Author Archives: foodgal

Celebrate Persian New Year at Zaré at Flytrap in San Francisco

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Persian New Year begins March 20, the first day of spring. And Zaré at Flytrap restaurant in San Francisco is gearing up to celebrate in a big way.

Chef-owner Hoss Zaré, a native of Iran, will be hosting his first Persian New Year’s Celebration at his restaurant, a short hop from the W Hotel.

Think communal tables, where you can mingle and make new friends over a family-style spread of traditional dishes such as frog legs with pomegranate walnut sauce; and Thai snapper with fennel, winter vegetables and Persian pickle tartar.

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New Food Gal Veggie Seeds Give-Away — Plus Winners of the New Peet’s Coffee

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You can almost feel it in the air, can’t you? A little more sunshine peeking through, a little more daylight lingering at the end of the day. Yes, spring is on its way. And you know what that means?

Time for planting, of course. Yes, even for those with not-so-green thumbs like myself, this is the time to start thinking about the wondrous possibilities that we can nurture in our very own little window pots or in raised beds in the backyard.

To entice you further, the kind folks at the Cook’s Garden, a gourmet retailer of vegetables, lettuces and herbs, is allowing me to do a great give-away: Three winners will receive the seeds necessary to grow most everything in that colorful salad shown above. (OK, except for the cheese and olive oil, you wise guys.) Not only that, each winner also will receive a beautiful artisan oval cutting board to cut all those home-grown veggies on.

Call it the ultimate do-it-yourself salad when you grow the Myway Arugula, Lettuce Baby Red Mix, Tomato Persimmon and Tomato Carmelita, all by yourself.

When harvest time rolls around, slice the tomatoes about 3/8-inch thick, and alternate them in a row on a serving dish. Layer Myway Arugula and Lettuce Baby Red Mix over the top. Next, add slices of your favorite cheese over the top. Finally, whisk together olive oil, crushed garlic, dill, chives, salt, pepper, wine vinegar and dry mustard to taste. Drizzle over salad, and enjoy.

Here’s how to score those seeds and cutting board: Name the fruit, vegetable or herb that’s most like your personality, and why. Enter the contest by the end of the day, March 13. The three most clever or memorable responses will win. Contest results will be announced on March 15. Participants must reside in the continental United States.

To get you started here’s my own response: Kabocha squash. It’s Asian like me, as well as a little sweet, very versatile, and distinctive. It’s resilient — you can buy it, stick it on the counter, and it’ll keep just fine for quite a spell all to its self. It’s a bit starchy, too — and I never met a carb I didn’t like.

And without further adieu, here are the five winners of the last contest, who will each receive a bag of the new Peet’s Uzuri African Blend coffee:

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Celebrate Spring at San Francisco’s Ferry Plaza Farmers Market

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As if you needed any more reasons to visit one of the best farmers markets in the country, March is full of delicious events at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco.

The bustling market at the historic Ferry Building, just steps from the Hyatt Regency San Francisco, welcomes spring’s mother lode of fava beans, peas and asparagus with a series of cooking demos by local chefs.

Come watch, taste and learn at these free cooking events at the outdoor teaching kitchen under the north arcade:

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Not So Itty-Bitty, Teenie-Weenie Polka-Dot Cake

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Leopard print may be so Victoria’s Secret.

And camouflage so divisive and boldly statement-oriented.

But polka dots? Who doesn’t love the whimsy of big, bright, carefree circles covering anything and everything?

Especially when it’s crowning the top of this clever cake.

“Essence of Orange-Chocolate Wafer Cake” is from Coffee Cakes: Simple, Sweet and Savory” (Chronicle Books) by Palo Alto food writer, Lou Seibert Pappas.

It’s a super moist and dense, but tender, cake strewn with bittersweet chocolate wafers to create a fun polka-dot pattern.

I used the new TCHOPro Organic Baking Drops (66 Percent Cacao), which I recently got a sample of. The chocolate discs with the deep, pronounced flavor are $8.99 for an 8-ounce bag. E. Guittard also makes great chocolate wafers.

Besides its look, the other unusual thing about this cake? It includes one whole orange. Yup, rind, flesh, pith and all — just minus the seeds. It also includes golden raisins, but you’d never know they were there.

That’s because the orange and the raisins get pulverized in the food processor until finely ground. This sticky paste is what gives the cake its moistness. The mixture is combined with butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and plain yogurt or buttermilk.

Chocolate discs are stirred into the batter before being poured into the cake pan. Then, more chocolate discs are laid over the top.

My cake took a little longer than the specified 40 minutes to bake (but I have a gas oven, too). If yours cake does, too, and it starts to brown too much, just tent it with foil to allow it to continue baking a few minutes more.

If you like candied orange rinds dipped in dark chocolate, you’ll love this cake. It tastes just like that, with a very gutsy orange flavor.

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Take Five With Chef Bruno Chemel, On Life Post-Chez TJ With His New Baume Restaurant

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Parting is never easy — especially when it’s done publicly with stinging words and bitter emotions.

Such was the case when Chef Bruno Chemel departed Mountain View’s venerable Chez TJ in December. In a battle played out in the press, Chez TJ Proprietor George Aviet expressed his displeasure that Chemel had not brought Michelin two-star fame to his establishment like his predecessor Chef Christopher Kostow, now at the Restaurant at Meadowood in St. Helena, had. During his less than two years at Chez TJ, Chemel had garnered one Michelin star.

When they couldn’t see eye to eye on that chase for the star (s), Chemel left to open his own restaurant, Baume in Palo Alto, in January. Meantime, Aviet hired Scott Nishiyama, who worked at Daniel Boulud in New York and at the French Laundry in Yountville.

Named after 18th century French chemist, Antoine Baume, Chemel’s new restaurant is a Zen-like oasis for his brand of elegant molecular gastronomy cooking. The intimate 22-seat restaurant is done up in warm dark chocolate and burnt orange hues, and accented with artsy glass panes covered in Japanese dried seaweed. It serves only tasting menus — five courses ($78), 10 courses ($108), and 15 courses for ($148) at dinner; and a three-course lunch for $48 offered on Monday, Thursday and Friday.

Last week when I visited, the 41-year-old Chemel proudly showed off his new freeze-drying machine that had just been delivered. It can freeze anything — from a sauce to any vegetable — in a flash. Inside his kitchen, you’ll find such molecular gastronomy staples as a dehydrator and canisters of liquid nitrogen, as well as more personal touches such as a framed cotton dish towel from his days working with the legendary Joel Robuchon.

I sat down to chat with Chemel about the Chez TJ incident, and the hopes he has for his new restaurant.

Q: Of course, I have to ask about Chez TJ. Are you satisfied with the way things ended?

A: I did my job for two years. I did my best. All the dirty laundry — I let him (Aviet) do. It’s out of my memory now.

Q: Your pastry chef at Chez TJ, Ryan Shelton, followed you here. Did all of the Chez TJ staff leave with you?

A: When I gave notice, the staff gave notice. I told them that they shouldn’t, but they wanted to come with me. So, most of the staff did leave with me.

Q: Is your cooking different here than at Chez TJ?

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