Newbie Restaurateur Opens Inshou in San Mateo

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Yakitori at Inshou in San Mateo.

I don’t really know Ray Wu, but I’m pulling for him.

You see, against the better judgment of his parents, who thought his economics degree from the University of California at Berkeley could be put to better use, he opened a restaurant about 50 days ago — his first.

Now, when he isn’t at his day job as manager of Marina Food market in Cupertino, Wu is at Inshou in San Mateo, where he greets customers and helps out in the kitchen alongside his head chef.

This new Japanese-small plates, neighborhood establishment has been his dream ever since he started working in restaurants as a dishwasher years ago.

Of course, an economics major would probably know this isn’t the best economy in which to open a restaurant. But when you have a dream, it’s hard to deny it.

Wu invited me in as his guest last week to try out his fare.

As with any dream, there were moments of wonderful clarity with the food, but also a few hazy ones, where a stronger focus was needed.

Wu and his team aim to please, welcoming customers warmly in the bright restaurant with its artsy back-lit sculptural white wall.

Tiny, crisp rice balls coat these crunchy shrimp.

We shared an assortment of dishes, starting with the “cracking shrimp” ($8.50), which were lightly battered with tiny rice balls that turned crisp and golden when deep-fried. Alongside was a cold, creamy curry sauce to dip them in.

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For the Year of the Rabbit, Roast a Chicken with Soy and Whiskey

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A refined version of a Chinatown classic.

Are you pleasant, affectionate, gentle, artistic, sophisticated and cautious, and think you have just so much in common with Francis Ford Coppola, Jet Li and Brad Pitt that it’s uncanny?

Then, you my friend, were born under the Year of the Rabbit, as were those celebs, according to Bay Area writer Rosemary Gong’s educational “Good Luck Life, The Essential Guide to Chinese American Celebrations and Culture” (Harper Paperbacks).

Those of us not lucky enough to be born under that fortuitious sign can still celebrate the start of the Lunar New Year on Feb. 3 in a glam way with this “Roast Chicken with Ginger and Soy-Whiskey Glaze.”

The recipe is from revered Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s “Simple to Spectacular” (Clarkson Potter).

A whole chicken is always a dramatic centerpiece, but even more so on Chinese New Year, because whole poultry is a symbol of health and unity of family.

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New Bar Bites and Lunar New Year Events

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Tender meatballs at Farmstead Restaurant. (Photo courtesy of the restaurant)

New Bar Hours & Noshes at St. Helena’s Farmstead Restaurant

If you’re famished after all that wine-tasting in the Napa Valley, pull up a stool at Farmstead Restaurant at Long Meadow Ranch in St. Helena, which has added extended bar hours on Friday and Saturday evenings, as well as some new tasty noshes.

Sunday through Thursday, the bar is open until 10 p.m. But on Friday and Saturday nights, you can chill out there until 12 a.m.

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Saveur’s Best Damn Meyer Lemon Cake

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Made with lemon juice, lemon zest and lemon extract for a super lemon-y taste.

A title like that practically challenges you to bake the darn thing, doesn’t it?

After all, you either fling yourself into it optimistically, confident that it really will be the best dang lemon cake you’ve ever sunk your teeth into or you grudgingly do it, all curmudgeon-like, waiting for that moment of  smug satisfaction to prove hoity-toity Saveur magazine wrong.

My verdict?

Since I’m not one to scarf up lemon cake after lemon cake on a regular basis, I can’t say if it’s the very best damn Meyer lemon cake I’ve ever had in my life. But I will say it really is pretty darn wonderful.

As it should be since it’s based on a recipe by baking doyenne Maida Heatter.

A simple batter enriched with milk, ground almonds and plenty of butter gets livened up with Meyer lemon zest and concentrated lemon extract. It bakes up in a loaf pan — a light-colored one works best so that the cake doesn’t overbrown. When the cake emerges from the oven, it’s doused with a warm syrup of Meyer lemon juice and sugar.

Once the glaze has soaked in, turn the cake out of the pan. The recipe doesn’t say so, but I would advise using a piece of parchment paper to do this, rather than a plate, as the now-sticky top of the cake can easily adhere to a plate and come ripping off. Once you have the loaf out of the pan, invert it right-side up on a rack to cool completely.

Then, wrap the cake in plastic wrap and wait 24 hours before eating it.

I know, I know, you have to be patient, so that the glaze melds completely with the cake.

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FoodGal’s $100 Gift Card Giveaway and Winner of the Asian Cookbook/App

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It's worth a $100 gift card.

That smear of yellow makes me happy.

You see, I’m a bonafide condiment gal. Be it mustard, ketchup, pickle relish, chutney, jam or barbecue sauce — I love them all.

I pile ’em on high, so much so that my husband grows rather alarmed at times. But truth be told, I’d often rather have a bun loaded with just condiments than the actual dog or burger inside.

Is that wrong?

I don’t think so. Not when they add such zest and zip to life.

They’re my guilty pleasure — tasty dollops of this, that and the other that I secretly can’t get enough of.

Now, tell me what foodstuff is your guilty habit. Best answer will win a $100 gift card for any CSN online store. Use it toward spicing up your kitchen or adding some modern decor to other rooms in your house.

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