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.
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Gateway Market, Emeryville: Adorned with a fantastic mural alongside its parking lot, the Gateway Market is tough to miss on San Pablo Blvd. The artwork has a definite graffiti vibe, but the details are fantastic. Luckily, it hasn't been tagged over. The "W" in Gateway is pictured above (each letter has its own theme). Click on the photo to reveal all of the great flourishes.
Most of these pictures have never appeared on this site, although a couple did appear a few years ago, long before I sharpened my photo-editing skills. Many readers have emailed me about my [... read more ...]
Lobster Russian Style: Garnished with hard-boiled eggs and black truffles, though the book allows black olives as a substitute for the latter.
I meant to snap some food pics from Berkeley and the East Bay this week, but my camera battery was drained. Among the missed opportunities: a grilled bockwurst from Top Dog, a falafel pita from Fa-La-La, and a plate of yellow curried rice from Bua Luang. On the upside, I did find several great used cookbooks at Pegasus Books, including “Everyday French Cooking” by Henri-Paul Pellaprat. Originally published in America in 1966, Pellaprat’s book is an [... read more ...]
"Garçon" means boy; "cochon" means pig.
Question: How have I not already stumbled across this jaw-dropping, early-20th-century French advertisement? Wow, the ticklish glee of the pig’s smile really says it all: Fresh, delicious sausage, happily sliced to order. When you’ve got it, flaunt it. There’s certainly no shame in acknowledging the source of your food, and besides, what a splendid way to ward off vegans and vegetarians. Bon appetit!
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A few weeks ago, I found an odd little book titled “L’Art et Les Biscuits,” which features the historic advertising and marketing campaigns of Lefevre-Utile, the French biscuit company known as LU here in the United States (originally founded in Nantes in 1846, LU was purchased by Kraft Foods in 2007). “L’Art et Les Biscuits” captures LU in its heyday, documenting the company’s ad campaigns from 1897 to 1914, the same era that marked the Golden Age of French lithography. As one might expect, the lithography movement influenced a large portion of Lefevre-Utile’s advertising and packaging, and many [... read more ...]
While killing some time between meals the other day, I finally turned up a copy of “The Natural Cuisine of Georges Blanc” at a used bookstore in Berkeley. It was a nice find, and one of the best discoveries that I’ve recently made “in the field” (as opposed to trolling eBay for such an item). Originally published in 1987 — just six years after the eponymous author earned his third Michelin star — “Natural Cuisine” earns its stripes for its lavish photography, with the pictures outnumbering the recipes by almost three to one. Although long out of print, the [... read more ...]
I was doing some research on Ridge, when I finally learned that Optima is the font that the winery has used as its brand for the last 40 years. I’ve always admired the look of Ridge’s packaging, and the wines themselves have delivered so much personality, they have remained a perennial favorite as well. In an age when a lot of frou-frou and slick packaging can be used to sell wine, Ridge retains a classic look, and offers a lesson in elegant simplicity.
In my recent interview with Aurajo winemaker Matt Taylor (also of Taylor Cellars), our discussion [... read more ...]
I was hoping that this warmish December weather would tease out a few late-season porcinis at Salt Point State Park this week, but I couldn’t find anything edible today. Mushrooms are often mysterious, but I suspect that once the first frost of winter occurs, porcinis may go dormant for the year (in which case, their off-switch had already been tripped at least two weeks ago). Either way, I was skunked at Salt Point for the first time in 2009, and it will be a long, patient wait before my next fresh porcini. Still, the weather was perfect this [... read more ...]
My tendency to pair dim sum with trips to the de Young Museum is two-fold: (1) there are some noteworthy dim sum restaurants in the Richmond District, just a few blocks north of Golden Gate Park, and (2) since I have very little will power with dim sum, the de Young is a great venue to wander around while the bloating slowly subsides. Last week, I stopped in at Ton Kiang before heading to the “Warhol Live” exhibit, which began three weeks ago and runs through May 17.
The dim sum at Ton Kiang is [... read more ...]
Mandina’s is probably my favorite restaurant in New Orleans, at least when I’m in the mood for a shrimp poboy and a bowl of turtle soup. I found this photo online at wikimedia.org, and I really like how the neon pops against the dark background. Following its demise after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the restaurant finally re-opened during Mardi Gras 2007, a week I happened to be back in the Crescent City. Seeing this place up and running was a highlight of my visit.
Sharing is [... read more ...]
Here are a couple more scans from the book “Janet Fish: Paintings” by Vincent Katz. As you can see, Windex bottles were a whole lot sexier in 1972 than they are now (I do realize that, technically, Windex is not food). Jars of mustard pickles, on the other hand, haven’t seemed to change a bit.
As always, I have tried to include scans of paintings that are not widely available on the web. Please click here for my link to other Janet Fish paintings. Or, click this link for even more great work by Janet [... read more ...]
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