Olson’s Cherry Pie

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Cherry pie time.

Cherry pie time.

 

A little piece of me dies when businesses like the Milk Pail in Mountain View and C.J. Olson Cherries in Sunnyvale shutter.

I know, I know, it’s all in the name of progress in the Valley of Heart’s Delight, where tech companies have long ago supplanted farms and orchards.

Tech may (or may not) make my life easier. But quaint family-owned farm stands and gourmet open-air markets make my spirit soar.

In too short of a time, C.J. Olson Cherries went from being an expansive cherry orchard to a small fruit stand in a spanking new retail mall to merely a mail-order company now whose products are also stocked at a couple of local stores.

A heap of filling inside.

A heap of filling inside.

When it still existed as a fruit stand, I would buy not only fresh cherries but other stellar locally grown fruit. And at least once a year, I would splurge on one of their famous cherry pies. They were not inexpensive. But once you tasted one, you realized they were worth every penny. While other pies may be filled with a lot of sugary jam or nondescript pureed fruit, Olson’s featured nothing but whole, pitted Bing cherries — and a ton of them at that. As a result, it was a pie that celebrated cherries exuberantly.

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Republique’s Dazzling Raspberry-Mochi Butter Cake with Matcha Glaze

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Raspberries and matcha flavor this unique mochi butter cake from Republique.

Raspberries and matcha flavor this unique mochi butter cake from Republique.

 

When Campanile restaurant and its adjacent La Brea Bakery closed in Los Angeles in 2012, I admit I shed a tear.

After all, Chef Mark Peel and Pastry Chef Nancy Silverton (then a married couple) together had created two of the most landmark establishments in the city, with the Wolfgang Puck-proteges turning out stupendous California cuisine, and extraordinary artisan breads and baked goods. In fact, the bakery was always my last stop, where I loaded up on pretzel bread and ginger scones before flying or driving home to the Bay Area.

But the iconic Spanish building that Charlie Chaplin supposedly built couldn’t have gotten better new tenants than Walter and Margarita Manzke. The couple lovingly remodeled it, maintaining its spirit, to open their Republique in 2013. It even features a bakery in the exact same spot that La Brea Bakery once operated, only now it is fully connected to the restaurant.

Baking at Republique Book

If you’ve ever visited the bakery, you know it’s nearly impossible to take your eyes off the front-and-center glass case overflowing with cookies, tarts, cream puffs, breads and assorted pastries of about 50 varieties. And if you’ve had the pleasure of sinking your teeth into any of them, then you know just how skillfully they are made.

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Abstract Table’s Edible Art

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Buttery tasting, raw hamachi served in the "Kelp Forest'' dinner.

Buttery tasting, raw hamachi served in the “Kelp Forest” dinner.

 

Andrew Greene and Duncan Kwitkor know full well that folks eat with their eyes first.

After all, they are both painters who met as painting students at the San Francisco Art Institute.

Since starving artists may be a cliche yet also unfortunately a truism, Greene and Duncan soon turned their attention to their love of cooking in hopes of pursuing a more economically stable profession.

The result was Abstract Table, a pop-up dinner series that now has a home base after hours at The Gastropig, the fun brunch-lunch spot in Oakland, where Greene used to cook.

A week ago, though, Abstract Table returned to its roots, hosting a pop-up at the Naked Kitchen private events space in the Mission District of San Francisco. Typically, the five-course menu is $50; the seven-course one is $70.

Prepping for Abstract Table's pop-up at the Naked Kitchen in San Francisco.

Prepping for Abstract Table’s pop-up at the Naked Kitchen in San Francisco.

Chef Andrew Greene (far left) and chef Duncan Kwitkor (in green apron), along with their assistants.

Chef Andrew Greene (far left) and chef Duncan Kwitkor (in green apron), along with their assistants.

What’s fun about this space is that it’s essentially the main floor of a Victorian house, in which the kitchen has been outfitted with professional-grade appliances and the living room and dining room get set with tables for dinner guests. You’re free to wander around, too, to sneak peeks at all the action in the kitchen.

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At Lundberg Family Farms, Rice Is Always Nice

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Lundberg Family Farms combine corn and rice to make tortilla chips that taste like cheese pizza.

Lundberg Family Farms combine corn and rice to make tortilla chips that taste like cheese pizza.

 

For three generations since 1937, the Lundberg Family has been synonymous with premium rice.

On 6,000 acres in the Sacramento Valley, it grows 18 varieties of rice — all non-GMO, and all certified gluten-free. It was also only the second farm in California to be certified organic.

Over the years, “The family has had many offers for both the land or the company, but they have a legacy they want to continue,” says Janet Souza, public relations and design manager for the farm. “They have never entertained any of those offers.”

Fortunately, for consumers, they just keep looking for new rice varieties to grow and new products to make. I had a chance recently to try samples of some of Lundberg’s newer products.

Bold Bites are small organic tortilla chips — that have the addition of rice in them. That makes them denser in texture. They are not as shatteringly crisp, but still plenty crunchy. They’re also gluten-free.

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Celebrate Bourdain Day by Indulging In Iceberg Wedge With Stilton and Pancetta

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Dig into Anthony Bourdain's easy and classically wonderful wedge salad on Bourdain Day.

Dig into Anthony Bourdain’s easy and classically wonderful wedge salad on Bourdain Day.

I am not normally one to pay much heed to National Fettuccine Alfredo Day, National Onion Rings Day, National Chop Suey Day or any other rather bogus food holiday of the like.

But when esteemed chefs Eric Ripert and Jose Andres declared June 25 to be “Anthony Bourdain Day,” I was all in.

Close friends of the author, chef, television host, cultural pundit, and larger-than-life icon, they wanted to honor Bourdain on what would have been his 63rd birthday. Tragically, the much-loved Bourdain too his own life last year.

Appetites cookbook

“Bourdain Day” was thus ordained to honor a man who traveled the world to parts unknown, and in the process, introduced us intimately to people and places we never would have seen in quite the same fresh, nuanced way.

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