Gabrielle Perdrizet and me, spring 1977, ready for the Montgomery High School Senior Prom. Santa Rosa, California

I took my prom date to dinner at the French Laundry.  No, really, I did.  In 1977.  Granted back then it wasn’t the French Laundry it would grow up to be.  The French Laundry now owned by uber-chef Thomas Keller.  The world renowned French Laundry; a place where everyone who knows good food wants to eat at least once in their culinary lifetimes.  This past spring I was in the Napa Valley (where the French Laundry restaurant is located in the town of Yountville) and I went to the restaurant.  It was closed as I was there between the lunch and dinner services.  I didn’t have plans to eat at the restaurant.  I wanted to see the building.  I wanted to see if it was true; that I actually did take my prom date, the beautiful and very French, Gabrielle Perdrizet (see photo) to dinner at the restaurant before we went to our Senior Prom at Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa, California, thirty-three years ago.  It was.  I did.

Keller Buys the French Laundry

In 1994 Thomas Keller purchased the building that the current French Laundry is in.  The beautiful stone building dates back to the 1880s when it first served as a saloon.  When alcohol was outlawed within two miles of Yountville it became a brothel.  In the late 1920s it became a French steam laundry.  In 1974 the Mayor of Yountville, Don Schmitt, and his wife purchased the building and opened a restaurant naming it the French Laundry.  The name stuck and when Keller came along he kept it.

I went to high school in neighboring Santa Rosa in 1976 and 1977 during the time that Mayor Schmitt owned the restaurant.  I have no idea how I even knew it existed.  I may have read something about it in the newspaper, or maybe I saw it on a family outing to the Napa Valley.  What I do know is that once Gabrielle, a French foreign exchange student, accepted my invitation to attend the prom it only seemed fitting that we go there.  Yountville is almost twenty-eight miles from Santa Rosa; it’s over hill and dale, it takes close to an hour to drive to.  I think we arrived at the restaurant at five-thirty.

My mother let me borrow her fading powder blue V.W. Hatchback.  The car didn’t have a lot of power, we sputtered along as there were problems with the muffler.  We made it there and back.  I don’t remember what we ate.  To my young developing palate it was the most amazing meal I’d ever eaten — at least in my current memory.  I do remember that we sat at a table next to a window looking out on to flower boxes, or possibly flower beds.  I know we had a good time.  It was Senior Prom after all.  And I don’t have any pictures; we didn’t take a camera, it was before the days of photographing everything.

The 12 foreign exchange students who attended Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa, California, during the 1976-77 school year. The countries represented here are Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Sweden (x2), Greece, Scotland, France (x2), and Denmark

All Things French

My introduction to all things French happened in 1976, the year before the infamous prom date, when at the age of sixteen I went with my French class on a week long trip to Paris.  It was my first time out of the country, my first time to Paris, and I fell in love hard.  I loved Paris, and everything about it, I still do.  It was an eye-opening experience that led to a lifelong connection to the country and its people.

There were twelve foreign exchange students during my senior year of high school, two of them were French.  My interest in all things French grew further as I came to better know Gabrielle and Amélie, the two French exchange students.  Gabrielle became my girlfriend and prom date.  So being the budding Francophile and wanting to impress Garbrielle, I chose a place that seemed to be French for our prom dinner.  At least it had the word French in the name.  I probably thought it served French food although now I can’t say if it did or did not.  No matter what type of cuisine, nor how good or bad it may have been, I have the memory of the experience.  That’s enough for me.

Me in front of the French Laundry, Spring 2010

Now to the Gap

Through my friendships with Gabrielle and Amélie I was introduced to the idea of working in France as an au pair, or mother’s helper.  I did it.  After I graduated from high school I went and lived in France for a year where I took care of four French children.  I returned home knowing how to cook French food, and speaking French.  The experience cemented my relationship with France.  It’s now like a second home.  It also started me on a path of cooking both professionally and personally that I remain on today.

So after my year in France I returned to Northern California and began my professional career in the restaurant and retail food businesses; it was San Francisco in the early 80s.  All was going very well.  I was working in top restaurants with top chefs.  Then I decided I wanted to work in the film industry which I started to do after graduating from the New York University Film & Television program in 1988.  I slowly moved into film and away from food.  I missed the advent and rise of a chef named Thomas Keller.  It was the late 90s and Keller’s star was truly ascending, and I kept hearing things about a restaurant called the French Laundry that Keller owned.

Photo by Jo Stougaard

I often wondered: is this the French Laundry I took Gabrielle to for our prom?  It sort of gnawed at me.  Could it really be the same place?  It was so famous now.  In the early 80s when I was working in San Francisco restaurants I went to the Napa Valley often but this was before the arrival of Keller, and his ownership of the French Laundry.  Until this past spring when I went to the area to attend the Cochon 555 event I wasn’t sure if it was the same place or not.  One thing I did know: while I was there I would be stopping by the French Laundry to see for myself.  I did, and it is, or was, the same place I’d been to all those many years ago with my prom date, the lovely, the beautiful, the very French, Gabrielle Perdrizet.

