Small-Batch Baking for Chocolate Lovers: Recipes for Cookies, Cakes, Pie, Tarts, Muffins and Scones.  Debby Maugans.  Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press.  $21.99.  (340p)  ISBN: 978-0-312-61224-5

The best things come in small packages.  In the case of “Small-Batch Baking for Chocolate Lovers,” the best chocolate things come in small packages.  Author Debby Maugans perfected the art of baking for one or two people in her first book, “Small Batch Baking.”  Realizing that the average recipe produced a larger quantity of the end product than a single person, or couple may want to eat, or be able to finish she revised recipes so that the serving sizes were more appropriate for one or two people.  A pretty smart idea in and of itself.

Being the professed chocoholic she is, Maugans saw a need for a small-batch cookbook for chocolate lovers.  And thank goodness she did!  In the introduction to the book she explains that her go-to dessert choice is always something with chocolate.  I couldn’t agree more.  Out at a restaurant I always go for chocolate desserts over any others.  Often I won’t have a dessert if there is nothing with chocolate in it.  I, too, love chocolate and I know that I’m not alone.  This is a book I’ll use often.

Smartly so, Maugans begins the book with a chapter called “Small-Batch Chocolate Baking Know-How” which explains everything you need to know to start small-batch baking.  From the equipment needed, to ingredients and measuring techniques, to storage of ingredients, it’s all spelled out.  Then the fun really begins.  The chapters unfold from cakes and cupcakes; to pies, tarts, and cheesecakes; to puddings and soufflés; to muffins, scones, shortcakes, and loaves; to desserts that are “better with chocolate”; to holiday desserts, and finally liquid pleasures.  I’d say the gamut of possibilities is well-covered.  I knew Maugans was a serious chocolate lover in the chapter titled “Better with Chocolate” in which she takes desserts that are normally not made with chocolate and adds it.  Cinnamon rolls with chocolate rolled up with the nuts and cinnamon sugar.  Baklava with chocolate in the nut filling.

A good chocolate chip cookie recipe is worth its weight in gold — I mean, chocolate.  Maugans’ recipe for “Simply the Best Small-Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies” is so good it might be the best small or large batch recipe around.  Soft, gooey, super-chocolatey deliciousness, (yield 8 cookies).   And I learned not to dip the measuring cup into the flour canister but to spoon the flour into the measuring cup and then level it off.  I’ve been doing it wrong all these years.  Other recipes I tried and loved were Classic Chocolate Cake, (yield 2 cakes, or 4 cupcakes); Chocolate Decadence Cheesecakes (yield 2 cheesecakes); Ultimate Brownies (yield 3 brownies), and Whole Wheat Chocolate Banana Bread (Maugans is right, chocolate added to banana bread is a revelation) (yield 1 loaf, 4 or 5 slices).  There are plenty more I want to try including several recipes for ice cream cakes.  One comment re the yields, Maugans uses recycled tin cans such as 8 oz., 14.5 oz., and 15 oz. tomato sauce, or bean cans in the cakes recipes hence the yield of 2 small, single-serving sized cakes.  She has a few other tricks like this to make small-batch baking work.

If you live alone, or are a couple, and don’t want to make desserts that yield enough for a family of six — and you love chocolate — then “Small-Batch Baking for Chocolate Lovers” is for you.  Actually, I’d say it’s for anyone who wants to reduce the size of their desserts, or dessert intake.  With only eight chocolate chip cookies there will be none leftover to tempt a middle-of-the-night craving.

Happy small-batch baking!

100 Miles Shout Outs! Local events, mini-reviews, and mentions of things happening in the world of food:

#1 – Honest Cooking ~ I’m now a Contributing Writer to the new online food magazine Honest Cooking.  My most recent story is “L.A. – Return of the Neighborhood Butcher.” I’ll be writing several pieces a month about the L.A. food scene.

#2 – Los Angeles ~ Sunday, May 15, 1 pm – 5 pm, ~ Taste of the Eastside 2011, an all-star regional tasting event with a diverse array of Eastside restaurants at Barnsdall Art Park.

My Status:  Enjoying the gradual arrival of spring in So Cal and the new spring produce: artichokes, asparagus, and the tail end of winter produce: amazing citrus, kale, collard greens.  Continuing to blog, cook, and eat.

Upcoming Posts: More on my great-grandmother’s garden, and my California childhood.  A visit and tour of Ojai Valley citrus grower Friend’s Ranch. More The Local Reports. Cookbook Reviews: Heartland: The Cookbook by Judith Fertig, and Goat: Meat, Milk, Cheese by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough.

A dining room at Gaulthier, London, England.

Jill is American but lives in London with her British husband, Malcolm.  We met in 2003 at a dinner held by our Italian friend, Patrizia in an Umbrian hill town.  We became fast friends, and are still very close despite the distance that separates us.  Both Jill and Malcolm enjoy good food, and eating well.  That only solidified the friendship.  I’ve had the pleasure of being at table with Jill and Malcolm in Los Angeles, London and Italy.  Every once in awhile Jill sends me notes, emails, of somewhere she and Malcolm have just been, of the things they ate.  The way she writes about the dishes is like culinary poetry to me.  This is partially due to the way the British write about ingredients, and their use of differing words for the same ingredients we use in the U.S. but it’s primarily Jill’s way of describing a dish that is so captivating.

Jill is a novelist and book editor by trade so she is well-versed in English; she also has a writer’s ear for language.  She and Malcolm recently celebrated a birthday by going out to a couple of London restaurants.   Here in her own words where they went after a visit to an art gallery:

“We had a snackette at Clarke’s before going on to visit Ham House and Garden, south of the river — a nearly intact 17th century historic house.  From there, we walked along the river to Petersham Nurseries, where, oh my, the food was good!  I started with a rose prosecco, then had homemade linguine with meltingly soft cherry tomatoes and black olives, a soupçon of lemon.  The main course was new season’s garlic sliced in cross sections (so it looked like marble) and served with torpedo onions and soft, gooey caprina cheese — like mascarpone.  For pudding I had lemon possett with rhubarb and Malcolm had a blood orange and lemon tart.”

So my questions to the above are: What are torpedo onions?  What is lemon possett?  I haven’t looked up the answers.  I’m not sure I want or need to know.  They sound so exotic.  I also haven’t heard of caprina cheese but it also sounds amazing.  And I already know that pudding means dessert.

The next day Jill went to lunch at Gauthier in SoHo, and this is what she ate:

“I had watercress velouté to start, then duck egg, followed by a cheese selection. Very, very good, and all hosted in a Georgian townhouse in Soho.”

