A Chicken Dish For Cocktail Lovers

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Plenty of sage and a splash of gin make this a winning chicken dish at this time of year.
Plenty of sage and a splash of gin make this a winning chicken dish at this time of year.

Imagine donning your best “Mad Men” pearls while standing at the stove nonchalantly sauteing chicken when — oops — you accidentally splash some of your gin martini into the pan.

That’s the happy accident Amy Thielen, a James Beard Award-winning food writer and cookbook author, aptly envisions when she makes her delicious “Crispy Smashed Chicken Breasts with Gin-and-Sage Jus.”

Whether you envision a martini or a favorite gin-and-tonic like I did, this dish delivers the herby, woodsy tastes of mint, menthol, and eucalyptus, along with a surefire technique for cooking moist chicken breasts on the stovetop.

The recipe is from her new cookbook, “Company” (W.W. Norton), of which I received a review copy.

Thielen lives in wooded, remote Northern Minnesota, where there are only three restaurants in town — a 25-minute drive away. As such, when she gathers with friends and families for a meal, it’s usually at her own home.

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The Lamb Dish You Crave On A Cold Night

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Lamb shoulder braised with tomatoes and garnished with bodacious burrata.
Lamb shoulder braised with tomatoes and garnished with bodacious burrata.

How can one possibly make low and slow-braised, fall-apart tender lamb any better?

Try topping it with a big ol’ ball of burrata, that’s how.

You’ve probably enjoyed many a meaty stew or ragu dolloped with creamy ricotta. But when you swap that out for voluptuous burrata whose luscious creamy center spills out to add dreamy, milky sweetness to anything it touches, you’ve just about attained nirvana.

“Braised Lamb with Burrata and Herb Oil” is that dish.

It’s from “Okanagan Eats” (Figure 1), of which I received a review copy. A collection of recipes from British Columbia’s Wine Country, it was written by Dawn Postnikoff, co-founder of Edible Vancouver Island; and Joanne Sasvari, a food writer and Canadian Wine Scholar.

Learn about this fertile region, which comprises three valleys, two river valleys, and the Okanagan Valley.

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Dandelion Chocolates’ 12 Nights of Chocolate

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Chocolate braised lamb pierogies by Sarah Rich at "12 Nights of Chocolate.''
Chocolate braised lamb pierogies by Sarah Rich at “12 Nights of Chocolate.”

Could there be a more wonderful way to spend an evening than indulging in chocolate, chocolate, and more artisan chocolate?

That’s just what Dandelion Chocolates’ annual “12 Nights of Chocolate” is all about. The San Francisco bean-to-bar chocolate factory celebrates everything chocolate in its 9th year of this festive event that benefits the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank.

I had the opportunity to experience night #3 when Dandelion’s pastry chef, Stephen Durfee, kindly invited me as his guest.

From the moment you open the door of the 16th Street factory, you are enveloped in the hedonistic aroma of chocolate everywhere. If only my house could smell this way all the time.

The setting for the evening.
The setting for the evening.

The factory’s loading dock was transformed into a wonderland for the event with chandeliers hanging over three long tables set with a line of illuminated candles. A piano player provided welcoming cheer next to decorated holiday trees.

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Dining At The Newly Crowned Michelin-Starred Chez Noir

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Autumn honeynut squash raviolo at Chez Noir.
Autumn honeynut squash raviolo at Chez Noir.

Carmel-by-the-Sea may be all of 1 square mile, but this tiny seaside town now boasts two Michelin one-starred restaurants.

In fact in July, when Chez Noir became the second restaurant to receive that coveted honor less than a year after opening, the entire crew from long-time star-holder Aubergine walked over, toting a hefty Jerobaum to offer hearty congratulations.

This family-owned, fine-dining jewel of a spot may seat only 36 in a dining room not much larger than some folks’ living rooms, but it’s long been held in high esteem. In fact, when a friend dined there months ago, she spotted none other than Eric Ripert, chef-owner of New York City’s Michelin three-starred Le Bernardin, ensconced in a corner banquet with his family, savoring the fabulous Monterey coastal cuisine.

The accolades are not surprising when you consider that Chez Noir is helmed by Executive Chef-Owner Jonny Black, whose impressive credentials include cooking at Michelin powerhouses Per Se in New York; Quince in San Francisco; and Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, where as Dominique Crenn’s first executive chef, he oversaw all her restaurants. Most recently, he was the executive chef of Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur. His wife, Monique Black, worked in the front of house at Quince, and at Coi in San Francisco.

Chez Noir opened in a Craftsman house.
Chez Noir opened in a Craftsman house.
The compact bar in the tiny restaurant.
The compact bar in the tiny restaurant.

The cozy, romantic, French bistro-styled restaurant is in a former Craftsman house, where the couple and their kids live upstairs. Out front is a 22-seat brick patio, but it is not covered, meaning if it rains, you’re out of luck as outdoor reservations are cancelled and refunded.

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Dining at the New Rollati

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The divine eggplant rollatini at Rollati.
The divine eggplant rollatini at Rollati.

Roll into Rollati in downtown San Jose, the newest restaurant from Chef Roland Passot’s Vine Hospitality.

That’s just what I did a couple weeks ago, when I was invited in as a guest to this handsome, bright, and spacious restaurant on the ground floor of the Miro luxury apartment building.

The first Italian-American restaurant from Passot and Vine CEO Obadiah Ostergard, it features both indoor and outdoor dining, plus a small marketplace to buy pantry staples and prepared foods to-go.

If you’re lucky, you might just hit it on a night where there’s a trio of musicians playing in the bar-lounge, too.

The bar.
The bar.
Live music in the lounge.
Live music in the lounge.

Ostergard’s nephew, Chef Sam Gimlewicz, a Culinary Institute of America graduate who went on to work at the acclaimed Nina June restaurant in Maine, designed the menu that’s overseen by Chef de Cuisine Christian Luxton, formerly of Berkeley’s Hotel Shattuck Plaza.

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