Category Archives: Seafood

Dungeness Crab Fest

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Through February, the Bay Area’s Lark Creek Restaurant Group spotlights the sweet, fluffy, delicate deliciousness of crab in its 21st annual “Dungeness Crab Festival.”

Get your fill of this irresistible and sustainable seafood as chefs at each restaurant showcase distinctive and creative dishes all about crab.

At LarkCreekSteak in San Francisco, steps from the Hotel Palomar, Chef John Ledbetter is offering the likes of Dungeness crab and chorizo gumbo.

At One Market Restaurant in San Francisco, not far from the Hyatt Regency, Chef Mark Dommen is whipping up house-made cavatelli with Dungeness crab, artichokes, basil and Meyer lemon.

At Yankee Pier in Santana Row in San Jose, Chef Gary Rust is turning out Dungeness crab tacos with tomatillo salsa, cumin sour cream and handmade tortillas.

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Chef Michael Symon’s Cured Tuna

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Ahi combines with fennel, olives, oranges, and olive brine for incredible results.

We know the man has a way with pig.

After all, whenever you see Chef Michael Symon on TV, he’s usually talking or cooking pork. Who can blame this Midwestern chef with his acclaimed Cleveland restaurants, Lola and Lolita, for having such a porcine love affair?

There’s a whole lot more than pig in his new cookbook, “Michael Symon’s Live to Cook” (Clarkson Potter). Sure, you’ll find the likes of roasted rack of pork with grilled peaches and chestnut honey vinaigrette, not to mention pappardelle with pig’s head ragu.

But you’ll also find everything from sheep’s milk ravioli with brown butter and almonds, and veal chop Milanese with arugula salad to the colorful “Lightly Cured Tuna with Olives, Orange, and Shaved Fennel” (photo above).

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A Guy Named Carlos, A Lot of Crab, & A Cheesy Time

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A wall sconce at Maria Maria. (Photo courtesy of Robby Skog Photography)

Musician great Carlos Santana opened a fifth locale of his Maria Maria restaurant late last year in Danville.

Serving “Nuevo Mexican” cuisine, it features dishes such as chicken and mole tortilla casserole ($15), grilled skirt steak with nopales salad $(19), and mixed wild mushroom fajitas ($15).

No telling how often you might spot Santana, himself, there. But he did put in an appearance earlier this week to meet and greet media.

Cheesemaker Allison Hooper and friend. (Photo courtesy of Ms. Hooper)

Cheese aficionados will want to head to the Pasta Shop in the 4th Street Market Place in Berkeley, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m, Jan. 15.

Allison Hooper, author of “In a Cheesemaker’s Kitchen,” will be on hand to sign copies of her book, discuss the world of cheese, and offer tastes of her luscious creations.

Hooper, of Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery, will be joined by other artisan cheesemakers at this free event, including those from Bellwether Farms and Cowgirl Creamery, who also will be offering samples of their cheeses.

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Dinner & A Movie — Seafood-Style

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Clam chowder, full of sustainable clams, will be served tomorrow at the Yankee Pier Lafayette event. (Photo courtesy of Yankee Pier)

Head to Yankee Pier in Lafayette tomorrow at 6 p.m. for just that, as well as a lesson in sustainable seafood.

The evening will get started with a screening of the international documentary, “The End of the Line,” which made its debut at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. The film by Rupert Murray is the first major documentary to focus on the crisis facing today’s oceans because of overfishing.

Yankee Pier is joining with other restaurants around the country to host the “Fish ‘n’ Flicks” screening to urge consumers to choose sustainable seafood and to forgo critically endangered species such as bluefin tuna and beluga sturgeon.

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Get Your Fill — and Then Some — at Sancho’s Taqueria

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A huge, honking burrito.

Like quite a few high-end chefs these days, Adam Torres turned his back on white table cloths, waiters, sommeliers and all the other fancy accouterments that go along with fine dining.

Instead, he opted to refocus his considerable skills toward something far more casual and carefree — tacos and burritos.

But not just any run-of-the-mill tacos and burritos. We’re talking ones that will leave you swooning.

Then again, that’s not surprising when you consider they’re being made by someone who used to cook on the line at the esteemed Village Pub in Woodside.

Having been a fan of the Sancho’s in Redwood City that opened a few years ago, and the take-out Mexican food window that Torres used to run at La Tiendita Market in East Palo Alto, my husband and I were eager to try the new Sancho’s Taqueria, which opened in downtown Palo Alto late last year.

I almost always end up getting at least one fish taco ($3.95). Super crisp, fried nuggets of flaky fish are mounded high inside two small, soft corn tortillas and topped with cabbage and creamy, house-made chipotle remoulade. Sancho’s has long had a reputation for its fish tacos. After one bite, you’ll not only know why, but want to order seconds.

Fish taco on the left; Al pastore taco on the right.

I also enjoyed an al pastore (barbecue pork) super taco ($3.25), which came dressed with cheese, pico de gallo and salsa. Smoky and tender, the pork, like all of Sancho’s meats, are nicely seasoned.

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