Santa Clara Welcomes Justin’s — A Long, Long Time in the Making

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Glazed pork belly makes an appearance in a maki roll at Justin's in Santa Clara.

Glazed pork belly makes an appearance in a maki roll at Justin’s in Santa Clara.

 

You can tell Justin’s in Santa Clara is a labor of love.

Housed in the old Wilson’s Bakery site, the restaurant took nearly three years to come to fruition as Chef-Owner Justin Perez financed the endeavor, himself, with the help of investors and in-kind trades.

He hand-made the wood dining-room tables, as well as the steel sculptures that decorate the spacious restaurant. Pastry Chef Meg McGraw crafted the framed flower paintings that hang on the dining room walls.

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Run, Don’t Walk, to B. Patisserie

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Front and center, the incredible kouign-amann from B. Patisserie, as well as a croissant and an apple brown butter coffee cake.

Front and center, the incredible kouign-amann from B. Patisserie, as well as a croissant and an apple brown butter coffee cake.

 

It’s a good thing I don’t live close to the new B. Patisserie in San Francisco’s lower Pacific Heights neighborhood — or I’d be 300 pounds.

If I lived within walking distance, it would be a far, far dangerous thing.

That’s because these are pastries worth every single calorie.

Pastry Chef Belinda Leong and business partner Michel Suas have created a very special place.

That’s because Suas, founder of the San Francisco Baking Institute, is a master of bread, which star in the bakery-cafe’s open-faced tartine sandwiches. And Leong knows her way with butter, having trained in Paris with Pierre Hermé, and staged at Fauchon in New York. She’s also headed the dessert side of the kitchen at Manresa and Gary Danko restaurants.

The result is the perfect neighborhood bakery that feels like a slice of Paris.

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Former Chef of Ad Hoc Planning His Own Restaurant

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

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.

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.

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Crunch-A-Licious Almonds and a Food Gal Giveaway

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Garlic Almonds for Father's Day.

Garlic Almonds for Father’s Day.

 

By now, you probably know how much of an almond addict that I am.

I love to eat them by the handful, of course. But I also love to bake with almond flour, smear almond butter on toast, dig into spoonfuls of almond jello at Chinese restaurants,  and nosh on any cookie made with sweet almond paste.

So, when Santé Nuts, a family-owned company in Santa Clara, recently sent me samples of its Garlic Almonds and Chipotle Almonds to try, I was practically delirious. The nuts themselves taste so incredibly fresh. You’ll notice that difference right off the bat. There’s a real crunch to them. The garlic ones are just garlicky enough so you still get the natural almond flavor, too. The chipotle ones have a slow smoky burn that’s never overpowering, either.

Company founder Sara Tidhar roasts the nuts the way her grandmother taught her. Tidhar used to make them for friends and family as gifts. But when she found herself divorced and a single mom, she decided to take a leap of faith to create a business around her grandmother’s tradition.

The rest is delicious history.

CONTEST: One lucky Food Gal reader will win a “Dad’s Day 4-Pack” of two large bags of Santé Chipotle Almonds and Garlic Almonds.

Entries, limited to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST Feb. 16 (Father’s Day). Winner will be announced on Feb. 19.

How to win?

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

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

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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