Category Archives: Great Finds

Mystery Sweets and Winners of the Olive Oil Contest

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Do you know what that chocolate cookie is above?

How about that crunchy little one below?

Though both have quite storied pasts, they are both new to my taste buds, having been introduced to them on my recent trip to Australia, sponsored by Boundary Bend, Ltd.

The chocolate biscuit (cookie to you, Americans), composed of two layers of crispy chocolate malted cookies spread with light chocolate cream and then covered in yet more chocolate, is supposedly the very favorite of Australians. Any Aussies in the house? Is that true? Is this cookie akin to the Oreo of Australia?

Arnott’s bakery, established just north of Sydney in 1865, started making the cookies in 1964. They were apparently named after the winning horse in the 1958 Kentucky Derby, according to Wikipedia, after the owner of Arnott bakery attended that particular race.

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Big Wines Come In Small Bottles

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They sure do now, thanks to Sonoma County’s TastingRoom, a new online wine retailer that sells wine packaged in mini 50ml bottles.

The idea is that it allows you to replicate a winery tasting room in the comfort of your own home by letting you try a taste of top-notch wines before committing to buying full-sized 750ml bottles.

How ingenious is that?

Recently, I had a chance to sample a six-pack of mini bottles from Rutherford’s award-winning Grgich Hills Estate that included: 2007 Napa Valley Chardonnay, 2008 Napa Valley Fume Blanc, 2007 Napa Valley Zinfandel, 2006 Napa Valley Merlot, 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2008 Violetta (a late-harvest, Botrytis-made wine that’s predominantly Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling with some Gewurztraminer).

The kit also included was a wine-tasting menu created by Grgich Hills’ winemaker that described each wine and gave a recommended tasting order.

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The Real McCoy

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Yes, this bumpy little root that’s no bigger than my thumb is the real-deal wasabi.

If all that you’re used to is the common toothpaste-like blob of horseradish, mustard and green food coloring found on sushi plates almost everywhere, then you deserve to treat yourself to the real thing.

I picked up this little guy at Nijiya market in Mountain View, where the fresh, very perishable, and very pricey and very difficult-to-grow root can be found regularly in the refrigerator case next to the packages of neatly sliced raw fish.

It’s imported from Japan and sells for $55.99 a pound. Fortunately, this tiny specimen, weighing in at all of .055 of a pound, set me back only $3.08.

With real wasabi, you still get nasal-tingling burn, but not nearly as explosive as that from the imitation paste. In fact, I have no problems eating a little of the grated wasabi root straight. But I’d be hard pressed to do that with the out-of-the-tube stuff without tearing up. With real wasabi, there is more nuance — an almost floral quality and subtle sweetness. It explodes on your palate, but the heat dissipates quickly, unlike the fake stuff.

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Kitchenette — Sammies in an Unlikely Locale

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Forget your cute little cafes with the chic, outdoor tables to take a load off at lunchtime.

Some of the best al fresco dining in San Francisco can be had at an actual concrete loading dock, where you might find yourself digging into your gourmet sammy as an exhaust-spewing UPS or Fed-Ex truck pulls up right beside you.

Of course, I can only be talking about the offbeat and charming, Kitchenette in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood, a short drive from the W Hotel.

You gotta love its slogan: “Spontaneous organic covert nourishment.”

That about sums up this cash-only, tucked away spot that’s only open 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. weekdays.

It was opened last year by a group of chefs that have worked at some of the Bay Area’s top establishments, including Chez Panisse, Ad Hoc, Incanto,  and Betelnut. With that kind of pedigree, you know you’re not getting some slapped together cold cuts.

Nope, the limited menu changes daily and features primo artisan, organic ingredients.

The  menu is posted daily on Kitchenette’s Web site, and usually includes a choice of two or three different sandwiches such as a fig wood-smoked pastrami one or fried eggplant on anchovy-garlic bread; possibly a salad; house-baked cookies; and a creative, house-made beverage such as lemon verbena-chrysanthemum Arnold Palmer.

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Million-Dollar Mac ‘n’ Cheese

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OK, not quite. But this is as far from a box of Kraft as it gets.

We’re talking mac ‘n’ cheese with lobster. Lots of lobster.

And it’s $59.

OK, did you pick yourself off the floor yet? Did you close your jaw back up? Pop your eyes back into their sockets?

This is the famous Port Clyde Lobster Mac & Cheese from the Hancock Gourmet Lobster Co. that’s already been touted in the pages of the New York Times; and O, the Oprah Magazine.

The company was founded in 2000 in Maine by Cal Hancock, whose grandmother founded a lobster restaurant in 1946 in Ogunquit, Maine, which still remains in the Hancock family. The company now offers a wide variety of gourmet lobster and seafood products.

I was fortunate enough to receive samples recently of the Lobster Mac & Cheese, an extremely decadent rendition of the classic comfort dish.

To say that it’s rich is like saying Lady Gaga is an eensy bit flashy. But then again, there is not only cheddar mixed into the shell pasta, but mascarpone. Plus, the topping of panko bread crumbs gets a good dose of herb butter, lemon zest and Parmesan.

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