tanabutler

And here I am. The Big Ass, with a partial review. (winky thing) Course 1, 6:20 PM: Strawberry gazpacho (no photo). Course 2 & 3, 6:26 PM Not the correct names, but next arrives a little plate with two pairs of dark objects on it (black olive madeleines, and something I want to describe as beet gumdrops). The actual menu calls them "petits fours 'beet-black olive.' " The other plate has parmesan churros on it, and Bob wanted them to supersize it. Course 4, 6:31 PM Citrus salad with jasmine tea gelée. Course 5, 6:36 PM Watermelon with hibiscus. Course 6, 6:38 PM: Dungeness crab beggar's purses (or carpetbaggers, if you listen to Isaac). Course 7, 6:44 PM: Ciccoli with honey mustard. Course 8 Sweet corn croquettes. Here is one of the many great servers at Manresa, George (I snapped his photo when he was saying "George," can you tell?) with the croquettes, which Bob dubbed "corn on the cube." These were one of my favorite little bites in the world, and we discussed how on earth Chef Kinch got the flavor of summer corn so condensed, so creamy, so utterly warm. It was like comfort food that bordered on sinful, in one mouthful. (You're supposed to eat them in one bite, but I didn't get those instructions until I'd bitten it in half. So I got twice the pleasure as Bob. I think.) Detail: Course 9, 6:49 PM Tomato parfait with taro chip. Course 10, 6:56 PM Creamy cooked Crenshaw melon soup with silken almond tofu. This is another course (Tammy was so sweet: she wasn't afraid of germs, and just insisted, "Take a bite. You have to taste this!") with so many flavors, so much going on. It was a choir. But more like a children's choir, with sweet and simple voices. Course 11, 7:04 PM Arpége egg. (Ahem. Attribution noted, and too bad it was necessary. Wouldn't it be fun if he called it "Fabergé Egg" and put diamonds on it? I know, that would up the price.) [i do apologize that my camera has ADD (it can't stay focused). I am having serious issues with it, though it's brand-new, and it has to go back to the shop for the second time in less than two months. I apologize if these are not the usual quality. I am a little self-conscious because I just haven't been able to get the shots of this camera that I could with my little G1, 3-megapixel camera. It was stolen from my car last month.] Isaac will have to post the rest of his menu, and describe their evening. I do know they had fun, and stayed late, because my phone rang at 12:24 a.m. and it was Isaac saying they were just leaving the restaurant. And that they'd been just treated to one of the most amazing meals on earth. Did I mention that it was 12:24 a.m.? (I was actually touched that he wanted to share his joy with me. He probably didn't know that the geezers don't turn off their landlines when they go to bed.) I also learned that Manresa has a flamenco guitar player on Friday nights, out on the terrace. He is supposedly excellent. One more reason to love it there. Thanks, Isaac and Tammy. Thanks also to the chef. People: if you can manage it, get there. You will not be sorry.

If I ever come down, will you meet me at the Vietnamese bakery you posted about? Orange County has its pretty places. It's the Disneyland thing and the political climate that freak me out. I'm probably the only person in the world who's afraid of Disneyland. But I also hate clowns, so no surprise there.

Staggering under the weight of 20 pounds or so of heirlooms that someone gave me this week, I am desperate. This is our first course. I'm calling it Stoplight Caprese (the tomatoes are red, green and yellow). TomatoFest heirlooms with an Italian olive oil that my friend brought me (it won some grand prize in an Italian olive oil competition) and balsamic. Basil from Dirty Girl Farm.

I thought that was a lot of ranches. Especially for people who don't really care that much about farming. Or sushi farming.

Does anyone have the recipe that was in the NY Times review of Stone Barns, for the tomato water? I was gifted with a LOT of heirloom tomatoes, and would love to attempt it. I had it first at the farm dinner at Frog Hollow Farm. It was amazing. The perfect summer thing. Thank you.

You're right, and it has been so long since I stayed there that I forgot where the house was. Truth is, my sister kept us hostage the whole time and I was forced to cook--she's paranoid about being in public sometimes. Boy, I really am stupid. Thanks for reminding me.

I like this whole post.

Get me a photo of Aamir Khan with his shirt off.

Are you focusing on food specifically, or can you get me pictures of saris? I saw "Monsoon Wedding" and wanted to decorate my entire house in saris.

That is the cutest typo I have ever seen. (I can't coo at all right now. I've had horrible laryngitis for nearly two weeks.) What camera are you taking?

Nobody claimed to be better--they claimed the food is better outside of Orange County, specifically San Francisco (and I'm sure here in Santa Cruz, which boasts some of the best farms in the country, and a population committed to supporting them). And in LA, though I haven't been there in almost a decade. You won't find a discussion about "Why are there no truly great restaurants in San Francisco?" at eGullet. There is, however, considerable discussion along those lines about San Diego, which has a population (1.25 million) nearly twice that of San Francisco (725K). There are no good answers why two counties (SD and OC) so densely populated, and blessed with great farming conditions, haven't got the same kind of consciousness about growing good food and bringing it to the table in good restaurants. Which is not to say that everyone who lives in those places is inferior to me--it's not that at all. It's simply making an unassailable point that there has not been a movement towards the same standards that we in the greater Bay Area enjoy. (And pay for. Boy, do we pay.) I don't see it as pecking order. I see it as something people could learn from. The better the food you grow, the better the food you eat. Find those good farms and support them.