Several years back she and Malcolm were in Rome:

“I must tell you about a meal Malcolm and I had in Rome8 today.  First we went to a gelato place by the Pantheon where I had rose and dark, dark chocolate ice cream.  A marvel, I’m telling you.  At lunch I had pasta (two different types because I couldn’t decide — the nice waiter said he’d get them to make both for me, only one serving) with a citrus and nut sauce, and the more interesting one was with a grape sauce.  Lemon, wine, grape, no garlic or onion.  Malcolm had a pasta with — get this — fig, cinnamon and a clove sauce.  It was truly wonderful.  I had rice pudding with blackberries for dessert and Malcolm had baked yellow plums with a kind of marzipan custard.  The coffee came in tall espresso cups with tiny lids on them.  A religious experience, to be sure.”

*The restaurant in Rome is Ristorante Trattoria.

So tell me, dear readers, don’t her words of food make you want to taste every last morsel?  They do me.  I think I’ll keep on saving these, who knows one day there may even be a book.

100 Miles Shout Outs! Local events, mini-reviews, and mentions of things happening in the world of food:

#1 – Honest Cooking ~ I’m now a Contributing Writer to the new online food magazine Honest Cooking.  My most recent story is “L.A. – Return of the Neighborhood Butcher.” I’ll be writing several pieces a month about the L.A. food scene.

#2 – Saturday, April 23, 11 am – 6 pm ~ The 2nd 8th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational, a grilled cheese cooking competition.  You cook.  Judges vote.  Everybody wins!

#3 – Sunday, May 15, 1 pm – 5 pm, ~ Taste of the Eastside 2011, an all-star regional tasting event with a diverse array of Eastside restaurants at Barnsdall Art Park.

My Status:  Enjoying the gradual arrival of spring in So Cal and the new spring produce: artichokes, asparagus, and the tail end of winter produce: amazing citrus, kale, collard greens.  Continuing to blog, cook, and eat.

Upcoming Posts: More on my great-grandmother’s garden, and my California childhood.  A visit and tour of Ojai Valley citrus grower Friend’s Ranch. More The Local Reports. Cookbook Reviews: Small-Batch Baking for Chocolate Lovers by Debby Maugans.

Julia Child wasn’t the only person to introduce America to French food.  Often when something is suddenly in vogue, it’s a combination of events that contributes to the cultural sea change.

René Verdon, June 29, 1924 – February 2, 2011

Chef René Verdon died two weeks ago at age 86.  I knew who he was.  I knew he owned a successful French restaurant in San Francisco called Le Trianon.  I may have met him in San Francisco when I worked at Stars restaurant in the early ’80s.  What I was reminded of while reading his obituary in the Los Angeles Times is that he was also White House chef during the Kennedy administration.  I was fascinated reading the details of his life, specifically how he ended up at the White House, and the influence he had on American cooking and eating.  There is so much more to that part of his story.

First Professional Chef in the White House

Verdon was the first professional chef to work in the White House.  First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy being a Francophile herself interviewed him in French.  As White House chef he was way ahead of his time: he cooked with the freshest ingredients he could find; he planted an herb garden on the White House grounds; he designed a new kitchen for the first family’s quarters.  He also broke tradition by serving as President Kennedy’s private chef.  During prior presidential administrations a housekeeper was in charge of feeding the first family.

Verdon was born in 1924 in a small French village, Pouzauges, in western France.  His parents owned a bakery and pastry shop.  Deciding he wanted to be a chef at age thirteen he apprenticed first at a hotel in Nantes followed by several apprenticeships in Paris and Deauville. He emigrated to the United States in 1958 and found work in New York restaurants the Essex House, and La Caravelle as well as the Carlyle Hotel.  La Caravelle head chef, Roger Fessaguet, recommended him for the job when the Kennedys were looking for a chef.

America’s Interest in French Cuisine

His arrival as White House chef ushered in a period of great interest in French food and cooking.  In an interview with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune in 2002 Julia Child said she was “lucky” the Kennedys hired Verdon because soon “everyone was interested in French cuisine.”  Child’s French food bible “Mastering The Art of French Cooking – Volume 1″ was published in 1961 the same year that Verdon started cooking for the Kennedys.  It all makes sense.  Becoming the White House chef put Verdon on the international stage.  Mrs. Kennedy was considered the height of chic.  She didn’t hire any old chef, she hired a French chef.  It was the early ’60s.  Naturally the rest of the country, and the world, followed suit.  All of this brought at least as much if not more attention to French cuisine as Child and her book.  Verdon actually had a bigger more popular stage than Child’s.

French Food in the White House

While White House chef Verdon became known for such dishes as chicken in Champagne sauce, and “incomparable quenelles de brochet” (according to Time Magazine).  President Kennedy favored Verdon’s New England clam chowder.  His first official White House meal was an April 1961 presidential luncheon honoring then-British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan.  Verdon served a menu of trout in Chablis and sauce Vincent, beef filet au jus and artichoke bottoms Beaucaire, and meringue filled with raspberries and chocolate.  Verdon’s favorite state dinner took place in July 1961 along the banks of the Potomac River honoring the President of Pakistan.   He served “simple yet elegant” food that included avocado, crab meat cocktails, and raspberries in Chantilly cream.

I asked Chef Jeremiah Tower to comment on his friend, Rene Verdon, “A very sympathetic man who devoted himself to what he knew best, the best of classical and country French cooking and standards of service.  A very fine chef.”  Tower and Verdon were San Francisco restaurateurs during the same period in the 1980s.  Verdon owned Le Trianon from 1972 to 1987.

Verdon wrote a total of five cookbooks including “The White House Chef” (1967), “French Cooking for the American Table” (1974), and “The Enlightened Cuisine” (1985).  An unsung hero of American cooking, light years ahead of many of his chef brethren, and an integral part of introducing French cuisine to America, rest in peace Chef René Verdon.

Sources for this article: Los Angeles Times, and Wikipedia.

100 Miles Shout Outs! Local events, mini-reviews, and mentions of things happening in the world of food:

#1  – The Good Neighbor Cookbook – consider submitting your, or somebody else’s, good-neighbor story to the Meet This Grateful Recipient or Meet This Good Neighbor Cook features on The Good Neighbor Cookbook blog by e-mailing authors Sara Quessenbery and Suzanne Schlosberg at: cooks@thegoodneighborcookbook.com. Let us know if you do by leaving a comment below!