So it’s true.  I took my prom date to dinner at the French Laundry.  I recently told this story to a friend and he told me he took his prom date to White Castle for dinner.  (He went to high school in New Jersey.)  Where did you take your prom date to dinner, or where did you have dinner before the prom?

Bon appétit!

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, Spice Dreams by Sara Engram and Katie Luber, Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly by Joan E. Aller.

]]> http://www.100miles.com/prom-date-the-french-laundry/feed/ 14 http://www.100miles.com/cochon-555-5-chefs-5-pigs-5-winemakers/ http://www.100miles.com/cochon-555-5-chefs-5-pigs-5-winemakers/#comments Sat, 17 Jul 2010 23:11:53 +0000 Charles Thompson http://www.100miles.com/?p=2321

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.

Italian, Mexican, a cafe and bakery, Korean BBQ, a gelateria, and Lucifers Pizza are just a few of the eating options along a four or five block stretch of Hillhurst Avenue in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles.  The stretch that is becoming a sort of neighborhood food mecca runs between Franklin Avenue and Los Feliz Boulevard.  To the south at Franklin Avenue sits the Loz Feliz Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library (the corner it sits on was once the childhood home of Leonardo DiCaprio).  As you move north you will come across the very popular Alcove Cafe & Bakery, across the street from the Alcove is the newly owned and re-opened Gelato Bar, the sister store to one in Studio City owned by Gail Silverton, Nancy Silverton of Mozza fame’s sister.  Further up from Gelato Bar is the subject of today’s post: Lucifers Pizza.

I recently attended a pizza tasting at Lucifers as a new menu was about to be introduced, and I have to say I really liked this pizza.  Not only does founder and owner, Adam Borich, make a point of using locally sourced produce and ingredients, he also makes the eating experience fun by adding a little heat to his pizzas — hence the name Lucifers.  When you order a Lucifers pizza you have the option of requesting spice level ranges of ‘Zero,’ ‘Medium,’ ‘Fiery,’ and ‘Blazing’.  The new menu includes five new pizzas: the Sopressata (Sopressata, fresh basil, fresh mozzarella), Tradizionale (Sliced fresh plum tomato, fresh basil, fresh mozzarella), Prosciutto-Pollo (Prosciutto, chicken, fresh basil, caramelized onion, fresh mozzarella), Quattro Formaggio (Fresh parmesan cheese, romano cheese, fresh mozzarella, feta and garlic), and the Spagnolo (Jumbo shrimp, chorizo, fresh spinach, chili, garlic).

A large pizza, 'medium' heat, half Roast Pumpkin & Prosciutto (left side), half Spagnolo.

We tasted the new five plus some of those already on the menu.  One from the original menu that stood out for me was Roast Pumpkin & Prosciutto (Pumpkin, prosciutto, roast garlic & spinach) — a genius idea to put pumpkin on a pizza and to combine it with prosciutto, garlic and spinach.  A sweet and savory pie all rolled into one.  Another off the original menu that caught my attention was the Greek Lamb & Rosemary (Lamb, caramelized onions, feta cheese, kalamata olives, rosemary, garlic, lemon pepper & chopped parsley).  I thought, ah ha, Adam is showing his Auckland, New Zealand roots in this pie as New Zealand is known for its lamb, and for its large Greek community.   I like lamb, Greek food and this pizza.  The Spagnolo off the new menu was another favorite.  Seafood and cured meats together on a pizza are a wonderful thing, and a little heat’s not bad too.

This was my first time eating Lucifers pizza; I pass by the shop often as I spend a good deal of time on this stretch of Hillhurst but I’d never made it in.  I am glad I finally ate Lucifers pizza.  I will definitely go again, or order for delivery.  I might even consider the Ringburner (Pepperoni, jalapenos, black pepper, bell pepper & hot chili sauce) but then again I might be too much of a wimp for that much heat.

Lucifers Pizza, 1958 Hillhurst Avenue, Los Angeles, CA  90027, 323-906-8603, www.luciferspizza.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

Recommendation:  Let Me Cook For You ~ for my Marin County, and Bay Area readers.  My sister, Traci Thompson, has started a personal cooking service.  She’ll devise menus, do the shopping, come to your house, and cook for you and your family.  She’s an amazing cook and prepares ‘healthy homemade meals for everyone’.

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: Cochon 555 Napa, a write up of the amazing pork festival that I attended this spring. 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.

Serves

4 – 6

Preparation Time

45 – 60 minutes

Ingredients

4 – 14 oz. cans of cannellini beans, drained OR 4 cups cooked beans

6 – 8 garlic cloves, chopped

4 – 5 medium sized tomatoes, cut in 1/4ths, or 1/8ths

8 – 10 Tbs olive oil, enough to cover the bottom of the pan

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp herbes de Provence

Method

Sauté garlic in olive oil in medium sized skillet, or sauté pan over medium heat for 1 minute.  Do not brown.

Add tomatoes, salt and pepper, and herbes de Provence.  Stir together and cook until tomatoes soften and lose their shape about 4 – 6 minutes.  Stir occasionally to keep from burning.

