Category Archives: Meat

Get Ready — Tickets to Pigs & Pinot to Go on Sale

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A gathering of chefs from last year's event: (L to R) Roland Passot, Charlie Palmer, Bryan Voltaggio, Kevin Gillespie and Tyler Florence. (Photo courtesy of Charlie Palmer)

Yup, you gotta be fast, as this porky-palooza is so popular that tickets sell out in a snap. This year, there’s even a new lottery system for hotel packages because demand is just that high.

But then again, that’s not surprising, given that Chef Charlie Palmer’s sixth annual “Pigs & Pinot,” March 18-19, will bring together the best Pinots from more than 60 wineries and 10 top chefs to cook up a feast of porky goodness.

Among this year’s participating chefs are: Bryan Voltaggio (“Top Chef” finalist and chef-owner of Volt restaurant); his brother, Michael Voltaggio (who won “Top Chef”); Nancy Oakes of Boulevard restaurant; and Philippe Rispoli of France.

Sommeliers, including William Sherer of Aureole in Las Vegas and Fred Dame of Foster’s Wine Estates, will be lending their vino expertise.

Additionally, just like last year, Palmer is even raising two suckling pigs for the event, which are getting fattened up on trimmings from his Dry Creek Kitchen restaurant, as well as on spent barley and grain from nearby Bear Republic Brewing Company.

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Cupertino’s Alexander’s Steakhouse Opens A San Francisco Outpost

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The famous hamachi shooters at Alexander's Steakhouse.

When Executive Chef Jeffrey Stout opened a branch of his Alexander’s Steakhouse in San Francisco’s South of Market district about two months ago, he didn’t think the crowds here would differ much from what he gets at his original location in Cupertino.

But how wrong he was.

While the Cupertino restaurant starts to shut down after 9 p.m. because folks in the South Bay are early eaters, the party is just getting started in San Francisco around 8 p.m. and is still going strong three hours later.

The three-story restaurant (formerly Bacar),  a short hop from the InterContinental San Francisco, epitomizes The City’s eclecticism with its exposed brick walls, dramatic wine displays, custom Japanese shoji screens and bustling exhibition kitchen with cooks dressed in trendy black chef’s coats.

Three floors of glam.

Stout, who is half Japanese, and his business partner, JC Chen, continue their unique, upscale, contemporary, Asian-inflected take on a steakhouse here. But unlike the Cupertino location, there is no jaw-dropping display of meat on display in an aging room right when you walk through the doors. Wasn’t room for it in the San Francisco locale, Stout says. Instead, all the meat is butchered at the Cupertino restaurant, then trucked to the San Francisco one twice a week.

As a result, there’s mega meat on the menu: Niman Ranch Prime T-Bone Steak with grilled lemon and a trio of salt; Strip Steak with kimichi butter and shishito pepper pistou; and pricey Japanese A5 Wagyu, the highest grade.

But what I’ve always enjoyed about Alexander’s is that it also offers a variety of Japanese seafood preparations for folks like me who crave that far more than a big hunk of meat.

Recently, I was invited in as a guest to try the new San Francisco outpost.

I couldn’t resist starting with the signature hamachi shots, a classic from the original Alexander’s in Cupertino. They’re $4 each or $22 for half a dozen. These little glasses are filled with a palate-awakening mix of raw hamachi, jalapeno, avocado, ginger, lime juice and truffled ponzu sauce. Don’t even bother ordering just one, because after you down it, you’ll surely want another.

Dishes like this beautiful sashimi reinforce the notion that you're not an your average steakhouse.

Hirame sashimi ($15) brought delicate little rolls of raw fish accented by heirloom tomatoes and yuzu gelee.

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Decadent Bourbon Steak

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Medai snapper (foreground) and Tasmanian sea trout (background) cooked to perfection at Bourbon Steak.

Dining at a Michael Mina restaurant is always an exercise in excess.

In the best of ways, of course.

After all, this is the chef who popularized the idea of trios, where it’s not simply enough to present just one rendition of a dish, but three different ones simultaneously on one plate.

It takes skill, timing and sophistication to do that well.

And that’s just what’s on display at Mina’s new Bourbon Steak in the Westin St. Francis San Francisco on Union Square. Bourbon Steak takes the place of the former Michael Mina flagship restaurant there, which has moved to the old Aqua restaurant space on California Street.

The once chic white and eggshell blue 102-seat dining room has been transformed with a more masculine atmosphere with dark charcoal floor-to-ceiling columns and hues of deep cognac and sand. The logo of a steer can be found subtly echoed on the Mondrian-like window treatments and water is brought to the tables in whimsical glass milk bottles.

This marks Mina’s fifth Bourbon Steak nationwide. And he has the formula down pat.

Executive Chef Omri Aflalo, who did an externship with Mina while at the Culinary Institute of America, is at the helm of the San Francisco locale.

The broad menu includes some of Mina’s greatest hits, including his addicting lobster corn dogs ($16), black truffle popcorn ($15), and lobster pot pie (market price). Since it is a steak house, you’ll also find the likes of a 28-ounce Porterhouse for $68, an 18-ounce bone-in rib-eye for $42, and a 6-ounce Australian Wagyu strip (market price).

Recently, I was invited to dine as a guest of the restaurant to enjoy a special tasting menu.

Duck fat fries with three dipping sauces.

You know you’re in for something when the first thing that arrives at the table is a trio of duck-fat fries with a sour cherry ketchup, a smoked onion aioli that tasted almost of bacon, and a zingy yuzu sauce. You tell yourself you’re going to eat just a couple, but then you finish every one. Every restaurant should take a lesson in fries from Mina, as these are as perfect as they come.

A tiny and rich bite of foie gras.

The decadence continued with a small rectangle of foie gras terrine with huckleberry glaze that just melted on the tongue.

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Fleming’s Breaks the Mold

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Shrimp cocktail reinvented at Fleming's.

I admit to some skepticism when it comes to big-chain steakhouses. So many of them seem to just phone it in when it comes to the food.

That’s why I was pleasantly surprised when I tried Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar for the first time.

Fleming’s has more than 50 locations nationwide. Recently, I was invited to dine as a guest at the Palo Alto restaurant in Stanford Shopping Center.

Even on a Tuesday night, the restaurant was packed, with patrons vying for seats at both the bar and the dimly lit dining room with its deep red leather booths that overlook a bustling kitchen line.

As with most steakhouses, the prices here are not necessarily cheap. But the quality of the cooking and the generous portion sizes make you feel that you’ve gotten your money’s worth.

It’s also a good place to go if not everyone in your party is a steak fanatic, as there are plenty of seafood choices, as well as a double-thick pork rib chop with apple cider and Creole mustard glaze, and a double breast of chicken baked in a white wine-mushroom-shallot sauce.

I also like how Fleming’s takes the effort to put a modern spin on steakhouse classics.

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