Monthly Archives: April 2012

Enjoying Foie Gras While You Can, Tomato Seedling Sale & More

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Get it while you can -- duck confit burger with foie gras. (Photo courtesy of the Bank Cafe & Bar)

Chef Ken Frank’s Extravagant Foie Gras Duck Burger

Picture rich duck confit formed into a thick patty, then topped with seared foie gras.

At Bank Cafe & Bar in the lobby of the Westin Verasa Napa, Chef Ken Frank of La Toque fame, invites you to taste just that.

The duck foie burger has been a popular fixture on the cafe’s menu since it opened four years ago. Frank plans to continue selling it until July 1, when California will become the only state in the country to ban the sale of foie gras.

Enjoy the $24 burger at lunch or dinner — while you can.

To learn more about Frank’s strong stance against the ban, read this thoughtful piece he penned for the Los Angeles Times.

Northern California Chefs vs. Southern California Chefs in Foie Gras “Battle”

If you happen to be traveling to Los Angeles on May 14, you won’t want to miss this blockbuster chef affair.

Especially because it involves foie gras. A lot of foie gras.

Chefs from the Bay Area will be flying down south to work alongside their notable Southern California counterparts at four top Los Angeles restaurants for one night and one night only. At each of the restaurants, the chefs will be creating a six-course feast of foie gras.

It’s all a benefit for the Coalition for Humane and Ethical Farming Standards (CHEFS), a pro-foie gras organization.

Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani will be cooking up foie in Southern California for a special event. (Photo courtesy of the chefs

OK, it’s not a full-on battle, per se. But you can be sure the Bay Area chefs will be trying to outdo the Los Angeles ones with their dishes.

Here’s who will be cooking where:

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Fun Finds

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Seared fresh garbanzos. You'll eat the entire bowl-full.

Have you ever had a fresh garbanzo bean?

I’m not talking the hard, yellow ones out of a can.

I mean the far tinier ones still encased in their fuzzy, papery green pods that you can find — if you look hard enough — in markets such as Whole Foods and Berkeley Bowl at this time of year. The latter is where I bought mine for $3.29 a pound.

Tender and nutty tasting, the beans, once steamed or blanched, can be made into pesto or tossed into salads just like you would edamame or peas.

The fresh pods with the tiny beans inside.

My favorite way to enjoy them is one of the easiest. Just rinse them under water, shake dry, and place in a saute pan with a little olive oil. Put a lid on and cook for 5-8 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally so they don’t burn.

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The One and Only Jacques Pepin

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Yes, Jacques Pepin was in the South Bay last week.

At age 76, Jacques Pepin still has no trouble leaving an audience rapt.

Especially one that’s filled with captivated culinary students from the International Culinary Center of California in Campbell, a branch of the illustrious French Culinary Institute in New York, where Pepin is dean of special programs.

Last week, Pepin — the man, the legend, and former personal chef to Charles de Gaulle — paid a visit to that Campbell campus to give a techniques demo.

There were literally gasps as he neatly boned out a whole chicken in under a minute. Who knew butchering poultry could be so mesmerizing? But in his hands, it sure is.

With his nimble knife skills, he also turned shavings of cold butter into delicate flowers and prickly artichokes into easy-to-eat, compact hearts.

Pepin before a rapt crowd of culinary students.

Pepin's handiwork in turning butter into flowers.

And boy howdy, can he handle a chicken. It's like watching a surgeon.

Here are some favorite Jacque-isms from the event:

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Wild About Ramps

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The love affair with ramps.

For the longest time, I’ve had serious ramp envy.

You see, when spring hits, chefs and foodies throughout New York go bonkers for ramps, otherwise known as wild leeks. They feature them in all manner of imaginative dishes and preparations. In West Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, there are even annual festivals devoted to the pungent allium that has broad green leaves sprouting from a fuchsia -tinged stalk and a white, scallion-like bulb.

But in the Bay Area, they’re a scarce commodity.

And so, for the longest time, I just sighed at this time of year, knowing a prominent part of the country was indulging lustfully in an ingredient I just couldn’t get my hands on.

Until last week, when I ventured into Berkeley Bowl and nearly jumped three feet in the air when I spied ramps in the produce section. I took a whiff and was met head-on with a most assertive garlic aroma. I was hooked.

The ramps, from Oregon, weren’t cheap at $12.95 a pound. But I just had to have some.

Armed with a bounty I’d never seen before, let alone used, I was momentarily perplexed at what to do with the ramps now that I clutched them preciously in my hands.

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Scenes from the 25th Anniversary Star Chefs & Vintners Gala

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A Reuben slider from the crew at Foreign Cinema and Show Dogs restaurants at the Meals on Wheels gala.

It was a star-studded chef affair on Sunday night at Pier 48 in San Francisco, as more than 70 Bay Area top toques turned out to cook up a storm for a sold-out crowd in support of a noble cause.

More than 1,000 folks wined, dined and mingled at the sold-out 25th “Star Chefs & Vintners Gala,” the main fund-raiser for Meals on Wheels, the San Francisco organization that provides nutritious meals and support services to home-bound seniors. Last year’s event raised $1.4 million. Yours truly was lucky enough to be invited as a guest this year.

For the ninth time, Chef Nancy Oakes of Boulevard and Prospect, both in San Francisco, took the reins as gala chair for this megawatt event. The evening kicked off with a walk-around reception, in which mixologists shook up cocktails, vintners poured special vintages and a bevy of chefs manned stations to turn out gourmet noshes.

A night to remember for a worthwhile cause.

Chefs Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani, the dynamic duo behind Terra and Bar Terra, both in St. Helena, prepared bowls of their fabulous ramen complete with succulent pork slices and a oozy poached quail egg.

The Bar Terra team hard at work...

...serving up bowls of pork belly ramen.

Chef Victor Scargle of Lucy at Bardessono in Yountville served up cones of Georgia shrimp atop soba noodle salad made with the restaurant’s own rau ram herb, while Chef Ron Siegel of Parallel 37 in San Francisco followed the Asian vibe with a juicy scallop in dashi broth.

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