My Status:  Still enjoying winter in So Cal and the lovely winter produce: amazing citrus, kale, broccoli, collard greens.  Continuing to blog, cook, and eat.

I’m published!! My recipe “Chef Wally’s Baked Papaya” was selected to be in the cookbook: “Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook: 100 Great Recipes, Photographs, and Voices.”  You may order it here.

Upcoming Posts: More on my great-grandmother’s garden, and my California childhood.  A visit and tour of Ojai Valley citrus grower Friend’s Ranch. Cookbook Reviews: “The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook” by Rachel Saunders, “Quick-Fix Southern” by Rebecca Lang, and “Italy Dish by Dish: A Comprehensive Guide to Eating in Italy” by Monica Sartoni Cesari.

2.2 miles, about 6 minutes from my home in Atwater Village.

Gelato Bar(s) — there are actually two of them — come with a bit of a pedigree.  They’re owned by Chef Nancy Silverton’s sister, Gail, and Gail’s husband, Joel Gutman.  The first one has been open in Studio City for a number of years.  The Los Feliz location opened in May of 2010.  As stated on the Gelato Bar website, the business was inspired by annual visits to Italy that Gail and Nancy made with their families, where Gail noticed the Italian piazza phenomenon ~ how the central town square of most cities and villages drew the local citizens to walk, drink coffee, take an aperitivo, or to indulge in a gelato. Back in Los Angeles Gail wanted to create that sense of community she saw in Italian daily life which she has done successfully at both Gelato Bar locations.  I am thrilled that there is one close to me.  The gelato I get there reminds me of gelato I’ve eaten in Italy in too many piazzas to remember.

Each store stocks twenty-four revolving flavors of gelato and sorbetto some of which are hand-decorated with garnishes of fresh fruits, nuts and spices.  In addition to classics like Nocciola, Straciatella and Pistachio, Silverton has created unusual flavors like Spicey Chocolate with Habañero; English Toffee inspired by the candy made at Littlejohn’s Candies at the 3rd Street Farmers Market; and Cinnamon Basil and Pomegranate.  All the gelato and sorbetto are artisanal, and custom made by Alessandro Fontana, an expert gelato maker from Venice, Italy.  In addition to the frozen confections there is a stand up coffee bar just like those seen in Italy.

I like the neighborhood feel of the Hillhurst store.  It sits on a stretch of Hillhurst between Franklin Ave. and Los Feliz Blvd. where there are a lot of shops, cafes and restaurants.  It’s right across the street from the ever-popular Alcove Cafe.  Further up the street are Mexico City, Little Dom’s and Farfalla.  Often after eating at one of those restaurants I’ll walk down to Gelato Bar for a gelato. A few of my favorite flavors have been Alpine Mint, Gianduja, Caffè, Lavanda, Honey Fig Mascarpone, and that’s only a small selection of the endless choices.  With twenty-four revolving flavors I’ll be trying new ones until the end of time ~ and that’s fine by me.

Gelato Bar & Espresso Caffè, 1936 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027, 323-668-0606 & http://gelatobar-la.com/

*The Local Report(s): are occasional blog posts on restaurants, and/or businesses that either support the idea of one-hundred miles, and ‘living life locally’; or are small, localized businesses in my neighborhood, and/or within one-hundred miles of my residence, that I prefer to support over the larger, national, corporate chains. For other The Local Report(s) please go the Archives section of this blog. Also, I’d love to hear from my readers about businesses that they support in their neighborhoods: write to me at charlesgthompson@100miles.com, or leave a comment here.

Follow The Local Report on Twitter: @TheLocalReport

My Status: More blogging, more cooking, and more eating, while enjoying the beginning of a new year.

I’m (still) published!! My recipe ‘Chef Wally’s Baked Papaya’ was selected to be in the cookbook: ‘Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook: 100 Great Recipes, Photographs, and Voices.’  You may order it here.  I am thrilled (still).

Upcoming Posts: a write up on Jennifer Piette and Erik Stenberg’s local, sustainable grocery delivery service Out of the Box Collective.  More on my great-grandmother’s garden, and my California childhood.  Cookbook Reviews: The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook by Rachel Saunders, and Biscotti by Mona Talbott and Mirella Misenti.

Bon Appétit Desserts: The Cookbook for All Things Sweet and Wonderful.  Barbara Fairchild.  Andrews McMeel Publishing.  $40.00. (680p)  ISBN: 978-0-7407-9352-3

I like books a lot.  All types of books.  I really, really like reference books.  The comfort of all those facts, and answers so close at hand.  But I love, love, love cookbooks.  I’m a cookbook collector.  I have so many that my other half thinks I have a problem and need to enter a 12-step program.  Single topic cookbooks are at the top of the list for me.  (I just bought ‘Salted’ by Mark Bitterman, 312 pages on nothing but salt!)  I like having cookbooks on my bookshelves that I can refer to, that I can pull from a shelf when I’m looking for information or a recipe.  When I received Bon Appétit Desserts for review it made sense.  A whole book, a huge book actually (680 pages), devoted solely to desserts.  Every dessert you’ve ever heard of, every dessert you could ever want or need to make.  All in one book.  My kind of book.

The book was edited by recently resigned Bon Appétit Editor-in-Chief, Barbara Fairchild.  In her introduction she writes about how while growing up her family had dessert after every dinner, something sweet was included in her lunch, and how her mother always served a sweet of some kind whenever company dropped by.  I like that.  To me it reveals the sentiment behind this book.  Desserts and sweets as part of the eating process.  The 600 recipes in the book are culled from Bon Appétit’s extensive archives; never-before-published recipes are also included.  Well-known cooks, bakers, and pastry chefs (like Dorie Greenspan, Sherry Yard, and Susan Feniger), and Bon Appétit staff and writers also contributed to the book.  If that’s not enough the book also has the Bon Appétit pedigree.

It’s truly a reference-cookbook — the first three chapters are ‘The Desserts Pantry’; ‘Equipment: The Basics’; ‘Techniques: The Basics,’ at the back of the book are ‘Online & Mail-Order Sources,’ and ‘Metric Conversions & Equivalents.’  Everything needed to make desserts with skill and aplomb.  The rest of the book is all about the recipes.  It has, in addition to the standard and expected American-style desserts, many of the classics: fools, crepes, Linzertortes, napoleons, cannolis, crème brûlées, éclairs, panna cottas, tiramisùs, pavolovas and more.  I was thrilled to see a recipe for bûche de Noël!  Short and to-the-point head notes are followed by well-organized recipes.  A whisk rating system showing the level of difficulty (1 to 4 whisks) is included with each recipe.  An easy reference ‘Index of Whisk Ratings’ at the back of the book allows for quick decisions on which recipe to try.  Food photographer, Con Poulo’s fifty gorgeous photos are sprinkled unobtrusively throughout.  Recipe testing on a book of this size could take months but of the recipes I was able to try all worked beautifully.

