Sunny Days Were Made For Spring-y Snap Peas with Ricotta, Lemon, and Mint

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A springtime dish that's so easy, and so full of flavors and textures.
A springtime dish that’s so easy, and so full of flavors and textures.

Snap to it.

That’s exactly what you’ll want to do with spring sugar snap peas now out in full force at farmers markets.

Gorgeously green, naturally sweet, and crazy crisp, they are best when minimally cooked or eaten raw, as in this delightful dish of “Spring-y Snap Peas with Ricotta, Lemon, and Mint.”

This starter or salad is ideal at any time or in any type of weather because it is a no-cook dish that comes together in no time flat.

The recipe is from “Big Bites Time to Eat!” (Rodale), of which I received a review copy.

The book is by Kat Ashmore, Connecticut-based creator of YouTube’s Kat Can Cook and former recipe developer for the “Martha Stewart Show.”

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Firing on All Cylinders at Michelin Two-Starred Saison

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Dungeness crab and perilla tarts at Saison in San Francisco.
Dungeness crab and perilla tarts at Saison in San Francisco.

Like a rags to riches tale, San Francisco’s Saison restaurant began as modestly as it gets. In 2009, it began as a pop-up after hours in a Mission District cafe before its ensuing runaway success led to its relocation to a custom build-out brick building in SoMa, where it has held court with two coveted Michelin stars since 2019.

Its executive chef, Richard Lee, had even more humble beginnings in San Francisco. The youngest child of Chinese immigrant parents — a seamstress mother and security guard father — he grew up in a household where going to McDonald’s was a considered a treat, one that the family could rarely afford.

Since coming to Saison in 2019 as chef de cuisine, he and the restaurant have proved a synergistic fit. In 2023, Lee, who previously worked for six years at Michelin three-starred Eleven Madison Park in New York City, was elevated to executive chef of this ground-breaking restaurant credited with popularizing and evolving live-fire hearth cooking. Weeks ago, he was made a co-owner, too, a sign of just how much confidence and trust the rest of the ownership team has in him.

Executive Chef Richard Lee, a newly made co-owner of the restaurant.
Executive Chef Richard Lee, a newly made co-owner of the restaurant.
On the front of the building.
On the front of the building.

Dine at Saison, and it’s easy to understand why.

On a recent Friday night when I dined, every table in the lounge and dining room was filled. A few tables were celebrating birthdays, too.

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When the Name Doesn’t Do It Justice

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A one-pot chicken and rice supper with Chinese flavors.
A one-pot chicken and rice supper with Chinese flavors.

Yup, that’s right: “Roast Chicken and Rice Casserole” is the name of this dish. It sounds so basic. But it is so far from that.

The title might make you think of an old-school Americana dish. But it’s really one with a delicious Chinese flair to it with coconut milk enriching the rice, and lemongrass and ginger perfuming everything.

This easy one-pot dish is from “Down South + East” (Abrams), of which I received a review copy.

It was written by Ron Hsu, the culinary director and partner in Michelin-starred Lazy Betty in Atlanta., with an assist from Hugh Amano, a writer and chef at the now-shuttered Fat Rice in Chicago.

A Chinese American who grew up in Atlanta, Hsu grew up helping his parents at their chain of seven Hunan Village restaurants on the outskirts of the city. His own restaurant is affectionately named for her.

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Spring Sips

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The 2024 Cadre Beautiful Stranger that has a label that's also quite beautiful.
The 2024 Cadre Beautiful Stranger that has a label that’s also quite beautiful.

2024 Cadre Beautiful Stranger

With the temperatures soaring shockingly high this month, I couldn’t wait to open a bottle of something chilled, and loaded with citrus and minerality.

That it came bearing a beguiling name just sealed the deal.

I’m talking about a sample bottle I received of the 2024 Cadre Beautiful Stranger of which you’ll definitely want to make its acquaintance.

It’s a blend of 60 percent Gruner Veltliner, 30 percent Sauvignon Blanc, and 10 percent Albarino grapes harvested from the San Luis Obispo Coast and Edna Valley.

Cadre Wines was founded in 2020 by third-generation vintner John Niven and his wife, Lucy, who took out a second mortgage to do so. His grandfather Jack Niven planted the historic Paragon Vineyard in the Edna Valley AVA in 1973, one of the first vineyards in that region that pioneered the production of cool-climate varietals.

Now, John and Lucy Niven have followed in those footsteps, making it their mission to produce unoaked, cool-climate aromatic white from California’s coolest grape-growing region with their vineyards planted just two miles from the Pacific Ocean.

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A Salute to the Small, But Mighty, Kumquat

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A quick and easy, sweet and tangy kumquat sauce dresses up salmon.
A quick and easy, sweet and tangy kumquat sauce dresses up salmon.

In the world of cookbooks, “Citrus, Illustrated” (Chronicle Books) takes up little space.

This compact cookbook, of which I received a review copy, is the size of my outstretched hands and contains all of 35 recipes.

So, in this wisp of a book that spotlights citrus of all sorts, I felt it only appropriate that I hone in on the smallest one: kumquats.

Plus, I think they’re adorable looking, and are so beguiling with their topsy-turvy flesh that’s acidic and rind that’s sweet. Frankly, I just love popping one whole into my mouth to enjoy its burst of flavor.

This fun little book is by George Geary, who was an award-winning pastry chef for a decade with the Walt Disney Company.

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