chairbc's Profile
rusted cast iron
tried this yesterday, your approach looked simple enough (and I have cooking oil in house, but not Crisco); results looked fine,thanks.
rusted cast iron
Our story so far:
The outside (emphasize: NOT the cooking surface) of a cast iron skillet has rusted.
I've cleaned the rust off with an SOS pad, water, and steel wool. and dried it as thoroughly as I can.
What is the next step to protect the outside (again, NOT the cooking surface) for the future?
I'm guessing some kind of oil and maybe putting in a low oven for some time.
But what kind of oil? neutral cooking oil? something else?
thanks in advance
oysters
mmm, Bar Crudo, mmm, went there once in its original location, have always meant to go back, thanks
oysters
any Hounds have rec's on where to enjoy raw oysters around SF these days? (aside from Zuni, Ferry Plaza and Waterbar, that is, all of which are great; but we already know them.) thanks
Noriega Hotel in Bakersfield - a great experience
Made a return visit about a week ago...and...everything was "the same", lots of food, great chatter around the communal dining tables, $20 each for mammoth amounts of food, people making nostalgic returns to a place they'd loved years ago, great soup, great fries, good fried chicken (stringy oxtails), plentiful red wine, happy sounds...and the place was only about 2/3 full on a Saturday night. No idea what to make of this.
seeking recommendation for private cook
Am considering hiring a private cook/chef/caterer to prepare dinner for my Life Partner, myself, and up to four (maybe six?) other people as a birthday gift to her. Dinner or more likely lunch on a Sunday (but dinner-type, not brunch-type dishes). this would be in an urban house in San Francisco proper. Any recommendations from fellow Chowhounders? Almost any style or cuisine would be considered at this stage; almost any price range. thanks in advance.
Dinner near de Young museum?
I was thinking--should have said it--in terms of driving to Clement. Yeah, it's a hike to not be undertaken lightly...but having dinner at the DeYoung, that's a golden idea. should try it my own self one time.
Dinner near de Young museum?
and if Clement Street isn't too far (north of the Park), there are many-many choices, Asian and otherwise, between Arguello and 10th Avenue. or Cinderella Bakery and Cafe (Russian) on Balboa is fairly close http://www.cinderellabakery.com/
Need recs for Napa Valley and Sonoma for end of Jan/2012
Della Fattoria is great for lunch as well
Christmas Week in the northern Napa Valley
Calistoga Hot Springs Spa has posted pictures of their rebuild on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CalistogaSpa
Christmas Week in the northern Napa Valley
This is a report on Christmas-week eating in the Napa Valley.
We drove up from San Francisco on Monday, the 19th, and my original idea was to give a day-by-day narrative…but (a) that’s boring because (b) we actually brought a lot of leftovers from home, so you would have been subjected to “Tuesday dinner we had soup in our room.”
So, instead, institution-by-institution:
Brassica, St. Helena.
We had lunch on the way up, at Cindy Pawlcyn’s Brassica, south of St. Helena. This is Ms. Pawlcyn’s second try at an eatery in the space—the first being Go Fish, at which we had lunched a few years back, and recall enjoying, but somehow we never made it back to. Brassica is Mediterranean-themed, a pair of big, airy, high-ceilinged rooms, one with a bar (probably seats ten people but looks small in the space) and high, round tables with stools; the other a more conventional dining room.
We had glasses of Domaine Carneros Brut and perused the menu.
We wound up ordering, to share
Persimmon-Pomegranate salad
Pork Tonnato
Pizza with chantrelles (wonderful)
Lamb kebabs with a spicy eggplant relish
And 500 ml of Rossi Wallace Pinot Noir.
The kebabs were the low point; the Pinot the high point. Indeed, we later bought a couple bottles for our “cellar” at St. Helena Wine Center.
I give the restaurant points for the Tonnato dish—a take on the Florentine Vitello Tonnato, only using thin slices of pork shoulder. Could have been more piquant, in my view.
The Pinot by the way, was from a section of the wine list devoted to area wineries that don’t have their own tasting rooms. Brassica is their tasting room; the offerings come in sizes of 2 oz, 5 oz, 500 ml, etc., a trend that I think is great.