Add beans and stir together with tomato-garlic mixture.  Cook until beans are heated through about 5 minutes or so.

Check seasonings.  Add salt if needed.

Read Original Post

Ristorante Carleni, Amelia, Italy, 2004

Open and become a part owner in a restaurant in Italy?  Sure, why not?  That’s exactly what happened several years ago when chef Jeremiah Tower and I decided to try our hand at operating a ristorante in a small hill town in Umbria, Italy.  What no one tells you before you arrive to attempt such an endeavor are the hoops you must jump through, and the circus-type feats you must attempt to get the necessary licenses and permits to start a business in Italy as a foreigner.  Madonna! It was like trying to squeeze olive oil out of Cararra marble.  Endless meetings with lawyers, police chiefs, and building inspectors and we still didn’t have the necessary permits and documentation to operate a business.  It all started in 2003 while on a three week trip to southern France and Italy.  Italian friends told us about a small restaurant where the owner of the property (a small hotel along with the restaurant) was looking for a chef to become a part owner in the restaurant.  Ristorante Carleni was located in Amelia, a small hill town in Umbria not too far from the well-known town of Todi, and relatively close to the A1 auto route.  The A1 connects Rome to Florence and is heavily traveled.  We looked at the restaurant and were intrigued.  We initially thought that we might operate it on a seasonal basis opening in the spring and closing in the fall.  We went back to try it out in the spring of 2004.  After much effort and hand wringing we both decided that there were far too many roadblocks and difficulties, and opted not to proceed with the project.  But this post isn’t really about the restaurant, it’s about beans.  I’ll write more about the restaurant in future posts.

Chef Jeremiah Tower taking in one of three dining rooms.

A trial dinner. Jeremiah is at the head of table in front of the fireplace.

Now let’s get to the beans…

We arrived in Italy in May and spent several months trying to make the restaurant work.  The month of May was wet and cold but as soon as June hit summer began — glorious Italian summer.  We rented a house in the Umbrian countryside outside Amelia.  The house had three apartments; Jeremiah took one, I took one, the third was for visitors.  The house had exquisite views of the rolling green Umbrian hills.  I quickly discovered that the local Coop had all we needed in the way of food.  Coops are a national chain of grocery stores in Italy but unlike American chain grocery stores they have an abundance of products of exceedingly high quality.  The produce was like it came from a neighbor’s garden.  The salumeria had endless types of cured meats; the cheese counter had hundreds of choices.  The luscious, ruby red, full-flavored tomatoes they sold became one of my staples.  They reminded me of tomatoes that came out of my great-grandparents’ garden.  They smelled like a tomato; they were ripe and ready to eat.  I was in love.  A huge bowl always sat on my kitchen counter.

The rental house in the Umbrian countryside.

Since Jeremiah and I had separate kitchens dining at home became a communal experience.  We’d agree on a time to eat and bring to the outdoor table whatever we pulled together from our respective kitchens.  One of my creations became a favored lunchtime staple: Cannellini Beans with Tomatoes and Garlic.  For some reason I grabbed a couple of cans of cannellini beans at the Coop one day (I don’t normally buy canned products).  When I got home I sautéed garlic in amazing olive oil, threw in some cut up tomatoes and let them cook down, then added the beans, salt, pepper, and herbs, stirred it all together, and wow!  Everyone loved this dish.  We ate it often and served it to guests.  It was wonderful on its own with crusty bread, or with grilled fish that Jeremiah might have made, or grilled sausages even.  I make this dish often now as it is so easy, so versatile and so delicious.  Here’s the recipe…

Print Recipe

Buon appetito!

Post Recommendatons: Most canned cannellini beans sold in grocery stores should be fine but I’ve been buying Carmelina Brands.  The bright yellow label says ‘No Preservatives,’ and ‘Packed in Italy - Prodotto in Italia,‘ the ingredients listed are beans, water, salt.  If you want to cook your own beans I recommend Rancho Gordo beans and the book ‘Heirloom Beans’ written by Rancho Gordo owner, Steve Sando.  It’s a great resource full of wonderful recipes.  An olive oil I recently started using and recommend is California Olive Ranch.

Recommendation:  Let Me Cook For You ~ for my Marin County, and Bay Area readers.  My sister, Traci Thompson, has started a personal cooking service.  She’ll devise menus, do the shopping, come to your house, and cook for you and your family.  She’s an amazing cook and prepares ‘healthy homemade meals for everyone’.

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: Cochon 555 Napa, a write up of the amazing pork festival that I attended this spring. 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 John Stewart & Duskie Estes at the 'Chefs' Holidays at The Ahwahnee' event. January 2010. Yosemite, California

Chefs John Stewart and Duskie Estes are a husband and wife cooking team who own two restaurants in Sonoma County: Zazu Restaurant and Farm just outside Santa Rosa, California, and Bovolo Restaurant on the square in Healdsburg, California.  They are cooks who embrace a local, sustainable, ultra-fresh, from-the-garden cooking style wholeheartedly and without fail.  Not only do they have a kitchen garden at Zazu that supplies both restaurants with super fresh produce but they also raise pigs, sheep and chickens at their Sonoma County home.

