P I C N I C

At Bunk sandwiches with the family.

I’ve met my sister and our two cousins, Katy and Matt, in San Francisco for an excursion to some restaurants. Katy was intent on going to the French Laundry but apparently two months in advance is not a sufficent amount of forethought. We went to Chez Panisse instead. I feel like a regular now, me and Martha even spotted our old waiter, Howie.

The initial two dishes were very good but rather unexciting. First was fennel and chipotle mayonaise with some poached sole and a little crayfish. Next, rissoto with fava beans and asparagus spiced with tiny cubes of chorizo. The main dish was really good, with butter lettuce tossed in a butter based juniper infused sauce. The warm greens went really well with bloody squab. Dessert was grapefruit sorbet with sections of tangerines and oranges.

Katy was excited about visiting Tartine, a bakery that makes coconut cakes that look like Scotty dogs. We ate croissants so saturated with butter they left a grease slick on everything they touched, pastrami and horseradish paninis pressed with big daubs of butter, coconut cream pies in pasty crust. I felt a little under the table afterwards.

Martha is staying in San Fran to finish up her thesis. Me, Katy, Elena, and Matt will fly to Portland on a Bombardier Q400 turboprop.

Last night me and Martha went to Chez Panisse for the Monday night dinner. The meal was very simple and totally delicious. The first course was squid stuffed with bread crumbs and raisins. It was topped with a lemon confit sauce and little bits of mint.

The main dish was pork shoulder and pork loin with a squash sformato and onion rings. The squash reminded me of my mothers spicy corn souffle. Dessert was blood oranges with bitter orange zest infused jelly. The food was very midwestern and cozy. Instead of being fancy or avant guard there was simply a sense of love and comfort. Simple preparations, sauces with primary flavors, and a use of tradition American cooking.

We drank a bottle of Echézeaux with dinner. It reminded me of Christom’s wine. A lean body with dark fruit and lees flavors. Our waiter overheard me mentioning this to Martha and he brought out an almost empty bottle of 2008 Christom Mt. Jefferson that he said they had opened for a tasting. How amazing to taste the two side by side! The Mt. Jefferson gets less oak then the other wines at Cristom and is actually my favorite. They were very similar, although the Christom was just a little lighter.  By the end of the meal the Echézeaux was getting richer and spicier but the Cristom headed downhill pretty fast and eventually lost all flavor. I just find that fascinating. How can two wines taste so similar but evolve so differently?

After dinner we checked out the kitchen. It’s very calm and super organized. That night they were only having to prepare three dishes! The squid was cooked in the oven for two minutes.

I read about Coi on some Portland cook’s blog a while ago and have been excited to go for some time. It’s not any particular cuisine, although it’s got a strong Japanese and East Asian bent. The above is beets smoked in hay, mixed with chevre and topped with sorrel sprouts. I’ve been reading about this hay smoking technique for a while now.

Martha’s favorite dish was a mushroom porridge with parsnip chips and tofu foam.

Pea juice, pea sprouts, then a cracker with dungeness crab, topped with a slice of melted pork fat. All the dishes had very colloqial names and this one was called a “crab melt”.

Wild spinach, beef, and mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes were totally amazing. I believe it was whipped cream with a little potato puree folded in.

The first dessert: lemon sorbet, pomegranate, mint, and meringue crackers. The last had a light flavor resembling bubblicous chewing gum.

This was totally amazing. Brioche breadcrumbs sauteed in butter, liquid chocolate held in a chocolate ring, “brioche ice cream”, whatever that means, tarragon, pistachio creme anglais, and a fluffy pistachio powder.