Chef-Owner Jin Suzuki of Saratoga’s Hachi Ju Hachi is so finicky about his ingredients that he even makes his own salt.
At his restaurant, he practices the art of washoku: traditional Japanese food based on the principles of harmony, balance, simplicity and restraint.
Experience a taste when Suzuki joins me for an inspired cooking demo at 6 p.m. March 14 at Macy’s Valley Fair in Santa Clara.
Executive Chef Lee Bennett putting on a show with crepes Suzette at Bourbon Steak at Levi’s Stadium.
Raised in Yorkshire, England, Executive Chef Lee Bennett was head chef at Gordon Ramsay’s Savoy Grill, worked at Alain Ducasse’s Hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris, and has cooked at events for the likes of David Beckham, and the royal family.
Now, he’s bringing his years of classical training and a bit of British sensibility to Bourbon Steak & Bourbon Pub at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
Most notably with table-side service with carts, which he hopes will distinguish Bourbon Steak from other steakhouses in the area.
“The older people remember table service and love it,” Bennett says. “And it’s so old-fashioned that Millennials have never seen it, so they think it’s cool.”
Each day, Bennett plans to feature a rotating special done table-side. It will include everything from beef Wellington or Dover sole finished table-side to bananas Foster flamed in front of diners.
Last week, I had a chance to check out the new offerings, when I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant.
Bennett took over the helm at the steak house and adjacent Bourbon Pub in January — just in time for the Super Bowl. Although his wife is American, Bennett says he was still getting the hang of football in the states, when the big game descended upon him.
“I don’t know the game too well,” he says with a chuckle. “But it was a phenomenal experience. We opened up the restaurant after the game because Beyonce, Stephen Curry and others wanted a bite to eat. It was great!”
Meatballs bathed in a rich, warm yogurt sauce.
A great meatball is a fine thing.
Especially one bobbing in a rich, creamy sauce that transports you from the first indulgent taste to a faraway land.
That’s what you’ll get with “Lamb Meatballs with Warm Yogurt and Swiss Chard.”
It’s from the new cookbook, “Nopi” (Ten Speed Press) by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ramael Scully, of which I received a review copy.
Ottolenghi, of course, is the masterful owner of a slew of restaurants in London and the author of several cookbooks that pretty much land on the best-seller’s list every time he publishes one.
Scully is his head chef of Ottolenghi’s fine-dining establishment, Nopi.
The book contains more than than 120 recipes, combining Ottolenghi’s Middle Eastern roots with Scully’s Malaysian heritage.
A new way to enjoy tea.
Pique will definitely pique your interest and taste buds.
Imagine brewing a cup of tea — without any loose leaves or tea bag involved.
Pique makes it possible with its genius tea crystals.
Simon Cheng, who grew up in Hong Kong and California, founded the San Francisco company. A lifelong tea aficionado, he wanted to find a better, more convenient way to enjoy a cup of tea.
So, he brewed tea, then removed the leaves, before distilling it into crystals that are packed into individual one-cup packets.
Here’s what to do with all those Meyer lemons.
These days, cutting back on carbs is such a thing.
In that regard, I am decidedly unhip.
Because I love bread, pasta and rice — and would never give them up unless I absolutely was forced to do so.
After all, few things are as blissful as tearing into a rustic slab of warm bread drizzled with good olive oil.
That’s why “Meyer Lemon & Thyme Hearth Bread” caught my eye.
It’s from the new cookbook, “Citrus: Sweet and Savory Sun-Kissed Recipes” (Ten Speed Press) by Valerie Aikman-Smith and Victoria Pearson, of which I received a review copy.
Aikman-Smith is a former cook at Greens restaurant in San Francisco, and Pearson is a food photographer, whose images have graced Food & Wine and Martha Stewart Living magazines.
The book is all about what to make with citrus, which is at its prime in winter. Enjoy everything from “Rosemary Lemonade” and “Tropical Granola with Candied Lime” to “Grilled Sardines with Orange Polenta” and “Pomelo & Basil Granita.”
With a dwarf Meyer lemon tree in my yard, I’m always looking for ways to use its fragrant fruit, which is a cross between a regular lemon and a mandarin, rendering it less sharp tasting. In this recipe, the lemons get sliced thinly and fanned over the top of the bread.