La Mortazza fociaccia sandwich, sold by the pound, at Il Mercato de Che Fico.
If you’re a fan of the food at Che Fico in Menlo Park and San Francisco, you’ll be glad to know you can now easily tote some of those same specialty Italian dishes home to enjoy.
That’s thanks to the new Il Mercato de Che Fico by owners Chef David Nayfeld and Matt Brewer, that opened last month across the way from Che Fico Parco in Menlo Park’s Springline mixed-use development.
Chef Chris Timm, who oversees the market, was kind enough to show me around and let me sample some of the goods on a recent afternoon.
Chef Chris Timm.The entrance on El Camino Real.
The gourmet market’s entrance is right on El Camino Real, so it’s easy to access, especially if you snag street parking or opt for the development’s underground garage that’s patrolled by a robot sentry no less.
New Hodo Zesty Lemon Dip that I slathered on an everything bagel.
Dip into new organic, plant-based, dairy-free, gluten-free, and nut-free dips made by everyone’s favorite organic tofu maker, Oakland’s Hodo.
Yup, no surprise, the new dips are made of soybeans and soy milk, plus flavorings. If you’ve ever whizzed soft or silken tofu in a blender to make salad dressings or your own dips, you get the drift.
I had a chance to try samples of the three new dips: Zesty Lemon Dip, Chili Crisp Dip, and Sambal Sweet Chili Dip.
Store the dips in your refrigerator.
The dips look a little like hummus, with a slightly thick, semi-smooth texture.
Lobster roll from Oakland’s Sea Breeze on the Dock delivered to my door via Craveble.
If you’re a regular user of food delivery services, you’ll be glad to know that there’s a new one in town: Craveble.
It actually launched 2 1/2 years ago in Sacramento to deliver premade restaurant dishes to consumers. But slowly but surely, it has expanded its geographic reach to now include six other Western states besides California. They are: Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.
It was established by Darren McAdams, who also founded past food delivery concepts Foodjets and FoodToYou.
My delivery box.
What sets Craveble apart is the fact that you can mix and match dishes from its local partner restaurants to bundle together in one order. In the Bay Area, that means you can assemble one delivery from 10 different restaurants.
Ronda’s Fine Foods muhammara turns simple roasted veggies into something far more special tasting.
It’s nutty, tangy, savory, and fruity with tomato and pomegranate — and you’ll want to dollop it on most everything.
Made with ground walnuts for a chunky-textured sauce, muhammara is vegan, too.
Now, Ronda’s Fine Foods of Petaluma has debuted a shelf-stable version that comes in glass jars.
The company was founded by Ronda Brittian of Petaluma, a former trauma nurse who developed a passion for cooking from her grandparents, one set of Mexican heritage and the other hailing from the South.
Jessica Entzel Nolan, founder of Doughpamine, holding one of her Salty Chocolate Chunk gourmet cookies. (Photo by Monica Lo)
At age 38, Pastry Chef Jessica Entzel Nolan of Novato has already racked up an illustrious culinary career that would be the envy of many.
Not only has she worked in the pastry department at the celebrated restaurants of Wolfgang Puck (Minneapolis’ 20.21 in the Walker Art Center), Jean-Georges Vongerichten (Spice Market in New York City), Gordon Ramsay (Gordon Ramsay at the London in New York City), and Masaharu Morimoto (Morimoto Napa), but she also triumphed on Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen,” and fulfilled a dream of becoming an actual Michelin inspector.
Last summer, she launched the first company of her own, financing it, herself, with a small business loan. Playfully and aptly named, Doughpamine is her line of gourmet frozen cookie dough, now sold at 55 stores in the Bay Area, including Bi-Rite Market in San Francisco; Berkeley Bowl in Berkeley; Draeger’s stores on the Peninsula; and New Leaf markets in Santa Cruz and Aptos. The frozen cookie bags are also sold on the Doughpamine site for shipping nationwide.
The cookie dough comes in four flavors: the best-selling Miso Peanut Butter (salty-sweet-savory and buttery tasting); Salty Chocolate Chunk (comes with a tiny bag of Maldon to sprinkle on before baking); Rhapsody Road (super chocolatey with gooey marshmallows and crunchy almonds), and my personal favorite of Blueberry Corn (tastes like a quintessential corn muffin in cookie form).
The frozen cookie dough comes in resealable bags. (Photo by Carolyn Jung)
Bake as many as you want, whenever you want, in a 375-degree oven (either convection or non-convection) for fresh, warm cookies that are crispy on the outside and gooey-soft within, or as Entzel Nolan describes “medium-rare” perfection.
Recently, I had a chance to chat with her about her childhood baking endeavors, what it was like working with world-renowned chefs, what it takes to be a Michelin inspector, and the meet-cute way she and her husband connected — and yes, it did involve food.
