Category Archives: Restaurants

Precious Pintxos

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Pimente d'Espelette

As a long-time food writer, I’ve found myself in some enviable positions over the years.

One of my fondest memories is the time a few years ago when I was invited to Chef Gerald Hirigoyen’s Marin County house for lunch. It was a gathering of just three other food writers. We all hung out in the kitchen as the charming Basque chef cooked us lunch in honor of his friend’s new cookbook.

Oh, the friend in question? That would be New York four-star Chef Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin. And the other cooks in the kitchen that afternoon? Laurent Gras, who went on to open his acclaimed L2O in Chicago; and Laurent Manrique, chef-partner of the Aqua Restaurant Group in San Francisco.

It’s hard not to feel a little star-struck in that company, especially when Ripert hands you a warm croque monsieur (done his way with salmon instead of ham) that he just made in a frying pan at the stove. But as we all sat down at the kitchen table to eat, chit-chat, and share laughs, it was as comfortable as any gathering of old friends could be.

Therein lies the beauty of Hirigoyen’s hospitality and cooking that permeates his San Francisco restaurants, Piperade and Bocadillos. Both are infused with warmth and soul throughout.

His new cookbook is no exception. “Pintxos: Small Plates in the Basque Tradition” (Ten Speed Press) by Hirigoyen and co-author Lisa Weiss is filled with recipes for small plates that pack a lot of gusto. They are mostly Basque-inspired, but a few also feature the Cal-Asian flavors Hirigoyen has grown to love. Pintxos (the Basque version of Spanish tapas) make for perfect, casual party food.

Many of the recipes call for piment d’Espelette, a dried red chile powder from the Basque French region. The chiles, grown only in and around the town of Espelette, have a smoky, complex flavor and a subtle kick. Hirigoyen imports his own that’s sold under the Igo Foods brand. I picked up a 1-ounce container ($16) at the Spanish Table in Berkeley.

The piperade before pureeing.

I decided to try making his “Chicken Thighs with Spicy Basque ‘Ketchup’.” You make a piperade first (a stew of sweet peppers and onions) that gets pureed in a blender and seasoned with more piment d’Espelette.

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Take Five with Peninsula Chef-Restaurateur Jesse Cool, On Three Decades of Championing Organic Food

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Jesse Cool in her organic garden in Palo Alto. (Photo courtesy of Jesse Cool)

Long before it was popular, Peninsula chef-restaurateur Jesse Cool served organic food. Back then, it wasn’t what most diners wanted to eat. They certainly didn’t want to pay extra for it, either.

How the culinary landscape has changed. And Cool couldn’t be more pleased.

Despite hard times for so many restaurateurs now, Cool is coming off her busiest year ever in 2008. There’s more to come, too.

June 7, she’ll host “Dirt to Dining,” a benefit held at her Palo Alto home for the Ecological Farming Association. Spend an afternoon enjoying appetizers, mingling with organic farmers and vintners, and learning about organic gardening and pest control. There also will be a silent auction.

Price is $25 for the garden tour alone; $75 for the organic food and wine tasting if purchased by May 29 ($100 at the door). For information, call (650) 854-1226.

Additionally, Cool just closed her 10-year-old jZCool Eatery in downtown Menlo Park. She is moving her CoolEatz Catering to a larger site in the Menlo Business Park in East Menlo Park. In June, a new organic lunch cafe will open there, as well.

Pasture-raised chutney chicken salad sandwich at the Cool Cafe.

The business park also happens to be where she held her 60th birthday party earlier this year. I sat down with her over lunch at her Cool Cafe inside the Cantor Arts Center in Palo Alto to dish about how her interest in local and sustainable food came about, what she’s most proud of, and whether 60 is indeed the new 40.

Q: You’re the hippest 60-year-old around. How do you do it?

A: I am who I am. I think it’s more organic to be real about your age. I attribute it to exercise, attitude, and eating real good food. It does make a difference.

Q: This is the chicken-and-egg question: Who was the first organics pioneer in the Bay Area — you or Alice Waters?

A: We both were. In the beginning, I was into organics and chemical-free. That spilled into sourcing locally.

In the beginning, Alice was into small, local, and artisan. We were both ingredient-driven.

Q: Back in the day, organic food was a hard sell, wasn’t it?

A: It was when I started with Late for the Train in Menlo Park in 1976 and Flea St. Cafe in Menlo Park in 1980. Back then, I couldn’t put organic on the menu without people thinking it was hippy-dippy, that it was unwashed and unsanitary, which it wasn’t.

Being in the South Bay made it even harder. Just try getting product down here back then. The trucks stopped at San Francisco and Berkeley. I had to go pick up from Niman Ranch, myself.

The cool thing is it’s mainstream now. Food is finally connected to personal, long-term well-being.

Balsamic beet salad with Pt. Reyes blue cheese.

Q: What’s your business philosophy?

A: That the customer comes last. Always.

Q: Really?

