Carolyn Tillie

Before I moved to Napa, one of my favorite places to visit was the Remy Martin-owned distillery, RMS. Just before I moved there (November of 2003), I came up for a visit and while at the distillery, was dismayed that their beloved Pear Brandy Caramel Sauce was not on the shelves. I asked about it and the clerk found me two bottles in the back. I also bought two bottles of their much-loved Pear Brandy. Six months later, RMS closed up shop. Most of their holdings were sold off to discount shops and whole barrels of alembic were either moved to their Canadian holdings or were sold to local wineries who used the product in some fortified wines. I still have a half bottle each of both the brandy and the caramel sauce. I pull them out for special occasions and even though the caramel sauce has been in my fridge these four years, has not seemed to suffer any.

Absolutely. He specifically mentions the Kitchen Aid cannister as a good option if you don't want want a big bulky unit. The recipes will work with just about any ice cream maker. ETA: From his web site: Meet Your Maker: Ice Cream Machines ← Thanks, John! Just ordered the attachment AND the book from Amazon...

Thanks, Tony. Yeah - I would probably avoid their tacos but I do adore Taylor's seared Ahi "burger" (read upthread).

Tony - can you describe the fish? Was it marinated chunks of fish or were they deep fried? Traditional fish tacos has the fish fried in batter with a traditional white sauce, of a yogurt/mayonnaise blend here in the states and white crema fresca in Mexico. I cut my teeth on fish tacos in Ensenada and TJ and am somewhat jaded and reluctant about ordering them from a burger joint in San Francisco...

Do you happen to remember where any wildfires were last fall? Many of the morel sites (and my personal experience) indicate that they often appear at previously-burned spots.

I am looking to explore ice cream making this summer and am considering buying the Kitchen Aid attachment -- does this book discuss the differences in equipment out there? I don't necessarily want a whole different piece of equipment to make ice cream which is why I'm thinking the Kitchen Aid unit would be best for me. Would the book be compatible to that unit?

I was very disappointed to see one of the first recipes based on a Duncan Hines boxed cake. THAT was something you would never see in the Saveur from days-gone-by... A boxed cake adaptation???? Never.

Carrie, my pilgrimage started a week ago! Did I survive? I don't know. Let me get back with you. Where's my report? It's somewhere with almost two hundred photos. You'll just have to be a good little foodie and wait like everyone else, including me ... BTW Where were you at the Ferry Building? ← You are still in the neighborhood? Yes, we went to the Ferry Plaza and Rancho Gordo indicated we missed seeing you at his booth by five or ten minutes. We stayed all day and enjoyed the lamb tartare samples prepared by Chris Cosentino of Incanto!

Russell.... your pilgrimage was a week ago! Did you survive???? Where is your report? Inquiring minds et al.

Try duck fat the next time you want to make popcorn.... ohmygod.... I keep a two to three pound tub around all time and use it constantly.

John, I dined there last Friday evening and had some similar thoughts -- the caviar with gelee was my least favorite and I would greatly enjoy having an entirely vegetarian meal at the hands of Kinch. We had considerably more seafood with only two meat dishes (the rabbit, which we loved, plus a lamb) but it was the vegetables that shined the most for me. While I have had the tasting menu a number of times, I am getting to the point where I would be much happier with half the dishes - perhaps it was the multitude of high-end, multi-course meals I ate over the course of just a few days, but I am finding myself less and less enjoying 6-hour, never-ending meals. Or maybe I'm just getting old... But I would definitely go back and do something I have never done: Order off the menu!

I believe it has everything to do with timing -- I have only watched them pre-shuck oysters when they know they are minutes away from being slammed and, learning the traffic of the Ferry Building fairly easily, it is not hard to determine crowd patterns. I was there for lunch last Thursday and there were no pre-shucked oysters, there was a 10 minute wait for a table, and all the shuckers were working hard to keep up with the demand. I wouldn't be worried.

Thanks for reminding me about FC -- not because I especially like eating out for breakfast or brunch, but just because I'd like to go and watch one of their movies!!!

Going back ten years, one of my absolute best memories was picking up a handful of sausage rolls, eccles cakes, and assorted nummies and heading out to Riveaux Abbey. I'm sorry I don't recall the exact shop from which I bought the sausage roll but to this day, it is the best one I ever tasted and all others have paled in comparison. This, of course, is probably due to the surroundings and beauty of the countryside as well as the drive to the Abbey. But just having the bag of local baked goods in such a stunning location was better than much of the fine dining I had in the area. Although I do recall a small coffee house -- decorated in the Belles Epoque fashion -- with lots of glass windows. There, I had the most amazing Welsh Rarebit and the best-tasting coffee I've ever had. So good, in fact, that I bought and shipped some of that coffee home. Sorry I don't remember names....

