Carolyn Tillie

Is that brick, clay or enameled cast iron a la Le Creuset? That would be perfect for making Pommes Anna! ← Traditionally, they are clay. I guess being pedantic, technically if one uses the phrase al mattone, it would TRADITIONALLY involve the use of a cooking mattone which is, yes, a big brick. I actually had a similar dish at Manzanita in Healdsburg and on my particular evening (even though they had mattones to use), utilized cast iron skillets because the recently-hired chef had not yet been instructed in the proper heating and use of the clay mattone.

Do you know how they stacked the skillets? Were they nested like spoons or bottom to bottom? And now that I think about it, do you know if it was done stove top or in the oven? ← They could have been using authentic mattones. Note - Paula Wolfert showcased the mattone in a Food & Wine article a year or two ago, bit I can't find it online.

Thanks for reviving this thread! K and I are looking for a December holiday and we've narrowed it down to Vienna or Barcelona... This has certainly swayed me (now I just have to convince him!)

Marlena - if you haven't bought one yet, don't buy new! The true secret of great waffles is having one that is hideously old. I was given a brand new one as a wedding present (years ago, obviously) and couldn't make a decent waffle to save my life. Several years ago, when I inherited my father's with 50+ years of seasoning, I realized the secret was in the age of the iron. Look around at garage sales and flea markets for one - you'll be much happier. If you don't find one, let me know and I'll check my local Goodwill (I know, you'll need a European adaptor, but it will be worth it!)

But, Chris -- are you at least trying to keep up in maintaining flying hours so that you'll be able to go back in the air?

You could do the whole miniature vol au vent thing and fill them with mousse pate, curried tuna salad, jerk chicken, truffled morels, onion confit, etc...

I'm worse off than that - I don't even own a television! Are there going to be any YouTube clips for those of us that rely on the internet for everything???

I'm a fan of the silicone hot mit and the silicone pot holder.

I was in a similar boat and going through a mid-life crisis. I had the advantage of living in Napa and having three schools in my backyard; the CIA, the WSET, and the Court of Sommeliers. I took the Intermediate WSET course with every intention of going onto the Advanced course. I subsequently had a huge life-changing event almost exactly year ago in which I left the wine industry completely, going into another industry which enables me to actually purchase the wines I was previously unable to afford. The WSET Intermediate is more like a primer and I don't feel I learned a whole lot I didn't already know - except that it was required before going into the Advanced course. There was also an emphasis on ostensibly odd things like Perry but barely touching on California wines.

I was in a similar boat in April of '05 and asked the wine-obsessed at Robert Parker's site. The thread on that discussion should prove quite illuminating...

From the Amazon site:

Bouchon is exceptional bistro fare, but it is also quintessentially Napa. If you want the full range of experimental cuisine to the highest order, than Redd is where you should go. It is innovative and exciting. You will also enjoy the comparison with TFL in so short of time. THEN you will have your mind blown at what you will be eating at the conference....