Oh, and I had an affogato—espresso poured, at the table, over almond ice cream. Would order that again in a nanosecond.
Total cost: about $120 including tip.
Now, I’m a huge CP fan—once asked a waitress at Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen if Ms. Pawlcyn would adopt me—but I don’t know; I don’t know. There are a lot of Mediterranean-themed places in this world, and especially in the Napa Valley, and Brassica/Go Fish is a huge space, as I wrote above and the dining room was only 40% filled while we were there (arrived 12:30, left a bit before 2 PM; interestingly enough, more women than men in the hall). I think CP’s food works better when the atmosphere is bustling—as it is at Backstreet. Maybe if they closed off one of the rooms…
Solbar, at Solage Resort, Calistoga:
Wednesday, we went to Solbar for breakfast.
Oh, my: great meal.
Herself had “Mountain Climber”: eggs, spaetzle, spinach, fontina, breadcrumbs (with bacon in them), served in a cast iron casserole.
I had “Fish Camp”: trout with poached eggs, spinach, hollandaise (with some horseradish), red potatoes and arugula. Possibly the best trout dish I’ve ever eaten—and I may like trout more than anyone else on the planet. (technically, I think the eggs were soft-boiled in their shells—but that’s just fine by me.)
Great coffee (French press, and a second pot was provided gratis), kind and casual service, a visit from the chef (“mountain climber is supposed to have a ski-lodge vibe”), good views of the hills, good art on the walls, beautiful space, $60 including a slight over-tip.
Brannan’s, Calistoga
We went to Brannan’s twice for dinner. It’s basically a steak-house-style place (caribou head over a stone fireplace; Prairie-style light fixtures; moody lighting; huge carved-wood bar, etc.), which used to strike me as out of place in Calistoga. But it seems to be the most consistently crowded of the many restaurants along Lincoln Avenue, and we’ve come to make it part of our routine.
For Wednesday dinner, it turns out that Brannan’s has a three-course crab special ($29.95)—indeed, there’s a $29.95 three-course special every night during this season, and while I was planning on the crab, my sun-and-stars had her mind set on one of the other choices.
Turned out there are multiple choices every night except Wednesday.
So…we each had a Sapphire martini, and she had:
Cesar salad
Steamed clams
And I had the crab special:
mixed greens with a mustard vinaigrette
A whole crab, arriving at the table still warm
Crème brulee.
And we shared a bottle of Honig Sauvignon Blanc.
Comments: this might have been my first-ever experience with a whole crab in a restaurant (we cook and eat a couple whole Dungeness crabs at home each year). When I took the carapace off this one, it had been cleaned beautifully: no gills, no yellow fat, entrails, etc. taking it apart and eating it at the table was a lot of fun.
It came with drawn butter, which don’t like that much and they substituted mayo for me without a problem. And my beloved’s clams came with a mystery glass of something that proved to be beer—strange side dish and she ignored it. She declared the clams perfectly fine.
Cost in dollars? About $125.
Christmas Eve we were back, and this time both had the $29.95 special—salad, lamb shank (“Viking-style” our waitress said) with polenta and kale; and crème brulee. I added a side of roasted marrow bone; we started with glasses of sparkling wine and also had a bottle of Napa Valley Tempranillo, maker forgotten.
The marrow was an experiment that may not be repeated, though it was okay (texture from the protein; taste from a sauce verte of capers and parsley; crunch from toast points). The shanks were large and cooked so the meat came right off the bone and melted in the mouth.
Overall? $177-ish.
An observation from both nights: cream/milk based desserts don’t strike me as good a idea after either of those mains. Something tart and fruit-based might be better—perhaps the sorbets Brannan’s has on the menu. But, y’know?, we shared & gobbled the crème brulees up both times, and went back to our room happy.
