Category Archives: Chefs

From Convict to Celeb Chef

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Meet Chef Jeff Henderson. (Photo courtesy of the chef)

If you haven’t heard Chef Jeff Henderson’s story, you should.

Meet this fascinating chef at a free event in Oakland, 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Sept. 18, when he talks about how he turned his life around from that of a convicted drug dealer to the first African-American chef de cuisine at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.

He’s also been featured on the Food Network in the show, “The Chef Jeff Project.” After 10 years in prison, Henderson chronicled his tale in “Cooked,” which is being turned into a motion picture.

I heard Henderson speak at a food conference a few years ago, and found him thoroughly mesmerizing.

He’ll be appearing at the East Oakland Youth Development Center, 8200 International Blvd., and talking about the power of making positive life choices. He’ll also conduct a mini cooking demo with the students in the center’s cooking program.

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Tasteful Authors and Other Foodie News

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Ruth Reichl (Photo courtesy of Gourmet)

Gourmet’s Editor in Chief, the one and only Ruth Reichl, will be meeting and greeting in Palo Alto, 5:45 p.m. Sept. 29.

The award-winning former restaurant critic, author, and foodie extraordinaire will discuss how we’re eating differently today, and share some of her favorite recipes from the new cookbook, “Gourmet Today” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).

The event, presented by the Commonwealth Club of Silicon Valley, will be at Cubberley Community Theatre, 4000 Middlefield Road.

Price is $15 for members, and $25 for non-members. Premium ticket holders ($100) also get access to a reception catered by Draeger’s, a copy of the cookbook, and reserved seating. For reservations, call (800) 847-7730 or click here.

You may remember my good buddy and former colleague, Sheila Himmel, as the former restaurant critic of the San Jose Mercury News. Since leaving the newspaper, she’s written her first book, which has just been published.

“Hungry” (Berkeley Trade) was written by Himmel and her daughter, Lisa. It’s the unusual, true memoir of a restaurant reviewer who makes her living eating and her daughter, who in an ironic, almost Shakespearean-twist, is battling anorexia and bulimia.

You can meet both Sheila and Lisa at 7:30 p.m, Tuesday, Sept. 15 at Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park, when they will discuss the bittersweet, powerful, and ultimately uplifting road they have traveled together.

Andrea Nguyen is another prolific and busy friend. The Santa Cruz author of “Into the Vietnamese Kitchen” (Ten Speed Press), has just come out with her second book, “Asian Dumplings” (Ten Speed Press).

Meet her 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 26 at Omnivore Books on Food, a jewel box of a book store in San Francisco that’s dedicated solely to cookbooks. Nguyen will be discussing the global varieties of dumplings she showcases in her book. She always brings food to her events, too, so do come say hello to her at this free event.

What food blogger doesn’t know Pastry Chef David Lebovitz, the cookbook author and widely read blogger who chronicles all things sugary in Paris? Now, you can meet him when he stops by Fog City News in San Francisco, noon to 2 p.m. Sept. 25.

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With Madera, Looks Are Deceiving at First Glance

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King salmon with a salmon sausage at Madera.

Don’t let the ho-hum, earth-tone, low-slung buildings fool you. Nor the location right off the traffic-clogged Sand Hill Road exit off of Interstate 280.

The new Rosewood Sand Hill resort might not look that impressive from the outside. But just step inside.

Its Madera restaurant will catch you off guard with its unexpected sophistication. You’ll practically forget where you are when you step inside the California-elegant dining room with its soaring A-frame wood ceiling, roaring stone fireplace, copper-trimmed open kitchen, and floor-to-ceiling windows that open out onto a terrace with a view of the rolling hills. At sunset, there’s no better seat than one outside. You feel as if you are ensconced at a breathtaking Napa resort.

Rosewood, also the owner of such premier properties as the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas, and the Inn of the Anasazi in Santa Fe, knows how to do warm, comfortable luxuriousness well. And if the recent Saturday night I was invited to dine was any indication, folks on the Peninsula are basking in it, as the restaurant was packed.