Another weekend visitor gave me lots of new explorations and recommendations. M arrived Friday evening, anxious for some local jazz. We headed straight to The Fillmore for a great concert by Porcupine Tree, as well as stopping in at Rassela's Jazz Club [1534 Fillmore St., San Francisco, CA 94115, 415-346-8696], the new Sheba Piano Lounge [1419 Fillmore St San Francisco, CA 94115, 415-440-7414], and The Boom Boom Room [1601 Fillmore, San Francisco, CA 94115]. I understand The Fillmore serves food, but I have never bothered. It is quite simply the perfect venue for great music with the best accoustics in the city. Rassela's has GREAT music with two spots for music, a back room which I always find to be too brightly lit, and a more intimate location within the restaurant, in front of a fire place for smaller trios. On Friday, a fabulous Zydeco band was performing in the back, but if food AND jazz are your desires, you can sit in the front when they have performers there. Sheba's has nothing other than a baby grand piano and great atmosphere going for them. We had already noshed and wasn't hungry for either their bar or full menu. The Boom Boom room has no food and -- honestly -- lately their music group selections have been going downhill. Less jazz and more mediocre modern rock that is not well-mixed or performed. Not having a complete jazz fix, we headed to Biscuit and Blues [401 Mason St., San Francisco, 415-292-2583]. I had been before and enjoyed it immensely, but never realized there was an upstairs club along with the downstairs venue. I am guessing the downstairs venue is for large bands and full food service. By the time we arrived, only the upstairs bar was hopping which was great for a song and a dance or two. M was craving a pastrami sandwich and a Crusade was born. Surprisingly, none of the local late-night establishments in that neighborhood could satisfy but fortunately, Tommy's Joynt [1101 Geary, San Francisco, CA 94109, 415-775-4216] is open until 2:00 a.m. I had not been that impressed during my previous visits, but somehow -- after that much alcohol and loud music -- their endless pickle supplies and meat-redolent sandwiches certainly hit the spot. M and K had pastramis while I opted for a corned beef on rye with Swiss. The meat is thickly cut in chunks and the only thing that would have made it better, would have been if the bread could have been warmed or toasted. Still tasted great, though. Saturday afternoon found us shooting pool at our favorite billiard hall, Jillian's [101 4th Street, Suite 170, San Francisco, CA 94103, 415.369.6100]. Food-wise we sated our lunch appetite with a chicken quesadilla that was exactly what one would expect for bar food - mediocre. But with a more-than-friendly staff and fabulous tables, I'll deal with it and not expect too much. We headed to North Beach as M is Italian and craving pasta, we were fortunate to be able to slip into Rose Pistola [532 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94133, 415-399-0499] as a front table four-top had failed to show up for their reservation (it was otherwise an hour-and-a-half wait!). We started with a bruschetta of grilled pear (the menu said peach), prosciutto, truffle oil, and crescenza cheese. K had gnocchi wtih tomato gorgonzola and thyme. The gnocchi were perfectly light and fluffy with none of that tell-tale gumminess which can occur. The hint of gorgonzola was also perfect, as I feared it would over power. M chose a penne with veal bolognese and the amount of veal almost overwhelmed the penne, but not quite. With the two boys ordering entree-sized portions of pasta and I wanting to save room for dessert, I ordered a smaller portion of my dinner, a lamb ravioli with black truffle essence. How I wished I had ordered a full portion, but was grateful when the desserts arrived; a butterscotch pot de creme with cranberries topped with a pumpkin mousse was served with a glass of Nocino and a buttermilk panna cotta served with wine-poached pears and small meringue cookies. Service was exceptional and while I had heard rumours that the restaurant had slipped over the years, I found it just as enjoyable as the first time I ate there, several years ago. After dinner, more jazz was needed but instead of hitting the number of clubs in North Beach, M wanted to go to one of his old haunts, Lou's Pier 47 [300 Jefferson St. Fisherman's Wharf San Francisco, 415.771.LOUS]. The restaurant is downstairs and was closing when we arrived but a strong-lunged 8-piece band was at the bar upstairs. An "older crowd" (40- and 50-somethings) seemed the norm as the band blared. I'm sorry I didn't get their name - I would definitely have hunted them down for a future listen. A block or so away, an Irish Coffee was enjoyed at the historically famous Buena Vista [ 2765 Hyde St (@ Beach), San Francisco, CA 94109, 415-474-5044]. One would not think that something so simple as an Irish Coffee would vary from bar to bar, but here it is shear perfection and watching them line up 50 or 100 glasses at a time is quite a treat. A little more jazz, a stunning view, and a great martini were next enjoyed at The Top Of The Mark [One Nob Hill, (999 California St.), San Francisco, CA 94108, 415.616.6916]. Surprisingly, they started making last call requests shortly after we arrived at 12:30 and we were scooted out by 1:00 a.m. Heading back to our neighborhood, M expressed some hunger and fortunately, Won Mee BBQ [1545 Fillmore St., San Francisco, CA 94115, 415-441-3906] stays open until 4:00-ish. For the table, we shared Bi-Bim-Bab (beef with rice, vegetables, and a fried egg), Goon-Man-Du (gyoza), and Gal-Bee (short ribs). A nice end to a fun evening. Usually being one that cooks large breakfasts, we got K out of the kitchen for a change and headed to Sheba's which K had noticed served a Sunday brunch. Not to-die-for by any stretch, a decent egg combo with spinach, bell peppers, and mushrooms was served with spicy fried potato squares and sliced fruit. Both K and M opted for spicier renditions that included Ethiopian spices that I did not try. The true gem of the restaurant was its Sunday-morning piano player. Over Mimosas and Bloody Marys, breakfast was more than thoroughly enjoyed to Gary's performance of Cole Porter and Gershwin standards performed with tremendous feeling and grace. There is a place I will definitely be looking forward to returning to - if only for the piano music! Getting M back to Oakland airport on Sunday evening meant utilizing my favorite new resource City Car Share, where, instead of making, a car payment, an insurance payment, and a parking space payment, I can have the use of a vehicle for a few short hours for very little money -- something quite fabulous for the urbanite San Franciscan who usually relies on taxis... Knowing that we'd have a bit more freedom and time for his return trip, I booked us reservations at Oliveto [5655 College Ave., Oakland, CA, 94618, 510-547-5356], where I had been wanting to eat for some time. For the table, I ordered a starter of Baked Farm Egg with Braised Chard and Bottarga. The egg was runny and perfect as it coated the greens with flavors heightened by the bottarga. Pappardelle with Hoffman Farm Hen was also shared by the table and was surprisingly gamey. Entrees all around included charcoal-grilled Watson Farm lamb chops with Sardinian-style lamb sausage and lentils, a spit-roasted and stuffed Jones Farm rabbit wrapped in pancetta, and a Niman ranch flank steak stuffed with Spanish-style chorizo, green olives, with "gypsy" [sic] peppers, and eggs, topped with light potato squares. The lamb chops were hardly traditional in that I was expecting large, meaty offerings while these were shockingly thin with very little meat - although the sausage was exceptional. The flank steak seemed a bit overwrought as well with too many competing flavors and a pointless boiled egg in the center. The rabbit was extremely tender but a tad over salted for my tastes. Also, the rabbit dish was topped with miniature carrots which were all over-cooked to the point of being mushy and sloppy. For dessert, we shared an apple tarte with a glass of Calvados, requested a slightly-warmed glass of Armagnac, and some Vin Santo and biscotti. To our surprise, we had to ask for a hot cup of water to warm the Armagnac as it arrived cold. The apple tart was also on the mushy side and very unexciting, compared to the desserts I had the night before at Rose Pistola. Interesting for me to compare the two -- with Oliveto's cache, I was shockingly disappointed and feel that Rose Pistola out-shown Oliveto in quality and quantity of food, over-all service, and the price for what-you-get-ratio. But what a great weekend!

