a stronger garlic taste. The toast was very crispy which reminded us of zwieback and overshadowed the crispiness of the escargots. A softer toast could have also been soaked up with some garlic preparation to intensify the garlic flavor. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4146/5439692231_dfa0193848.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4146/5439692231_dfa0193848.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">2nd Course: Seared local redrock, white bean puree, wilted kale, garam masala buerre blanc.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nicely seared fish with a crispy outside and moist flesh was accompanied with some earthy bean puree and slightly bitter kale. What really brought the dish together was the garam masala of buerre blanc. It added an interesting and unexpected flavor to the dish without overpowering any of the other components and made the dish come alive.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5292/5439692601_84e50d8dbc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5292/5439692601_84e50d8dbc.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">3rd Course: Sauteed scallop, miso lentils, baby bok choy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Lentils are a versatile ingredient as they add texture to a dish and also some background flavor without dominating everything. Therefore they are often paired with milder tasting proteins like fish or in this case with perfectly sautéed lightly sweet scallops. At the same time lentils can be combined with many different spices to steer a dish in a certain direction, e.g. adding some curry gives the dish an Indian touch, cumin can be reminiscent of North African influences and adding miso shows some Japanese/Asian direction. The baby bok choi helped to accentuate this influence but unfortunately the miso flavor wasn’t noticeable in this dish and left us with good ingredients but compared to the previous dish where the garam masala elevated the dish this time it felt flat.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5138/5439693199_c7bb0085f6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5138/5439693199_c7bb0085f6.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">4th Course: Spiced beef, spinach avocado puree, crispy porcini spaetzle, green flash double stout gastrique.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This was perhaps the most balanced dish of the night. Very tender beef cooked to rare/medium rare had a spice coating which gave the beef an interesting spicy kick. The creamy spinach avocado puree had a bitter undertone which together with the green flash double stout gastrique complemented the spicy beef. The crispy spaetzle with a discernible porcini flavor was a fitting side.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5171/5440297128_6bf516a119.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5171/5440297128_6bf516a119.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">5th Course: Mascarpone mousse napoleon, lemon, dragon fruit, orange.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Good variation on mille-feuille with light puff pastry and mascarpone cream which together with the lemon jam made a flavorful “filling”. The orange slices added some fruitiness to the desserts whereas the dragon fruit were nice to look at but didn’t add much to the dish.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We went to San Diego’s first pop-up restaurant without really knowing what to expect. Pop-up restaurants have the reputation to often try to push the limits of the culinary expectations. At the same time San Diego isn’t really known to be a successful place for overly creative restaurants. So the question for us was what Chef Moody and his team at Relate would think about this situation and how they would position the restaurant. After experiencing the first tasting menu at Relate we had the feeling that we weren’t the only ones to have this question. It appeared that Chef Moody asked himself the same question without really having a clear answer and used, understandably, the first round of Relate restaurant to test the situation in San Diego. As a consequence Relate’s first incarnation was a solid presentation without any major missteps but also without any really memorable dishes. The execution of the dishes was overall solid but also felt often as if Chef Moody’s creativity was muted and he downplayed any sparkles of culinary excitements in favor of playing it safe. The amuse bouche and the beef course showed where a future direction of Relate might lead to but too often we had the feeling that Chef Moody wasn’t willing yet to do the last 2-3 steps within a dish to make it special. Even though San Diego isn’t known as the stronghold of culinary creativity there are still quite a number of excellent restaurants as <a href="http://twofoodiesonejourney.blogspot.com/2010/11/blanca-san-diego-seven-course-tasting.html">Blanca</a>, Kitchen 1540, George’s, Cavaillon, and <a href="http://twofoodiesonejourney.blogspot.com/2010/03/fort-ross-wine-dinner-at-cafe-chloe-san.html">Café Chloe</a>, and it is obvious Chef Moody with his ambitious cooking style is targeting a similar customer base as these restaurant but it will be necessary for Relate to step up the game in the future to be really able to compete with these restaurants. Overall it would be too early and unfair to judge Relate’s quality after the first round which more or less is just a get to know between San Diego and the restaurant. It will be interesting to see which direction Chef Moody is planning to go – focusing on pop-up restaurants as a novel concept for San Diego and relying on this type of restaurants as an event for the success or just seeing pop-up restaurants as vehicle to present excellent cuisine. But we are glad that Chef Moody was willing to take the risk and expose San Diego to the concept of pop-up restaurants and we are looking forward to follow and participate in future iterations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.relaterestaurant.com/">Relate Restaurant (at St. Germain’s Café) </a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">1010 S Coast Highway 101 # 103</div>Encinitas, CA 92024-5067<br />
