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Pepperoni pizza and cheese pizza, coexisting.
I stopped by Rotten City this afternoon for a couple slices of their delicious thin-crust pizza, which is pictured above. When I’m out on the road, I’m a big proponent of the by-the-slice format, since it enables me to eat as much pizza as I want, without having to deal with leftovers, which don’t typically fare well after a day in the car. Even better yet, ordering pizza by the slice feels much more like a snack than a meal, even if I somehow end up eating four or five pieces in [... read more ...]
The Tonkastu Sandwich. Although I always chuckle at crustless bread, this is one serious sandwich. The pork cutlet is perfectly crispy, with great balance provided by an Asian-style slaw and spicy ponzu mayo. One of the good ones.
Nojo has been on my radar for quite some time now, ever since I was hipped to this restaurant by my good buddy Dirk, a former chef-colleague who now lives and works in San Francisco. The menu at Nojo certainly looked intriguing, and ever since Dirk had mentioned this place to me, the restaurant had definitely been garnering some great [... read more ...]
Diavola Pizzeria's awesome oven.
Rarely would I preempt a food pic with a kitchen pic, but the oven at Diavola Pizzeria in Geyserville is worth top billing. While most wood-burning ovens prove a bit more utilitarian in nature, modest little brick houses, the inset mantles and monkish figurines of the Diavola oven, along with its racy red exterior, certainly set this beast apart. But it’s not all for show, mind you; there’s also the pizza to consider. During my last sojourn to Sonoma, I ordered Diavola’s Buongiorno, which is pictured below. As its Italian name implies, the Buongiorno [... read more ...]
The Torta Cubanita @ La Condesa, St. Helena.
As an advocate of the humble sandwich, I have to say, the selection of tortas at La Condesa in St. Helena is quite impressive, with lots of great variations and combinations of pork products to tempt the taste buds. I’ll eventually work through the entire menu. During my most recent visit, which actually led to an impromptu wine tasting venture to Sonoma, I ordered the Torta Cubanita, pictured above. Slow-cooked pork belly and smoked Berkshire ham highlight this panini-style sandwich, which arrives standard with leafy greens and house-made potato chips. [... read more ...]
Not from your grocer's freezer: Sea bass curry, with accoutrements.
Falling on a Tuesday this year, Valentine’s Day would’ve been my usual day off this week, but naturally, the kitchen at Étoile remained open for business. As expected, the restaurant was slammed with two-tops that night, but it was good fun cooking all that food for folks. Personally, I was also grateful for the overtime, but my truncated weekend didn’t leave much time or energy for restaurant reviews. Instead, I’ve taken the easy way out by deciding to run another contest. Within this post, I’ve included two lunch [... read more ...]
I learned today that one of my favorite culinary instructors, Chef Wayne Almquist, passed away this week. Anyone who had a class with Chef Almquist at the CIA would be bound to remember this gentleman, not just for his gregarious grandfatherly demeanor, but because the man had so many epic culinary tales. Personally, I had always felt extremely fortunate to have attended one of Chef Almquist’s very last classes in 2004, a six-week “Product Knowledge” block that was actually my very first class at the CIA. Soon after my “Product Knowledge” block had ended, Chef Almquist became the Ombudsman [... read more ...]
Roam's Sunny Side Burger with a bacon add-on. Yes, there's a delicious grass-fed beef patty in there; it's just obscured by the fixings.
For my palate, the burger options at Roam can easily be distilled down to two distinct choices: either (a) the delicious Sunny Side Burger, which features a fried egg, or (b) the equally tempting Heritage Burger, which features apple wood-smoked bacon. Yes, there are also some other, more subtle differences between the two burgers, such as different cheeses, different condiments, and different leafy greens. But let’s face it, these types of subtleties don’t carry nearly [... read more ...]
Mmmm… 'Bap: Korean comfort food.
I’m fairly convinced that whenever a dish arrives at the table still sizzling, it triggers some sort of primordial instinct. I’m not sure what it is exactly, but there’s definitely something special about the sizzle. By the same token, I’ve certainly experienced diner’s remorse when I’ve ordered an enchilada plate that was upstaged by a friend’s sizzling fajita platter, or a shrimp green curry that was upstaged by a sizzling plate of tandoori chicken. That being noted, Bowl’d Korean Rice Bar offers its patrons the option of a regular serving bowl, or a [... read more ...]
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