Carolyn Tillie

I'll second Bin - I just ate there on Monday night and always have a great time, especially with wine pairings!

Before dashing off to Los Angeles last weekend, I wandered into Scott Howard for dinner on Friday evening. I opted for the three course prix fixe for $31.98. I liked the fact that they have a very good by-the-glass wine last and that all glasses could be either three or six ounces. For my first course, I chose the Japanese Hamachi with pink grapefruit, pickled cucumber, truffled ponzu, and herbs. This was really well done although I could not detect any truffle in the ponzu. The fish was fresh and the perfect temperature. I chose a Loosen Riesling that worked very well with the dish. For my second course, I had the Pan Roasted Veal Sweetbreads with yukon potato purée, smoked bacon, and madeira jus. With this I picked an a Domaine Allimant-Laugnier Alsacian Pinot. The dish was not bad, but I like my sweetbreads to be on the crispy side while these were very mushy. I was torn between the venison and the poussin and at the waitress' recommendation, I opted for the Crispy Poussin with truffled orzo "mac & cheese," watercress, and natural jus. Also with the waitress's suggestion, I ordered Baumard Anjou Loire Valley Cab Franc. I was also not very impressed with this dish either. It was probably my mistake but both the sweetbreads and the poultry were served on a puddle of purée/mush. I had too much soft food and not enough tantalizing flavors. Not stuffed to the gills, I ordered the sample three-cheese plate (sorry, don't remember which cheeses were served). There was a wine on the dessert wine list I was unfamiliar with and asked about the Picolit, La Roncala, Colli Orientele, Italy. My server was really great in that since I was unfamiliar with the wine, brought over the bottle for me to taste. At a little more than half empty, it was definitely corked (which means they had already served it as such). The waitress was really great in whisking the bottle away and suggested instead a Heidi Schrock Beerenauslese. This wine worked well with the cheeses and was a nice ending to an otherwise unremarkable meal. About $100 for all.

Knowing how small the kitchen at Bin is, I'm sure a few short cuts had to be taken to produce Chef Richard's impressive food -- not that I would know or notice, but it has certainly piqued my interest to go to D.C. and eat at Citronelle.

A fortunate turn of business events brought me to Los Angeles and knowing far enough ahead of time, I booked one of the remaining seats in the guest-chef series at Bin to eat the cuisine of noted French chef, Michel Richard. I didn't mind sitting single at the bar as I got to watch a lot of the evening's action as every seat in the house was filled. What a truly astonishing meal it was... The first course listed was Scrambled Scallops, stunningly served in an actual horizontally-cut egg shell, decoratively topped with an attached Cheerio! Surrounding the scramble was a circle of caviar and the saltiness of the fish eggs heightened the creaminess of the scramble. It was served with a 1999 Philipponnat Grand Blanc Brut which was bright and crisp with a touch of peach. The second course was Low Carb-O-Nara. The fettuccine-like offering was, in fact, thinly sliced onions served in a cream sauce with Parmesan cheese and garnished with lardons of bacon and a vegetable concoction akin to a mille-feuille; minuscule rainbow layers of vegetables. The wine pairing was 2004 “Ried Burgberg” Hogl Gruner Veltliner. This was a stunning pairing as the back-palate taste of this wine was definitely that of cheese - an aged, hard cheese. The initial taste alone was odd but paired with the dish, was stunning. The third course is apparently a signature dish from Citronelle, Lobster Begula Pasta. This dish was a revelation. Served in what looked like a caviar dish were rich, creamy chunks of lobster topped with Israeli couscous which had been cooked with black squid ink, giving it the appearance of Beluga caviar. Dipping down through the caviar and assembling both the couscous and the lobster in one bite, this was a show-stopper dish. The wine pairing with this course was 1999 Corton Charlemagne Marius Delarche. Next was Foie Gras Brulée paired with a 2004 Marcel Deiss Gewurztraminer. After the "caviar," I didn't think the meal could get any better. I am usually put off by foie laden with fruit as it is often too sweet for me. The foie mousse was perfectly smooth and light and the complement of the fruits along with the wine was divine beyond comprehension. On a previous visit, I complained to David Haskell (manager/sommelier) that I thought his foie/wine pairing was too sweet and there was no mis-step here whatsoever. Neither the fruit nor the wine were on the sticky side and the light crunch of the brulée only enhanced the richness of the foie. The meat course was entitled Figgy Piggy - a rich pork tenderloin served with fresh figs, carrots, and a sweet-spiced Port sauce. The wine accompaniment was 1996 Clos Vougeot” Anne Gros. I don't recall ever having a pork so tender that I could have mistaken it for veal. The wine was rich enough to stand up to the Port sauce without fighting it. I have always liked the cheese course at Bin as they don't spoil the plate with unnecessaries like nuts or fruit-laden bread. Here were Queso Clara, Telaggio, and Epossies paired with 2005 Weingut Wittman Riesling “Trocken”. The final signature dish of this amazing evening from Chef Richard's repertoire was Le Kit Cat, a layer of a crunchy peanut butter based topped with a rich chocolate mousse and served with hazelnut sauce and vanilla ice cream. The pairing for the dessert was a classic 1994 Dow’s Port. Despite the crowd of obviously close-knit friends and acquaintances, I was able to garner enough time with the chef to grab a photograph and a signature on his cookbook, which they were selling that evening. What a great night.

