Love Apple Farm

Love Apple Farm

I spent an enchanting hour up at Love Apple Farm, where Cynthia Sandberg — grower for Manresa Restaurant — is busy experimenting with biodynamic techniques and rare varieties of herbs, leafy greens and root crops. (My story on Sandberg in March 8 issue, p. 19 of GT Weekly.)pigchick.jpg

In addition to two acres of raised beds, Sandberg cares for a flock of chickens so beautiful they might as well be sculpture. They share gourmet grub with Cynthia’s pot-belly pig, Dali, when they’re not out foraging on compost, bugs and other luscious morsels.

Lunch at the Masters

Lunch at the Masters

The Masters of Food & Wine, which has brought the most celebrated chefs and winemakers in the country together each February for a week of lunches, dinners, tastings and demos— is folding its designer tents after 21 years. At least it will no longer be held in the atmospheric Carmel highlands, according to current organizers.

Since I had attended the very first Masters, I decided to find closure in the form of lunch last week — prepared by Michel Richard (Citronelle, Washington DC), David Kinch (Manresa, Los Gatos), Cal Stamenov (Marinus, Carmel Valley) and Herve Fucho (Four Seasons, Punta Mita). highlands.jpgSprawling out into the entire main lobby of the Highlands Inn (I know you know what it looks like but I couldn’t resist reminding you), a dozen round tables — each seating ten — were set with a crystal acreage of stemware. An opening salvo of passed amuses included Veuve Clicquot gelée topped with kiwi and cucumer, and a sensational escargot tart — all by Keiko Takahashi of Mill Valley’s El Paseo. The lunch moved into conceptual territory thanks to fabled French chef Michel Richard. We were served what appeared to be large bowls with a central mound of caviar. However, the “caviar” turned out to be Israeli cous cous bathed in black squid ink. This mildly flavored conceit covered a bed of “scrambled” scallops. The world’s thinnest, crispest potato chip topped it off. Next came Fucho’s course — very beautifully arranged – of searedrouget.jpg rouget and tiny islands of polenta, glazed pink beets, and orange sauce with a plume of lemon balm. Nice, but not sensational.

The main course was David Kinch’s succulent slice of alabaster poularde (French hen), poularde.jpgastride a pretty array of thumbnail white turnips, onions and tea-poached prunes. Dusted with truffles! Paired with a stylish pinot noir from Bergstrom Winery in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, it was a knock-out dish. Incidentally, Kinch has formed an alliance with Santa Cruz Mountains grower Cynthia Sandberg (Love Apple Farm), who now grows all the organic produce for Manresa’s kitchen.
Also a knock-out was the pan-seared slice of crimson Wagyu beef rib-eye (see below), paired with a few choice infant veggies and black truffle vinaigrette. The beef, delicately, and intensely marbled and dusted with sea salt, redefined the whole point of red meat. (Check the industrybeef.jpg standard, Lobel’s beef website for mouth-watering information. Unless you’re a vegetarian.)

By this point in the meal, there was a lot of heavy breathing going on in the room. Marisa Churchill’s (Top Chef) vanilla panna cotta — dusted with grated vanilla bean and accompanied by diced mango and basil, an opulent fresh mango sauce and a pistachio Florentine was so good it brought tears to my eyes. Illy Caffé finished off a meal worthy of the Masters. Next year, the ambitious food and wine gathering is rumored to be landing in Argentina! Can you say “gaucho”?

Oswald: The Last Supper

Hopefully there will be more, once co-owners Keet Beck-Brattin and Damani Thomas, settle on a new location. The old brick bistro was the place of many memories, so Jack and I made the most of our “farewell Oswald” dinner last week. A gorgeous Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile — Los Vascos Reserve 2004 — made the perfect partner for starters of buttery venison tartare and crisp local calamari with Meyer lemon aioli. A braised chicken curry entree tasted like subtle comfort food, but my pan-roasted pork tenderloin, surrounded with sensuous tea-poached prunes, sauteed cabbage and a cushion of spatzle was the winner. Service at Oswald has always set the standard and I can only hope for a swift new incarnation of this local treasure.
I speak for many Oswald fans when I say “thanks for the memories!”

Portion Control!

Prince Charles wants to get rid of all the McDonald’s franchises in England. Why? Because of the obesity epidemic in the Old Country. Finally, somebody’s getting the hint. If you insist on super-sizing fast food portions, you end up super-sizing fast food patrons.

This is a no-brainer. But the ugly underbelly of it all is a moral issue — the issue of personal responsibility. Fast food businesses, which are definitely culprits in the expansion of the US, and the UK, and just about every other capitalist society in the world, these businesses are guilty of pushing fat, salt and sugar on a public that’s just trying to get full on not much money.

But surely the public is to blame as well. No one is holding a gun to your head and forcing you to eat those ridiculously large portions of fries, burgers and sodas. Restaurants claim that “the public” demands big portions — how else will they know they’re having a great dining experience? (Well, actually, how about wonderful flavors, attractive presentation, fresh ingredients? Those might be involved in a great dining experience. . . .)
Which came first? The huge portions, or the demand for big bang for the buck?

Probably the demand came first. Quantity – that’s what the restaurant-going public seems to demand. Did it never occur to Mr. and Mrs. Front Porch to limit quantity and go for quality instead? Think about it. You could eat well, without over-eating.

Food is often compared to sex. So I ask you: Is lots of mediocre sex really more desireable than less frequent encounters of really great, well,. . . you get my drift.

A New York Minute

A New York Minute

Merrily Kerr — art writer, tour guide and intrepid Manhattanite — led 20 of us on a whirlwind (and very snowy) tour of top Chelsea art galleries a few weeks ago. It’s part of her amazingly focused, insider New York Art Tours, which she likes to call “the fastest route to the world’s finest art.”

Kerr offers bouncy and informative tour packages to Chelsea— arguably the center of gallery action in New York — Soho, Brooklyn’s edgy outpost of Williamsburg, and even a select round of Opening Night shows. nysnow.jpgShe’ll even design a custom tour based on your specific coordinates and interests. Kerr’s narrative never bogs down and always informs. Our group (here’s some of us fighting sub-zero wind chill) rode the subway, slogged through the Valentine’s Day snow storm that had most of the East Coast on lock-down, and got an up-close viewing of some only-in-New-York gallery action. As lots of people know, joining a small, single-focus tour while you’re visiting a major city, can be the quickest way into the heart of a non-tourist experience.

Highly recommended. See Kerr’s website for details.