John makes his own salumi having trained with Mario Battali, and at the University of Iowa Meat Lab.  Duskie prides herself in cooking high brow low food.  She likes to update classic American comfort foods using locally sourced ingredients.  She also competed on the ‘Food Network Challenge’ in 2007.  John’s style of cooking is authentic and rustic Italian.  He is responsible for their line of Black Pig Meats, bacon and salumi. Their philosophy includes no waste, and they use every part of the animal also known as ’snout-to-tail.’  They either raise the proteins they use and eat themselves, or know the person who does.  They are committed ‘to finding ingredients as close to their restaurants as possible, harvested at peak ripeness, and doing as little as possible to alter their natural perfection.’

Each time I head north from my home in Los Angeles to Sonoma County I eat at both of their restaurants.  The food is always exciting, with clean, simple, direct flavors, highly interesting while still being authentic, and the best food I’ve eaten in months. These innovative chefs have become my cooking heroes.  I recently had the opportunity to interview them at the ‘Chef’s’ Holidays at The Ahwahnee’ event in Yosemite.

Charles G. Thompson: As you both know I’m a huge fan of what you do.  First off, how did you become involved in the local food movement?

Duskie Estes: In Sonoma County the wineries are still family owned, and there’s still a diversity of agriculture.  We want it to stay that way because there’s so much soul in that direct connection to people over larger businesses.  When we saw what happened to Napa, and what could happen to Sonoma we became more and more dedicated to making sure we purchased conscientiously to help preserve the local small farmer.  Everything grows there, and all the proteins are available to us there, every awesome vegetable, the longer we’re there the more we get into it ourselves.

John Stewart: Very personal choices drive what we do, they’re not economic choices.  From a straight cost analysis it’s not always the smartest thing to support everything we do but it is definitely the right thing to do.  At the end of the day we want to be able to hold our heads high and know that what we did was right.  For me it all started when we were looking at our house and there were chickens behind it.  We had purchased other homes so I knew you could ask for things to be written into the deal like people’s living room furniture.  I asked for the chickens.  Our real estate person thought it was hilarious but I was like no, I want the chickens.

CGT: That’s a great story.  That brings to mind: there seems to be a huge upswing in urban farming.  Non-farmers, or city dwellers creating mini-farms at home.

JS: I think a lot of people start out that way having chickens kind of like cats.  If they have food, chickens do their own thing.  They’re kind of independent of you.  But you also have to be careful.  We had a vineyard in our backyard and everyone told us you have to put down synthetic fertilizers.  So we put down synthetic fertilizers, and then we saw our free range chickens run over and eat it, and we thought, wow, that can’t make sense so we stopped using the fertilizer.  It just goes from there.  Duskie did an event where this woman, Deborah, had Babydoll sheep so we got some sheep to care for the vineyard in a biodynamic way.  They can be in the vineyard and unlike goats they won’t go up on their hind legs and eat the fruit.  They wander through, they fertilize, and they eat.  You don’t have to put machinery through your vine rows to stop weeds, and such, your sheep do it.

Farfalline Pasta Carbonara, House Made Bacon, Farm Egg, Parmesan at Bovolo Restaurant, Healdsburg, California

CGT: Recently there’s been so much talk about the ‘politics of food.’  Could you both comment on that?

DE: I grew up in a political household.  My parents are very active politically but I’ve always felt powerless when it comes to politics.  To me the power I feel I have is purchasing power.  I make sure whether it’s a food related purchase, or something else I need not to shop at Walmart but to go to the small independent clothing store instead.  I make sure there’s a face where my money’s going and that it’s not lost out there to an unknown entity.

JS: I’ve read a lot of Wendell Berry and Michael Pollan, and in reading these guys you really see the negative consequences of the American imperative of bigger is always better.  The farms in the 60s and 70s passed the scale of where they really should be.  Now we’re seeing all the economic and environmental consequences from these farms that are so massive.  They’re not good for the people that work there, they’re not good for the animals that are raised there.  The end product is bland and boring.  It’s cheap and there’s a lot of it which Americans tend to love but it’s boring, tasteless food.  People need to start thinking more consciously about where their food comes from.  In Europe a lot of this was never lost because they didn’t have as much land to scale out.  Their farmers had to stay small and diversified.  We were listening to Michael Pollan interview Wendell Berry recently.  Wendell Berry for 50 years now has gone on and on about the loss of American agriculture, and the loss of small scale farmers.  Sort of the beginning of the end.  He may be a little alarmist and a little out there but a lot of it is rooted in truth today.

The sign for Bovolo Restaurant, Healdsburg, California

CGT: Eating ‘locally’ is probably easier for those of us living in California, wouldn’t you say?