I'd be really curious how much salt is in the recipe you want to tweak. Even this simple recipe only uses two teaspoons of salt for an entire loaf. Surely that is not an overwhelming amount? Those who need to decrease salt in their diet need to look more at pre-prepared foods as those are the sodium culprits -- most bread only uses a few teaspoons and shouldn't have to be in the league of those foods which your friend should have to worry about.

Not that I have ever heard of (or experienced)... Which begs the question, "why do you ask?"

Hey, when all is said and done, will you post a report on where you ended up and your thoughts? We here who live in the state get pretty jaded so having some fresh eyes (and mouths) would be great!

Le Kit Cat From Michel Richard’s “Happy in the Kitchen” Bottom Layer · 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter · 2 tbs. peanut oil · 7 oz. milk chocolate melted and at body temperature · 1 ¼ cup crushed cornflakes Top Layer · 1 ¼ cup heavy cream · 5 oz. 60% semisweet chocolate, melted and at body temperature Line an 8-inch pan with plastic wrap, letting it overhang on all sides. For the bottom layer 1. Place peanut butter and oil in the bowl of a stand-mixer and beat with a whisk attachment on medium-high speed to thoroughly combine and light in color, 2 to 3 minutes. 2. Reduce speed to low and add the melted milk chocolate until thoroughly combined. 3. Remove bowl from mixer and fold in the cornflakes 4. Pour into prepared pan and level with a spatula. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. For the top layer 1. In a bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the cream until soft peaks form.\ 2. Place the melted semisweet chocolate in a medium size bowl and fold in half of the cream to lighten it and then quickly fold in the remaining half. 3. Pour the mixture over the bottom layer, making sure to reach the corners. Beat against the work surface to eliminate any air. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. (At this point the dessert can last 3 days) To serve le Kit Cat One hour before serving, lift the block from the pan using the overhang sides. Peel off the plastic and cut it into 4x1 inch bars with a large warm knife. Have deep container of hot water nearby; dip the knife into the water, and dry with a kitchen towel before each cut. Using a fine-mesh sieve, dust the tops of the bars with cocoa powder; Brush gently so the cocoa fills in any small holes. Ladle sauce on the bottom of plate. Arrange some bars on each serving plate and garnish with raspberries. Okay, there's a sauce that goes along with it buy my problem is in the bar itself -- the two layers separated... Anyone happen to know why that would occur? Thanks!

Oooh, girlfriend, you have to peruse my Laguna Beach Thread. Sapphire is a must! Avoid Michael Mina's Stonehill Tavern (in my opinion, over-rated).