I find that Romas are not tomatoes I enjoy in slices. I prefer them mixed with other things, as they aren't that juicy. They are better for cooking and sauces and pastes, and as someone suggested, in salsa and oven-roasted. Here is my current bumpercrop of tomatoes: The top layer of a box of TomatoFest heirlooms: The bottom layer: And these beauties from the farmers market: Plus I have another plateful of huge heirlooms from a party Monday night at a farm up near UCSC. I need tomato suggestions, big time. I might need to make a swimming pool of salsa. (Actually, that would be a sacrilege, given the quality of these tomatoes.) Does anyone have the recipe for tomato water that was published with the review of Blue Hill Stone Barns in the NY Times recently?

Monica, I just remembered something. My friend, Nandu, came to California from Visag for six months. He loved my cooking, which essentially has lots of California/Italian influences, and he especially loved the dishes with basil and tomato. He didn't like Mexican food at all, but loved Italian. So I would be interested to see tomatoes and basil and eggplant (all very Italian, but Nandu says also used in Indian cooking) out of their Indian context, and perhaps from a different slant. Does that make sense? Show them to me, or show them to yourself, in a new light. That may sound hare-brained. It was just a thought.

I hope you can come back and let us help you heal your wounds with a trip up the coast....Big Sur and parts north, dude.

Monica: tea, please. In all its forms. Please. Get macros of the leaves. Get all Georgia O'Keefey-y for me, baby.

When I stayed in Laguna Niguel, we had a rental and I cooked. Problem solved.

My favorites are spanakopita (I love working with phyllo), moussaka (I just found out how easy and fun it is to make bechamel sauce), souvlaki with that tangy tsatsiki sauce (yum), dolmades, and avgolemono soup. And I'll eat feta and eggplant in anything.

Peter, what can I say? You were in Orange County. When in Rome... I reiterate the question, "Why on earth would anyone visiting the West Coast for the first time pick Orange County as a destination, when San Francisco, Napa, Sonoma, and the entire Central Coast is here?" I can only stand to be in Laguna Niguel if I have to be there (artists' enclave). Everything else is just Stepford Wifey to me. Disneyland scares me half to death.

Oh yeah, and have I mentioned that I cook seven nights a week and no one else ever volunteers to clean up? Did you know that asking children to clean the kitchen after they've been served a delicious dinner constitutes child abuse? Ask ours.

The tram place you went to is the Shadowbrook. The chef there has just insisted on becoming organic, which is a good thing in this county. What night of the week were you there? (I had a great meal there in January or so. Everything was perfect but the cheese plate, which had packaged crackers with it. If I wanted those, I'd go to Costco.) Lido is on the Esplanade in Capitola. I'm glad if it was good; I'd have gone to the Paradise Grill if I were down there, or to Il Pirata (great Italian food). And I am delighted you had a good experience at Oswald. They are so attentive to every detail. What did you have? Next time, you must go to Manresa, too. And be blown away. (Chef Eric Lau, at Oswald, and chef David Kinch, at Manresa, are good friends. I like that!)

Go, sushi bars! Good and brilliant that it may have been, I never wanted to go there. I wanted her to come here and show me how it's done.

I think this is a really good thread, and I have found myself nodding my head a lot reading the posts. They are thoughtful. I can't tell if you know your hosts well, or not at all. That would be good information to have. Since I can't tell, here are some other thoughts: 1) If you give a cookbook, either they cook and own it (odds are) or they don't cook and will think you're trying to tell them something. Books? Do you live in a pretty city? What about a coffee table book of some kind? Unless they think of books as large coasters. See the trouble here? 2) Magazines: See above. Don't give a magazine: I am trying to declutter (or manage my clutter). People are selective about magazines. But if I had to give one, it would probably be Garden Design just because it's utterly beautiful. 3) Beware of giving THINGS in general. One woman's pretty kitchen towels? OH DEAR GOD THESE LINENS HAVE GEESE ON THEM. See my point? There is no accounting for personal taste. This quickly becomes a situation of "how well do you know these people?" 4) I don't approve of gift certificates in general, for some reason, because it's a forced choice with a specific dollar amount on it. Make a sweet gesture. Make a gracious gesture. And realize that "regifting" (aka "I couldn't get it out of my house fast enough") might be the fate of your gesture. The bottom line here is: "It's the thought that counts, but I wish that we shared the same tastes." Honestly, even if they've got a good cellar, you could certainly contribute to it. At least you know they like wine. May I recommend three dozen bottles of the Walmart label? (You better be laughing.)

Mongo, there's something so tragic about an elderly chimpanzee with no man. Couldn't you hire a trainer?

God, I know she's ubiquitious, but is she also that LOUD?!

Great thread, Ms. Bhide! Bob is great on the grill, but how often are we going to build a fire with mesquite coals, even in the summertime? Maybe twice or three or four times a month? At the optimistic most. And then everything else, I have to do. And assemble and serve, as he thinks he's done enough by cooking the meat. He also makes the best burritos on earth. All that skill in rolling joints in the Seventies has not been lost. Left to his own devices, though, he's just as happy with a paper bag full of customized hot-air popcorn (Spike, cayenne, nutritional yeast and butter). Seriously. Edit: he scrambles eggs but he does it wrong, and I don't have the heart to tell him that "broken in the pan and scrambled without milk" is not up to my standards so I eat them. We both make tea for each other in the morning, which is a sacred ritual in our house--but I don't consider that cooking. One of us, on any given morning, is always sleepier than the other. The other makes, and brings, the tea. This is considered an act of great kindness, and even if we've been grumpy with each other for any reason, the tea is the eraser and forgiver. It brings us back to center, almost always.