Category Archives: Restaurants

Take Five With Masaharu Morimoto, On His New Svelte Figure and New Napa Restaurant

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A trim Chef Masaharu Morimoto. (Photo courtesy of the Food Network)

Masaharu Morimoto, the star of the original Japanese “Iron Chef” and the newer Food Network version, “Iron Chef America,” may be sporting a trimmer physique these days. But the celebrated chef, who was born in Hiroshima, Japan, is still one commanding presence.

Morimoto visited the Napa Valley last weekend for the 12th annual “Worlds of Flavor” conference at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena, the theme of which this year was “World Street Food, World Comfort Food.” The chef, who was there to do cooking demonstrations, drew crowds wherever he went, especially at the marketplace, where his crew cooked up okonomiyaki (a Japanese savory pancake layered with noodles, pork and a fried egg) and takoyaki (a Japanese octopus donut hole).

During a break, I had a chance to talk with the 54-year-old chef about his sixth restaurant that will open next summer in the Wine Country — Morimoto Napa.

Q: What made you choose Napa as opposed to San Francisco for your restaurant?

A: Two years ago, I came here for the “Worlds of Flavor” conference. It was my first time in Napa. I liked it. It is a special place. It’s a culinary place.

Q: What will Morimoto Napa be like?

A: Thomas Schoos, who did Tao in Las Vegas, is the designer. There will be three components — a fine-dining room with a sushi bar and omakase, a late-night lounge, and a retail store. People will be able to buy fish and Wagyu beef from Japan to take home to cook. We may sell bento box lunches and do catering for parties, too.

Q: Will the restaurant look like a piece of Japan? Or a piece of Napa?

A: It will look like a piece of Morimoto.

Morimoto supervises his crew at the "Worlds of Flavor'' conference.

Cooking up a Japanese savory pancake.

Tender octopus donuts get flipped so they're golden all around.

Q: With so many restaurants already, how often will people expect to see you actually in the Napa restaurant?

A: I will be there as much as I can.

Q: Will we be buying a place to live here? Perhaps a house with its own vineyard to make Morimoto wine?

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Events to Toast

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The "Golden Gate Mary'' cocktail at the St. Regis in San Francisco. (Photo courtesy of Chef Hiro Sone)

Did you know the iconic cocktail, the Bloody Mary, is 75 years old this year?

Drink a toast to that milestone at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco to commemorate the drink’s invention 75 years ago at the St. Regis New York.

In 1934, bartender Fernand Petiot introduced the cocktail at the King Cole Bar in The St. Regis New York. It was created when Serge Obolensky, a well known man about town whose penchant for vodka was in keeping with his aristocratic Russian background, asked Petiot to make the vodka cocktail he had in Paris. The formula was spiced up with salt, pepper, lemon and Worcestershire sauce. But since “Bloody Mary” was deemed too vulgar for the hotel’s elegant King Cole Bar, it was rechristened the “Red Snapper.” While the name may not have caught on in that era, the spicy drink most certainly did.

The San Francisco hotel is now serving a new contemporary version, dubbed the “Golden Gate Mary.” It’s made with tequila and pepper-infused tomato water, and garnished with a dried heirloom tomato chip. The $14 cocktail is available at the lobby bar through the end of the year. For another fun option, a flight of the new Bloody Mary and the traditional Bloody Mary is offered for the same price.

Don't you just want to take a sip right now? (Photo courtesy of Chef Hiro Sone)

Like the photos of the drink? I have Hiro Sone to thank for them. Yes, the excecutive chef of the esteemed Ame restaurant inside the St. Regis San Francisco snapped these pics. He’s a multi-talented chef if there ever was one.

Restaurants are gearing up for next week’s release of Beaujolais Nouveau. Just after midnight on the third Thursday of every November, villages and towns in France race to be the first to serve this new wine of the current harvest.

Campbell’s Twist Bistro gets in on the act Nov. 19 with a three-course prix-fixe for $32. A glass of the Beaujolais Nouveau is $8; a bottle is $30.

Left Bank restaurants will do the same with a la carte specials at its locations in Menlo Park. San Jose’s Santana Row, and Larkspur.

Depending upon the location, look for dishes such as house-made pork sausages with red wine-braised lentils, and pear poached in Beaujolais.

For a different twist, Arlequin Wine Merchant in San Francisco will host “No More Nouveau” on 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 19.

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A Porky Time at San Francisco’s Ferry Building

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Lard caramels. Oh, yes!

Last week, I ended up on a most porky mission.

Yes, foraging for all things pleasingly porcine at San Francisco’s Ferry Building Marketplace.

And what a very piggish day it turned out to be for moi.

After all, as I ducked into Boccalone Salumeria, I was happy to discover that the charcuterie store had just received its first batch of the new Humphry Slocombe lard caramels. Yes, you read that correctly:

Lard. In. Caramels.