The wine service is exceptional. No surprise since the wine program is overseen by Paul Mekis, a veteran of the Plumed Horse in Saratoga, and Aqua in San Francisco. He offers a number of wines by the glass that aren’t usually available that way, including an ’06 Nickel & Nickel Merlot ($25). Varietals are served in the newest line of Riedel stemware, which have unusually thick stems attached to the bowls, giving them a rather bold and modern sensibility, and making them very comfortable to grasp.

Executive Chef Peter Rudolph, formerly of Campton Place in San Francisco and the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, showcases a menu focused on local, seasonal, and sustainable. In fact, the evening my husband and I were invited in, East Palo Alto farmer David Winsberg of Happy Quail Farms had just given a talk to the kitchen staff about his famed peppers, including Japanese shishitos, that he is supplying to Madera.

As we were seated, the hostess deftly positioned a metal hook on the edge of the table to drape my purse, so that it didn’t have to sit on the floor. Soft, airy house-made focaccia was set down on the table, along with a cube of butter with a well in the center of it that held a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

A lovely amuse of crab and radish.

As we perused the a la carte dinner offerings, a creamy-crunchy amuse bouche arrived of crab salad, radish, and turnip puree.

White corn soup with the intense taste of summer.

I started with the glorious white corn soup ($11). A bowl was set down in front of me with rounds of salmon mousse inside. Then, the creamy, sweet soup was poured over it, with the concentrated taste of just-cut-off-the-cob imbued in it.

Crispy veal sweatbreads over a bed of wild mushrooms.

My husband’s veal sweetbreads with lobster mushrooms and white corn ($13) were exceptional, especially because they arrived at the table very hot and crisp, which is not always the case with fried foods at many restaurants.

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Five Reasons to Go To Five Restaurant

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Bet you'll eat more than five onion strings at Five in Berkeley.

1) The gifted Scott Howard, formerly of Fork in San Anselmo and Scott Howard restaurant in San Francisco, is the chef.

2) The bold, artsy black-and-white interior is a modern-take on a Southern plantation.

3) If you’re out and about in the East Bay, it’s an airy, lively place to take a load off.

4) Fun drinks quench your thirst, such as “Hell or High Watermelon,” a wheat beer in which 400 pounds of watermelon are pressed in each batch. It’s dry, clean-tasting, and faintly fruity on the back note.

5) Vanilla bean butterscotch pudding with crumbles of peanut brittle and shavings of chocolate is sure to satisfy your sweet tooth.

The ornate dining room.

Five restaurant, which opened in July in downtown Berkeley inside the refurbished Hotel Shattuck Plaza, serves American classics with a twist. Think orzo “mac & cheese” ($12), short rib pot roast ($22), and steak tartare ($12).

Why the name? The press materials explain that it’s “a number that is familiar and appears frequently in our day-to-day lives: five senses, five elements, and five o’clock happy hour, to name a few.  Although familiar and frequent, the term FIVE is complex and dimensional, similar to the restaurant’s offerings and Howard’s culinary technique.”

So Berkeley, isn’t it?

The decor is, too. Flashes of red, including a massive flame-jeweled chandelier, make the space grand and eye-catching. Look closely when you enter, and you’ll notice a peace sign inlaid in the floor.

I was eager to try the new restaurant when I got an invitation to do so last month, because I have been a fan of Howard’s cooking since his days at his eponymous restaurant in San Francisco’s Jackson Square neighborhood.

His food at Five is more homey, less thrilling and not so cutting-edge as in San Francisco. But choose wisely, and you’ll be rewarded.

Service, at least a few weeks ago, still had a few kinks. Our waiter had to return to our table twice — once after taking our drink order, the next time after taking our entree orders — to make sure he got it all correctly. I felt like telling him it was perfectly OK if he wanted to actually write it down, because he didn’t either times. We forgave him the lapses, though, because he was so sincere and well-meaning.

