My Top 10 Eats of 2017
After a year of incredible eats, here are my Top 10 dishes (in no particular order), the ones I still dream about, and would gladly go out of my way just to enjoy again and again.
Monthly Archives: December 2017
The Captivating August 1 Five
The signature Gol Guppa at August 1 Five.
Ask Hetal Shah, which is harder — creating advertising technology at Google or running a restaurant — and she doesn’t hesitate to answer:
Operating a restaurant. By far.
Shah, who left her job at Google a year ago, and her husband, who still works in tech, had experience opening restaurants, having established Red Hot Chili Pepper in San Carlos in 2010, the casual take on Indian-inflected Chinese food.
But their next restaurant venture was exceedingly more ambitious, August 1 Five, which opened a little over a year ago in San Francisco’s Civic Center.
The name of the splashy, upscale modern Indian restaurant commemorates the date that India won its independence from British rule.
Conveniently located in Civic Center.
The bold interior.
Although Shah and her husband loved the mom-and-pop Indian restaurants in the United States, they missed the more contemporary fare found at high-end hotels in India. So when she and her husband moved to San Francisco from New York, they decided to do something to fill that void.
Festive Red (Wine Risotto) For the Holidays
Barbera wine colors and flavors this hearty risotto.
At this time of year, the color red rules.
In “Red Wine Risotto,” it really dazzles, too.
The recipe is from “Eataly: Contemporary Italian Cooking” (Phaidon, 2016) by Eataly, the Italian food brand with mega food emporiums around the world.
The 300 recipes are surprisingly pared down, more like what Italians make at home rather than what four-star chefs labor over at restaurants. The recipes are one-page each with most having just a few paragraphs of directions.
Find everything from “Fresh Pea Soup with Smoked Ham” and “Spaghetti Pasta with Mussels, Clams, Jumbo Shrimp, and Bell Pepper Puree” to “Egg and Pancetta Tartlets” to “Chocolate Puddings with Caramelized Oranges and Amaretti Cookies.”
At the end of the book, there’s also a great primer with photos that gives the lowdown on types of Italian salumi, pastas, rice, fish, beans, grains, breads, and cheeses.
San Jose’s Venerable La Foret Gets A New Lease on Life
Presenting Le Grand Johnnie, named for John Davoudi, the chef-owner who presided over La Foret for 38 years.
When Chef-Owner John Davoudi decided to retire this year from La Foret, the San Jose restaurant he had nurtured for 38 years, faithful diners almost went into mourning.
But before they could shed a tear, Davoudi had struck a deal to sell the beloved establishment to Maurice and Giuseppe Carrubba, two brothers with a penchant for taking over old-school establishments to give them new life while still keeping their special spirit intact.
They did so previously with Osteria in downtown Palo Alto, and the Grandview in San Jose.
In late-summer, they took the reins of the historic La Foret, nestled in the trees in the Almaden Valley. The building dates back to 1848, when it housed workers from the surrounding quicksilver mines — the first mining operation established in California.
La Foret in Almaden Valley.
Its origins.
Historic marker.
When I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant recently, it wasn’t the first time I had dined at La Foret. What I always loved about the place was that you felt far removed from the hustle-bustle of Silicon Valley. Off the two-lane road, the restaurant is an oasis of calm. It feels almost like a throw-back to another era when dining out felt special, and French continental cuisine and not molecular gastronomy ruled.
Ooey Gooey Dark Chocolate Cookies with Caramel
These brownie-like cookies have a hidden center of caramel.
Taking time out to spend special moments with friends and family may be the best thing about the holidays.
But a close second surely is all the cookies to indulge in at this time of year.
“Holiday Cookies” (Ten Speed Press), of which I received a review copy, is all about this festive sweet time of year. The book is by food stylist and recipe developer Elizabet der Nederlanden of Berkeley, with photography by the talented Erin Scott of Berkeley.
You’ll find everything from “Gingerbread Cookies” to “Chocolate-Stenciled Shortbread Rounds” to “Saffron Pistachio Biscotti.” Beyond cookies, there are also confections such as “Apple Cider Caramels” and “Matcha Chocolate Bark with Berries and Coconut.”
“Holiday Cookies: Showstopping Recipes to Sweeten the Season” by Elisabet
der Nederlanden
“Dark Chocolate Cookies with Caramel” is especially fun because these brownie-like cookies hide a center of caramel inside. It’s achieved easily enough by rolling the cookie dough around an unwrapped, purchased caramel candy.