I am thrilled to have this book.  There are several people on my Christmas list who may be receiving their own copy.  I can’t recommend it highly enough.  It should be part of every cook’s library especially those who love to make desserts.

My Status:  It’s been cold!  Our winter has arrived.  Time for winter-cold weather cooking.  Maybe something from Julia Child, or Dorie Greenspan’s new cookbook ‘Around My French Table,’ or a warming holiday dessert from ‘Bon Appétit Desserts.’

News! I’m published!! My recipe ‘Chef Wally’s Baked Papaya’ was selected to be in the cookbook: ‘Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook: 100 Great Recipes, Photographs, and Voices.’  You may order it here.  I am thrilled.

Upcoming Posts: a write up on Jennifer Piette and Erik Stenberg’s local, sustainable grocery delivery service Out of the Box Collective.  More on my great-grandmother’s garden, and my California childhood.  Cookbook Reviews: The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook by Rachel Saunders.

Mary Mac’s Tea Room: 65 Years of Recipes from Atlanta’s Favorite Dining Room.  John Ferrell.  Andrews McMeel Publishing.  $27.99  (208p)  ISBN: 978-0-7407-9338-7

Recipes that don’t call for fancy seasoned salts, or Madagascar peppercorns?  Is there something wrong here?  No, of course not.  I was reminded when reading and cooking from Mary Mac’s Tea Room that a recipe can just be a recipe without all the frills that modern gastronomy seems to insist upon — recipes like they used to be.   I am generally so caught up in local, seasonal, fresh, top quality ingredients that I forget that food, and recipes at one point in time used only the basic larder ingredients: things like white flour, table salt, white sugar, and ground black pepper in a tin.  Very little had a foreign provenance, or the words sel de mer, or Tellicherry on the labels.

This book by John Ferrell, the current owner of Mary Mac’s Tea Room, is an homage to an Atlanta institution.  The restaurant has been existence since 1945; Ferrell purchased it in 1994 after being hand-picked by long-time owner Margaret Lupo.  The book is chock-full of 125 recipes, employee biographies, old menus, postcards, and artwork from the restaurant’s history.  Serving as many as 1,000 customers a day many of those are, and  have been politicians, sports figures and well-known celebrities from Cher to Richard Gere and the Dalai Lama.  Sprinkled throughout are photographs of the many local, regular patrons as well as those of Hillary Clinton, President Carter and First Lady Rosalyn Carter, the Dalai Lama, and Richard Gere.

I’m a sucker for food history and I loved this snippet from the front cover flap: “In the 1940’s, there were sixteen tea rooms in Atlanta.  They were opened by ladies as a way to make extra money, but the name was a misnomer; a tea room wasn’t a place to have tea, but a nicer version of a “meat and three.”  These meals appealed to folks who had moved to Atlanta from small towns in Georgia because they reminded them of their moms’ cooking.”  Mary Mac’s serves old-fashioned comfort food, Southern cooking.

Of the recipes I tried there were more than a few stand outs including ‘Daddy’s Oyster Stew,’ ‘Fried Chicken,’ ‘Black-Eyed Peas,’ and ‘Blackberry Jam Cake.’  I chose the fried chicken recipe because I thought fried chicken would be a true test of the restaurant’s talents with Southern cooking.  It passed the test, perfectly cooked, with a crunchy buttermilk crust.  A recipe I’d make again.  Shellfish and the south go hand in hand to me, and oysters cooked in milk has always been a favorite dish so ‘Daddy’s Oyster Stew’ was another choice.  Here’s the fun part about this recipe that goes back to my earlier conversation about ingredients.  It calls for “1 pint of fresh raw oysters, juices reserved.”  I read that and thought but there’s very little juice in fresh, raw oysters?  At the fish counter while shopping I stood before the fresh, raw oysters in their shells unsure until I noticed a shelf of seafood products in jars and cans: a 10 oz. jar of ‘fresh oysters’ in their juices!  A very simple yet comforting dish, warm oysters in milk with garlic and onion.   Black-Eyed Peas, salt pork, fatback, onion and the peas – ’nuff said.  The most popular dish I tried was the Blackberry Jam Cake with Caramel Frosting.  It consists of cocoa powder, blackberry jam, and apple sauce making it one of the moistest cakes I’ve ever eaten.  The addition of the caramel frosting made it a  full-on sugar coma inducing experience.  There are only two of us in the house so a big ole wedge went to a neighbor.  She liked it so much she asked for the recipe.

One other aspect of Mary Mac’s Tea Room I liked was how Ferrell incorporated the restaurant’s long-time employees into it.  There are photographs, histories and personal stories throughout the book.  There’s even a whole section devoted to “Our Staff.”  Many have been with Mary Mac’s for over thirty-five years.  That’s remarkable in a restaurant these days.  It speaks to the type of place it is.  A place some might consider a second home, a welcoming down-to-earth establishment very comfortable in its own skin.  In other words, a true Southern restaurant.  This book evokes all that and more.  It may be a book of restaurant recipes but it easily becomes a book of recipes one can cook and enjoy at home.

My Status:  Fall weather has arrived to So Cal.  Finally cold at night.  Pulled out the winter blankets.  As always more cooking, eating and blogging on the horizon.

Shout Outs!

‘Foodoodles,’ a new book from food historian and cartoonist, L. John Harris.  An amusing look at the history of the American food revolution that started in the 1970’s in Berkeley, California.  Alice Waters, Jeremiah Tower, James Beard, and Julia Child and more are discussed via text and cartoons, or ‘foodoodles.”  The foreword is written by friend, Chef Jeremiah Tower.  You’ll enjoy the history in this book, and giggle at the cartoons.  For more information, and to buy the book: http://www.foodoodles.com/

(Los Angeles)

Eat My Blog ~ the next Eat My Blog benefit bake sale is coming up soon.  Saturday, December 4, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Tender Greens in West Hollywood.  Come out and buy baked goods made by L.A.-area food bloggers.  All proceeds go to the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank.  I’ll be there buying goodies and cheering on Phil and Katrina of My Life as a Foodie.  Phil is donating ‘Cranberry Coconut Chews’ ~ sounds delicious, right?