You will have a lovely time at the conference and your meals are MORE than essentially covered - you will be stuffed to the gills! (I attended the last five years but, alas, will be out of the country for this year's conference). In order of my preference for a single lunch in Napa, I would recommend the following: Pilar Redd Bouchon Take pictures at the conference!

I can't answer your question about the restaurant, but historically the "girl on a red velvet swing" came from the infamous Evelyn Nesbit who was charged with murdering Stanford White. My grandmother was a friend of Evelyn's and it was a story that stuck with me for years. It was even re-told in the movie Ragtime.

This all sounds so intriguing! Anyone care to come to my house and make me some? <grin>

It's true, and it completely astounds and infuriates me. How hard would it be to have good Mexican food in NY? Every kitchen in this city employs Mexican cooks. Would it be that hard to have them cook what they make at home?! This, by the way, is pretty much the business plan I've sketched out for my restaurant. Genius, I know. ← This has been a rather fascinating thing for me -- having grown up on the San Diego/Mexican border, I "came of age" by cutting class and dashing down to Ensenada for fish tacos and the like. Years later, a good friend of mine wrote an article for one of those high-end airplane magazines on how certain cuisines have fared well in travel while others have not. The gist of his article was that he had eaten amazing Chinese food all over the world and the best he had had outside of Hong Kong itself was in the Czech Republic. However when it came to Mexican food, the further north away from the Mexican border he travelled, the worse it became -- including a burrito in Ohio that was served with a pre-packaged brown gravy and enchiladas in New Jersey that had celery in them! The magazine did a really fabulous production photograph of the globe made up of Mexican food ingredients. It seems to be true that even now for me, living in San Francisco, I am less happy with the Mexican food here (and I'm in California!) than I was living right near the border. The question then is, "why?"

I'm curious why the cough over Ainsley Harriott. I was told by a very reputable, known British food writer that he was pretty much maligned in the U.K. and I'm curious why. He had a short-lived show here in the U.S. which I found engaging and informative (I still butterfly a leg-of-lamb and splinter with rosemary the way HE taught me). Maybe he was TOO gregarious but I liked it...

Lobster bisque.... Would probably freeze okay (not great, but just think of how wonderful it would be to have a bowl in the middle of January!)

I can't help but think the liver would be a horrible waste in ravioli - covering up and conflicting too many of the delicate flavors AND consistency of the liver in pasta. I think the pasta-to-liver ratio would be too high. I'm thinking about smaller brioche-filled foie gras puffs I've had, where the bread-to-liver ratio was higher but the lightness and egginess of brioche accentuated the liver. Could be wrong, though...

Thanks to Barolo AND Anna N (who PMd). You guys are the greatest!

So, I don't own the Zuni Cafe cookbook -- gonna roast an air-dried Giaconne chicken (from the latest D'Artagnan freezer sale!) for guests this evening and would love to add the bread salad. Could someone with the cookbook consider transcribing and PMing it to me? Or, PM me and I'll give you my fax number if a photocopy is faster... Really appreciate it!

I wonder if this is similar (part of a chain?) of a fish restaurant I used to eat at in Gardena - on Artesia Boulevard, caddy-corner with the 99 Ranch Market in the restaurant strip mall that has Peruvian, Japanese, Chinese, and Bobba shops. Yes, they were great - always had a line, and was always worth it! I just don't remember the name...

If you do, I'll be really really jealous. I tried for months to get sheep's milk to no avail -- what little is milked here in Northern California is pre-sold to local commercial cheesemakers.

I like adding some fine white pepper to many of my chocolate concoctions for an interesting bite.