JS: Yes, we’re lucky being in California.  Not everyone has access to what we do so we can’t look down on them.   But if a food revolution really does get going it’s going to happen in all those Midwestern states.  That’s where the land is.  It’s not going to happen in the Bay Area, or the West Coast, not even the northeast.  There will be smaller farms and more regional differences. Like how Gravenstein apples grow around us, but Macintosh, or Romes, or Empires grow in New York.  For a long time I worked with Berkshire hogs which are also known as black pigs.  They came from Iowa and it was great because they were organic.  But a lot of people have made the case that if your organic raspberry comes from Chile then how organic is it if it has been flown in from somewhere so far away? So I started working with farmers from Oregon with a different breed of pig trying to get as close to us as possible to lessen the carbon footprint.  We all need to start thinking about our purchasing. Whole Foods may be the best option for a lot of people in a lot of places but for us it’s not.  We drive by small produce markets that are locally owned so if we spend our money at them it stays in Sonoma County.  Spend it at Whole Foods and it goes back to Texas.

CGT: Before Sonoma County you were both in Seattle.  Seattle’s a great food town.  What brought you to California?

DE: We met in Seattle.  I grew up in San Francisco and my parents lived in both Healdsburg and Oakland.  When we started to have children we wanted them to know and be close to family so we moved down to Sonoma County.  We adore Seattle, it’s awesome, and there are so many great farmers up there.

JS: We worked for Tom Douglas [a Seattle-based restaurateur] up there, and that involved working with a lot of local farmers, and those experiences led to what we do now.  A lot of berries and mushrooms among other things came from people who grew or foraged them.  We probably knew a whole lot less about wine than we do now but we knew all the local farmers.

CGT: That must have been more of an urban lifestyle because you were living in the city?

JS: Yes, we lived in the city but we drove out to the farms.  It’s probably where I got interested in making food because we would leave the city, and there would be all these berry farms and fruit farms.  I started making jams and jellies, and canning.  A flat of strawberries costs $15 and they were delicious.

World Famous Pork Cheek Sandwich with Roasted Peppers, Salsa Verde at Bovolo Restaurant, Healdsburg, California

CGT: Was the Mario Battali connection from Seattle, or through his father [Mario's father, Armandino Batali, a salumist, owns 'Salumi Artisan Cured Meats,' a shop in downtown Seattle]?

JS: Through Seattle but Duskie and I were also doing work on the annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.  Duskie’s still involved and has done it now for 11 or 12 years.  I went for about 5 years and we got to know Mario through that, then we met him at a party in Seattle, and I talked to him about curing.  He’s a great guy, he’s giving with his knowledge, a great teacher, a nurturer of people.

CGT: Any frustrations with living the local lifestyle?

JS: There are times where we live – it’s not New York, it’s not San Francisco.  There’s a lack of a concentration of people.  We often joke that we have a lot more fans in Los Angeles and New York then locally.  People that readily understand what we’re doing more so than the people who grow, or raise our food.  They grow carrots, raise rabbits, and chickens.  They raise all their own products so they already get it.  They never left this farming lifestyle so who cares if it’s grass fed beef? There’s grass fed beef right out their windows.

CGT: Are you able to get away to San Francisco?

DE: 3 or 4 times a year.  Or sometimes we have an event to be at.  We probably only go out to dinner once a year.

JS: Where we live there isn’t much diversity with low end, ethnic foods like authentic barbecue for example.  There’s great Mexican but not much else.

DE: Or like that Korean barbecue dude, Kogi?  Even that whole truck phenomenon.  I’d love to do a truck.  That would be so up our alley to do like corn dogs and sausages but no one is going to come.  I’d be out there with my corn dogs all by myself.

CGT: You’d have at least one customer.  I’d drive up for that!  I love Sonoma County.  I went to high school in Santa Rosa.  Back in those days — 1976 to ‘77 — my mother wouldn’t let us go out to Guerneville, or the Russian River because it was too dangerous.  It’s changed so much since then.

DS: We opened Bovolo 5 years ago and Zazu 8.5 years ago.  My mother moved to Healdsburg 15 years ago and tried to convince us to move there from Seattle and open a place.  We walked around the square, and I was like, are you crazy?

JS: It was before the hotel, there were only a few Mexican restaurants, real bikers not the middle-aged guys on Harleys but real bikers, and that was it.  It wasn’t like it is today.

CGT: Well, thank you for taking the time to talk to me.  You’re doing amazing things.  I’ll definitely be in again on my next visit north.

JS: Thank you.  We’re very proud of the progress we’ve made.  We get Italian winemakers who say our food is better than what they get in Italy.  They really know what they’re talking about.

CGT: Indeed they do.

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: Cochon 555 Napa, a write up of the amazing pork festival that I attended this spring. 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.

I first appreciated this when I lived in France and worked for a French family.  My employment as an au pair, or ‘mother’s helper,’ involved caring for the family’s four children and helping in the kitchen.  Sitting at table in France is very important.  It especially was in rural France in the late ’70s when I was there.  Lunch, the main meal of the day, lasted two hours.  My employer, Mr. Zundel, drove across town from his office everyday to sit at table with the family.  One of my favorite memories of this experience is how we called the children to the table.  The French phrase à table literally means ‘to the table.’  So whenever the meal was ready that cry went out far and wide: à table, les enfants! Come to the table, children!  The house the family lived in was four stories and quite large.  The main living quarters including the kitchen and dining room were on the second floor.   To get the children to the table we’d have to call that out several times — up the stairs to the third and fourth floors, and over an intercom that went out to the street where the children often played.  The intercom was actually the door bell.  When someone rang you asked who it was before buzzing them in.  In the case of mealtimes we used it to summon the children.  À table, les enfants!

