Carolyn Tillie

The culmination of Fleet Week festivities had the Blue Angels making amazing aerial displays over a perfectly clear city - and wandering about, we stumbled across an otherwise long-lost Thai restaurant. Kevin had eaten at Jitlanda a year ago, but couldn't remember its exact location <1826 Buchanan St - between Sutter & Bush - San Francisco, 415-292-9027> as it is off a side street outside of Japantown. Now that we have found it, I doubt I'll ever go back to Neecha. Small and intimate, Jitlada can sit around 40 people. With great, attentive service, we started with two specials; soft-shell crab and ginger shrimp rolls. This was one of the best soft-shell crabs I've had, served with some sweet & spicy sauce, sliced bell peppers, and sweet pickles. The ginger shrimp rolls were stunning - filled with cellophane noodles, large shrimp, and redolent with fresh ginger, I could have made a dinner with just these. We added a larb gai as an entree and was only disappointed by the lack of a fish sauce to accompany this offering. I'll add that it was a bit too spicy for my weak palate. Our other entree was an Imperial Curry, served in a small hot pot and filled with large shrimp, eggplant, bell peppers, green beans, and fresh basil. It was also on the spicy side, but so fresh and well-prepared. Chef Pai spent time touring the tables and ensuring that all her guests were happy. It was a pleasure to meet her and I look forward to going back (other reviews rave about a pumpkin curry that I am now dying to try).

Thanks to the both of you! I'm fully into making my own (I've got beers, meads, and vin de noix going right now) and for trying the Starbucks stuff in the meantime!

I was much worse this time than last... I had 72 POUNDS of meat ordered by last Tuesday, processed on Wednesday, and arrived before 10:00 a.m. on Thursday. By the time it was said and done, it averaged out to about $4.50 a pound - not bad (I think) for quail, squab, duck, poussin, boar, venison osso buco, etc... The freezer is packed and just barely able to close - I am set for the winter!

Another thought -- as if you need more suggestions -- is that en route to Norwalk, if you drive south on the 405 near the , you will pass Gardena which has the best Japanese restaurants in the state. The corporate offices of Honda, Toyota, Mitsubishi, and more all reside in Gardena and for me, now living in San Francisco which has more Japanese restaurants than could ever possibly be tried, pale in comparison with what I've had in Gardena. These are not your run-of-the-mill Benihana establishments. You could have some seriously high-end, fabulously prepared sushi or omakase. If this interests you, let me know and I can make specific recommendations, but it IS right on the way to Norwalk!

I'm sorry I didn't think about it until VERY late last evening (3:00 a.m. or so) - but on Fridays and Saturdays, Bix is open until 1:00 a.m. and would be a great place to go for some late-night nosh (fabulous tartare!) and a Sidecar.

Right across the street from your Hilton (on Geary) is the recently relocated Naan & Curry which is open 24 hours.

In my early 20s, I really like Kahlua-based drinks; Black Russians, White Russians, coffee & Kahlua... Now I am finding it too sickly sweet but I miss the joy of coffee-flavored drinks. I did find a small-produced cognac-based coffee liqueur (name escapes me) that was fabulous, but only sold in a beautiful 375-sized, tall frosted brown bottle bottle. I am not familiar with Tia Maria (prolly should just go out and buy a bottle, huh?) so I am unsure how high it is on the sweet scale, but it got me wondering how hard it would be to fashion my own coffee liqueur. A quick search brought me to the About Pages with a handful of recipes. But I figure I would start with the knowledgeable drinkers around here. Find fault or promise in any of the linked recipes -- or a better one?

Also, further south I was exposed to Guandu & Rice in Panama; guandu being different than black or red beans, but still the protein/starch combination similar to other Central and South American nations.

Fascinating and thanks for keeping us informed... BTW, Ian, any news on YOU moving to the city????

How do you feel about Indian food? You aren't far from Artesia which has a HUGE strip of fabulous Indian restaurants on Pioneer Boulevard. Take a look HERE. It is essentially the Little India of LA County. Long Beach isn't a far stretch and has some fabulous restaurants. Belmont Shore is a great strip of walking shops, bistros, and whatnot (non-commercial). I actually really miss Belmont Shore - nothing completely high-end or over the top, just great hometown digs like Open Sesame (Mediterranean), Babette's Feast (vol au vents and great pastries), and a few others whose names escape me.

I'm standing here taking a quick look; Professional books first (Epicurean, CIA, Cordon Bleu, Larousse). Then some of the Art Books (Dining with Proust, Monet't Table - I have them all). Then it gets into specifics on cuisine; Sauces, Soups, American, French, Italian, etc.. Next, I have specific ingredients; the mushroom, the oyster, the pig, game meat, terrines, salt, etc... After that, I go into desserts and baking The third quarter is literary criticism and food writing; M.F.K. Fisher, Linda Wolfe, Barbara Haber, James Villas The Final bit is culinary history, by timeline: Apicius, Charles Perry's translation of Medieval Arab cookery, Renaissance, Victorian, etc.