Potential Danger

Some very good friends were visiting last week, suggesting The Dining Room at the Ritz. As it was on my list of places wanting to try, I happily obliged. Going for the full tasting menu, the restaurant serves two renditions of a single ingredient; one for the men and one for the women. We were three and thankfully, The Gentleman offered us ladies tastes of his offerings as well as tasting ours. For our amuses and starters, we started with an Egly Ouriet. I’m afraid I don’t know the vintage but this is earmarked by being a 100% pinot meunier Champagne which is quite nice. Our first amuse were Organic Spinach Risolle which were sadly a little on the pasty side. The second amuse were assorted vegetable tuilles (corn, mushroom, cauliflower). All three of us gobbled up our respective tuilles before we realized that we each had a different flavor. I grabbed the cauliflower which was very bright and exciting. I would have loved to try the mushroom as we all marveled how they could have been made; they were perfectly shaped, delicately crisp, and full of flavor. Seared Japanese ayu fish, heirloom tomatoes, tomato gelée, basil seed, and basil oil. For whatever reason, this combination seemed uninspired. I liked the basil seed component, but flavors were out of balance. Sea urchin panna cotta with lobster, avocado, and Tahitian vanilla bean oil. This was a lovely amuse. The vanilla flavor was a perfect complement to the subtlety of the lobster and avocado. Quail egg 64 degrees, Osetra caviar, croutons, and cedar smoke essence. This was a brilliant dish and impossible to photograph. The presentation container was egg-shaped with a sheared edge. That sheared edge was topped with tightly-covered Saran wrap on which was placed the food and a very small spoon. When you lifted the spoon, one revealed a small whole through which the cedar smoke escaped and as it wafted through the air, combined with the flavors of the egg and caviar. Stunning and brilliant and one of the most perfect examples of molecular gastronomy I've seen. With the beginning of the actual courses, we shared a 2002 Chevalier Montrachet, Bouchard. Absolutely lovely. Chilled corn soup, lobster knuckles, caviar, créme fraîche quenelle. One of the two soups presented, this was poured table-side. While the lobster, caviar, and quenelle were of top quality, the corn soup was just plain too sweet which over-powered the savory ingredients. I also thought that the consistency was not as smooth and creamy as anticipated. Matsutake bouillon, foie gras ravioli, edamame beans. The second and superior soup of the evening. The matsutake broth alone was stunningly rich. I didn't care that it included a much-loved foie gras element - this was all about the fabulous broth. Bluefin tuna tartar, geoduck clam and caviar. Nice, but not memorable. My friend thought the tartare was off-putting and the chewy clam was under seasoned with the caviar mostly useless. Sashimi of kampachi, breakfast radish, cucumber, yuzu gelée, seaweed, kaisou glass, lemon agrumato oil. Unbalanced and the combination of the lemon oil and yuzu made for too much citrus. The fish itself was fabulous and would have held up just fine all on its own as a sashimi. Isake, lobster mushrooms, cauliflower puree, anise hyssop puree Grilled eel, scallions, mirin-scented rice, cedar smoke, konbu, house-made BBQ Sauce. There were too many things wrong with this course; mostly that it was too sweet and the smoke over powered. Maine lobster, baby fennel, leeks, pink pearl apple reduction, cilantro oil. The cilantro completely over powered this and for both lobster dishes, the lobsters were rubbery and overcooked. Maine lobster, veal cheek, scallions, corn, chanterelle mushrooms. Again, ruby lobster and the veal cheeks just didn’t work with the dish. Just plain wrong on so many levels. With the foie dishes, a selection of three sweet wines were served; a Sauterne, an Ice Wine, and a Tokaji. I’m sorry I didn’t get the specifics but the Tokaji was the superior of the three. Chilled foie gras, fig and szechwan pepper terrine, tawny port syrup, purslane grilled bread. The better of the two foie offerings. Hot foie gras, peach terrine infused with sancho pepper, suncrest peach reduction. Nothing necessarily wrong with this, just nothing to write home about. Now starting some hefty, savory courses, we opened at 1998 Bonnes Mares, Frederck Manginen. Another great bottle. Duck, summer beans, pickled huckleberries, sancho pepper. Intensely sweet offering. The duck itself was hardly that beautiful, steak-like, tender quality that I accustomed to. Poussin, melted onions chanterelle mushrooms, figs, chicken jus. This should have been an amazing dish but it suffered from too much salt. Way too much salt. Combining the overt sweetness from the duck dish, the two seemingly complementary dishes clashed horrifically. Veal medallion, sweetbreads, lobster mushrooms, corn, corn pudding, ruby port. Beef ribeye, dashi-poached shiitake mushrooms, daikon purée, ponzu essence. The ponzu over-powered. Cheese plate – sadly, I did not write down the cheeses that were served. Gravenstein apple sorbet, huckleberry cloud, pink pearl apple chip Yellow tomato sorbet, peach seltzer. One sip was enough. Boring. Chocolate manjari, teecino ice cream, Noyaux foam, hazelnut crisp, Maldon salt. This was my show-stopper dessert. Of the offerings, this is the one that I remember and enjoyed tremendously. Melange of corn and raspberries, cream of corn, fresh raspberries, raspberry sorbet, ice wine vinegar, arlette. Overall, the strongest elements of the entire meal were the amuses; more engaging and exciting than the actual courses. It sadly lacked in its complete lack of taste memory and cohesiveness and overall, the meal had very little emotional impact. It is sad that the memories of the meal were in its faults; the dishes that were too sweet and those that were overly salty.