Our version of this when I was growing up was ‘dinnertime!’ yelled out the front door if my sister and I were outside playing.  If we were too far afield to hear the message was passed along by our friends.  ‘Your mom is calling you.’  That meant we better get home fast.  We spent half a school year living with my grandparents outside Sacramento, California in a fairly rural area.  My sister and I were often out running around in the fields when it was time for dinner.  My grandmother took to ringing a cowbell to call us in.  It worked every time.  It was hard not to hear it clanging  away.

Not every meal I eat out, or at home, is as fancy as it may seem from what I have written.  I do eat at inexpensive restaurants sitting at outdoor picnic tables eating off paper plates, or on the curb after grabbing something from a food truck, or worst of all before my computer screen at home but I will always enjoy sitting at a nicely set table whether at home or in a restaurant the most.  It’s the excitement of expectation: the drinks, the food, fellow table mates.  What’s on the menu?  Will it be good?  Will the other diners be fun and interesting?  Hopefully, yes.  If all goes well it’s one of the most glorious experiences life has to offer.  So on that note: bon appétit and please come to the table.  Dinner is served.

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: Interview with Chefs John Stewart & Duskie Estes, owners of Zazu & Bovolo restaurants in Sonoma County. Cochon 555 Napa, a write up of the amazing pork festival that I attended this spring. 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.

Non-Food Fun: ‘Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles’ by Charles Fleming.  Robert and I recently discovered this fascinating book about the hundreds of  ’secret stairs’ all over the Los Angeles area.  Fleming documents 42 stair walks centered around these secret staircases many of them built when streetcars were the norm and people needed access from their hillside homes, or for those who lived and still live on walk streets, and use(d) them to reach their homes.  ‘Secret’ because most of them are hard to see from the automobiles we all drive.  We have completed 8 walks to date, (3,688 stair steps!) and what an interesting side of L.A. we are seeing.  Robert has started his own blog, Climbing L.A., and is documenting our journey.   Please read along, or join us (details on Climbing L.A.)  Every walk does end with a meal at a local eatery.  Follow Robert on Twitter @ClimbingLA.

The 2nd Annual ‘Eat My Blog‘ Charity Bake Sale takes place on Saturday, June 19, 2010 and 100 Miles will be there.  Robert and I will be baking several dozen of his famous (via David Lebovitz) Dulce de Leche Brownies and will be volunteering at the event.  If you live in the Los Angeles-area and/or are a fan of Robert’s brownies (there are already a whole lot of you out there!) please come by Tender Greens in West Hollywood between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and help us support the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank.  All proceeds, 100%, (items will cost between $1 and $4) will go to this very worthy cause.

We will be joining upwards of 70 local food bloggers, foodies, celebrity chefs, and restaurants who are donating their own baked goods and time.  We look forward to hanging out with fellow food blogger friends Jo Stougaard of My Last Bite, Phil Nigash of My Life As a Foodie, Chrystal and Amir of The Duo Dishes, and Cathy Danh of Gastronomy, among others.  Local chefs and foodies also coming out include Evan Kleiman, Chicks With Knives, Debbie Lee, Drago Centro, Starry Kitchen, Bakelab, Cube, Fraiche, Choppe Choppe, Hollywood Corner, Plaisir, Scoops Ice Cream, and Tender Greens.  The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf will be pouring a selection of hot beverages.

This is the second year of the charity bake sale.  Last December Eat My Blog raised $3,000 for the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank.  “We are excited to partner with the Foodbank again, especially after visiting the facility this winter to see how the money we raised would be used,” said Cathy Danh, author of Gastronomy and founder of Eat My Blog. “It was an eye-opening experience for all of us on the planning committee, and we left that day eager to make an even greater impact this time around.”

Take a look at the Eat My Blog website to see a list of all the participating food bloggers and the delicious items they are contributing.  Then on the 19th come by Tender Greens and buy some amazing baked goods and support the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank — and finally, after you’ve made your purchase(s) consider having lunch.  The food at Tender Greens is really good!

About the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank

The Los Angeles Regional Foodbank is a nonprofit charitable organization that has been mobilizing resources to fight hunger in the community since 1973. The organization is at the heart of a charitable food distribution network that includes nearly 900 agency sites in Los Angeles County. For more information, visit http://www.lafightshunger.org/

About Tender Greens

Tender Greens is a privately held company, started in June 2006, which aims to provide sustainably produced foods to its guests in a relaxed, eco-friendly space. The company continues to expand its environmental business practices and impart a sense of responsibility in the community by leading example. Tender Greens currently has four locations (Culver City, Hollywood and West Hollywood in Los Angeles and San Diego, California), the company plans to expand further within California in the coming year. Tender Greens WeHo is located at 8759 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069. It is open from 11:30am until 10:00pm Sunday through Thursday; 11:30am to 11:00pm Friday and Saturday. Phone is 310-358-1919. http://www.tendergreensfood.com

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: Interview with Chefs John Stewart & Duskie Estes, owners of Zazu & Bovolo restaurants in Sonoma County. Cochon 555 Napa, a write up of the amazing pork festival that I attended this spring. 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.