The last few eating days have been truly monumental and it is a wonder I survived... Thursday HOG ISLAND OYSTERS Thursday afternoon, M and I met at the Ferry Plaza. Having made a 1:30 reservation at Perbacco, we were hungry at noon and decided to sate our appetite at the Hog Island Oyster Company beforehand. M ordered some raw (Kumamotos were one of the choices, I remember) while I was very curious with their rendition of Oysters Rockefeller. A glass of Chablis and a glass of Muscadet accompanied our selections and we both agreed that the Muscadet was a better choice. PERBACCO When we arrived at Perbacco [230 California Street San Francisco, 94111 - 415.955.0663], it was buzzing quite busy, but we were seated immediately. Intrigued by their cocktail menu, I ordered their "Antico Manhattan" made with Woodford reserve, Carpano Antica Formula, and Cynar. I much preferred M's cocktail "Rosmarino" made with Grey Goose, lemon, rosemary-infused syrup, and Clear Creek Apple Brandy. I ordered one of her's and they graciously removed my Manhattan from both the table and the bill. Being slightly full from the oysters, we ordered light; two starters which included their Salumi Misti and a roasted red and yellow beet salad which was nicely dressed with arugula, white balsamic, and Castelmango cheese. Their house-made salamis was a great choice and a perfect pairing with the beets. We should have stopped there, but I had already ordered an entree of braised short rib served with spring vegetables and topped with gremolata. Perfectly cooked, M and I only had a few bites with the idea that I would take the rest home for dinner. Curious about their desserts, I ordered the Brutti ma Buoni to dunk in a glass of Vin Santo. Nice ending to a very nice, light lunch (or -- what should have been lite). The only tiny snafu was that our leftovers were never brought out to us at the end of the meal, but at that point, I honestly didn't care. TORAYA I didn't mind about the lack of left-overs for dinner as an unexpected guest, K, dropped by and we decided to walk up Fillmore for dinner. Having never eaten at Toraya Sushi Bar [1914 Fillmore St., San Francisco, 94115, 415.931.9455] it seemed a good choice as I continue working my way through all the neighborhood restaurants. Two hours later and pretty significantly poorer, I will be hard-pressed to want to go to any other sushi restaurant in the city. With sake being served in Martini glasses, pours were ample, fish was fresh, and presentation was intensely impressive. I was excited to see Ankimo available and instead of filling me up on rice, six beautiful, large pieces were presented sashimi style. I then asked if Amaebi was available as the last three or four restaurants I have been to have been unable to offer both the body AND the head. No problem here. I then asked Frank, the sushi chef, to just start serving whatever was fresh. He was adept to realize I wanted really good quality fresh fish and queried if I wanted anything with rice. Skip the nigiri, I instructed, and stunning sashimi displays were offered up; Hotate, Sekisaba, and Shiro maguro. Wanting to go back to a single nigiri finale, I asked for a single Unagi. The clincher? Other local restaurant managers were hanging out there and I believe the flow of conversation definitely helped the ambience, but the fish was still damn fine. Friday LUNA PARK Friday showed the arrival of a friend and food writer from LA. He had an old friend in the Mission District and just wandering around, we opted for Luna Park [694 Valencia Street (nr 18th), San Francisco, 94110, 415.553.8584] for lunch. I had had an intensely awful morning and immediately spied the cocktail for me: Volcanic Scorpion Bowl for Two. Okay, I shared it with everyone else, but only under duress. It was a basic tropical concoction but served in a funny donut-shaped bowl with a spot in the center where the flames came from. For lunch three of us shared two starters and an entree. The first was a Warm Goat Cheese Fondue with Grilled Bread and Sliced Apples and the second starter a selection of three "Carnival Corn Dogs" - three different small sausages made with a homemade corn dog and a selection of three mustards. These were really, really good corn dogs. The entree of choice for the table was fontina-stuffed ravioli topped with mushrooms, spinach and truffle oil. While I found the pasta dough a bit thicker than I like and fontina to be generally uninspired, the sauce, spinach, and mushrooms all made up for it. I would go back for the corn dogs, though. TARTINE Since R was here to see the best of San Francisco in a very short time span, we were too close to Tartine [corner of Guerrero Street and 18th Street, San Francisco] to not wander down and at least show him their wares. I was surprised that the display cases were a little empty. However, a fresh tray of brioche bread pudding had just come out