Category Archives: Restaurants

Upscale Tuna Noodle Casserole

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I get a kick out of foams, froths, sous vide, and all the other modern wonders of molecular gastronomy.

But sometimes, I just want to kick it old-school.

And it doesn’t get any more back-in-the-day nostalgic than tuna noodle casserole.

Like so many of you, I grew up on the beloved casserole made with cream of mushroom soup and canned tuna baked in the trusty ol’ Pyrex dish.

That’s why when I spied the recipe for “Campanile Tuna Noodle Casserole” in the cookbook, “New Classic Family Dinners” (Wiley), I knew I had to make it. The book is by Chef Mark Peel of Campanile, that beloved landmark restaurant in Los Angeles, which you must try if you haven’t yet.

This dish can actually be found on the menu there, and it’s always a hit with children and adults alike, Peel writes.

I can see why, because it’s a taste of childhood but with way better ingredients and punched-up flavor.

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San Jose’s Bluefin Restaurant — Where Sharks Gather

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It’s a Japanese restaurant owned by a Korean-American chef that’s named after one of the world’s most expensive and endangered fish.

And it’s a place where sharks gather — as in Manny Malhotra, Joe Pavelski and Kent Huskins of the San Jose Sharks hockey team, who circle the ice at HP Pavillion, then come here for a bite to eat.

Executive Chef Jun Chon, opened Bluefin restaurant last October on The Alameda in San Jose, not realizing the name he had chosen was that of a species many environmentalists are urging be declared endangered because it has become so over-fished.

“I have gotten criticized a few times about the name,” Chon says. “I only picked the name because it was simple and easy to remember. It’s the king of fish. I didn’t think about the endangered part.”

It’s a Catch-22 for many sushi chefs these days. So many of the most popular fish used for sushi are over-fished. But so many customers still want to eat those varieties that chefs feel almost obliged to serve them.

Chon says he tries to follow the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s guidelines for sustainable fish, but he believes it would be nearly impossible to adhere to them strictly. As it is, he says he won’t buy unagi from China because of the use of antibiotics. He only purchases certified yellowtail. And while he does buy toro (the fatty, luscious belly flesh of the bluefin tuna), he tries to buy only farm-raised from Spain or Japan. As pricey as it is — $16 for two slices — the restaurant sells two to 10 orders a night.

Chon, 49,  is an unlikely restaurateur — the eldest son of a Korean mother born in Japan who never learned to cook growing up, and who majored in mechanical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley only because his limited English made it difficult to study other courses besides math and science.

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Chicken and Waffles in An Alley in San Francisco

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Psst…I can hook you up with a fix at a good price.

Primo stuff, too, bro.

This way. Come on. Come on. Down this alley.

In San Francisco, if someone beckons you down an alley like that, don’t be afraid. They’re just leading the way to Little Skillet, a lunchtime walk-up window serving Southern-style fried chicken and waffles that is indeed located in an alley.

Little Skillet, 360 Ritch St. (at Townsend between 3rd and 4th streets), a short drive from the W San Francisco, is an offshoot of Farmer Brown restaurant in San Francisco.

The to-go window is open Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Get in line, then place your order for fried chicken, waffles, “BBQ pork sandwich,” Cobb salad, or Red Velvet cupcakes.

If you’re lucky, you can take your cardboard box of goodness to enjoy at the lone bench on the sidewalk in front of the window. Or do what most people do — grab a foam cushion from a stack nicely provided at the condiment stand — and cross the street to take a seat on a loading dock to chow down on your grub. Packages of wet ones also are conveniently available to clean your hands afterward.

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Filipino Cuisine Symposium, Dessert Festival, Wine Dinner & More

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In San Francisco:

Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese, Thai and Malaysian cuisines.

Been to those restaurants, eaten that.

But when it comes to Filipino food, just how much have you experienced of this bold, pungent cuisine with its Chinese, Polynesian, and Spanish influences?

May 15-16, explore “Filipino Flavors: Tradition + Innovation,’‘ a celebration of the foods of the Philippines organized by the Asian Culinary Forum.

The weekend events, featuring chefs, scholars, writers and winemakers, will take place at the International Culinary School at the Art Institute of California in San Francisco, a short stroll from the Holiday Inn Civic Center.

May 15 kicks off with a hands-on cooking class with New York Chef Amy Besa ($85 per person); followed by a seminar on pairing Filipino foods with wines, hosted by Master Sommelier Reggie Narito ($45 per person). Next, a panel of scholars and writers will discuss the social, political and cultural touchstones that have shaped what Filipinos eat around the world ($15 per person; $10 for students). Finally, enjoy an “Adobo Show-Down,” where cooks will do battle with their best version of Filipino adobo for prizes ($20 per person).

May 16 starts off with a chocolate tasting with chocolatier Tonet Tibay (free to all symposium pass holders); and ends with a chefs panel all about the future of Filipino food ($40 general, $30 students).

Register here for tickets to individual events or for an all-symposium pass ($180).

Enjoy an intimate dinner with renowned wine importer, Kermit Lynch, May 6 at Absinthe Brasserie.

Lynch, who has made his Berkeley wine shop a vino lover’s destination for decades, will be pouring selected vintages from two of his benchmark producers, Domaine de Cherisey and Domaine Les Pallières.

Executive Chef Jamie Lauren will prepare a four-course dinner, which will include hamachi crudo with pickled green garlic, curried salt and pappadums; and braised beef cheeks with maple syrup-glazed smoked yams.

Price for the event is $150 per person. For reservations, call (415) 551-1453.

Foreign Cinema restaurant in San Francisco throws open its doors May 6 for a benefit auction for Creativity Explored, a San Francisco art gallery and studio for artists with developmental disabilities.

Original art, as well as an array of luxury items will be auctioned off that night, as Chefs Gayle Pirie and John Clark serve up small plates, cocktails, wine and beer. Guests are encouraged to come decked out in chromatic clothing to play up this year’s theme.

Tickets are $125 in advance or at the door. Or reserve by May 5, and pay $225 total for a pair of tickets. Call (415) 863-2108.

In San Jose:

Enjoy beer — a lot of beer — at brunch, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 15 at Left Bank Brasserie in San Jose’s Santana Row.

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Orlando: Backstage Eats at Epcot and A Restaurant Called the Ravenous Pig

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When I wasn’t eating my way through 27 sweet treats as a judge at the recent Pillsbury Bake-Off in Orlando, I was — well — eating still some more.

You see, the Pillsbury folks wanted to make sure none of the 12 Bake-Off judges were ever in danger of having the slightest hunger pang. Perish the thought.  So we were fed. Then, fed again. And on it went, calorie after lovely calorie.

Here are the highlights:

We were treated to a welcoming party at Epcot, where six of the theme park’s restaurants had set up cooking stations inside a large kitchen area. Epcot Executive Chef Jens Dahlmann was on hand to greet the judges and members of the media.

We mingled as we enjoyed sips of wine and tastes of cute little lamb sliders with tomato marmalade, shrimp in green curry sauce with fragrant basmati rice, duck two ways — smoked breast and leg confit with tomato and egg fettuccine, porcini-dusted beef tenderloin, and a fab fisherman’s stew by “Iron Chef America” Cat Cora’s Kouzzina restaurant.

My favorite nosh, though, had to be the martini glasses of spicy sashimi-grade tuna tartare with cucumber, daikon and pepper salad, and avocado-wasabi sauce and crisp lotus root chips. That dish, from the Hollywood Brown Derby at Epcot,  was so good that I even went back for seconds. Shhh, don’t tell anyone.

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