Bistro LQ’s Tuesday night Cassoulet ‘Toulousain” Dinner.  I went once and hope to go again.  Being from Toulouse Chef Laurent Quenioux knows his way around a cassoulet.  Go!  You won’t be disappointed.  Every Tuesday night until December 28th.  Prix fixe at $35 per person.  www.bistrolq.com

News! I’m published!! My recipe ‘Chef Wally’s Baked Papaya’ was selected to be in the cookbook: ‘Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook: 100 Great Recipes, Photographs, and Voices,’ published on October 19, 2010.  You may pre-order it here.  I am thrilled.

Upcoming Posts: a write up on Jennifer Piette and Erik Stenberg’s local, sustainable grocery delivery service Out of the Box Collective.  Cookbook Reviews: The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook by Rachel Saunders, and Bon Appétit Desserts by Barbara Fairchild.

Eataly New York, 23rd St. & 5th Ave. Photo via midtownlunch.com

I have fervently been following the opening of the food emporium, Eataly, in New York City.  The reason for my interest is that I was involved in the opening of another Italian food emporium in the early ’80s: DDL Foodshow.  I was hired by film producer, Dino de Laurentiis, to work with the general manager to open the store.  The flagship store was located at 82nd Street and Columbus Avenue, across the street from the Natural History Museum.  It took up the ornate, marble lobby of the Endicott Hotel building which by this time was no longer a hotel but had gone co-op.  The store was quite large for its time.  Much like what Eataly is doing now there were stations spread out around the store: gastronomica, (prepared hot and cold foods), rosticceria (roasted meats and chickens), baked goods, produce, cheese, salumeria, chocolate, coffee and so on.  It was meant to be 1-stop shopping for the upscale neighborhood.  Dino and his team of Italians spared no expense; he brought chefs and managers over from Italy.  Adam Tihany was the designer.  The store had a full on kitchen with an Italian head chef.  Dino wanted it to be like the stores of its kind that he knew in Italy.  Peck in Milan is one such store.  After opening I became manager of the cheese department.  As manager I did all the cheese buying, was responsible for the counter displays, and oversaw a staff.

The Endicott Hotel Building, 82nd & Columbus, NYC where DDL Foodshow was located.

It was an exciting project to be involved in as a twenty two-year old.  The job brought me from San Francisco to New York.  It was my first time living there.  My interview with Dino (who is Giada De Laurentiis’ grandfather) at his film offices in the Gulf & Western Building on Columbus Circle was my first visit to New York.  I was very excited to be working with Dino, and living in Manhattan.  New York was a food mecca then and still is now.  Unfortunately, the store and its satellites (one in Trump Tower on 5th Avenue, and one in Beverly Hills) didn’t last more than a few years.  It never really caught on with New Yorkers.  Zabar’s, Balduccis, and Fairway pretty much had the corner on the gourmet food market.  A lot of people came into the store to look when it first opened but rarely returned more than a few times.  Sadly, Dino was ahead of his time.

The bread counter in Eataly New York.

Eataly is an Italian company with five stores in Italy, three in Japan and now one in New York.  Eataly New York is owned by chef Mario Battali and restaurateur Joe Bastianich, and Joe’s mother chef Lidia Bastianich.  The New York store while similar in concept is much larger than DDL Foodshow, and includes several sit down restaurants.  It is broken up in to a series of ‘eateries’: pizza, pasta, fish, produce, salumi and cheese, deli, rosticceria (with a butcher), bread, pasticceria and gelateria, as well as areas for cookbooks and housewares, and finally a wine shop. All of these are pay as you go.  DDL was more like an old-fashioned grocer.  You took a grocery cart from counter to counter and went through a check out line when you were done shopping.  DDL had no sit down restaurants; it did have the rosticceria where you could pick up a roasted chicken, or piece of meat, while the gastronomica had hot and cold prepared foods.  It was possible to buy a completely cooked meal.

Inside Eataly New York.

I have not yet been to Eatlay but I am anxious to go.  Definitely on my next trip to New York.  A good friend who actually worked with me at DDL has been and her report is that the food is very good, the store nice but that it is massively confusing as to what one is supposed to do where and when.  She and a friend bought things to eat then sat down at an empty table in one of the many eating points and were promptly told they needed to see the hostess to be seated.  A hostess and a host stand that were not readily visible.  As she described it to me: “Right now it’s an uneasy compromise between a food hall and an eatery.  What you have are various specialty shopping departments spotted with seating areas that have table or counter service.”  That does sound confusing.  Another friend ate dinner at one of the sit down restaurants where the prices were not inexpensive.  He said it was the oddest experience eating a nice meal while people were shopping all around him.  This begs the question: is it a sit-down restaurant, a take-out joint, or a high-end grocery store?  It’s trying to be all three.  Will hard-to-please New Yorkers be okay with this?  Only time will tell.  It does however sound like they have a few kinks to work out.

I have very fond memories of DDL Foodshow despite the many difficulties of getting a store of its size and kind open.  Dino’s heart was in the right place.  He wanted to share his joy of food and food culture with New Yorkers and Americans.  New Yorkers are a very tough audience; very set in their ways.  Sadly, they weren’t willing or interested enough to make it viable.  I still think Dino was ahead of his time.  This was before the Food Network, and the new Internet-based food movement.  Giada, his granddaughter, has managed to carve out a place for herself.  Time will tell if Eataly is a success.  I’d venture to guess that now is a better time in American food culture to give it a try than twenty-eight years ago when Dino and a group of us attempted it first.

Shout Outs! Fun, Cool, Interesting, Worthy Things Going on Around Town…

Pink Ribbon Cupcake from Magnolia Bakery

Magnolia Bakery (Los Angeles) ~ Purchase a Pink Ribbon Cupcake, (or several!) from Magnolia Bakery during the month of October.  Proceeds go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research.  www.magnoliabakery.com

Los Angeles Magazine ~ The Food Event: From the Vine 2010 ~ Sunday, October 24, 2010, 1 pm to 4 pm, Saddlerock Ranch, Malibu, California.  The 5th annual culinary extravaganza hosted by Los Angeles Magazine featuring celebrity chefs, top restaurants and wine tasting.  I’ll be there.  Hope to see you.  www.losangelesmagazine/thefoodevent

Artisanal L.A. ~ A weekend of shopping, tasting, workshops, and hanging out with local artisans.  A celebration of L.A.’s finest local handmade artisanal edibles.  October 23 & 24, 11 am to 4 pm.   I’ll be there (Saturday, 10/23), will you?  http://artisanalla.com/

Out of the Box Collective (Los Angeles) ~ A brand new business that home-delivers boxes of local, sustainably produced groceries.  The food items used in the boxes are sourced from artisans and farmers in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.  Boxes contain meat, dairy, produce, bread, conserves, and regional specialties.  They have a Thanksgiving Feast Box available for the upcoming holiday that will supply you with all the ingredients and a few suggested recipes if you don’t have the time to shop but still want to cook.  Come check them out the Artisan L.A. event on 10/23 & 24 (see above for info).  www.outoftheboxcollective.com

My Status:  Fall weather has arrived to SoCal.  Cool, wet even rainy.  More cooking, eating and blogging on the horizon as always.

