jbgd's Profile
americanized chinese food in bay area
I’ve been eating high and low Chinese in SF and Oakland for decades and never ordered egg foo young, which seems to exist only in bad jokes about Chinese food. Today, on a whim, I ordered egg foo young at Gold Medal in Oakland. Wow. This classic was soothing and delicious. The Gold Medal special version has slices of char siu, shrimps, and shredded chicken tossed with mung sprouts and threads of onion. The stir fry was bound with scrambled egg. The whole mess was allowed to sit in the wok for awhile to get toasty on one side. The final product is placed upside down into a generic Pyrex pie plate so that the browned dome is on top. It sits in a delicious sauce that tasted a lot like the roasted ducks hanging at the front of the restaurant. Lots of scallions sprinkled on top. Egg foo young’s so Americanized, I was embarrassed to order it, but it tastes so good I have to order it again.
Where can I buy a whole lobe of foie gras?
Update: it seems that this holiday season, the butcher in the Rockridge Market Hall is selling foie gras from Canada, not Sonoma. It's grade A, whole lobes.
Looking for SF source of large volume (5+ L) highest quality Spanish olive oil
maybe I misunderstand your question, but how do you keep that much olive oil fresh for an entire year?
Where can I find fugu in san francisco?
Sushimonster, I love your posts and highly respect your expertise.
The fugu that Masa served me in Oct. was carved apart right in front of us, the various parts set aside for the different courses of fugu that were served through the night. It was definitely not precut flesh. That isn't his style.
Somewhere else I read that fugu is farm-raised in Japan and a non-poisonous variety is brought into the states. If this claim was true, however, you'd see farm-fugu in SF/BayArea sushi bars.
Is there a time of year when fugu is not poisonous? Is that why people speak of a season for fugu?
Where can I find fugu in san francisco?
According to a recent LA post about Urasawa, the only place in the US serving fugu this season is Masa, in NYC. I enjoyed it there in mid-Oct. Out of a 30+ course omakase, Masa served 3 fugu courses that variously used the flesh, liver, skin, and bones. (The liver preparation was historic: one of those dishes you remember for life.)Urasawa served it in previous seasons, but a recent shipment was confiscated by customs, which makes one wonder how fugu gets into the country. This drifts off-board, sorry, but it answers the original question.
Cetrella fried clam alert ... & slow-roasted goose ... anyone else serve goose?
Doesn't this sound great? Chez Panisse tonight:
Thursday, December 7 $65
Wild mushroom tart with frisée and glazed shallots
Monterey squid ragout with leeks and zinfandel
Warm winter salad of Emden goose cooked two ways: grilled breast and leg confit,
with goose liver toast, roasted chestnuts, celery root, and parsnips
Huckleberry soufflé
Best combination of food and view?
I went to the Carnelian Room a year ago, at lunch. The chef at the time was from 231 Ellsworth. The menu had good, basic high-end dishes: porkbelly, fish, duck, etc. It wasn't cutting edge, but everything was delicious, pretty, and well-proportioned on the plate. Technically, there was nothing wrong with anything they served. I had a cumin-scented squash soup that was delish, and a perfectly cooked snapper, with the right proportion of light brown crust to moist flakiness. The sauce was a flawless buerre blanc. The view on a cloudless winter day was stunning. Wine list was interesting. It was totally worth the cost, which, really, was no more expensive than other civilised restaurants at street level. The place was empty. More gourmands should give it a chance. http://carnelianroom.com/page/1a34h/Menus/a_la_Carte.html
Roche Carneros Estate Winery, and Cline Cellars Winery, Sonoma report w/ pics
Wine snobs, relax. Yes, Roche makes some average wines, but ask the tasting room for the Italian guy in the back office (I think his name is Dino). Roche has a unique license where they can also import and distribute wine. Ask for the list of Italian wine. It's under the counter. You can't taste, but you will be able to buy very fine Barolos, Brunellos, etc. that you can't find elsewhere in the Bay Area. If you are a true connoisseur, you will recognize the quality selection. Also, in some years, Roche has bottled a reserve merlot made from Nancy Pelosi's vineyard. It is far better than their regular offerings and now with her elevated standing in DC, an interesting bottle to serve.
Concord, CA chow hole
Last month, walking in the dark trying to find an uncrowded kid-friendly restaurant in WC, we happened on Ephesus. The kids loved everything on the menu. Between 4 of us, we could sample the kitchen's range. Good kid cocktails from the bar. The servers treated our children like adults. There needs to be more restaurants like this: no fried food kids menu, servers who are truly welcoming to kids. Ephesus was a little pricier than the well-known WC chains but the atmosphere and overall graciousness was worth it. Sadly, it was a Sat. night and the place was less than half full, mostly with couples.
Where can I buy a whole lobe of foie gras?
The butcher in Market Hall, Rockridge, sells whole foie gras (A grade) throughout the holiday season. Its from Sonoma. Try Robuchon's whole roasted foie gras recipe in Patricia Well's cookbook from the 1990s.
east bay dinner to please adults and kids?
Thank you. Threads like this remind me of places we pass but seem to forget. Shen Hua was the solution to this puzzle. The restaurant itself is very noisy, but the cocktails are strong. Potstickers and shrimp dumplings had no taste. Other dishes were delicious, but curiously, they didn't taste what they were supposed to taste like. Salt n pepper squid, for example, was nice fried calamari with green onions, but didn't taste like the salt n pepper technique found in most other chinese places. Kung pao beef was also tasty, but it had nothing to do with kung pao beef. On a dare I popped three chilis into my mouth and amazingly, nothing happened. How'd they get dried chilis without a sting? Reasonable prices. Lots of food.
The Elmwood neighborhood makes this the hot spot for kids: Ici icecream, the robot hobby shop, and at night the hamsters and guinea pigs in the petstore window are active. All just a few doors away from Shen Hua.
east bay dinner to please adults and kids?
Where in the east bay can 4 adults enjoy a decent Friday night dinner while 5 kids (ages 6-13) will like the same menu too and will be able to step safely away from the table to do something fun? Chez Panisse with minigolf would be the dream spot. What about reality?
