A Big Appetite for Okonomiyaki

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Negi pork okonomiyaki modanyaki-style at Fugetsu.
Negi pork okonomiyaki modanyaki-style at Fugetsu.

Okonomiyaki is like the Everything Pancake.

It boasts tender meat or seafood, a heap of shredded cabbage, a sunny side-up egg, and plenty of saucy sauce all over the top.

Tall and impressive, it is a whopper of a meal.

It is guaranteed to fill you up — and then some.

Inexpensive, it is a popular, casual, after-work meal best enjoyed with beer in Japan, which is where I fell hard for it while traveling there.

Unfortunately, you’ll have to look long and hard to find it at Japanese restaurants in the Bay Area.

Two restaurants melded into one.
Two restaurants melded into one.

So when I read about okonomiyaki-centered Fugetsu in downtown Sunnyvale, I knew I had to visit. While there is a Fugetsu location in San Jose, too, it’s more of a takeout market.

In contrast, the Sunnyvale Fugetsu is a sit-down restaurant. Actually, it’s really like two restaurants in one. Apparently, when Fugetsu’s lease in Santa Clara ended in 2021, the decision was made to move it to Rokko Japanese Restaurant, which is operated by the same owner.

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A Tea Time Twist

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Take tea time to another level with a blackberry tart flavored with Darjeeling.
Take tea time to another level with a blackberry tart flavored with Darjeeling.

Make tea time even more delicious by adding a treat alongside made with tea.

I’m not talking about matcha, either.

But Darjeeling.

It may not have the showy color of that now-ubiquitous Japanese powdered green tea. But this black tea from India has an appeal all its own, possessing haunting smoky, apricot, and peach notes, as well as gentle astringency.

It’s also simply fabulous in this “Blackberry-Darjeeling Frangipane Tart,” where the dried leaves get pulverized into the sweet hazelnut cream that’s spread on a crisp tart shell, then studded with fresh blackberries.

This lovely recipe is from “More Than Sweet” (Hardie Grant), of which I received a review copy.

It was written by Marie Frank, a Danish pastry chef in Copenhagen. Interestingly enough, Frank was not a fan of desserts as a child and teen, thinking them too boring or too sweet compared to the rest of the meal. It wasn’t until she was on maternity leave after giving birth to her son that the switch flipped. She happened to pick up a French baking book she had bought years before but never looked at, and grew mesmerized.

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Marvelous Microwave Mushrooms

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You won't believe how easy and delicious these microwaved shiitakes
You won’t believe how easy and delicious these microwaved shiitakes

This is the mushroom hack that you didn’t know you needed.

It’s a quick-as-a-wink recipe that’s perfect when you’re time-pressed.

Or in need an ideal base for a quick vegetarian meal. Or a no-brainer side dish to any Asian-influenced main.

“Steamed Shiitakes with Ginger-Garlic-Scallion Sauce” is fast, delicious, and deceptive. That’s because the “steaming” happens in about 5 minutes in your microwave.

It results in the silkiest, slipperiest, most supple mushrooms that are also plenty saucy.

This genius recipe is from “Hello, Home Cooking” (Clarkson Potter), of which I received a review copy.

The cookbook is by Ham El-Waylly, a New York City recipe developer and video creator who is chef-partner of the New Orleans-style seafood bar, Strange Delight in Brooklyn.

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More Summery Sips

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The 2023 Arkenstone Estate Blanc exudes complexity.
The 2023 Arkenstone Estate Blanc exudes complexity.

2023 Arkenstone Howell Mountain Estate Blanc

A hefty, dark bottle and a $145 price tag lets you know immediately that this white wine is unequivocally built for aging.

But with seriously warm evenings this summer plus the belief that there’s no time like now, I didn’t hesitate to uncork a bottle of the 2023 Arkenstone Howell Mountain Estate Blanc when a sample landed on my porch.

Produced by the family-owned winery in Angwin on Napa Valley’s Howell Mountain, it’s an elegant wine in the style of classic white wines of Bordeaux.

The 12-acre estate is perched on steep, rocky land with a dry climate. Its hallmark are white wines that exude minerality, and this one is no exception.

It is 93 percent Sauvignon Blanc and 7 percent Semillon that’s been aged 18 months in a concrete egg and French oak. The Semillon rounds off the sharp edges of the wine’s acidity and minerality, and adds a weightiness to make this a rather full-body wine.

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Summertime Peach Almond Scones

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Juicy diced peaches and sweet pieces of almond paste make these scones a real summer treat.
Juicy diced peaches and sweet pieces of almond paste make these scones a real summer treat.

New York City’s Danielle Sepsy has been anointed the Scone Queen. So, when she comes out with a cookbook full of recipes for all manner of scones, muffins, cookies, cakes, and breads, how can one possibly not hone in on a scone one to make first, right?

I think it would be sacrilege to do otherwise.

With summer at its peak, “Peach Almond Scones” was the one that cried out to me first and foremost with its jumble of fresh diced peaches and sweet pieces of almond paste baked into the dough.

Sepsy and scones have been synonymous since she was 13 years old when she started a business out of her family’s house selling scones to neighbors, friends, and local cafes. In 2022, she competed on HBO Max’s “The Big Brunch” cooking competition, where the judges crowned her the Scone Queen.

These days, she runs her own online bakery, The Hungry Gnome, through which she sells all manner of baked goods, including scones, of course.

Her debut cookbook, “The Scone Queen Bakes” (Alfred A. Knopf), of which I received a review copy, is filled with 100 recipes for treats such as “Lavender Lemon Scones,” “Red Bean Scones with A Sesame Crust,” “Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins,” “Biscoff Apple Cheesecake Bars,” and “Snowball Ice Box Cake.”

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