Being a philistine who's never been to France, forgive my ignorant question -- why don't they have French Dressing there? (My guess would be that it's an American creation, and thus the French probably scoff at it.) You are correct - it is an American invention. The Wikipedia Link

I felt very fortunate to meet R.W. Apple at the CIA World of Flavors Conference over the past few years -- he was an institution at that conference and his panel-led discussions were the most heavily attended. Even though he always had a large crowd of admirers around him, when a lowly, struggling writer <me> found him alone for a few minutes, he was kind, generous, and giving with his time and encouragement. I will raise a glass to him this evening in remembrance and sadness for the passing of this graceful giant of a man.

Is it a liqueur (i.e., sweet?) or a brandy? I also ended up with a bottle of ginger brandy which is a strong, essence-of-ginger alcohol which I have used in various cooking. When I'm doing a really complicated Asian-based sauce, I'll throw in a splash. I also made some amazing apricot/ginger jam -- not only adding the brandy to the jam base but a good hand's worth of steamed ginger to the fruit compote. Wish I could find more of mine -- I bought it at a 99-cent store and love it!

Somehow an image sprang to my head -- that Edward Gorey Christmas card of Victorian folks on ice skates, dumping fruitcakes into a hole in the ice... with thoughts that there is undoubtedly a fruitcake from the '20s sitting in someone's pantry!

ChefJohnny, you are in NoCal.... Where the heck are you? Want that truffle-encrusted one now!

In the realms of modernism, how could I forget Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party. Quite famous, actually...

I dunno... there is something about that ad that I am finding discomforting and disturbing. Definitely turns me off wanting to buy their wine. The woman in the picture looks mildly suicidal.

This speaks closely to my heart, Doc... As an artist myself, I am always intrigued with fellow artists who use food and food themes as inspiration. My latest obsession is the still-life and surreal works of Charles Becker (the website hardly does his work justice, those shown are several years old and his newer works are far more stunning -- the paintings are downright luminous!) I have been involved in the curating of several exhibits and admit to feeling a bit jaded towards those artists who use a culinary theme and am always looking for new artists who go in that direction.

Maybe upwards of ten years ago, I recall a Martha episode where she made a scone recipe that could be frozen. I can specifically see her making a triangle-shaped log and cutting 2" slices (versus freeforming or rolling out dough and cutting rounds). I then recall her saying that the individual slices could be frozen and baked at will. Now that cool mornings are descening upon San Francisco, I would love to have single-serving scones ready in my freezer that I can bake one at a time. If not Martha's recipe, any bakers around here have any suggestions? I really don't want to freeze already-baked scones -- I want them fresh out of the oven ready for clotted cream and jam...

I've been doing lots of experiments with those 10-cup Nordicwares and yes, I have left-over batter (on one occasion, I figured I would see how bad it was and a good two cups of batter literally spilled over). But it DOES matter on the recipe; like Browniebaker said, a fruitcake may not rise nearly as high as other batters. I have been trying to scale down recipes by a third or whatever. I have found it quite annoying and wish the highly decorated pans WERE indeed 12- or 15-cup sized! On the releasing question, I have had no problems. I melt butter and generously paint the cracks of the design before adding flour or cocoa. If I see a blank spot, I re-apply. It is a long process, mind you, but a workable one.

Pate de Foie Gras.... Failing that, how about some simple pate on a spoon?

A lovely mushroom ravioli with a creamy mushroom sauce, redolent with herbs and a touch of all our leftover cheeses (small bits of Compte, Reggiano, Parrano, and who knows what else...) paired with a 2003 Gundlach Bundschu Rhinefarm Pinot Noir. Perfect - the wine is slightly dry with cherries, herbs, and great structure. The mushroom sauce and ravioli were amazing.

A report on Chowhound indicated that if you ask for a vegetarian option, it is provided...

I've pulled out a couple of books from my shelves... Seven Centuries of English Cooking by Maxime de la Falaise, British Gastronomy by Gregory Houston Bowden, and British Food by Colin Spencer. This was the post-Edwardian (i.e. opulent) era and recovering from WWI, the British middle class suffered a bit while the wealthy ate well "in the French style." The Savoy hotel was still the place to eat and included dishes like omelettes, filet of sole au vin blanc, escalopes de veau a la creme, sauce Sabayon, and crepes flambees. Soups Curried Apricot and Fresh Mint Soup Chestnut and Apple Soup Fish Salmon Mousse with Cucumber Lobster Merville Kedgeree Oyster Puffs Poultry & Game Chicken with Oysters Curried Pheasant Roasted Grouse Quails in Pastry (think Babette's Feast Meat Braised Veal Kidneys, Chives & Bacon Leg of Lamb Vegetables Iced Artichoke Bottoms w/Cream & Tomatoes Rice Salad Ice Vegetable Creams (remember, refrigerating was a new and exciting technique!) Tomato Ice Desserts Apple Charlotte Brown Betty Rhubarb Flummery Atholl Brose Hope that helps!