Humphry Slocombe, the crazy good San Francisco ice cream store, has started making caramel candies using Boccalone’s lard.

These babies are outrageous. The second you unwrap the wax paper wrapper, you’ll notice the sheen of grease on it. These have got to be the richest caramels ever. Sweet, sticky, and with an almost bacony, fatty lushness to them, these candies just coat your entire mouth like biting into a juicy piece of pork belly would.

A package of four is $3.20.

Lard shortbread cookies.

Of course, I also had to buy a package of the Humphy Slocombe shortbread cookies, made with Boccalone lard, as well as butter. Trust me, don’t think about the consequences. Just eat them.

They come four to a package.

The cookies (a package of four for $3.20) are very crisp, with a crumbly texture, and the subtle taste of sea salt. Again, there’s a long finish to them because of all the F-A-T. But again, don’t dwell on that. Just chew.

Boccalone now also sells jars of pork ragu, made with ground pork, bits of its Boccalone salumi, red wine, and fennel.

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First Look at Howie’s Artisan Pizza in Palo Alto

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Dining room and bar under construction. (Photo courtesy of EcoModern Design)

Mark your calendars now. The much anticipated Howie’s Artisan Pizza place is expected to open Nov. 19 in the Town & Country Village in Palo Alto.

Yes, New Haven-style pizza by well-regarded Chef Howard Bulka, former head chef of Marche in Menlo Park and Silks in San Francisco.

Construction is still going on and dishes still being perfected, but here’s a sneak peek at all the work that’s been going on in the once-vacant spot near Sur La Table.

Retro light fixtures in the main dining room. (Photo courtesy of EcoModern Design)

Berkeley’s EcoModern Design is transforming the space with earth tones, exposed timber-frame ceilings, cork walls, bamboo counters with brass inlays, hand-forged iron fixtures, and retro lighting fixtures.

One of the coolest features is the divider between the bar and dining room. It’s made of glass panels filled with olive oil. Yes, really.

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Momofuku Chef David Chang Visits Kepler’s

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Chefs David Chang (left) and David Kinch (right) at Kepler's earlier today.

No figs were in attendance at this afternoon’s book signing at Kepler’s book store in Menlo Park with David Chang, superstar chef of New York’s insanely popular Momofuku restaurants.

Nope, but there were about three dozen folks eager to get their copies of the new “Momofuku” cookbook signed by the always no-hold-barred chef, who appeared with his co-author, New York Times writer Peter Meehan.

As you probably recall, Chang had caused a ruckus last month when he reportedly said on stage at the New York Food & Wine Festival: “F*****g every restaurant in San Francisco is just serving figs on a plate. Do something with your food.”

That comment has dogged him ever since, especially as he embarked on his book tour, which took him this week to — ahem — San Francisco.

At Kepler’s, he was met with a good-natured crowd, more eager to hear him dish on his unbelievably successful career than about the aforementioned slandered fruit.

Chang’s good friend, esteemed Chef David Kinch of Manresa in Los Gatos, introduced him at the event. Kinch recalled how he used to eat at Momofuku Noodle Bar when it was then Chang’s only restaurant.

“He took a simple dish of ramen and elevated it,” Kinch said. “It was revelatory.”

The proudly potty-mouthed Chang kept the cursing to a minimum today. Maybe because the stage was only a few feet away from the children’s reading section — or not — he uttered no f-bombs and only one mere “a**hole.”

Other noteworthy Chang-isms from the event:

On “Fig-Gate”:

“I got myself into a media mess. I was not drunk. I was coherent. But maybe it shed some light on a touchy subject in the Bay Area. I was at the farmers market today (Ferry Building one in San Francisco), and I didn’t want to look at anything because I was so upset. I don’t think the Bay Area is the culinary capital of the world. I don’t think New York is, either. People don’t know I come to San Francisco 10 times a year. I love San Francisco. For whatever reason, San Francisco doesn’t have the diversity food-wise. Neither does New York or DC and every other city that has the ability to do something great. Why shouldn’t we have the most progressive cuisine here?”

On which city is doing it right:

“San Sebastian. And a number of other cities in Spain.”

On opening his original Momofuku Noodle Bar:

“It was so small, I wasn’t even sure we could fit a bathroom in it. Our first exhaust system sucked up all the A/C. Our customers would be sweating to death. In the winter, we didn’t have enough amps to turn the heater on, so we just turned up all our burners so the guests wouldn’t freeze.”

“When you limit what you have, you limit what you can do. We couldn’t break down a full pig. We tried. We tried to do it one day on top of the bar. It didn’t work so well.”

“It’s the Crayola Crayon box analogy. Some chefs can use the 120-crayon box. They’re that skilled. We, at the time, needed the 6-color one.”

“When I first opened, I got a penalty from the New York State Tax Department because I hadn’t been paying sales tax. I didn’t even know what sales tax was. That’s how stupid I was. I didn’t know we had to pay it.”

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