News! I am now published!! My recipe ‘Chef Wally’s Baked Papaya’ was selected to be in the upcoming cookbook: ‘Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook: 100 Great Recipes, Photographs, and Voices,’ publish date is October 19, 2010.  You may pre-order it here.  I am thrilled.

Upcoming Posts: Cookbook Reviews ~ Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly by Joan E. Aller; Mary Mac’s Tea Room: 65 Years of Recipes from Atlanta’s Favorite Dining Room by John Ferrell; The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook by Rachel Saunders.

Spice Dreams: Flavored Ice Creams and Other Frozen Treats.  Sara Engram and Katie Luber with Nancy Meadows and Kimberly Toqe.  Andrews McMeel Publishing.  $16.99  (86p)  ISBN: 978-0-7407-8016-5

Spices and herbs as flavor agents came to me late in life.  Growing up in a typical American household where the occasional Taco Night, or a meal out at the local Chinese restaurant was about as close as I got to anything resembling an exotic spice or herb.  Even then the word ’spice’ often referred to the La Victoria hot sauce we put on our tacos.  The idea that there was a whole world of flavors out there, and even other cultures that cooked with them was a surprise to my palette.

Like cardamom for example.  I first tasted the flowery, layered loveliness of this spice in Indian food on a trip to London at age 17.  I have loved Indian food — and cardamom — ever since.  Years later I ate a whole lot of Indian food when I was a film student at New York University.  On East 6th Street in New York’s East Village there is a block of cheap Indian restaurants where I could get multi-course meals for a few dollars.  It was splendid.  Living in New York, and traveling occasionally, I ate more and more non-European and non-American cuisines.  I loved them all.  The incredible flavors that emerged from these exotic dishes.

Authors Sara Engram and Katie Luber own an organic spice company, The Seasoned Palate.  They know their spices and herbs.  They recently wrote a book, ‘The Spice Kitchen,’ which I love and also reviewed.  Now they have published a companion book of sorts: ‘Spice Dreams: Flavored Ice Creams and Other Frozen Desserts’ — all about herb and spice-infused ice creams and frozen desserts.  Their methods combine all-natural ingredients with herbs and spices both fresh and dried to great success.  Now back to that cardamom.  The first ice cream I made from the book was Cardamom-Mint Ice Cream and, wow, was it amazing.  That flowery, layered loveliness I referred to earlier in combination with the peppermint extract called for in the recipe: did I say ‘wow’ yet?  Add to the experience the creamy coldness of the ice cream — full-on bliss.  We had friends over and we devoured the entire 1 1/2 quarts.

The book is divided into four sections: Ice Creams; Sorbets and Frozen Yogurts; Sandwiches, Sundaes, and Such; Syrups, Sauces, Toppings, and Other Goodies.  I tried several recipes and all worked extremely well.  The book is easy to follow and well structured.  Household favorites are Dark Chocolate-Anise Ice Cream, Mango Sorbet with Cumin and Cinnamon, and the highly unusual Basil Ice Cream (eat this one with fresh berries!).  We also liked the Pink Grapefruit-Tarragon Sorbet.  Of the syrups and sauces I made a favorite was the Ancho-Lime Syrup that we poured over the Mango Sorbet with Cumin and Cinnamon.  These frozen desserts couldn’t be more fun to make and eat.  What makes them so unusual is the savory-sweet flavor combinations: mango and cumin; grapefruit and tarragon; ancho chile and mango (a popular Latin American flavor combination  — sweet fruit and hot chile).

Friendly and playful (they refer to their ice cream as ’spice cream’) Engram and Luber not only add to the trend of combining herbs and spices with sweets, they take it to another level.  They also encourage the reader to experiment and come up with their own combinations; to use the recipes in the book as templates.  I am fairly new to making ice cream at home and I wish I hadn’t waited so long.  The experience of making and eating homemade ice cream is far superior to buying it commercially.  Go get an ice cream maker if you don’t have one.  Buy this book and let the magic unfold.  You won’t be sorry.

KCET Top 10 List: I wrote this piece for LA-based PBS station, KCET ~ ‘Walking and Eating in Atwater Village: A Top 10′

Coming Up: International Food Bloggers Conference (IFBC), August 27 – 29, 2010, Seattle Washington.  So much fun last year that I’ll be attending again this year.  Are you?

Upcoming Posts: Cookbook Reviews: Steak and Friends: At Home with Rick Tramonto by Rick Tramonto; Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly by Joan E. Aller.

5.9 miles, about 9 minutes, from my home in Atwater Village.

Pazzo means ‘crazy’ in Italian.  In the case of Pazzo Gelato it means ‘crazy good’ Italian gelato and sorebetto.  Pazzo Gelato has been at its Silver Lake location on the corner of Sunset Blvd. and Hyperion Ave. since 2006.  Forage is a couple of doors down, and Casbah Café sits catty-corner across the street.  This intersection is the real nexus of Silver Lake in my opinion.  Sunset Junction is officially one block north on Sunset Blvd. at Santa Monica Blvd. but these four corners are where it all happens, the true heart of Silver Lake.

Now that summer has finally arrived to Los Angeles, ice cream is back on my mind.  Although it’s never really not on my mind.  A favorite summer evening is to go to Silver Lake when it has cooled off a bit, and walk around, window shop, maybe get a bite to eat, then grab a gelato at Pazzo Gelato.  If I’m lucky enough to snag a sidewalk table, I’ll sit and savor my gelato, and watch the world go by — and go by it does.  People are out, enjoying the evening, shopping, eating, or just strolling.

