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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The dining area outside Ehlers Estate.
Slow Food Napa Valley hosted a pig roast and potluck on Sunday, September 11th, in conjunction with Ehlers Estate in St. Helena. The following photos highlight the event, which provided a forum for SFNV members to discuss the future of SFNV, and how they can help to increase interest and awareness of the Slow Food movement. Naturally, the brunch was amazing. Please click on any photo for a full-screen view.
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Pig cracklins, up close.
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CIA instructor Patrick Clark carves the [... read more ...]
The definition of golden brown, and obviously not from a bag: Platanos con Dulce de Leche (Plantains with Sweetened Condensed Milk) @ Tacos La Playita, Napa.
Sometimes simplicity is the best, but only if the ingredients can stand alone. Based upon its ripeness, the humble plantain will usually fall into two distinct categories: Starchy and bland, or sweet and delicious. At Tacos La Playita in Napa, the platanos definitely fall into the latter category, especially when dressed with dulce de leche. These plantains, pictured above, are actually a recent discovery to me, even though Tacos La Playita had [... read more ...]
“Coffee’s for closers only.” Anyone who has seen 1992′s “Glengarry Glen Ross” might recall this line from the film’s first act, when Alec Baldwin delivers one of my all-time favorite movie monologues. The scene marks Baldwin’s only appearance in the film — a scant seven minutes — but his abusive tirade establishes the movie’s tone, and it sets up the second act perfectly. In “Glengarry,” Baldwin plays the character of Blake, an über-alpha real estate salesman, and a role that was written specifically for Baldwin by playwright David Mamet (as great as it is, Baldwin’s “Glengarry” monologue was not [... read more ...]
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 ...]
Try a Little Tenderness: The Back Rib Sandwich @ Solbar, Calistoga.
I’ve cooked plenty of baby back ribs in my day. When I worked at Houston’s Santa Monica (many moons ago), I prepped the restaurant’s pork ribs on a nightly basis. It went something like this: At the end of the night, the ribs were rubbed down with a mixture of sugar, Kosher salt, and spices, before spending about eight or 10 hours in a 250°F Alto-Shaam. In the morning, the now-tender ribs would be carefully dipped in bacon fat and wrapped in plastic. At this point, the [... read more ...]
It’s usually surprising for most people to learn that, by volume, the Napa Valley accounts for just 4% of California’s total wine production (in total wine revenue, Napa would earn a much larger percentage, though I don’t have the specific figure for this category). Still, as one of California’s most important wine regions, it’s interesting to learn some of numbers that shape the Napa Valley. At my last board meeting with Slow Food Napa Valley, one of our members distributed copies of Napa County’s 2010 Agricultural Crop Report, which is published by the Department of Agriculture and Weights [... read more ...]
Al Pastor Tacos @ La Luna Market, Rutherford.
When I was working as a wine educator in Rutherford and Oakville, quick lunch options were unusually scarce. Aside from an occasional Dean & DeLuca sandwich, Mexican food was the only feasible option up valley — not that I ever complained all that much. Being a native of California, Mexican food will always be a staple for me, and the tacos on this page represent literally hundreds of past lunches, especially the tacos al pastor at La Luna Market, pictured above. Conservatively, I’ve eaten over one thousand tacos at La [... read more ...]
Always mustard, never ketchup: The Cajun Corn Dog @ Uncle Bill's Gourmet Corn Dogs, Sonoma Square Farmers Market.
The best things in life are fried: I learned this simple mantra very early on, when I used to work the fryer station at K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans. We fried lots of delicious foods at K-Paul’s, including oysters, shrimp, soft-shelled crab, green tomatoes, duck skins, and of course, plenty of potatoes (K-Paul’s didn’t serve french fries, however. Instead, our potatoes were baked, halved, and then scooped. Once prepped, the skins and the “meat” were fried separately, with the [... read more ...]
Anti-Gyro: The Kitchen Door's "Fold-and-Eat" Lahmajune.
One thing that I eventually learned about Napa when I moved here six years ago was that there’s no place in town to get a good gyro. Granted, I could only try the one option that was available here at the time — I won’t name the restaurant, but it’s the most obvious guess — and quite honestly, that gyro was so dry and depressing that the memory of my disappointment has remained with me over the years. It failed royally, and the fact that I’m even venting about it now [... read more ...]
I learned something interesting about Cantinetta Piero tonight at Pancha’s of Yountville (which happens to be located right across the street): Apparently, all of Piero’s employees learned just yesterday that their last night would be Wednesday, July 6. Upon posting this news, I received some clarifications today from Jennifer Tomaro, Marketing Director of Moana Hotel & Restaurant Group:
“The owners of Hotel Luca have retained the two principles of Solage (Tim Harmon and Robert Watson) to help direct the operations of the hotel and restaurant. The hotel is still open and there are no changes planned at this time. [... read more ...]
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