(760) 753-5411TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-59988556180878272382011-02-06T20:13:00.000-08:002011-02-06T20:14:57.807-08:00Conchiglie with Roasted Cauliflower, Arugula, and Prosciutto<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Everybody knows that vegetables and fruits are good for you. They give us a wide range of important and valuable substances, like vitamins, carbohydrates, minerals, fiber and phytochemicals. From a young age one is always encouraged to eat your vegetables and Michael Pollan, who in recent years really helped to shape awareness in the US about the interplay of food, diet and environment, summed it up best with “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants”. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We eat out in restaurants quite frequently and even though we hardly have any limitations on what we eat and often prefer vegetable-focused dishes it still means that we eat quite a lot of meat at those dinners. As a consequence we tend to balance it by often cooking vegetarian dishes or dishes with hardly any meat at home. There are many vegetables which have a unique flavor and can stand at their own in a dish but on the other side there are also vegetables which have only a very subtle and easily missed own flavor, like cauliflower. Those vegetables could either be used in a dish with strong spices where they act more in the background or one could find a way to amplify the once subtle flavor of the vegetable so that it now can stand in the limelight. One way we often use to accomplish that is by roasting vegetables. The key for a successful roasting is the use of dry heat which is necessary to start the Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction describes the reaction between a carbohydrate molecule and an amino acid. This reaction forms an unstable intermediate which after undergoing further changes produces myriads of diverse products. These products result in the browning and the characteristic flavor of roasted vegetables. The Maillard reaction can only start to occur at temperatures above 120 °C/250 °F which is above the boiling point of water and explains why boiled or steamed vegetables can’t produce this intense flavor. In addition, roasting also is responsible for the evaporation of water within the vegetables which will help to concentrate and again intensify the flavors. This dish of <strong>conchiglie with roasted cauliflower, arugula, and prosciutto</strong> is a nice example of the how roasting can accentuate the flavors of cauliflowers so that it has no problem to hold up against strong tasting ingredients as sage, arugula or prosciutto.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5054/5420392106_db6c24323e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5054/5420392106_db6c24323e.jpg" /></a></div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This seemingly simple pasta dish combines a surprising wide array of flavors. The roasting gave the cauliflower its characteristic “caramelized” yet slightly sweet flavor. Roasting grape tomatoes help to lower their acidity and boost their natural sweetness which worked in concert with the cauliflower. This sweetness is balanced by the peppery taste of arugula and the saltiness of the prosciutto. What really made this dish special was the inclusion of sage. Sage has a very unique and complex flavor profile combining hints of bitterness with savory and minty tones which can often dominate dishes and overshadow other ingredients. In this dish it is clearly discernible but at the same time supports the flavors of the other ingredients. A light red wine would accompany this dish perfectly.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5212/5420389902_83c3806ed2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5212/5420389902_83c3806ed2.jpg" /></a></div>Pulse sage and garlic in a food processor until minced. Add prosciutto and pulse until chopped. Preheat oven to 220 °C/425 °F.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5136/5419784425_368ac24e89.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5136/5419784425_368ac24e89.jpg" /></a></div>Mix cauliflower, grape tomatoes, olive oil, ¾ tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper and spread vegetables in a single layer on baking sheet. Toast in the oven for 15 minutes stirring twice.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5053/5419785281_7f4ca9deb3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5053/5419785281_7f4ca9deb3.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Add prosciutto-sage mixture to cauliflower and roast for 8 minutes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5134/5420392596_af4177d8d7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5134/5420392596_af4177d8d7.jpg" /></a></div>Cook conchiglie until al dente. Reserve one cup of pasta-cooking water. Drain pasta and return to pot. Mix pasta with roasted vegetable mixture, arugula, cheese and some pasta water. Season with salt and pepper.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Recipe adapted from “Fine Cooking”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Serves 4</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Medium-sized cauliflower, cored and cut into ¾-inch florets</div><div style="text-align: justify;">500 g (1 pint) grape tomatoes</div><div style="text-align: justify;">3 tbsp olive oil</div><div style="text-align: justify;">9 large sage leaves</div><div style="text-align: justify;">4 large garlic cloves, peeled</div><div style="text-align: justify;">120 g (4 oz) prosciutto</div><div style="text-align: justify;">150 g (5 oz) arugula</div><div style="text-align: justify;">340 g (12 oz) dried conchiglie pasta</div><div style="text-align: justify;">80 g (3 oz) Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated</div>TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224056881699805035.post-20448997362092398522011-01-30T21:24:00.000-08:002011-01-30T21:24:44.280-08:00Blanca (San Diego) – Snout-to-Tail Dinner or Meeting San Diego Chows<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There were a few reasons for us why we decided to start our own food blog. Over the years we have visited many fascinating and interesting restaurants covering high-end to hole-in-the-wall places and many different cuisines from around the world. We often talk about particular interesting dishes and visits but also realized that more and more we had problems to remember when we had which dish or how it compared to a similar dish. Starting a food blog helped us to continuously take some notes of our restaurant visits and also take photos of all dishes. It’s similar with our cooking. We have many cookbooks at home and love to cook from them. Even when we make similar dishes we hardly ever repeat a recipe but always try some new variations. Our food blog “forces” us now to capture our cooking work with photos. Besides capturing all our culinary adventures the food blog is a helpful creative outlet for us. Working as scientists is definitely interesting and also includes creativity in research, but often a more confined and targeted one. Writing and photographing is a much more free-flowing form of creativity which creates a nice counterbalance for us. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In addition to giving us the possibility of looking back to previous restaurant visits and cooked dishes, a food blog is also a nice way to share some of our experiences with our family and friends far away. Even when we lived in Germany we already had quite an interest in restaurants and cooking but it really got more and more serious since we moved to San Diego about ten years ago. It was always a bit unsatisfactory to talk in detail about the latest dish we cooked or had in a restaurant when we only could describe it roughly – the blog helped to change this. Interestingly, since we started our blog we now also get photos from restaurant visits from our family from time to time. But beyond our family we also hoped that the food blog would give us a possibility to meet other people who are interested in food, might it be virtually or even better in person. After we posted about our <a href="http://twofoodiesonejourney.blogspot.com/2010/11/blanca-san-diego-seven-course-tasting.html">recent visit at Blanca in Solana Beach</a> on Chowhound rather quickly an interesting discussion evolved which centered around the interest of many posters to have some kind of get-together. After we moved the discussion to the <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SDChow">San Diego Chow Group</a> and Chef Gavin Schmidt from Blanca joined the discussion all those thoughts substantiated rapidly, and we decided to have a special <strong>Snout-to-Tail Dinner at Blanca</strong>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5216/5394653409_cb44cfb948.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5216/5394653409_cb44cfb948.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5216/5395249334_c04ba96ace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5216/5395249334_c04ba96ace.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The snout-to tail dinner took place in the private dining room of Blanca which provided a quiet and intimate ambience for all twelve participating foodies. After a few introductory words from Chef Gavin and proprietor Seth Baas the night started with an array of canapés: plate of a variety of excellent charcuterie covering pork and lamb, profiteroles filled with pork and goat cheese, lettuce cups with crispy pork, garlic pork sausage with cabbage and mustard, chicharrone taco with bbq pork and house made kimchi. The canapé selection showed a nice variety from different ethnic influences and was a good play on different street foods. It was hard to agree on a highlight since all of them were excellent, but it was especially nice to have some excellent blood sausage which unfortunately isn’t often seen on restaurant menus. Chef Gavin’s take on the current trend on combining Korean with Mexican influenced street food was also memorable.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5174/5394654027_89c0b08c52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5174/5394654027_89c0b08c52.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Amuse Bouche: smoked potato foam, pork kidney, house made prosciutto, caviar.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Good combination of the mild prosciutto and the very good kidney which didn’t have a too strong uric acid aftertaste like other preparations we had before. The caviar gave the dish some slight saltiness whereas the potato foam wasn’t just an often seen gimmick but added some base to the dish.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5176/5394654327_d2e6d75e06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5176/5394654327_d2e6d75e06.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Skin Salad: fried pork skin with baby vegetables in various forms.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This was a smaller version of a related dish we also had at the last tasting menu at Blanca and was a nice showcase of the broad spectrum of cooking styles Chef Gavin is using – on one side the focus on unadulterated local produce where the taste of each vegetable is important and on the other side modern techniques as spherification to encapsulate a yogurt-chamomile mixture as part of the dish. A very strong dish for us by itself, and even though this dinner was pork themed we felt that although the fried pork skin was a nice idea which added some textural variety, it distracted too much from the rest of the dish.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5253/5394654603_b87ca39908.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5253/5394654603_b87ca39908.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Dichotomy of the Pig Head: plan vs. impulse, conform vs. deviate, tradition vs. unknown….and sassafrass.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The description of this dish on the menu was intriguing but left many possibilities on what to expect. The dish turned out to be a mélange of different preparations of parts of pig head. Sous-vide cooked torchon of head meat which was reminiscent of good headcheese. In red wine braised cheek which was very tender and had a mild flavor. Excellent smoked tongue and, as a highlight between many good preparations, pickled and fried pig ear which was much more tender and flavorful than any pig ear preparation we had before.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5214/5395250520_0834bba205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5214/5395250520_0834bba205.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Blood and Flowers: pork trotter, blood, cocoa, nasturtium.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The pork trotter as a deep-fried gelantinous preparation reminded us of a similar presentation at Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles. The two different sauces alone had very different characteristics – the nasturtium sauce had some spiciness whereas the cocoa-pork blood sauce presented some minerality and depth. Both sauces alone didn’t really work with the pork trotter but once you mixed them they were a perfect match for the richness of the trotters.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4145/5394655083_79b31ecb09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4145/5394655083_79b31ecb09.