Non-Food Fun: ‘Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles’ by Charles Fleming.  Robert and I recently discovered this fascinating book about the hundreds of  ’secret stairs’ all over the Los Angeles area.  Fleming documents 42 stair walks centered around these secret staircases many of them built when streetcars were the norm and people needed access from their hillside homes, or for those who lived and still live on walk streets, and use(d) them to reach their homes.  ‘Secret’ because most of them are hard to see from the automobiles we all drive.  We have completed 8 walks to date, (3,688 stair steps!) and what an interesting side of L.A. we are seeing.  Robert has started his own blog, Climbing L.A., and is documenting our journey.   Please read along, or join us (details on Climbing L.A.)  Every walk does end with a meal at a local eatery.  Follow Robert on Twitter @ClimbingLA.

Najat Kaanache, left, and Chef Akasha Richmond.

Najat Kaanache is the Wonder Woman of stagiaires/chefs-in-training.  To date she has ’staged’ in the kitchens of Grant Achatz (Alinea), Thomas Keller (The French Laundry, Per Se), René Redzepi (Noma), and will end her stagiaire stints at Feran Adrià’s elBulli.  A stage is an unpaid internship, or culinary apprenticeship, very common in the kitchens of Europe.   Kaanache, 32, has taken the concept around the world from Copenhagen to Chicago, to the Napa Valley, to New York and finally to Roses, Spain.  Through her own indefatigable industriousness she has been away from her native Spain for two years.  With the help of Facebook and Twitter she finds someone local willing to offer her a place to stay while she spends one to three months working in some of the best kitchens in the world.  Her adventure began after she attended culinary school in Holland, and after working for a year as a line cook at Chef François Geurd’s Restaurant Ivy in Holland.  Wanting more training she sent letters to fifty top chefs in the world requesting an apprenticeship.  She received twenty-seven responses.  Currently she is in the kitchen at Per Se in New York.  Chef Thomas Keller insisted she spend a month there after she finished a three month turn at The French Laundry, his Napa Valley restaurant.  Her next and final stop is back home in Spain where she will spend a year with Chef Feran Adrià at his famed elBulli restaurant which closes permanently in 2011.

Recently, between stints at the French Laundry and Per Se, Kaanache spent a week in Los Angeles as a guest of Jo Stougaard’s, writer of the popular food and restaurant blog, My Last Bite.  A trip to the Wednesday, chef heavy, Santa Monica Farmers’ Market seemed like a natural outing.   Chef Akasha Richmond (Akasha) offered to take her on a tour.  This writer was lucky enough to tag along.  It was a banner day for chef sightings and Kaanache met most of them.  Josiah Citrin (Mélisse), Mark Peel (Campanile, Tar Pit, The Point), Ludo Lefebvre (Ludo Bites), Walter Manzke, and even food blogger, Javier Cabral, (Teenage Glutster) all wandered through at one point or another.  The Wednesday market is known as a place to see chefs grabbing items that will appear on menus later.

Chefs Walter Manzke, Ludo Lefebvre and Najat Kaanache.

We tagged along as Chef Richmond shopped for a cooking demo/appearance she was doing at the market the next day.  We looked, tasted and bought from such vendors as Wieser Farms, Harry’s Berries, and Tutti Frutti Farm.  As expected from this market the produce was the star attraction and included spring berries, artichokes, asparagus, green garlic and even ramps — a type of leek more readily found on the East Coast.  The outing ended with lunch at Border Grill, bags of top flight produce, and another chef and food experience for Chef-In-Training, Najat Kaanache to take with her back to Spain.

Najat Kaanache, Jo Stougaard and Akasha Richmond.

Green garlic.

Turnips and beets.

'Best Ever' artichokes.

Follow Najat Kaanache – http://www.twitter com/morewhimsy

Follow Jo Stougaard – http://www.twitter.com/mylastbite

Please Join Us!  Taste of the Nation ~ Sunday, June 6, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. ~ Los Angeles chefs cook to benefit Share Our Strength and to end childhood hunger in America.  Eat My Blog ~ Saturday, June 19, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ~ a food bloggers’ bake sale to raise money for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.  We’ll be selling Robert’s (via David Lebovitz) famous Dulce de Leche Brownies (come early!)

Recommendation: ‘Cook To Bang: The Lay Cook’s Guide to Getting Laid’ by Spencer Walker.  Based on the popular food blog ‘Cook To Bang’ where author, Spencer Walker explains how and what to cook for your date of the moment, this tongue-in-cheek book expands on that advice and adds more tips for getting your date, or significant other, into the mood and into bed.  Hey, we can’t be all seriousness around here!  A fun book, and a fun read.