of the oven and, studded with fresh strawberries and huckleberries. Warm and comforting and a nice finish for lunch. MANRESA I don't want to steal RJWong's thunder and I'll let him do a comprehensive on the meal in his Pilgrimage thread. Suffice to say that I haven't eaten at Kinch's restaurant since before he got his garden and the dishes with vegetables ended up being favorites of mine (although there was a rabbit dish that blew me away). It was almost too much, dining from 6:00 p.m. until just after midnight... Saturday FERRY PLAZA Okay, I feel really, really guilty. Now having lived in the city for just over a year, I have been deliberately avoiding the Saturday morning Farmer's Market due to the crowds. That has changed. Despite having gotten home from Manresa at almost 2:00 a.m., R and I were awake quite early and getting to the Plaza by 9:00 a.m., we got a good chance to peruse most of the booths before the hefty crowds descended. We were still pretty full from the previous evening, but I couldn't let R NOT try a Frog Hollow Farm pastry. But we couldn't decided between the Mushroom & Leek and the Gruyere and Black Forest Ham. The mushroom/leek was my favorite but was pleasantly surprised to bite into the ham & cheese and realize it was still quite warm from the oven. R had a great time looking at everything and shortly after introducing him to our beloved Rancho Gordo, we got sucked into the day's demonstration -- this was by Prather Ranch and Chris Cosentino of Incanto fame. The demonstrations which comprised the rest of our breakfast was a grilled lamb sausage made with Moroccan spices and a yogurt sauce and from offal-expert Cosentino, lamb tartare which was quite eye-opening. We wandered around long enough for R to call up and meet an old friend who came over for lunch. We were still pretty full but just to be sociable, we all sat at Market Bar for some cocktails. Not very interested in their brunch menu, we asked if they could put together a charcuterie plate. They were very accommodating and the few bites I had were quite nice (although memories of Perbacco's was a bit better). A few purchases had been made -- some Prather Ranch short ribs for later this week, an unusual Lion's Mane mushroom (I still don't know what to do with those), Point Reyes Blue Cheese, a hardwood smoked sausage and aged cheese from Achadinha Cheese Company (both goat products!) and some fiddlehead ferns which R purchased but forgot to take home. AZIZA After an afternoon siesta, I decided that R's final meal of his trip should be something he truly can't find in Los Angeles and I never cease to admire Mourad Lahlou's upscale Moroccan at Aziza [5800 Geary Boulevard, San Francisco, 94121, 415.752.2222]. The really exceptional part of the evening was that I had recently become online friends with a gent who turns out to be Aziza's fishmonger who helped complement our party of six. Lots of inventive cocktails were ordered like the Pear (cloves, lemon, pear brandy), Coconut Milk (rose, horchata, and rum), Tarragon (cardamom, lime cubes, cachaca), and Kumquat (mint, sicilian tangerine cognac, mandarin vodka). We then ordered the tasting menu with instructions to just send out whatever Mourad wanted us to taste. Besides the traditional lentil soup, cream of asparagus was the second soup choice of the night. Starters then started coming out: Mediterranean spreads, Kefta & Grape skewers, Star Route Farms baby lettuces with Humboldt Fog cheese, walnuts, and Flying Disk Ranch Derrie dates, Brokaw Nursery Gwen avocado and grapefruit, Bodega cheese with za'atar toast and a tomato and citrus jam. Next came the Basteeya which I was sorely tempted to save for breakfast but couldn't resist... Before our entrees came out, a special inter-course was presented by the kitchen which I think was to honor our fish purveyor, a shortened version of the seared, rare tuna with fennel seed crust, roasted tahini, and tunisian salad with eggplant. Then our entrees began and knowing we intended to share, was served family style with appropriate serving utensils. Let's see if I can remember all of them... Prawn tagine, Hokkaido sea scallops, Prather Ranch lamb shank, Devils Gulch Ranch rabbit, Marin Sun Farms beef stew, roasted root vegetable couscous. Thinking we were too full to go on, it is impossible to resist Aziza's desserts. We shared a rhubarb galette with fresh ginger ice cream, banana ice cream with walnut shortbread, pomegranate granita, an intense chocolate cake with chocolate sauce and cocoa nib ice cream, a pistachio-cardamom cake with moscato d'asti-poached dried apricots and orange creme fraiche, and a truly remarkable cayenne-studded chocolate pot de creme that kept going and going. Sunday Aziza leftovers. R had to fly back to Los Angeles for a wine festival in the afternoon and I was blissfully left with the remnants of last night's dinner. And oh, what bliss...