Hydro Grill
Hydro is another of our regular spots. Comfort food, good beer, interesting scenes at neighboring tables. That was Thursday’s dinner: burgers for both of us, and different draft beers. These were all a burger should be: comforting and fun to eat. And the scene—locals and visitors—at Hydro is always worth the price of admission: local gossip, people playing cards, sports on TV. (Fact: first time we ever heard of LeBron James was at the bar at Hydro….)
Cal Mart
Cal Mart—a supermarket--is another of our traditions: sandwiches and salads to eat by the pool. I look forward especially to their roast beef and to their wild-rice salad. We had take-out from Cal Mart three times during the week: I’m adding quinoa salad to the list of looked-forward-to dishes.
Calistoga Inn
This is the brew pub/restaurant/bath-down-the-hall Inn at Lincoln Avenue and Cedar Streets. Used to be one of our spots—including that we stayed upstairs several times. Last visit, we swore off on the Calistoga Inn restaurant (thought the service was too chummy and the food arrived cold); but we like the bar and dropped in twice to kibitz and enjoy martinis, a Belgian-style seasonal ale; and a couple local wines-by-the-glass.
Calistoga Village Bakery
We got scones or muffins from Village Bakery a couple of times—gingerbread persons, too—and enjoyed same thoroughly. Their ginger scones were a revelation.
Checkers
Our last night was Christmas—the 25th—and there were only three places open in downtown Calistoga. After some scouting of the menus, we picked Checkers. Now, I’ve avoided this place in the past, as too-brightly-lit and decorated with cartoonish bric-a-brac.
Big mistake (the avoiding), as this proved a great, relatively light and casual, last-evening meal.
A salad with random greens, goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts
A pizza with pesto, sun-dried tomatoes--and pine nuts.
A bottle of Joel Gott Zinfandel
And it was great. Every bite full of energy, attentive but not overwhelming service—and the cartoon stuff I recall seeing from the street in past years has been replaced with vintage French and Italian posters, and the brightly lit spot was warm and smile-inducing.
Total bill: about $66, including tip. And my better half observed, as she did at Brannan’s, that half the bill was, ahem, alcohol.
Market, in St. Helena
On our way home, on Boxing Day, we took an early lunch at Market. Now, I’ve loved this restaurant since the day we were sitting at the bar (eating the daily special, for the record) and I heard a fellow two stools away saying, “Well, Tom Seaver came by my vineyard over the weekend and….”
So our lunch was:
My better half: the daily special of
creamed black bean soup
chicken salad on toasted sourdough
a rice-crispies treat
and I had…a burger and fries, the nice thing about which (she observed) was that the aioli and mustard were in little dishes, not bottles plopped on the table. Also the quality of the beef, the grilled onions, the…
Water and espressoes (espressi?) and we were good to go.
Of further note was that one fellow patron was on a motorized scooter thing; and there was at least one small child in another party…and the staff accommodated them all with no fuss whatsoever. And it came to: $ 43.00 more or less.
Spa/hotel
For years we’ve made the Calistoga Spa Hot Springs our base in the valley. Each time, we think, we’ll go wine-tasting, we’ll go to this or that; most visits, we check in, and don’t use the car again for a week, and it’s perfect. Kitchenettes in the rooms; four pools to choose from; a range of spa treatments including mud, massage, and reflexology, what could more could a person want? Well Calistoga Spa Hot Springs has rebuilt its hot pools and deck area, adding a fire feature to the latter—and has become even better.
To sum up
Positive rec’s
Solbar
Brannan’s
Cal Mart
Hydro
Village Bakery
Checkers
Market
Rec’s with reservations
Brassica
Calistoga Inn (The bar)
negatives
none
Best place to eat in Hayes Valley, pre-symphony
Caffe Delle Stella has a number of non-meat pastas and other dishes--and salads and appetizers--on the menu and we have always had good pre-performance experiences there.
http://www.dellestelle.com/images/1-2010%20dinner%20pdf.pdf
Dim Sum in Chinatown
based on remarks in this thread, the Better Half and I, visiting from San Francisco, organized today around getting to Nom Wah Tea Parlor mid-day. Enjoyed the experience, ... Gave our name to the owner, were advised to wait in the street, found the wait tolerable.
at the table, were presented with an ordering form and two laminated menus that showed actual pictures of the dishes. good idea.