I have to admit to still needing to eat at FL (but will rectify that soon). I love Kinch's sensibility and what he does with vegetables. Price wise, I think you can do better with Manresa. From close friends I know, they prefer the wine-pairings at FL but the vegetables at Manresa. I don't think you will be disappointed at either, honestly.

Some recent travels brought me through Yosemite en route to June Lake. Just east of the Yosemite on the corner of the 395 and 120 is a small crossroads of civilization, Whoa Nellie Deli at the Mobil gas station. Several in the town of June Lake informed us that this was must-dining. So while it was still a bit of a drive away from where we were staying, we headed down to road: I was certainly surprised when, in fact, we found there was a restaurant called Mobil Restaurant. Upon arrival, one could see that seating would not be a problem: We were very fortunate as there was a French wine tasting being held that evening: The daily specials and full menu are posted above the order counter: I had a chance to chat with chef, Matt Twoomey, the master and man behind the evening's joy: We started with a seared Ahi steak, served with a seaweed salad. This was a pretty hefty starter and would have been a great dinner for me alone. Great quality fish and perfectly seasoned soy-based sauce: "K" ordered an herb-crusted pork served with an apricot/berry glaze: I opted for the venison, crusted with shallots and nuts, served with a red-wine glaze: As you can see, both entrees were served with fresh asparagus and mashed potatoes. What I did not photograph were our two desserts, a six-layer carrot cake which blew me away and a fresh cheesecake served with a fresh berry sauce. It is hard to describe the absolute glee that was experienced throughout the entire dinner. Of course much of it had to do with the location - one never expects to find exceptional food offerings at a gas station. The existence of a Sunday-night wine tasting certainly helped. Technically, the deli is known as "Whoa Nellie Deli" but everyone in town calls it the Mobil restaurant. Chef Twoomey admitted that there are things he would love to experiment with, but has obvious limitations due to the gas station's kitchen. Both meat dishes were amazingly prepared and of obvious high quality. The sauces were sensible and well-balanced. One can see that they were opulent in size and we were hard-pressed to finish our meals. Overall, this had to be one of the most memorable meals I have ever experienced and gives me good reason to head back to the area. On a follow-up note, we had to drive by the following morning and I stopped for a smoked trout bagel. Another stunner, the fresh bagel had a pesto-based smoked trout spread accompanied a large slice of smoked trout, capers, tomato, and red onion. Amazing.

