The Culinary Timeline is a side-project that I've been working on since October. I'm hoping to have most of it complete by the end of January, with any luck. Until then, updates around here will be weekly, rather than twice weekly. Do stay tuned.
|
Ramen Halu: Making pho look quaint in comparison.
After a complete three-year absence from professional cooking, I’ve decided to return to the kitchen in just two short weeks. That’s right. I’ll soon be cooking dinner service full-time at one of the Michelin-star restaurants here in the Napa Valley. Personally, I can’t wait to get back behind the stove again, though I really don’t expect this news to have any direct effect on this blog. We’ll just have to see what happens. As it is, my self-appointed mission to suss out the most interesting comfort foods in the Bay [... read more ...]
Pollo a la Brasa: One of the few rotisserie chickens that can actually compete with fried chicken. The bird is incredible on its own, although the trio of sauces (partially pictured in the upper left) take the dish in additional directions.
I’ve always had terrific meals at Limon Rotisserie in San Francisco. If I actually lived in city limits — and if I wasn’t always trying to visit new and different places — I’d probably eat there every week (I felt the same way about Versailles when I lived in Los Angeles). I’m totally sold at this [... read more ...]
Softshell crab po-boy: Looks like it could crawl right off the plate. This was a friend's sandwich, but I had a great version at the Galley in Metairie.
It’s now almost two weeks since Mardi Gras, but I have a few photos left from New Orleans. These pictures were snapped at Stanley, which is a relatively new restaurant in the French Quarter. The name, I assume, is an homage to Stanley Kowalski, the main protagonist of “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
Bananas Foster French Toast: Ice cream for breakfast. After the gluttonous week that lead up to Mardi [... read more ...]
The Cheeseburger @ Port of Call: For me, a trip to New Orleans just isn't complete without a visit to POC. Known for its large tropical drinks and its scaled-down menu, Port of Call offers only burgers and steaks, although I've only ever ordered the cheeseburger. Fries are not an option either — just baked potatoes. I could criticize the fake bacon bits, but they serve as part of the charm for me. Plus, the vibrant contrast of yellow and red give the plate a distinctly feng shui appearance.
If you still have a dial-up connection, [... read more ...]
Pork Ribs @ The Brown Sugar Kitchen, West Oakland.
I’ve often turned to the Brown Sugar Kitchen for the smoked chicken gumbo and the fried oyster po-boy; both dishes would easily meld into the culinary landscape of New Orleans, the gumbo especially. However, having eaten maybe six or seven po-boys while I was recently in the Crescent City, today presented an opportunity to expand my horizons and to cover some different items on the BSK menu. I decided upon the pineapple brown sugar glazed ribs, just because I’d never ordered them before. As I’d hoped, the ribs proved [... read more ...]
The First Course: Wow, once I noticed that the pate de champagne offers no less than six condiments, I knew that I was in for something memorable. That's a bacon marmalade at 12 o'clock, and a strawberry marmalade at two o'clock. Not pictured, toasted brioche.
Perhaps it was fitting that my last meal in New Orleans was a quick Thursday lunch at Restaurant August. The lunch itself was unlike anything else I had during my 10-day visit in the Crescent City, where I had spent most waking hours trolling for the classic Southern comfort foods, such [... read more ...]
More than just ham and cheese.
I’m on the road to New Orleans at the moment, but I’ll leave you with the Monte Cristo sandwich at Mama’s in San Francisco. My introduction to the Monte Cristo sandwich itself was at the Blue Bayou Cafe at Disneyland. I was maybe nine years old, and I ordered it at the suggestion of my grandfather. A ham and cheese sandwich that had been batter-fried and dusted with powdered sugar? It was a revelation.
Mama’s on Washington Square is the model of breakfast efficiency, and the folks at Mama’s manage [... read more ...]
|
|
|