We had:
* scallion pancakes
House special pan fried dumplings
turnip cake
* shrimp and snow pea leaf dumplings (steamed)
pork shu mi
( * indicates a dish we thought was particularly special)
Herself felt some of the dishes could have been more flavorful (I was going to disagree, except in the moment, I was dipping a bit of turnip cake in hot sauce...). Service was a little slow and herky-jerk, and a couple times food runners started to leave dishes we had not ordered on our table.
But that's no big deal.
Do wish there were a free-tea option. Did like the decor and watching the scenes at other tables. (Families, dates, groups.)
would we go back? yes.
Would we recommend? quite likely.
If we were going for dim sum with other people who had some other place in mind, would we kick and scream and demand Nom Wah? likely not.
But I like the back story a lot (owner's family opened the place; he was working in the finance industry but really wanted to do restaurants, he did stages in dim sum places in SF and elsewhere, he took it over when his uncle wanted out...).
it was a good experience.
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Nom Wah Tea Parlor
13 Doyers St, New York, NY 10013
Gotham Bar & Grill
RCC: good point on the wine identity. the waiter had said "Rhone-style," and (but?) the on-line menu identified the grapes as reported...in any case, it was wonderful....I'm considering changing the "best meal ever" entry in my profile.
this is a copy-and-paste off said online menu: Sangiovese/Merlot "Muschén" Selvagrossa Marche, Italy
Gotham Bar & Grill
the lovely MsMargaret and I had dinner at GB&G last night...superb in every aspect. Our table wasn't ready when we arrived, so they bought us a prosecco at the bar. elegant start. when we did get seated--side-by-side, facing the room from a banquet, another elegant touch--we ordered a la carte:
herself: seared foie gras with an Oregon Pinot Noir; seared Halibut with a white wine (Falanghina) from the Campagna region).
myself smoked sea trout with that Italian white; and roasted duck with a Rhone-style red from Italy (Sangiovese/Merlot blend).
together: a melon ice cream sundae.
every bite, it seemed like there was something new on the tongue; service was efficient and unobtrusive, our waiter was attentive in a good way, answered many-many questions, etc. etc., the other diners were interesting to look at and aside from a job interview, I'm pretty sure, to my right (the guy who did ALL the talking probably didn't get it), we could hear that people were talking but not what they said.
all together, a great experience.
the nick? $215 for two plus a hefty tip.
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Gotham Bar and Grill
12 East 12th Street, New York, NY 10003
48 hours in San Antonio, help me narrow it down
and the next day, we had lunch at Limon in the hotel Valencia...went in for the advertised paella special...but as this "next day" was a Saturday, this wasn't available. Our waiter, John Molina (if I remember correctly; he gave us a card, asking to be mentioned by name in evaluations on Trip Advisor, but TA required setting up an account, and I have enough of those, so this mention will have to serve...)...JM suggested a group of other dishes, we went with those, and had a great time:
>crab cake
>quesadilla with venison and raspberry vinagrette ("Bambi makes a nice lunch," JM said)
>avocado salad.
we each had a glass of California sauv blanc and walked out smiling.
one reason might have been the decor: greys and metal colors in cool, rectilnear forms throughout the dining room. Another might have been the sheer quiet of the space after the hubbub and heat of the Riverwalk.
48 hours in San Antonio, help me narrow it down
Il Sogno is mentioned several places in the Texas board. this San Francisco-based hound & the lovely Ms Margaret, and a San Antonioan friend had dinner there this evening. excellent-excellent. want to thank the various Chowhound posters who have mentioned the place.
we shared five small appetizers off the mixed antipasto table (a beautiful pea-and-mint puree; bread salad; goat cheese marinated on roasted pepper; fennel and I think apple salad; and roasted cauliflower, which had a mild Indian spicing); a three-leaf salad (chicory, endive and I think Treviso?); and a spectacular, soothing mushroom and onion-marmalade pizza. also a torte with Nutela and really strong, dark chocolate. two bottles (yeah, well...) of Montepulciano, and I had an espresso (driving).
the cost? I'm not entirely sure as our friend treated.
a very very cool touch I've never seen before: when tap water is brought to the table, the waiter also brings a tray of sliced cucumber and citrus, and offers you your choice to flavor your individual glass.
highly recommended.