Biscuit heaven.

Plus, we were in too good a mood after noshing on the buttery, tender, house-made chive biscuits that come with a little crock of pimento cheese. I could make a meal of these alone.

My hubby and I started with the “Deviled Surf & Turf Eggs” ($10), and the ahi tuna tartare ($14).

Deviled eggs done two ways.

The deviled eggs came six halves to an order — three of them filled with Dungeness crab salad, the other three stuffed with deviled egg yolk with slivers of crispy, salty ham.

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Get Ready for Burgers, Chocolate, Celeb Chefs, and More

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Fleming's Prime Burger is a mouth-full and then some. (Photo courtesy of Fleming's)

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar is rolling out a bevy of burgers on its bar menu.

Sit down in the bar area at either of the two Bay Area locations, Palo Alto and Walnut Creek, to take your pick of Fleming’s Prime Burger (with cheddar cheese and peppered bacon, $12), Sliced Filet Mignon Burger (with sauteed mushrooms and Bernaise sauce, $18), Jumbo Lump Crab Cake Burger (with creamy mustard sauce, $16), Ahi Tuna Burger (with soy ginger sauce, $12), or Portobello Mushroom Burger (with sauteed spinach and creamy goat cheese, $10).

All are accompanied by a mini wedge salad and onion rings.

Every Wednesday through September from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., the restaurant will offer complimentary samplings of its burger menu to entice you even more.

Chocolate and more chocolate star at the Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival. (Photo courtesy of Ghirardelli)

If chocolate is more your thing, you’ll be in heaven at the 14th annual Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival, noon to 5 p.m. Sept. 12-13.

More than 40 vendors will be showcasing their chocolate creations, including Kika’s Treats, Mary Louise Butters Brownies, and Ciao Bella Gelato.

There will be live music, as well as a “Hands Free” Earthquake Ice Cream Sundae Eating Contest. Yes, it’s just what you think it is, and just as messy. The winner takes home a ginormous basket of Ghirardelli chocolate.

Top Chef's Casey Thompson. (Photo courtesy of the Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival)

If that weren’t enough, “Top Chef” finalist, Casey Thompson, will lead the cooking demonstrations at 2 p.m. both days.  Bravo TV fans may remember that Thompson was not only voted “America’s Favorite” on the show, but nicknamed “the Jennifer Aniston of cooking” by the one and only Anthony Bourdain.

The festival is free. Chocolate tasting tickets are $20 for 15 tastings. The event benefits Project Open Hand, a San Francisco non-profit that provides meals to seniors and seriously ill individuals.

Summer heirloom tomatoes go swank at Masa’s in San Francisco.

The restaurant is featuring a “Celebration of Tomatoes’‘ eight-course menu for $105 per person, Tuesday through Saturday nights through September. Wine pairing is an additional $79.

Dishes are expected to include ones such as Green Zebra tomato gazpacho with ricotta cheese flan and Gravenstein apple salad; and pan-seared medallion of prime New York beef with roasted tomato tartlette. The tomatoes are from Verdure Farm in Healdsburg.

Seafood goes Italian-style at Poggio Trattoria in Sausalito.

Sept. 15-19, the restaurant will host “Festa di Pesce” to showcase local seafood such as sardines, calamari, anchovies, mackerel, and swordfish.

Chef Peter McNee will debut a special menu of crudo (raw, marinated, cured), and cotto (cooked) seafood antipasti. They will be priced from $7 to $9, or three for $21. A pairing of three tastes of Italian wine is an additional $12 per person.

Duck leg confit with plum glaze, which I got to sample last week at LarkCreekSteak.

The Lark Creek Restaurant Group spotlights South Australia through September.

The “South Australia Comes to America” promotion will feature menus, wines, and special events showcasing the fourth largest of Australia’s six states. South Australia is one and a half times larger than Texas, and accounts for about 60 percent of all wine made in Australia.

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