Chris was at the Farmer's Market at the Ferry Plaza yesterday giving a demonstration for Prather Ranch meats. He will be recreating the Iron Chef menu for diners on Saturdays and Sundays between May 18th and June 30th.

I'll be renting a car and most willing to travel -- most of my friends are in Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach but I also have old friends in Mission Viejo and San Juan Capistrano; seeing any of these people will definitely expand how far away from Laguna-proper I'll be going. Also, the whole purpose of the trip is to visit as many galleries I can and not limit myself to those that are only viewable by walking around the town or taking the local shuttle (which is what I used to do having only limited myself to day-trips for the festivals). It just dawned on me that taking one evening to go back up to Gardena for Shin-Sen-Gumi might not be out of the question (this is somewhat of *my* culinary Mecca).

Carolyn, Let me know what your plans are for your upcoming trip when you get it squared away and perhaps I can offer some suggestions. Cheers! -Scott ← I've already booked a room on the beach in Laguna from Monday April 6th through Friday the 11th. No way I want to fight the usual weekend crowds during Art Festival season! Really, the only place I have in mind for dining is The Five Crowns and that is wholly and entirely for nostalgic reasons. Other than that, I am completely open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for five whole days!

I would write a letter to the corporate office. They have well-known and well-established wine buyers within the company who obviously need to train their management better. Somewhat the usual answer when middle-management doesn't solve the problem: take it up the ladder a step or two.

You'll soon learn its variances, but it is entirely subjective depending on how strong or weak you like your coffee. I am one of those that like it REALLY strong and tend to grind about 1/3 of cup of beans (give or take) for four cups. After the hot water is poured in, I wait about four minutes before pressing down.

I'm curious Kouign -- can you tell me if they still have that center, single-lane traffic thing? I remember when it was initially built; running one direction in the morning and the other direction in the evening. There was a point when it was thought that there was no way it was going to last and they were going to have to open it to both directions. I haven't driven that area in almost 15 years and have always wondered...

Not as inexpensive, but the North County area starting in Del Mar and going as far north as Carlsbad are all potentials. Give it up once you hit Oceanside; there was a fabulous restaurant there 25 years ago and while they stayed for a while (serving the best sweetbreads I ever had), they couldn't make it. Carlsbad has the advantage of having a few resorts in the area, namely La Costa. Encinitas and Leucadia tend to be looked upon as "beach" towns and for a while Encinitas pulled ahead with a few decent restaurants in and around The Lumberyard shopping area. All this goes for Rancho Bernardo; you have possibilities there but get into Escondido or Poway and your "draw" is slipping. Los Angeles is a funny town. The surrounds have its pockets of potentials; Manhattan Beach but not Hermosa or Redondo Beaches (I am thinking of where the $uits have their weekend places houses). There is a bit of a wasteland of "fine dining" south of Manhattan Beach, through Long Beach, but when you hit Newport Beach, you hit those with income; they are willing to drive to Costa Mesa and Laguna to eat well, but not much further. East of Los Angeles, you've got communities like Riverside. I can't think of anyone in Los Angeles who is willing to drive EAST for good food. West is a different animal -- somehow going to the ocean is more glamorous. Something I would be curious about is Rebel Rose's view of the Paso Robles area. Its wine country has been growing by leaps and bounds and I admittedly have not been there in several years. THAT might be an area to look at... These are just my impressions of California. Again, I was born in Orange County and lived there until I was 11 when we moved to Oceanside. I was in North County until I moved into San Diego proper for college. I left for Los Angeles when I was 26 and stayed there for a dozen or so years. The past five years have been in Northern California (Napa and San Francisco). I'd like to think I know this state having eaten pretty close to everything worthwhile from the Mexican border to the Oregon border.

Very cool, Swicks! I'll add this to my list of places to eat for my August visit...

In the past week, I have had no less than four meals at Samovar Tea Lounge. On three occasions, a chocolate dessert was served with various teas (everything from Japanese Matcha to Russian Lapsang Souchong). In all occasions, I was surprised how well the various chocolate went with the teas that were being served. I'd hazard to guess that a tea/chocolate tasting could be staged and would show some very interesting combinations!

I prefer Swan over Hog Island. Partly it is the atmosphere -- Swan has been around so long it is literally dripping with history (something about sitting at an old, dilapidated counter watching the shuckers).