Google Chefs In The News Again

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About two months ago, Food Gal reported here that Google’s John Dickman had quit his job as global food services director for the search engine dominatrix.

Sources tell us that he didn’t go far. Dickman has joined Apple in Cupertino. Apparently the makers of the nifty iPhone and iPod not only want to feed their hard-working employees better, but want to give Google a run for its money in the gourmet cafeteria arena. Oooh, let the food fight begin.

Nate Keller, a former executive chef at the Google Mountain View campus, had recently moved to the Google facility in San Francisco to oversee Google’s Bridges cafe near the Embarcadero. Guess killer views weren’t enough, as Keller now has resigned from Google, according to sources. No word yet on what his plans are.

And what about Charlie Ayers, the first Google executive chef who set the original high bar for food there? Besides promoting his first cookbook, “Food 2.0, Secrets From the Chef Who Fed Google” and working on opening his Calafia Cafe & Market A Go Go in Palo Alto’s Town and Country Village, he’s joined the political fray.

Well, sort of. Ayers, former private chef to the Grateful Dead, has been asked to do the culinary honors for a July 10 political campaign fund-raiser in Minnesota for former Dead Head/comedian/actor-turned U.S. Senate-candidate, Al Franken. The buzz is that Ayers is already hard at work, contemplating dishes using Minnesota’s famed wild rice, walleye pike, and blueberries.

Team In Training _ Big Time

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As if Yountville didn’t already boast an unseemly number of top chefs (it has more Michelin stars per capita than any other city in the world), now it’ll get even more.

Thomas Keller of the French Laundry in Yountville has teamed up with New York superstar Chef Daniel Boulud to establish a non-profit organization aimed at giving young American chefs a leg up on competing in the Bocuse d’Or, the legendary culinary Olympics in which the United States historically hasn’t fared very well.

Keller and Boulud will help choose eight young chefs who will compete in a September cook-off in Orlando at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. The top winners will go on to comprise the American team that will compete in the Bocuse d’Or in Lyon, France in January 2009 against 19 other teams.

The American team will get some serious training, October through January, at a special facility set up in a house in Yountville next-door to the French Laundry.  Not only that, but the team’s techniques will be perfected by none other than Certified Master Chef Roland Henin, whom Keller worked for early on in his career and who remains one of the chefs he most admires.


Popchips Addiction

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Yes, I have one. But that’s not a bad thing. Not when Popchips are all natural, not fried, have no trans fat, and zero saturated fat (well, except for the wonderful cheddar cheese version that has a pittance).

Never heard of Popchips? Get thee a bag now (about $1.50 for a 1-ounce one). The San Francisco product, which debuted a year ago, is now available in nearly 3,000 retail stores in the Western United States including Safeway, and Whole Foods. A 1-ounce serving has 120 calories, compared to 160 calories for the same serving of Ruffles Original.

Made with potatoes, organic white corn and whole grain brown rice, the Popchips are made using heat and pressure. The resulting chips are light and crispy in texture. They come in nine flavors, including new “salt and pepper” (with a subtle seasoned taste); and “sea salt and vinegar” (the bold vinegar tartness tickles your nose the second you open the bag). Whatever flavor you choose, you’ll be hard pressed to eat just one.

Meatball Madness

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Bucci\'s Italian-American meatballs

We’re mad for meatballs. We certainly are.

Consider that loyal diners nearly revolted when San Francisco’s A16 once halted its popular ”Monday Night Meatball” special. No worries, as that curtailment was short-lived, and the meatballs are safely back on the Monday menu.

What is it about meatballs that we can’t get enough of? There’s something so comforting in their rustic presentation. They’re a little more special looking than a hamburger; a little more playful than a big hunk of meatloaf.

When I dined at Pizzeria Mozza in Los Angeles, the pizza was the star, of course, and the butterscotch budino for dessert was out of this world, too. But the appetizer of “meatballs al forno” nearly stole the show with their incredibly light texture, and subtly spiced tomato sauce. I could have eaten the entire plateful, well, if there weren’t two other people with me.

When I’m jonesing for meatballs, I turn to this favorite recipe from “The Complete Meat Cookbook”by Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly. Heap these bold tasting meatballs over pasta or soft polenta, and you can’t go wrong.

 Bucci’s Italian-American MeatballsÂ

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Cupcake Craze

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Kara's Cupcakes

Cupcake mania, which hit New York first (“Sex and The City,” anyone?), then spread to Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, is finally making its way to the South Bay/Peninsula.

Talk about taking your sweet time.

While those metropolitan areas long have boasted stand-alone bakeries specializing in nothing but cupcakes, we who have been frosting-starved in the South Bay/Peninsula finally will get our baked-good due when Kara’s Cupcakes is expected to open two locations in September: one in San Jose’s Santana Row (next to Pluto’s), and the other in Palo Alto’s Town & Country Village. Because the Santana Row location will be tiny — just 300 square feet — it’ll have a smaller selection, but promises to showcase the bakery’s most popular flavors.

Kara Lind, who worked in marketing for Conde Nast, found her true passion when she attended Tante Marie Cooking School’s baking program in San Francisco. Her first Kara’s Cupcakes bakery opened in 2006 on Scott Street in San Francisco. Since then, she’s added a second location in San Francisco, this one at historic Ghirardeli Square.

The cupcakes are made daily with such premium ingredients as Scharffen Berger chocolate, Clover Dairy products, and Flying Goat organic coffee. Regular cupcakes, $3 each, come in flavors such as Buttery Buttermilk, Chocolate Velvet, and Kara’s Karrot. Filled cupcakes, $3.25 each, come in such decadent concoctions as the “Fleur de Sel” (a chocolate cupcake with caramel filling, ganache frosting, and sea salt).

What does Lind find so irresistible about cupcakes?

“They are just filled with so much happiness,” she says. “They are like a little piece of joy.”

Who can argue with that?

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