Pazzo Gelato’s gelato and sorbetto is made using fresh, local and organic fruit, dairy products, and herbs and spices.  Their flavors change daily depending on what is available.  According to their website gelato contains 1/2 the fat than most gourmet ice cream (they use whole milk instead of cream) and less air.  The end result is a more concentrated flavor while also being a tad healthier.  By adding herbs and spices with both savory and sweet flavor associations they kick it up a notch.  One of my favorites is Avocado with Cayenne Pepper.  Another I haven’t tried yet but will on my next visit is Chevre/goat cheese to which you can add fig, raspberry, sour cherry or hazelnut swirl.  Others I have tried and loved: Dulce de Leche, Midnight Espresso with Chocolate Chip, and Chocolate Hazelnut.  I love chocolate above all and their chocolate flavor combinations go on forever.

The sorbettos they offer are based on availability of seasonal fruits but can include Fleur de Cactus (prickly pear), Mango, Meyer Lemon, Lychee, Watermelon, Grapefruit, and on and on.  They only use Valrohna chocolate and Intelligentsia coffee in their gelato and sorbetto, and they use no high fructose corn syrup in any of their products.  They also offer dairy free/vegan sorbetto and they sell gelato cakes.  Pazzo Gelato is a true neighborhood business:  they support local farmers markets, and local distribution, are committed to using biodegradable and compost friendly packaging; and they support the local economy as much as possible.  They partner with such local businesses as Intelligentsia Coffee, Susina Bakery, and Strauss Dairy among others.

Pazzo Gelato rocks!

Pazzo Gelato, 3827 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90026, 323-662-1410, http://www.pazzogelato.net/

*The Local Report(s): are occasional blog posts on restaurants, and/or businesses that either support the idea of one-hundred miles, and ‘living life locally’; or are small, localized businesses in my neighborhood, and/or within one-hundred miles of my residence, that I prefer to support over the larger, national, corporate chains. For other The Local Report(s) please go the Archives section of this blog. Also, I’d love to hear from my readers about businesses that they support in their neighborhoods: write to me at charlesgthompson@100miles.com, or leave a comment here.

Follow The Local Report on Twitter: @TheLocalReport

Coming Up: International Food Bloggers Conference (IFBC), August 27 – 29, 2010, Seattle Washington.  So much fun last year that I’ll be attending again this year.  Are you?

Upcoming Posts: Cookbook Reviews: Steak and Friends: At Home with Rick Tramonto by Rick Tramonto, Spice Dreams by Sara Engram and Katie Luber, Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly by Joan E. Aller.

Chefs and winemakers can be a rough and tumble crowd.  Throw butchers into the mix and watch out.  Then there are chefs who also butcher.  Time to run the other way.  This spring my friend, Jo Stougaard (of My Last Bite), and I attended ‘Cochon 555 – 5 Chefs, 5 Pigs, 5 Winemakers’ in the Napa Valley.  The name pretty much says it all.  Both of us were curious to learn more about butchering, what goes into the process, and how it’s done.  This event sounded both fun and educational — and it took place in the Napa Valley.  The added incentive for me was that two of my favorite chefs were competing: John Stewart and Duskie Estes of Zazu Restaurant & Farm, and Bovolo in Sonoma County.  So one chilly Friday morning in February we set off on what ended up being a three day food filled adventure which I’ve been meaning to write about ever since.  Hate to use a worn out phrase but where does the time go?  So much went on during our trip, and we took so many pictures, that it would take hours of writing and editing to recount every detail.  This will be a somewhat condensed recap, then I’m going to let the photos that Jo and I took tell the rest of the story.  (For more photos look for the ‘Flickr Stream’ links below.)

Photo by Jo Stougaard, My Last Bite

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Lunch at Chez Panisse, Berkeley, California

Our first stop was on the drive up to Napa from Oakland International Airport:  lunch at Chez Panisse, the café not the dining room.  I had eaten in the restaurant (both the dining room and the café) a handful of times when I worked in the restaurant business in the Bay Area in the 80s and 90s but Jo had never been.  It felt a bit like a pilgrimage.  The restaurant and Alice Waters have become so much more famous since the 80s and 90s.  The fact that Jo, a serious restaurant diner, had not been before made it even more fun.   We ordered a number of dishes so we could really get a sense of the menu and the food.  Everything, the food, the service, the ambiance, was wonderful; we had a primo seat (we also had one of the first reservations); it was the perfect start to the weekend.

Flickr Stream for Chez Panisse

Dinner at Ad Hoc, Yountville, California

Dinner that night was at another hallowed chef’s restaurant:  Ad Hoc. The chef being Thomas Keller.  Ad Hoc being one of many restaurants he owns on both coasts of the U.S., three of which are in the small Napa Valley town of Yountville.  I had heard so much about Thomas Keller’s restaurants but had never been to any.  Finally, I was in one.   It was wonderful.  I don’t think it’s the pinnacle of T.K. hallowed-ness which would have be The French Laundry (down the street from Ad Hoc) but it was a fine runner-up; and it represented perfectly the idea of ‘ad hoc.’  I liked the casual yet professional  atmosphere and service.  The food was hearty and straightforward, no gimmicks, and was prepared with obvious skill and attention to detail.  A garden behind the restaurant provides some of the restaurant’s produce.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Breakfast at Bouchon Bakery, Yountville, California

Yountville is jokingly referred to as ‘Thomas Kellerville.’  He has three restaurants and a bakery in a town that has one main street and a population of 2,916 (based on 2000 U.S. Census figures).  Chef Keller owns Ad Hoc, Bouchon, and the world-famous The French Laundry.  Opposite Bouchon is Bouchon Bakery where we had breakfast the two mornings we were in town.  Beautiful breads,  pastries, sandwiches, chocolates and other confectionery including foie gras doggy biscuits were among the baked goods that people stood in line for.  I wish there was a Bouchon Bakery in my neighborhood.  I’d ‘take’ my coffee there everyday all the while pretending to be in Paris.  It is that good.

Photo by Jo Stougaard, My Last Bite

Stop at The French Laundry, Yountville, California

After breakfast I took Jo on a tour of the Napa Valley, well, a mini-tour actually.  After walking around Yountville where we saw Ad Hoc in the daylight, Bouchon Restaurant, Bottega, Michael Chiarello’s place, and the retail food shop Napa Style, we made another pilgrimage, this time to The French Laundry.  Not that it was open, or that we were eating there, we simply stopped to be food tourists, to take pictures, to peer through windows, and be in the presence of culinary greatness.  We weren’t alone, there were Japanese tourists that asked us to take pictures of them to which Jo naturally obliged.  A side note here: when I was in high school in neighboring Santa Rosa in the late ’70s I took my prom date, Gabrielle, a French foreign exchange student, to The French Laundry in Yountville for a pre-prom dinner.  At the time the building that houses the current The French Laundry was a restaurant also named The French Laundry.  Years later when Keller took it over he kept the name.  The pre-Keller The French Laundry was quite good (at least to my 17 year old palate).  I’ve always wondered if it was one and the same as the place Keller now owns, and has made so famous.  Now I know.  I made my triumphant return.  Now to snag one of those oh-so-hard-to-get reservations!

