Yes, the man known for his love of pork and offal, has come out with a new cookbook that puts the spotlight on fresh, seasonal veggies.
“Molto Gusto” (Ecco) by Mario Batali is not a vegetarian cookbook per se. But the casual, easy dishes are all about using meat as an accent, while nudging vegetables to the forefront instead.
So much Chinese food often gets bogged down in grease, cornstarch and cheapo ingredients.
So much so that when you taste a once-mundane dish elevated with primo produce, it can be a revelation.
Such was the case when a friend and I encountered Chef Charles Phan’s distinctive take on the usual run-of-the-mill “Ants Climbing Tree” dish ($11) at his hip Heaven’s Dog restaurant in San Francisco, steps from the Holiday Inn Civic Center.
As a Chinese-American who grew up in San Francisco, I’ve long eaten this homey dish of ground meat (the so-called “ants”) cooked with garlic, soy sauce and ginger, then ladled over slippery cellophane noodles (the “tree”). My Mom would cook it or buy it to-go from an Asian deli. It was a fine dish — just nothing I necessarily ever craved or went out of my way for.
That is, until I tried the one at Heaven’s Dog, which was a most pleasant surprise. This meatless rendition was loaded with fresh black trumpet mushrooms and plenty of leeks. The crowning touch was the toasted pine nuts sprinkled all over the top, giving it unexpected crunch and richness. There was so much flavor and texture that I almost felt like I was tasting this warhorse of a dish for the very first time.
We couldn’t resist the Shanghai dumplings ($10), which burst appropriately with hot broth from the first careful bite.
Didn’t make it to the SF Chefs 2010 extravaganza this past weekend at Union Square in San Francisco?
No fear. Here’s a glimpse of the opening festivities last Friday night, which featured a slew of chefs, mixologists and vintners doling out gourmet goodies under a billowing white tent on the square.
The big guns were out in force, too, including New York Chef David Burke and star restaurateur, Drew Nieporent of the Myriad Restaurant Group.
The event officially got underway with a sabering ceremony, where a bottle of bubbly was dramatically opened by using a long knife to slice off the top of it.
You can tell from the expressions of the crowd that it was quite the sight.
A bevy of chefs were in attendance, including Mourad Lahlou of Aziza in San Francisco, whose first cooking show is expected to debut on PBS in the fall of 2011. Filmed in Marrakech and the Bay Area, the show will shine the spotlight on both traditional and modern Moroccan cooking. He’s still looking for help from investors, too. So if you’ve done well in the stock market or with the Lotto lately, don’t be shy and drop him a line.
Revel in festivities for Indian Independence Day, Aug. 15, when Junnoon restaurant in downtown Palo Alto, features live music and a special menu.
“A Tryst with Junnoon,” starting at 5:30 p.m., salutes India’s 63rd Independence Day with a $40 three-course menu that includes chicken tikka achari, made with saffron, green mustard and garlic. Each dish represents the colors of India’s flag — deep saffron, white and dark green. The prix fixe dishes also can be enjoyed à la carte.
Celebratory cocktails also will be available, including “Soul of a Nation” (peach schnapps, mango puree and Champagne), which represents the colors of Indian summers.
Advanced reservations are recommended and can be made by calling (650) 329-9644.
Sakoon in Mountain View also will be celebrating Indian Independence Day with a brunch buffet on Aug. 15.
In addition to regular favorites, the buffet that day also will offer new items such as Goan fish curry and lamb chettinad (with tomato, onion, garlic, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and black pepper powder).
Price is $17.95 per person and includes a free mimosa.
Another Beard Papa will open its doors in the Bay Area, this one in Milpitas at 1535 Landess Ave. in the Seasons Marketplace.
Expectations are through the stratosphere for Benu, which opens today in San Francisco, to unparalleled fanfare.
Discriminating diners have been salivating over every detail that has emerged over the past few months about this new restaurant from Chef Corey Lee, the esteemed former chef de cuisine of the French Laundry in Yountville.
Reservations already have been going fast on OpenTable for Lee’s first restaurant, with tables already nabbed as far out as late September.
But that’s not surprising, given Lee’s stature in the culinary world. The James Beard award-winning chef has built a restaurant, where every detail has been meticulously considered — from the specially designed porcelain plateware to the private wine lockers to the first-of-its-kind Viking cooking suite in the kitchen.
Indeed, Lee’s architect, the award-winning Richard Bloch of New York, calls this the most custom restaurant he’s ever worked on. It’s also the first restaurant that the French Laundry’s Thomas Keller has invested in that’s not one of his own.
Learn just what it took to build this elegant restaurant, housed in the former Hawthorne Lane-cum-Two restaurant space just a hop away from the W Hotel. Read all about it in my story in the September issue of Food Arts magazine.