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Monsieur Benjamin Est Tres Bien

Posted on July 1, 2015 by foodgal 5 comments

Quail at Monsieur Benjamin.

In the Bay Area, it’s Asian flavors that seem to be on everyone’s plate and palate these days.

So much so that French cuisine — though not its classic techniques — seem to have fallen out of favor.

But leave it to Monsieur Benjamin, which opened last summer in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley, to remind us why French food — just like a sharp little Chanel suit — truly never goes out of style.

Korean-born Corey Lee may imbue his Michelin three-starred Benu with breathless Asian flair, but with his second, more casual restaurant, Monsieur Benjamin, he stays the course of timeless French dishes yet gives them a touch of modernity.

His right-hand man is Chef Jason Berthold, late of RN74 in San Francisco, who worked with Lee when both were at the French Laundry.

Chef Jason Berthold deep in concentration in the kitchen.

The bistro doesn’t try to recreate the look of one in Paris. Instead, it very much fits in with its San Francisco surroundings, incorporating a lot of stainless steel, clean lines and striking black walls.

Tailgating at Levi’s Stadium with Michael Mina and Thomas Keller

Posted on October 6, 2014 by foodgal 7 comments

Liquid nitrogen butter pecan ice cream floats at Michael Mina's tailgate at Levi's Stadium.

Liquid nitrogen butter pecan ice cream floats (with an edible chocolate straw) at Michael Mina’s tailgate at Levi’s Stadium.

When there’s the likes of lobster pot pie, freshly shucked Kusshi oysters, and made-to-order, liquid-nitrogen butter pecan ice cream being served, you know you’re not at your average tailgate.

When it’s chefs Michael Mina and Thomas Keller in charge of the food, you know you’re truly at no ordinary sports feast.

Such was the case yesterday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, when the San Francisco 49ers socked it to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Chef Michael Mina presiding over his exclusive tailgate at his Bourbon Steak & Pub.

Oh, he’s a fan alright.

Some young fans enjoying the food.

At every home game, Mina’s Bourbon Steak & Pub, located right at the stadium, is transformed into the ultimate upscale tailgating party imaginable. For added fun, Mina invites a different guest chef to headline with him. Typically, the guest chef has a connection to the opposing team’s city, such as when Chicago-native Christopher Kostow of the Restaurant at Meadowood was on hand for the Niners-Bears game. Or how when the Niners take on the Washington Redskins on Nov. 23, it’ll be Chef Jose Andres, who has several restaurants in the nation’s capitol.

Exclusive American Kobe Ribeye Cap Served at The French Laundry Now Can Be Enjoyed at Home

Posted on June 20, 2014 by foodgal 2 comments

Presenting the American Kobe ribeye cap.

For the past seven years, almost all of Snake River Farms’ entire supply of ribeye cap — its premier cut of American Kobe beef — has gone to one restaurant.

The French Laundry.

That tells you just how magnificent this cut of beef must be.

Thanks to an uptick in production, though, that same cut is now available to the public, starting this week on the Idaho-based specialty meat company’s Web site.

Yes, you can cook up the same exquisite cut of beef used at one of the finest restaurants in the world.

It won’t come cheap, of course.

Former Chef of Ad Hoc Planning His Own Restaurant

Posted on June 17, 2013 by foodgal 4 comments

Chef Dave Cruz cooking a whole lamb at his pop-up event.

After leaving Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc in Yountville, where he was head chef for seven years, Dave Cruz has some big plans of his own.

Look for Cruz to open his own restaurant late this year or sometime next year. He’s been scouting locations in Napa to open Miles Restaurant, a casual spot serving brilliant but unpretentious food, the kind of grub chefs like to eat on their days off.

The name references his son’s middle name, he says. But it also speaks of the local “miles” from the restaurant that he will source his ingredients, as well as how diners are more than willing to travel miles and miles to the Napa Valley for a great meal.

If his recent pop-up lamb roast is any indication, his food is sure to continue to lure folks from all over.

Dinner is served.

A little over a week ago, I was invited to be a guest at his pop-up at The Trappist in Oakland. When I got there, Cruz was manning a large grill set up in the gastropub’s back courtyard. For $25 per person, you got a plate full of juicy, tender lamb that had been rubbed in aleppo, paprika and espelette, along with herb-mustard potato salad, and chili-lime corn on the cob.

Buttermilk Coconut Blondies From the Farm That Supplies the French Laundry with Butter

Posted on June 12, 2013 by foodgal 14 comments

Moist from buttermilk and shredded coconut, these blondies won’t even make you miss the chocolate.

When my Dad was still alive, he loved nothing more than embarking on cruises with my Mom.

He’d return from sailing around places like the Hawaiian islands with a scrapbook full of photos.

Of their room on the ship. Of the breakfast buffet on the ship. Of the fancy dinners on the ship. And of the midnight snacks on the ship.

I used to laugh, wondering if they’d ever stepped foot off the ship at all.

That’s why if he were still alive this Father’s Day, I’d bake him a batch of “Buttermilk Coconut Blondies.”

These oh-so chewy-good bars taste of the tropics, what with its generous load of shredded coconut. I couldn’t help but add a heap of macadamia nuts to the original recipe, too.

The blondies are from the new cookbook, “The Animal Farm Buttermilk Cookbook” (Andrews McMeel), of which I received a review copy. The book has quite the pedigree, too. It’s by Diane St. Clair who started supplying the French Laundry with its ultra-rich butter when she had all of two cows. Her Animal Farm in Vermont continues to do so today — with eight cows.

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