Noriega Hotel in Bakersfield - a great experience
there used to be a lot more than two Basque restaurants here in SF--of the Noriega style, let's say; I can recall up to four in the mid-1970s--not that it matters, as, yeah, that era has passed. people keep opening up-market Basque-inspired places and some are fabulous (Fringale), some run a couple years and don't make it...
Stockton Recommendations
As a San Franciscan, just home from two nights in Stockton, California (Land of the Mall; Land of the Chain Restaurant; Land of Female Beauty through Better Engineering), I wanted to report on three eating experiences. Make that four.
We arrived late Friday morning—in time for lunch before our late-afternoon commitments.
Guided partly by the magazine in our hotel room, we found our way to Dave Wong’s, said to be an award-winner for Chinese food in Stockton. And, y’know? It wasn’t bad at all. In fact, it was one of those just-what-the-doctor-ordered experiences.
Wong’s proved to sport a beautiful suite of rooms, all warm greys, and widely spaced tables, almost every one filled. Businesspeople at one; a cop and associated female at another; a senior-citizen couple directly across from us. There were curtained booths, an luxurious drapery.
This wasn’t linoleum-table Asian food—but pretty upscale stuff, with prices to match. Not daunting, but not cheap. Things like wok-charred vegetables; lettuce cups; Crab Rangoon.
We went simple:Ms M had the House Chow Mein and was delighted. A large plate of noodles, with meats, bok choy, great, freshly-cooked shrimp, etc.
I went for a pea-shoot salad, because the concept sounded pretty cool. Maybe not the greatest choice—the honey-mustard dressing meant it could have been used any kind of greens and you’d never know the difference. But it was refreshing, still (temperatures outside were in the 90s), and generous.
If we lived in Stockton, we’d be back.
http://www.allmenus.com/ca/stockton/54081-dave-wongs/menu/
Wong’s has no website of its own that I can find, but:
2828 W March Lane,
Stockton, CA 95219
(209) 951-1213
For dinner that night, battered by the heat, we went to Mezzo (around the corner from our hotel, as Wong’s was just up the street). The place was full, but they seated us. Everyone around us looked happy, the busperson was generous with the water, we settled in and ordered:
For herself, a beet salad made with Treviso cabbage, other greens, and nuts; and a small Cecca: Angel-hair pasta with a tomato-basil-pinenut sauce. Also: a glass of rosé from Monterey (not a success) and a Petite Syrah from Lodi (better).
I had tuna cruda—a small cake or timbale of marinated tuna, beautiful, with fried won ton skins—and the same pasta. A glass of Albariño from Lodi (great!) and another white, grape and provenance now forgotten.
No coffee or dessert—total about $87 including tip, and we’d be back often if we lived in town.
In fact, heat-battered again on Saturday, we went back, this time with reservations ahead. …again, a great experience.
She had a spinach salad that included apples and nuts; and a three-cheese pasta.
I had a Caprese salad (three different-colored, large tomato slices; several different kinds or maybe ages of Mozzarella, great olive oil, and balsamic vinegar) and Bucatini—pasta with a duck sauce which proved to be the same tomato-with-a-kick sauce as the night before, with chunks of roasted duck (no bones/no fat/no skin) mixed in. Not exactly what I expected, but satisfying, satisfying.
We shared a bottle of rosé from Lodi (a little sweet at first, but went great with the food).
It’s hard to say enough about the care and professionalism of the staff or the casual comfort of the restaurant—in an office park, mind you…
http://www.mezzostockton.com/index.html
So, leaving town on the Sunday, we found Stockton’s Miracle Mile. Seems to have its charms—boutiques and a theater and such. Wanting to fortify ourselves for the drive across the San Joaquin Delta, we stopped at Valley Brewing Company.