Snack at the Oakville Grocery, Oakville, Caklifornia

Next we headed further up the Napa Valley to the little town of Oakville where the original Oakville Grocery is located.  I have a personal history with the renowned retail food store in that I worked as a cheese buyer at what was supposed to be the flagship Oakville Grocery in San Francisco back in the early ’80s.  I started just after the store opened and stayed for about a year before moving on to help film producer, Dino de Laurentiis open his gourmet food emporium, DDL Foodshow in New York City.  Those were heady days in the gourmet retail food-iverse.  Oakville Grocery was my introduction to the world of high end, fancy food. My days as a cheese buyer at Oakville are some of my fondest food memories.  It was fun to see the original store again after so many years.

(See below at bottom of post for Flickr Stream for Napa Valley Restaurants & Shops)

Butcher, Ryan Farr of 4505 Meats breaking down a heritage pig. Photo by Jo Stougaard, My Last Bite

Afternoon at Cochon 555, Silverado Resort, Napa, California

The main event, the reason we made the trip, took place on Sunday afternoon.  Cochon 555’s goal is to celebrate and raise awareness of heritage breed pigs like Gloucester Old Spots, Yorkshire, Duroc, and Berkshire Cross.  Cochon 555 events take place all across the country.  5 local chefs are matched to 5 local heritage breed pig farmers and must come up with dishes using their specific heritage pig.  The dishes are then judged by professional judges and the public who is in attendance.  5 local wineries supply the wine.  The chefs competing at the Napa event were Chris Kostow, The Restaurant at Meadowood; Peter Pahk, Silverado Resort, John Stewart & Duskie Estes, Zazu Restaurant & Farm, Devin Knell, The French Laundry and Dennis Lee, Namu.  Each chef created and served several pork-based dishes.  Butcher, Ryan Farr of 4505 Meats held a butchering demonstration where he broke down a whole pig.  Jo and I mistakenly thought the event would be five chefs breaking down whole pigs before an audience of judges and public — so not the case.  It was a tasting event with very good food from all the chefs.  The winner of the Napa event was Devin Knell of The French Laundry.

Flickr Stream for Cochon 555 Napa Event

Late Dinner at Bottega Ristorante, Yountville, California

After the Cochon event ended we still had room to have a late dinner at Chef Michael Chiarello’s restaurant, Bottega.  We both liked the food, the atmosphere and the impeccable service.  Chef Chiarello maintains the high quality that chefs and restaurants in the Napa Valley are known for.   During our three day eating extravaganza I didn’t eat one bad bite.  It was all, every morsel, stellar including the food at Bottega.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Breakfast at Bouchon Bakery, Yountville, California

Again!  Of course!  Where else?!

Stop at Napa Valley Olive Oil Mfg., Saint Helena, California

This was our last day.  We had a mid-afternoon flight out of Oakland International Airport.  I, of course, had a few more things to show Jo.  I’m forever reading articles in magazines and on the Internet, and tearing them out, or printing them.  I’d seen something about the Napa Valley Olive Oil Mfg. somewhere, had never been and wanted to go.  It’s further north in the Valley, up in Saint Helena, and worth the trip.  A tiny place chock full of dried sausages, salame, mushrooms, canned items, and bulk olive oil that is dispensed from a huge metal tank.  A foodie’s treasure trove.  As we were poking around, finding a few things to buy, Jo whispers to me: ‘Isn’t that Cindy Pawlcyn?”  I’d met Cindy years ago, eaten in her Napa Valley restaurant, Mustards, many times but I hadn’t seen her in years.  Sure enough, Jo was right.  We saw her in the parking lot and Jo spoke to her.  It was indeed Chef Pawlcyn.  Oddly enough our last stop before leaving the Valley was her restaurant Mustards.  But first a quick nip into Dean & Deluca – a new addition to the Valley since my regular visits in the ‘8os and 90’s.

Dean & Deluca, Saint Helena, California

I actually remember when Dean & Deluca was one store on Prince Street in SoHo in New York City.  Now it’s a global company with stores around the world including, apparently, one in the Napa Valley.  After we left the Napa Valley Olive Oil Mfg. we quickly stopped in as I wanted to see what this D & D looked like.  All the usual high end food products and produce in a gleaming metal and glass building.  If I lived in the area I’d certainly shop there – in fact as we were leaving Chef Pawlcyn was pulling in and waved to us – but I miss the old store on Prince Street with its uneven wooden floors and overflowing barrels of all sorts of good things to eats.

Photo by Jo Stougaard, My Last Bite

Lunch at Mustards Grill, Yountville, California

When I worked in the retail food and restaurant business in San Francisco during the ’80s and ’90s I made frequent weekend trips to the Napa Valley.  The weekend always ended with a late lunch at Mustards before heading back to the City.  When I first went to Mustards it was Chef Cindy Pawlcyn’s only restaurant.  She went on to open Fog City Diner in San Franciso, the Rio Grill in Carmel, and now has Go Fish and Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen in Saint Helena.  I always thought Mustards felt like an old-fashioned road house both in design and menu.  The food, ‘American Grill food,’ was always good; trustworthy and dependable.  At the end of a weekend it was the perfect antidote for too much Napa Valley wine and the fuel we needed to get us home.  Not much has changed.  A plate of oven-roasted garlic, a perfect cheeseburger with stellar French fries and we were ready for the return trip home.  Our food-filled weekend coming to a perfect end.  Jo and I have been on two food oriented trips together and have had the best time.  She’s a fantastic traveling companion, and I look forward to our next foodie adventure.

Flickr Stream for Napa Valley Restaurants & Shops

Recommendation: Savor Los Angeles, Friday, July 30th, 7pm to 10pm ~ a sweets tasting event of one-of-a-kind bites from an exclusive set of L.A.’s best purveyors of sweet treats.

Coming Up: International Food Bloggers Conference (IFBC), August 27 – 29, 2010, Seattle Washington.  So much fun last year that I’ll be attending again this year.  Are you?

Upcoming Posts: Cookbook Reviews: Steak and Friends: At Home with Rick Tramonto by Rick Tramonto, Spice Dreams by Sara Engram and Katie Luber, Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly by Joan E. Aller.