Sure, you could dumb down your choices – save pennies, clip coupons, consume something that makes you hate yourself in the morning. Or you could have a meal that stimulates all your senses. That makes you feel glad about spring, living at the ocean, being alive.
Dungeness crab with shaved fennel, baby cress and organic arugula, studded with a few Gigante beans, Meyer lemon aioli and a lavish, intense pool of squid ink vinaigrette.
I don’t know – it sells itself.
Gabriella.
Lofty ceilings, rivers of sunlight, polished earth-toned floors — New Leaf unveiled its newest store on the Westside this morning to the obvious delight of a full house of discerning consumers. Glittering displays of fruit, seafood, and pastries joined an entire alcove of wines, islands of nutriceuticals, cafe seating, a refrigerated flower chamber — and the sleek shelves were still being stocked on opening morning.
I was so happy to see my favorite deli gals — here’s sandwich princess Lauren Ward (r.) and colleague — that I ordered a mammoth tuna sandwich to go as I made my inaugural tour of the amazing and quite beautiful new store. If it feels a bit like one of the Whole Foods emporia, that’s because 
interior architect Steven Crocker, of C/D/M Construction, spent ten years designing for Whole Foods.
More to see, more to buy, and more to just plain be happy about — the Westside can be proud, and kudos to Scott Roseman and Rex Stewart. New Leaf actually lives up to the “bigger and better” hypola. The parking lot is not only huge, but it conveniently adjoins Bonny Doon Vineyard winery and its new gala tasting room. Go check out the very chic, industrial moderne structure at the corner of Ingalls & Fair.
What prompted winemaker Jeff Emery, award-winning winemaker for Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard, to start up yet another line of varietals called Quinta Cruz?
“Two trips to Portugal,” Emery responds without missing a beat. “I fell in love with the wines, and by chance I saw a listing for these Iberian grapes,” grapes with melodious names like Touriga, Tinta Cão, and Tempranillo. A recent planting of these Portuguese varietals in Monterey’s San Antonio Valley now powers these intriguing, aromatic and immediately accessible new wines.
The distinctive label for the new Quinta Cruz line — which includes a 2005 Tempranillo, a 2006 blend of two Touriga varieties, and a voluptuous Douro-style blend called Concertina — shows a sepia-tinted drawing of a graceful rabelo sailing ship. Rabelo boats (more…)
The food at Gabriella has never been better than it is now with Bradford Briske in the kitchen. The word “young” comes to mind when you meet the new chef at our downtown dining treasure, but “accomplished” is the word for Briske’s gorgeous food.
The best plate of pasta I’ve had outside of Italy is Briske’s housemade squid-ink fazzoletti – a silken, wide-body pappardelle – bathed in an inspired sauce of tomato, garlic, mint and Calabrian chili. The outstanding pasta was tossed with tender local calamari, fat nuggets of Dungeness crab and slices of scallop. It was so good I went back last week and finished off another bowl.
From a superb opener of scallops on a cushion of fennel puree, to a whole roast (more…)
Back when most people grew their own crops and made their own sauces, pies and jams, some gifted artisan with a slow hand and an open heart might have made this jam. (Shown here on my breakfast table already half-consumed along with coffee, eggs, toast and butter.)
Damson plums — organic ones — and sugar. That’s all Heidi Schlecht used to stir up this deeply rewarding preserve of late harvest fruit, more tart than sweet, whose flavors go all the way into a new dimension. For $10 or so you can obtain a 9.8oz jarful of last summer, spread it on some toast and pretend its the 19th century when flavor trumped convenience and quality ruled.
I get mine at the Westside Farmers Market on Saturday mornings. But you can find these handmade organic jams at Schlecht’s River Cafe & Cheese Shop too.
Unti – a label to remember. This blush creation of grenache and mourvedre is crisp, complex, spicy and somehow ethereally robust. It’s made from Dry Creek Valley grapes and you can sample it at Gabriella. Nothing less than a complete revelation.
Imagine a cross between a blanc de noir and sunrise over the Sierras. Yes. Like that.
A book of sensory adventure: The rituals, passions and discoveries of an engaged life.