Top 10 Eats of 2009

Posted on by 26 comments

My Top 10 eats that make me smile. (And yes, those are coffee beans.)

Some people like to look back at the year to ponder, scrutinize and revel in their accomplishments.

I like to look back at the year to relive moments in time that I can’t forget because, well, they just tasted so darned good.

Yes, here’s my list of the top 10 dishes I had in 2009.

Oh, it was hard to narrow it down to just 10, believe me. I hemmed and hawed about which would make the cut and which wouldn’t because there were so many bites over the past 12 months that I truly savored.

In the end, I decided to limit it to the meals I ate out, rather than cooked at home. The dishes that made the list were ones that I still savor in my memory, again and again. They’re ones that I would rush out to eat once more in a heart beat. They are — in a word — unforgettable.

Here they are, in no particular order:

Read more

A Festive, Non-Alcoholic Way To Ring in the New Year

Posted on by 13 comments

Here's to the new year with a taste of something sweet and tart.

Is it really just a day away from 2010? Seriously?

I’m not necessarily ready for a new year to begin, not when it seems like this past one just zoomed by at warp speed before I could barely catch my breath.

If I could, I’d like to rewind it back to, say, maybe summer to do all the things I had hoped to do but never got around to doing. Things like read more books, cook even more fabulous new dishes, host a few more dinner parties at home, clean out my closet, organize my desk better, go for a hike, and write more letters on actual stationary to be mailed with a real stamp.

Since I can’t turn back time, I’ll do the next best thing — usher in 2010 with welcome arms, eager anticipation and boundless hopefulness.

Read more


Lunch With Tony? You Bet!

Posted on by 15 comments

Short rib sandwich with caramelized onions. Oh, yes, indeedie.

Recently, I had lunch with Tony at Lunch with Tony’s.

Uh, got that?

That would be Chef-Proprietor Tony Santos and his new breakfast-lunch cafe, named — you got it — Lunch with Tony’s. It’s located in Alviso. And if you don’t know where that is — and I’m sure many of you don’t even if you live in the Bay Area — it’s a bayside community that was once autonomous, but was annexed into San Jose in 1968.

Santos knows Alviso well. After all, he grew up just three blocks from what’s now his cafe. The building that houses Lunch with Tony’s used to be his grandfather’s bar in the 1940s. His grandfather was the elder statesman of Alviso, having been both its mayor and police chief in the 1950s. As you drive to Lunch with Tony’s, you’re bound to pass Tony P. Santos Street, which is named after Santos’ grandfather.

Have lunch at Lunch with Tony.

The simple, yet warm dining room.

Over the years, the old bar morphed into a couple of different restaurants, then fell into decline.

As Santos puts it bluntly, “It was condemnable when we took it over.”

Indeed, it took a year and a half of clean up and construction to get the family-owned building to what it is now — a cozy, casual cafe with cheerful orange walls and green columns. A corner outfitted with easy chairs and a coffee table, made of old planks from the building, invites patrons to take a load off.  During construction, Santos even found the original “Tony’s” sign that graced his grandfather’s establishment. He plans on hanging it in the patio area.

The "Tony'' of Lunch with Tony.

Ever since the 31-year-old Santos opened up his cafe on Sept. 9 (his birthday), the place has been packed. Workers from nearby Cisco Systems, Yahoo! and Sun Microsystems come in to get their fill, as does a steady stream of Santos’ cousins and old friends who still live in the neighborhood.

It’s the “Cheers” bar in sandwich joint-form.

Read more

Handmade Fleurir Chocolates

Posted on by 19 comments

Grand Marnier Orange Blossom bonbon from Fleurir chocolatier.

The name of this Hartfield, VA chocolatier, Fleurir, literally means “to bloom.” And there’s no doubt a craving for these tiny artisan chocolates will sprout after just one bite.

Twenty-five-year-old Robert Ludlow started the business in April with his 23-year-old fiancee, Ashley Hubbard. Ludlow, who earned a grand diplome from Le Cordon Bleu in Sydney, Australia, uses fresh cream and butter in these handmade chocolates that come in such intriguing flavors as Coconut Lime, Carrot Cake, and Lavender Shiraz.

The elegant box.

The couple recently sent me a sample to try. A 4-piece box is $8, a 9-piece is $18, and a 25-piece one is $48. The chocolates are available at select locations in the Washington, DC-area or on the chocolate company’s Web site.

So, how do they taste?

I’ll use my patented scale of 1 to 10 lip-smackers, with 1 being the “Bleh, save your money” far end of the spectrum; 5 being the “I’m not sure I’d buy it, but if it was just there, I might nibble some” middle-of-the-road response; and 10 being the “My gawd, I could die now and never be happier, because this is the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth” supreme ranking.

Read more

The Art of Hoshigaki

Posted on by 18 comments

Hoshigaki -- a persimmon dried in the traditional Japanese method.

As chef of Pizzeria Picco in Larkspur, Restaurant Picco in Larkspur and Bix in San Francisco, Chef Bruce Hill has a flair for creating stylish Italian and New American food.

He also has a thing for massaging fruit.

Before you raise your eyebrows too high at that, just know that it involves the ancient and quite labor-intensive Japanese tradition of preserving persimmons.

Chef Bruce Hill. (Photo courtesy of the chef)

Hill has been making the dried persimmons, known as hoshigaki, for the past four years, ever since he was inspired to give it a try by the lovely sight of all the bright orange persimmons at his local farmers market.

He doesn’t use the hoshigaki at his restaurants or sell them. He just makes them for fun to give to family and friends. And when he asked me if I would like to try some, I jumped at the chance.

Hill employs the traditional method of making them, which requires that the persimmons be peeled by hand, then hung by string for several weeks. During that time, he gives them regular massages to help break up the flesh and to help maintain their uniform shape. The rub-downs also help smooth the exterior to retard mold. After about six weeks of this pampering, a white powdery bloom naturally appears on the fruit, signaling that they’re ready to be enjoyed.

A younger version of the dried persimmon that still has its orange color.

He sent me two kinds of hoshigaki, each made of the Hachiya variety of persimmon, so that I could get an idea of the transformation process.

Read more

« Older Entries Recent Entries »