Looks great, even though the bacon marmalade is totally hidden
I tasted through about five dozen Riojas this afternoon at the Palace Hotel, and by the end of this four-hour drinking session, I needed lunch in the worst possible way. Of course, I knew this was going to happen, which is why I had already formulated a plan: blissfully full of moderate-to-good Tempranillo, I took a leisurely four-block stroll to RN74, the latest installment in chef Michael Mina’s restaurant empire. Although RN74 is officially billed as a wine bar (borrowing its name from Route Nationale 74, which runs [... read more ...]
Kau Soi: The chicken, noodles, and coconut sauce lurk underneath…
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I’ve had some rotten luck on Clement Street over the last few weeks, thanks mostly to my own poor planning. I’ve definitely fallen into the “closed-on-Monday” trap recently, which can certainly sting when you’ve driven 50 miles from Napa with dim sum on your mind. But, when you make assumptions and simply hit the road on a weekday, it happens (or as we used to say in the Martini House kitchen, “Sh’appens”). Just last week, I attempted to visit Burma Superstar on a [... read more ...]
Note to Gussie: The lettuce leaf and the orange slice have no business in this particular context.
When I was producing a radio show back in my early days in Los Angeles, a stop at Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles became a weekly Sunday night ritual. Having Roscoe’s as a late-night option was truly a godsend, especially since the Pico-La Brea location was midway between K-Town and the Westside. With four other locations in Southern California, Roscoe’s is legendary, and rightly so. The place is the model of consistency — always perfect — with devastating fried chicken. The waffles [... read more ...]
Pizza Margherita: All toppings, no matter how meticulously sourced, are merely condiments for the crust.
Traffic here in the Napa Valley has suddenly become a lot worse, as scores of rumbling 18-wheelers, loaded to the hilt with freshly picked grapes, have begun to clog Highway 29. Although producers of sparkling wine had already begun their harvest two or three weeks ago, it seems as though the rest of the wineries have finally begun their crush as well. Within a week or so, every single winery in the Napa Valley should have something percolating, and the area will be [... read more ...]
I’m slightly skeptical of “chipotle” anything these days. To me, this pepper was arguably THE ingredient of the 1990s, as smoked red jalapeños began to officially hit the American mainstream. Not only did a burrito chain emerge from Colorado emblazoned with this very name, but television chefs such as Bobby Flay seemed to be infusing chipotle peppers into every recipe imaginable. These days, you can order a Chipotle Chicken Ciabatta at Jack in the Box or a select a packet of Ancho Chipotle Ranch Dressing for a Wendy’s salad. From my perspective, now that [... read more ...]
