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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Organic Orange Blossom Tomatoes: So Fresh and So Clean
I started a community-supported agriculture (CSA) subscription from Riverdog Farm this week, which I’m splitting with a friend. In this age of factory farming, it’s interesting to place oneself at the mercy of strict seasonality. However, summer is definitely a great time of year to eat seasonally. Tomatoes, corn, peaches, cherries and apples are just a few of the highlights. It’s been uncommonly cool here in the Napa Valley this summer, and I know that the growing season is way off schedule for Napa Cabernet. I suspect that [... read more ...]
 Peach perfect.
I had dinner at Ad Hoc on Friday night, and although I’ve offered tepid reviews of this restaurant in the past, I did have a great meal there, I must admit. The night’s menu featured an Italian-themed dinner, which actually began with meatballs, which to me was so much more interesting than salad, Ad Hoc’s typical first-course selection. After the meatballs, it was a perfectly-roasted half-chicken, followed by a cheese course, and about as much tiramisu as I could devour. The cheese plate was garnished with honey, chopped pistachios, and one of my favorite things in [... read more ...]
I don’t think that anyone has ever claimed that Nutella was actually healthy, but some proposed European Union (EU) labeling laws have placed Italy’s much-adored, chocolate-hazelnut spread in a sticky situation (I apologize, that’s my best material at the moment). Apparently, it’s not just Americans who have been grazing their way towards obesity for the last several decades, but weight-related health issues are also beginning to plague the citizens across the Atlantic as well. In order to enact change, the EU has recently drafted a measure that would mandate more conspicuous labelling for foods that have especially high percentages [... read more ...]
Team Perbacco: Photo poached and cropped from Eater SF
While I was down in Los Angeles visiting my old haunts, chef Staffan Terje of Perbacco Ristorante walked away with first prize at San Francisco’s Cochon 555 competition. I’ve had some great meals at Perbacco, though I’ve never reviewed the restaurant officially, since I have some personal ties to the kitchen. Two of my ex-Martini House colleagues (and Pancha’s co-conspirators) are sous chefs at Perbacco (Jimmy Serlin and Karl Holl are pictured left to right, behind chef Terje, and also wearing blue aprons). As a matter of fact, I [... read more ...]
I try not to make a point of “re-purposing” web content, since so many other sites do it so well, but I had to pass along this Atlantic Online article by chef John Besh. The lifelong Louisiana resident does an admirable job of ripping the federal government, which again seems a bit slow to react to another Gulf Coast crisis (Katrina who?). I wonder what kind of accountability will be held for this fiasco. And is disaster one of the inevitable results of human evolution?
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The BioDynamic vineyard at Ehlers Estate comprises 43 acres in total. In order to help amend the soil for the upcoming season, rows of vibrant yellow mustard alternate with verdant rows of grasses, fava beans and vetch. With rain subsiding, these same cover crops will assume a monotone shade of golden brown over the next month or so.
In some ways, it’s almost embarrassing to heap lavish praise onto my favorite Napa wineries. I often feel as though I might be coming across as some sort of Napa Valley rah-rah, gushing with unbridled hyperbole, as if I were [... read more ...]
I have all kinds of stories simmering on the back-burners right now, including my first impressions of Long Meadow Ranch’s Farmstead Restaurant in St. Helena (this restaurant review will be the very next item published on this site — stay tuned). Also, before we get too far into springtime, I want to share my own personal recipe for Cajun red beans and rice, which I’ve carefully developed over the years (and from about half a dozen vintage New Orleans cookbooks — more about those, as well). Plus, for sentimental reasons, I’m also planning a review of the venerable House [... read more ...]
During the heights of harvest and crush, I’ll often promote Calistoga as a potential refuge from the Napa Valley’s tourist congestion (of course, it requires a trip up to Mendocino wine country to truly leave everything behind). But even in the winter, when things around the entire valley go calm, Calistoga still has its merits. For one thing, I could argue that it’s the most scenic area in the valley this time of year. When the vines themselves don’t present much in terms of foliage, the gnarled and burly vineyards of Calistoga offer much more personality than the slight, [... read more ...]
For those who have never been confronted with the almighty Double-Double “Animal Style” from In-N-Out Burger, this is what you have been missing. Notice how the melted cheese captures the light — I had to snap a photo.
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Vineyard in repose, Mendocino County.
You can say what you want about Napa. I happen to live there. But for me, Mendocino County is Northern California’s true paradise. I spent the better part of the day in the Anderson Valley today, driving past dozens of miles of vineyards that have all slipped into fall colors. All of Mendocino County looked like the photo above, at least along the winding curves of Highway 128. Outside of wine country, the landscape is dominated by moss, ferns, redwoods and oaks. In the winter, every shade of green is on display.
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