Now, brew pubs are brew pubs. These days they can seem interchangeable. There was sports memorabilia all over (a Bobby Hull jersey in Stockton? huh?), exposed brick, pictures of old breweries, menu heavy on the chips and guy food, waitresses who were trashy in a wholesome way. …like that. . But again: favorably impressed.
MsM had a local beer that she described as resembling Newcastle Brown Ale; and a fried eggplant sandwich about which she is still raving (“the eggplant was hot! it was runny! and the tomato was cool!”).
I had their red ale, and would have had several, but for the drive to come; and a tri-tip sandwich. Nice. We both had cole slaw that was good enough to inspire me to make slaw when we got home.
Again: recommended, no question, no hesitation.
http://www.valleybrew.com/
Stockton does not have a great reputation in the rest of California, and I note that commentary in Chowhound tends to gloss over the city in favor of Lodi or to identify food you’d eat while in a hurry going up or down I-5. But Stockton has some things going on; there is no reason to feel stranded when you fetch up there.
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Dave Wong's Restaurant
2828 W March Ln, Stockton, CA 95219
fish question # 2
and in fact we found sardines at a fish market on Clement yesterday--$3.50/#--bought four (they're bigger than I'd expected) and are cooking 'em tonight.
A soft recommendation
Kudos to two favorites in the Marina District that are having "second lives."
These would be Bistro Aix and Baker Street Bistro.
Bistro Aix was closed for quite some time for renovations--not remembering specifically, I'd say close to if not more than a year, leading up to this past October. Y'know how a restaurant that's closed for a while loses momentum? Staff leaves. Customers get distracted. Not here...
We dined at Aix during the soft opening--fabulous. We dined there New Year's Eve--even better. I won't regale anyone with the specific dishes--but everything was brightly and deeply flavored, the staff was energetic and thoughtful, we can't wait to go back.
Best thing? The formerly open back patio is now enclosed. It looks and feels open--but it's warm even on December 31 at 10:30 PM.
Other best thing? Aix did not put on a special New Year's Eve prix-fixe. We could have had small dishes; we could have had a three- or four-course meal, they presented a normal-dining-out flexibility. (We had two courses each; and a bottle of Chablis.)
Baker Street went through a different transition.
Now, this used to be a decent-enough neighborhood French place--comfortable, middle-of-the-road dishes, nice service, etc.
Then--I'm a bit vague on the details--the owner took his operation to another location, the chef (?) took over the space...and...Baker Street has improved, it has really improved. The menu feels larger, and more interesting. We were there one night a couple weeks before Christmas--great steak frites--and again Thursday (charcuterie plate, steak-frites for herself and our friend; confit de canard- for me-I was tempted by cassoulet, which you don't see around here that much, but couldn't pull the trigger--a couple interesting French reds for not a heck of a lot of dollars). Place was packed, which is good; but the meal was nicely paced, the ambience is quiet energy and we will be back there soon, too.
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Baker Street Bistro
2953 Baker St, San Francisco, CA 94123
Bistro Aix
3340 Steiner St, San Francisco, CA 94123
fish question # 2
yes, three different places along Clement Street yesterday; in each case the clerk kinda shrugged and went "no more." then Ms Margaret found this on line
http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/archives/2009/2009-Jul-02/silver-waves-of-sardines-overtake-wharf-two/1/@@index
which suggests I should be on my toes next summer...maybe I should mark my calendar now?
fish question # 2
so the other day I asked "where to buy fresh sardines" in SF and got good answers...now I'm puzzled: WHEN are sardines in season in this area? is the fishery closed right now? (Google searches turn up historical studies of sardine fisheries; technical discussions of sardine genotypes, etc; but nothing very helpful to a guy who wants to buy, roast & eat a couple of 'em with a nice bottle or Arneis...) thanks again?
fish question
thanks all, I was thinking Sun Fat--good store years ago that's become spectacular....didn't realize they have a website (talk about working to a market)...got excellent crab at a good price there a couple weeks ago, will make a beeline after the first. trying Mark Bittman's recipe from this week....