Dined at Farina a few weeks ago and can see where some of the comments on CH come from on the prices. Of our party of three, I arrived early and started with a Martini Genovese - a regular gin martini that was heavily muddled with basil which was quite refreshing. After being seated and getting a bottle of sparkling rose, three of us shared two salads: a "terrine" of fresh seafood which included lobster, shrimp, octopus, and more as well as a prosciutto and cheese composition that was topped with fresh summer white truffles. The cheese was a house-made version of a Mozzarella that was stunning. The seafood terrine was no less than brilliant. Three pasta dishes then arrived; the handkerchief pasta with pesto, spaghetti and meatballs, and a seafood ravioli. Of the three, it was the meat ragu on the spaghetti that surprised all of us. The pesto was elegant and all that, but the meat sauce was the most flavorful. Two entrees arrived; halibut (or was it escolar?) with grilled bell peppers and a large veal chop. Of the two, the fish was the better entree. While the veal was thick and ample, it was quite fatty. Seems to be a current complaint so mine was not an anomaly. We finished up with nutella- and chocolate-filled fried fritters served with three sauces; a lemon, raspberry, and vanilla (I think). I liked that the much of the wine list was offered by glass, half-carafe, and full bottle. I didn't see the final tab, but imagine it to be on the pricey side. The waiters were wearing Genova t-shirts, no Ralph Lauren polo shirts. They were incredibly friendly and accommodating. The business was bustling and many were waiting for a table. Considering the ample offerings of Italian in this city, I doubt I would return, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

I'm afraid I never get to the Peninsula, but here in the city, many of those ingredients are available at Nijiya Market (Japanese) and at 99 Ranch Market in Richmond.

Here was my version, circa 1999.

I've got that one too... It's over-the-top in presentation... The gold on the cover cracks me up. Has anyone tried any recipes from it? I particularly like seeing the menus and photos from the classic restaurants. ← Wowzers. Yes, bride and I have it, use it on occasion, but have to throttle back on fat content. Even now--- most of the foods are too rich for us to eat-- we've made a few memorable dinner parties from it. And always show the short "Vincent" after dinner with port and cigars. hvr ← Can you recall which of the recipes you've made from the book? ← I've made the potted shrimp for (sorry, can't find the page #) the icebox cake (page 254), and the oatmeal lace cookies (page 307) - all lovely.

Sauces. Peruse the catalogues of the likes of Albert Uster Imports and the like and you'll learn just how many restaurants rely on pre-made sauces.

Jardinière 300 Grove Street (415) 861-5555 It is practically the only restaurant within walking distance of the opera that is of any worth. Max's Opera Cafe is nearby and is basically a diner. Jardinière is truly excellent. It might be too late for you to get reservations as they are currently closed for renovations but are re-opening on the 13th to expand their more easily-obtained bar eating seats. BTW, the SF Opera is doing kick-ass stuff this year! Can't wait for the new Philip Glass premiere!

Porthos, sorry you are not getting any response on this thread -- that is an area of California I have not been to in over twenty years. I've checked with my sister who lives near the area and she admits to driving into Orange County for fine dining. Hope someone has some better information for you!

Capers. Green Peppercorns. Mushrooms. Spinach. Butter (Chicken Kiev). Leeks. Fennel. Mushrooms. Wild Rice. Roasted garlic. Dried fruit. Mushrooms.

I will third Bay Bread. I am walking distance from the one off Fillmore and the macarons ARE awesome... I'm also really fond of the miniature palmiers!

That Triangle Square monstrosity in Costa Mesa was WF's downfall. I drove by it last month while I was in the area and was not remotely surprised that every single business I remember being there was gone. I used to go there every Monday for 12 years when I lived in SoCal and practically no businesses had a staying power of more than two years. The place should be gutted and turned into a park or something.

Having lived (and eaten) in San Diego, Los Angeles, Napa, and San Francisco, I can say that Kalypso's recommendation of Extraordinary Desserts in San Diego still holds as my personal favorite.

Carrot Top and Srhcb (since it seemed we three were the only ones reading the magazine) - This will have been the first issue since its inception I will not receive... Do you think I should run out and buy a copy or am I okay going on in life in blissful ignorance?