That would be Katherine Stern, who’s busy transforming the season into edible orgies of flavor, texture and delight.
Last night we sampled an outstanding entree of roast halibut, toasted farro and roasted leeks sauced with a pistachio pesto.
A great pasta dish and the never-better antipasti plate of mixed salumi (shown below) took us a long way to enlightenment.
Dessert involved (more…)
That would be the 2006 Mt. Eden Vineyards Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir I had been saving (okay, only for two years….) and finally opened.
Such a beautifully-balanced creation. Plums and sassafras, minerals, a through-line of licorice and a bouquet that suggested the elegant Russian Leather perfume by Chanel. All of this was strung, like Christmas lights, on a slender but sturdy core of tannins. At 13.8% alcohol, it is nearly perfect for my palate.
With salmon, it was celestial. And worth the $49.50 pricetag. Let me say that again. You really do get what you pay for, and even though there’s a lot of drinkable stuff out there (thank you Chile) there’s not a lot of memorable wine.
This was memorable.
Even though many winemakers — and wine drinkers — have long recognized the unique properties of the Corralitos region of our SCM AVA, the news bears repeating.
Still Sunday’s piece at SFGate is a sweet bit of recognition.
Check it out.
Yes there is a new chef, and a new name over at the Bonny Doon Tasting Room. Le Cigare Volant’s the name, and Ryan Shelton—formerly of the Michelin two-star restaurant Baumé in Palo Alto—is the chef.
Our initial dinner last week gave us plenty to smile about. The food is deeply flavorful, i.e. not tricky or overwrought. The ingredients impeccable, and yes, the presentation was both attractive and uncluttered.
Here are some observations. We began with a small plate of house-cured boquerones ($5) fresh from the Monterey Bay. And they were outstanding, neither “fishy,” nor aggressively seasoned. Actually delicate. Great with glasses of Le Cigare Volant Blanc and the 2008 Nebbiolo.
Next we shared what I predict will be the destination starter at the new Le Cigare Volant—an order of the evening’s flatbread creation, topped with spinach, earthy hen of the woods mushrooms and fresh lemon basil sprigs ($14). (more…)
He was one of the angriest men I ever met. Spewing platitudes and autographs with machine-gun precision, Thomas Kinkade was a one-man tent show of strategic branding, cornball imagery and raw, unrelenting ambition.
Now that he’s gone I have to wonder all over again just how it was possible for one man to propogate so many vacant, if colorful, fields of magenta, so many technicolor sunsets, so many cabins in non-existent Edens. I researched his background as a better-than-decent painter, tracked the rise of his sugar-coated faux Disney clichés, interviewed him for hours and wrote about him just as his trademarked “light” was about to dim.
Now that the darkness that surrounded his psyche has finally swallowed him up, I also have to wonder just how many azalea fields and snowy Christmas tableaux—always devoid of human companionship—are about to go up for sale on eBay.
A book of sensory adventure: The rituals, passions and discoveries of an engaged life.