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What were my most favorite bites of 2013, the ones I still remember to this day and can’t wait to enjoy all over again?
Take a look. Here are my Top 10 dishes of the year, in no particular order:
Afternoon tea hits the spot during the holidays. (Photo courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton)
If you need a respite from all that holiday shopping, head to the swank Ritz-Carlton San Francisco for some soothing tea.
Take a load off at the 3 p.m. afternoon tea in the lounge, available daily through Dec. 24.
You’ll enjoy a pot of tea, savory finger sandwiches, scones, macarons and other sweets while live music entertains.
Price is $65 per person.
The little ones are sure to love the Teddy Bear Tea, available 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Dec. 14-15 and Dec. 20-24.
Children can bring their favorite stuffed animal to the Terrace Room to meet Stretchy the Elf, Holly Berry and the giant Ritz-Carlton Teddy Bear. They’ll also get to partake in holiday story-telling, sing-a-longs and a photo session with the Ritz-Carlton Teddy Bear. Holiday treats will be served, too.
Aww, how cute is this Teddy Bear Tea? (Photo courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton)
Price is $110 per person. A portion of proceeds benefits the Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area foundation.
For reservations to either tea event, call (415) 773-6168.
The Trappist in Oakland is celebrating Kerstbier, a two-day Bacchanalia today through Saturday that spotlights a bevy of winter-Christmas ales, including a tap take-over with 25 featured beers.
Pipa duck at Hakkasan in San Francisco.
As a child growing up in San Francisco, I remember many a time accompanying my Dad to a Chinatown joint, where he’d order a plate of fluffy steamed rice topped with an ample portion of cleaver-chopped roasted duck for all of $5.
It was cheap, filling and satisfying.
I couldn’t help but flash back to that no-frills dish when I had a far more luxurious version recently at Hakkasan in San Francisco, when I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant.
Oh sure, you can have roast duck with rice here. But it’ll set you back $40.
Yes, that plate of duck alone — 12 slices of gorgeous mahogany skin each covering a sliver of meat resting on a smear of hoisin sauce –Â is $36.
Nope, this is definitely not my late-Dad’s duck rice plate. Nor his kind of Chinese restaurant. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing.
It’s just that for most of us accustomed to mom-and-pop neighborhood Chinese food at moderate prices, Hakkasan’s steep tab can be a shock.
But should it be? After all, so many of us are willing to shell out hundreds of dollars per person for a tasting menu at all manner of Western restaurants. So should we blanch when a Chinese restaurant dares enter that realm of cost?
A private dining room.
The soaring, illuminated wine room as seen through the artsy wood divider.
Hakkasan does offer up luxuriousness to the max. With outposts in Dubai, Miami and Las Vegas, Hakkasan is as glitzy as you can imagine.
It’s located in the iconic One Kearny building off Market St. Walk through the door to find a host at a stark, blue-purple illuminated counter who will instruct you to take the elevator up to the second floor to the restaurant. The aroma of incense is already noticeable and assaults even more when the elevator opens up to the restaurant.
A dusting of cinnamon completes this anise semolina cake from Aziza that’s perfect for the holidays.
Drum roll, please: My debut cookbook, “San Francisco Chef’s Table,” (Lyons Press) arrives next week.
Available easily on Amazon, it makes for a perfect holiday gift without having to trudge to the mall on Black Friday, too.
The cookbook features spotlights on 54 of the San Francisco Bay Area’s top restaurants, along with 70 of their signature recipes.
To rev up your taste buds, I thought I’d tell you about some of the recipes you’ll find in the book:
Executive Chef Justin Cogley in the kitchen of Aubergine at L’Auberge Carmel.
Justin Cogley’s first career may have been as a professional figure skater with “Disney on Ice.”
But these days, you can find him spinning circles around haute cuisine as executive chef of Aubergine at L’Auberge Carmel.
Cogley, who started his culinary career working at Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago, developed a passion for fine food and wine as his skating career took him all over Asia, Australia and Europe. At Aubergine, a jewel-box of a restaurant in Carmel-by-the-Sea, he’s so dazzled diners that he was even named one of Food & Wine magazine’s “Best New Chefs 2013.”
He’s all about local ingredients, even going diving with his cooks to gather their own seaweed for beautifully composed dishes.
Late this summer, I had a chance to experience his skills when I was invited as a guest to stay overnight at the inn and enjoy dinner.
The inn is situated in the heart of the charming village.
Housed in a three-story, European-style building constructed in 1929, the charming inn features 20 guest rooms set around a brick courtyard with a bubbling fountain and plenty of patio chairs for lounging.