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Chowder: Pancetta and potato broth, various clams, jowl and razor clam “ravioli”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another nice example of using modern techniques to enhance a dish – Chef Gavin created the ravioli by encapsulating a razor clam between two pieces of pork jowl using transglutaminase, also known as meat glue. This dish had as a foundation an outstanding pancetta and potato broth where one clearly could taste both main ingredients. The different clams, ravioli and potatoes added some additional layers of flavors without overpowering each other – a very strong dish.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4150/5394655425_48d8b3a063.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4150/5394655425_48d8b3a063.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Surf and Turf: seared rock cod, pork cider jus, pork belly, apple</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Perfectly seared rock cod with moist flesh and very crispy skin was paired with sous-vide cooked tender pork belly. The cider jus added some slight sweetness to balance the richness of the pork belly.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5298/5394655777_e6f9dd3622.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5298/5394655777_e6f9dd3622.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Grilled Pork Chop: Brassicas, parmesan, picholine vinaigrette</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Very flavorful pork chop which was tender and had the right amount of fat to make it flavorful. This dish showed once more Chef Gavin’s ability to work with vegetables and make them an integral part of a dish. The smoked cauliflower with parmesan puree and the different brassicas stole the show of this dish and were good just by themselves.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5300/5394656101_d095cc7564.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5300/5394656101_d095cc7564.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Dumpling: braised hock, foie gras, truffle dashi</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It’s always a good sign if in restaurant a dish is presented in a covered bowl. Normally one can expect a strongly fragrant dish and this time was no exception. Once the lids were removed a wonderful smell of truffles pervaded the dining room at Blanca. The shaved black truffle and truffled dashi were perfectly accompanied by foie gras and a braised hock dumpling - another highlight in an astonishing tasting menu.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4150/5395252044_b19f060224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4150/5395252044_b19f060224.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">A Day on the Farm: soil, seed, sprout, root, flower</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This dish is most likely the most written about creation from Blanca and kind of the signature dish of Chef Gavin. For this dish the chef came into the room presenting a whole roasted pork shoulder. It was than carved tableside and laid atop the other components of the dish – a wide array of vegetables and flowers as well as some “soil” made out of among other things ground cocoa nibs. The roasted pork shoulder and the vegetables were excellent and we liked the conceptional idea of the soil but thought that the dish contained too much of it and that its flavor distracted from those of the meat and the vegetables.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5014/5395252378_a3323e76a3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5014/5395252378_a3323e76a3.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pumpkin Pie 2011: Tahitian squash frozen meringue, bacon brittle, spiced chichacones, maple ice cream.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">A fall/winter inspired dessert with a very light squash based meringue as the foundation of the “pumpkin pie”. The five-spiced chicharrones and the bacon brittle added some salti- and spiciness to the dish as well as textural variety. The maple ice cream completed the pie with some sweetness.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5212/5394657141_64c4195110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5212/5394657141_64c4195110.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Mignardises: Blood Orange Truffles</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a pig centered tasting menu even the mignardises have to include parts of the pig. Here the truffles not only contained orange, cocoa and chocolate but also some pork blood which added a hint of minerality to this fitting end of the night.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">After our excellent first tasting menu we came with high expectations to Blanca and were hoping for a continuation of this experience. But already the first plates of the canapés ensured us that we would be part of a memorable night. This tasting menu enforced our impression of Gavin as a chef who has the confidence and experience to develop his own style but at the same time adapt it to his surroundings. His dishes combine all kinds of modern and classic techniques but also involve ingredients special to this area. It was also very nice and helpful that he took the time to explain all of his dishes before they were served. Something, which is of course impossible under normal circumstances, but would be a great addition to any tasting menu. The great experience didn’t end at the kitchen but everybody made sure that we had a smooth dinner – Seth provided us with a good and balanced wine pairing, explaining each wine and his thoughts for the choices. The service was flawless and we never felt rushed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">At least as important as the food for us was the opportunity to meet some of the people we knew from discussion boards. It’s nice to meet others in the virtual world but in the end it only allows for very limited interaction and so it was interesting to see the people behind names like SDGourmand, Dining Diva, stevuchan, Shouzen and karaethon. Everybody at this dinner felt that this shouldn’t be just a one-time event. As part of this initiative a new San Diego / South California message board <a href="http://www.thecommunal-table.com/">(“The Communal Table”)</a> was created which not only should help to facilitate such dinners but also initiate a more open discussion between all parts of the dining experience, e.g. chefs, guests, and waiters. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.dineblanca.com/serving/up/flash/">Blanca</a> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">437 S Highway 101 # 301 </div>Solana Beach, CA 92075-2221<br />
(858) 792-0072TWO FOODIES – ONE JOURNEYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05574705719639113447noreply@blogger.com2