A: I decided to do organics for my staff, so they wouldn’t have to wash this stuff off the produce. I didn’t want my staff or the farmers around chemicals. We figured if we took care of our staff and the farmers, that it would spill over to the customers.

Q: You faced some real challenges early on?

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Bountiful Babbo

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Whole grilled branzino.

Of all the places I wanted to dine during my recent trip to New York — and believe me, there were many — the one I probably wanted to go to most of all was Mario Batali’s Babbo.

I’ve long admired his exacting techniques and his way of paying hommage to old-country traditions while giving them a fresh, modern interpretation. I also love pasta. Moreover, you have to give it to a man who can get away with a red pony-tail and bright orange clogs.

The first clue that you’re walking into an establishment very much molded into the chef’s image is by what hits your ears. Loud, loud music. It was a lively mix of country and blues the night we were there. The New York Times once famously said it would have annointed Babbo with four stars if not for the pounding music. But Batali wouldn’t have it any other way. The soundtrack is what he wants to listen to. You have to admire that.

Plus, the energetic beat adds a convivial feeling to the restaurant. Amid the striking, huge spray of flowers in the center of the first floor, you’ll find tables of families enjoying a night out with their young kids, as well as couples clad in chic little black dresses and jeans with sports jackets.

The service is top-notch. Knowledgeable to a fault. They make a point to tell you that pasta dishes are entree-sized, and that you can have your whole fish filleted by a server or do it yourself if you wish. Servers can expertly recommend wines to go with your dishes, and tell you exactly why they would marry well with the flavors in the particular dishes you’ve ordered. You gotta like that.

Nuggets of fried goat tongue

Batali is known for his love of offal, and you’ll find many dishes featuring organs not often found on many other menus. When we heard there was a special of fried goat tongue salad with arugula ($13), we had to get it. We also had to have the lamb’s brain “francobolli” with lemon and sage ($19). And we couldn’t resist the starter of fresh cured sardines with caramelized fennel and lobster oil ($12).

Fresh sardines done up like modern art.

The fried goats tongue were crispy like fried sweetbreads in texture. The taste was a little gamy, almost duck-like. The sardines were velvety, their robust flavor nicely tempered by the licorice taste of the fennel.

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Marvelous Momofuku

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Worshipping pork buns

You think you’ve had pork buns before.

But I assure you that you’ve never had pork buns like these. Chinese steamed scallop-shaped buns all pillowy soft. Stuffed with Japanese cucumbers, scallions, hoisin sauce, and the juiciest, most meltingly tender pork belly slices you’ve ever sunk your teeth into. It will have you at one bite.

These are one of the most famous creations by Chef David Chang. At his Momofuku Noodle Bar and Momofuku Ssam Bar, it’s a given that practically every table will order them. Trust me: They live up to the hype and then some. During our recent trip to New York, my husband and I chowed down on these babies three times in four days.

We would have gladly made a meal of a dozen of them, but that would have set us back a hefty $54. Yes, an order of two buns is $9. My late-father’s jaw would have probably dropped to the floor at the sound of that. But even he would have appreciated how spectacular these are.

A paper bag with Momofuku's insignia.

David Chang and his crew, whom he self-effacingly refers to along with himself as “a bunch of punks,” turn out Korean street food with stellar ingredients and creative, contemporary flair. They’ve built a mini Momofuku (“lucky peach” in Japanese) empire. And Chang’s been richly rewarded for his efforts, winning James Beard awards for “Rising Star Chef of the Year,” and “Best New Restaurant of the Year”  (for Momofuku Ko).

Hamachi with pea leaves, horseradish, and edamame

On our first day in the city, we snagged seats at the counter at Ssam Bar, where we enjoyed tiny “BBQ Rib” pork sandwiches stuffed with red onion slaw ($12); charred squid salad with the spicy flavors of kimchee ($14); hamachi strewn with edamame, horseradish, and pea leaves ($16); and of course, those pork buns.

Pork rib sandwiches

The next night, we squeezed into Noodle Bar. On a drizzly, chilly evening, we dug into bowls of “Momofuku Ramen” (with a mix of pork, and a poached egg; $16); and hand-cut noodles topped with fried garlic and a glistening slab of pork belly, ($15).

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Duckathlon Leftovers

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Following the trail of the ducks.....

For those who couldn’t get enough of the wild and woolly Duckathlon held last Sunday in New York, here are a few more pics to entertain your peepers.

As you recall from my original post on the crazy event, this was the fifth annual Duckathlon, hosted once again by D’Artagnan. Teams of chefs from some of New York’s most celebrated restaurants competed in the most off-the-wall events ever conceived to garner the title of Top Duck.

The Pluckemin Inn’s sardonic T-shirts:

The BLT Steak team attempts to “Put the Piggie Together Again.”

Team DB Bistro Moderne competes in “What the Fork?” — in which chefs have to make mayonnaise by whipping oil and egg yolks with a barbecue fork. Yeah, you try that at home.

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