Upcoming Posts: Interview with Chefs John Stewart & Duskie Estes, owners of Zazu & Bovolo restaurants in Sonoma County. Cochon 555 Napa, a write up of the amazing pork festival that I went to in Napa. Reviews: The Spirit Kitchen: Everyday Cooking with Organic Spices by Sara Engram and Katie Luber and Kimberly Toqe, 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.

My Nepenthe: Bohemian Tales of Food, Family and Big Sur. Romney Steele. Andrews McMeel Publishing. $35.00 (352p) ISBN: 978-0-7407-7914-5

My first visit to Nepenthe Restaurant in Big Sur, California was in the fall of 1983. It was a hot day and we sat outside on the massive terrace with a cold drink — in those days white wine, or possibly beer — and looked down at the unbelievable view. A view of the Monterey coast that went on forever. I’ve never forgotten that first visit. Or that first view. Yes, the parking lot was full of rental cars, and yes, there were crowds of tourists snapping photos but none of that mattered. I didn’t know what to expect as we climbed the winding stone steps up through a canopy of oak trees to the restaurant. But once I stepped foot onto the large terrace and saw the view, I understood the magic of Nepenthe. No matter where you are at Nepenthe, the Phoneix Shop, the Café Kevah or the restaurant itself, the view is there. Always and forever. In my memory there were hawks floating on thermals almost at eye level. That is how high up Nepenthe is. In the clouds. At the end of our drinks it was very hard to pull myself away. Over the years I have gone back to Nepenthe each time I visited the area. How can one not visit such a spectacular place?

I was thrilled when I heard that a granddaughter of the original owners had written the Nepenthe story in celebration of its’ 60th anniversary. I was even more excited when the book arrived on my doorstep for review. It is everything a book like this should be: a celebration of a place and time, a memoir from someone who lived it, and a cookbook with both family and restaurant recipes. I was recently in Big Sur, (see my last post) and I took Robert to Nepenthe for his first time. It was a joy to be back, and to see the magic at work on someone else. He was just as wowed as I was on my first visit. I love the Bohemian-hippy vibe that still exists in Big Sur and thankfully author, Romney Steele, infuses her writing with a lot of that historical detail. Nepenthe was and still is a gathering point for all sorts of interesting and unique souls. From writers, to artists and artisans, to film people, to through-voyagers. As a child Romney Steele was lucky enough to watch it all happen. From stories of her grandparents Bill and Lolly Fasset who bought the property from Orsen Welles and Rita Hayworth in 1947, to frequent visits by writers Henry Miller and Jack Kerouac, to filming of the Elizabeth Taylor-Richard Burton movie The Sandpiper, Ms. Steele was witness to it all. And a magical storyteller she is, as well as an accomplished cook.

The book is woven through with history, stories, memories, archival photos and recipes. Many of the non-archival color photos are beautifully shot by Sara Remington. The look and feel of the entire work is evocative of the free-living Bohemian lifestyle that permeates Big Sur’s past and present. For me it was a fun read as I have been to Nepenthe, and to Big Sur many times over the years; it was wonderful to learn more about the history of both the restaurant and the area. Nepenthe is woven into the fabric of Big Sur and vice versa. They are a part of each other. I tried several recipes from the book and all worked very well, and were a pleasure to eat. On a recent Sunday I cooked this menu: ‘Lolly’s Roast Chicken with Sage Stuffing,’ ‘Cranberry Sauce,’ ‘Beet Salad with Sherry Vinaigrette’ and ‘Lemony Lemon Squares.’ This time Robert and I were the only guests; we devoured everything, and loved it all. A few of the leftover lemon bars were passed along to family and friends — all of whom have asked for the recipe, they were that good. What I like about the food in this book is that it fits in with the down-to-earth vibe the book embodies. Ms. Steele encourages use of local, sustainable ingredients. In fact she has a chart at the beginning of the book, ‘Cooking notes,’ that tells, (and suggests to), the cook the nature of each ingredient used when she developed and tested the recipes: ‘Meats are prime,’ ‘Baking powder is aluminum-free,’ ‘Fruit is seasonal, organic if possible, and preferably locally grown,’ and so on. This isn’t fancy, five-star cuisine nor should it be. The food is earthy, hearty, filling and direct. It’s food that makes sense for a restaurant and place perched high atop a hillside above the crashing surf in the wilds of Big Sur. Steele encourages the reader to find their own Nepenthe within the pages of her book. Steele is my kind of cook, this is my kind of book, I expect to pick it up often to both cook from, and to read more and again about life at Nepenthe. My Nepenthe.

Lolly’s Roast Chicken with Sage Stuffing (Pg. 113)

Cranberry Sauce (Pg. 114)

Beet Salad with Sherry Vinaigrette (Pg. 279)

Lemony Lemon Squares (Pg. 250)

Upcoming Posts: Interview with Chefs John Stewart & Duskie Estes, owners of Zazu & Bovolo restaurants in Sonoma County. Cochon 555 Napa, a write up of the amazing pork festival that I went to in Napa. Reviews: The Spirit Kitchen: Everyday Cooking with Organic Spices by Sara Engram and Katie Luber and Kimberly Toqe.