tanabutler

You guys rock. Keep it coming, and many thanks!!

I've got an Italian friend living in Las Vegas who wants to escape. He's been saving his money for years and years, and the plan was to return to Italy and open a restaurant. Well, thanks to the tanking dollar, that dream has fizzled for the foreseeable future. He's been advised instead to come to California and open an Italian deli/specialty store. I told him I'd ask the smartest food folks in the world to help me gather a list of resources that might assist him in achieving this dream. First of all, he's got the kind of personality that is completely charming, and people will fall all over themselves to help him. He's the consummate waiter (that's where we met him, at the Venetian). Secondly, he knows his food, he's stylish, and he's very driven to excellence. I want to compile a list of Italian groceries and delis up and down the coast, and maybe send him some commercial real estate listings, too. He isn't online, so I need to print and snail mail things to him. Can you post here links to your favorite Italian spots in California? Would you be willing to snail mail me the commercial real estate listings in your coastal community? I know about A. G. Ferrari in San Francisco. I need stuff like that. Links if you have them, and names/addresses if you don't. Feel free to post, e-mail or PM. Mille grazie! Many thanks. We've got to get Vito out here. He's a treasure.

John Williams, the winemaker at Frog's Leap*, has been biodynamic for years and years. He attended the Outstanding in the Field farm dinner at Knoll Farm in 2002. Farmer Rick Knoll is also a biodynamic grower--those two were a pair, I tell ya. The wines are swoon-worthy. We visited Frog's Leap last summer. I recommend it to anyone going to Napa. The gardens and grounds are gorgeous, and visitors are welcome to help themselves to any of the organic vegetables that are sprawling over the grounds. They're very friendly. John Williams is one of the nicest folks you'd ever meet, and he's around, you're lucky. *That's one of my favorite websites on earth, by the way. Some shots from the dinner: John Williams: One of the wines: Williams again (see those smile lines? The guy's in love with his work):

I wasn't saying Suvir is an ass-kisser. Good heavens. But his language (and that of my own Indian friends) is elegant and formal, and it is my experience that the attentiveness paid when bestowing praise is one of the nicer aspects of an Indian upbringing. Perhaps I am mistaken.

Tommy, do you know many people from India, as friends? Like, over a length of time? huh? yeah. why? Sorry to have been incomplete in my posting. I couldn't think of the right word. I'm still not sure. The Indian friends I have are elaborately complimentary, almost like the Japanese formality with bowing. It took some getting used to, but I think it's charming. I didn't mean to be obscure. Oooh, I have to post elsethread but I got to eat at Lotus of Siam last week and it was so good that I told my husband, "This reminds me of Amma."

Tommy, do you know many people from India, as friends? Like, over a length of time?

I've got skirt steak marinating in Soy Vey teriyaki, for sandwiches. Chunky avocado salsa with lime and cumin and other stuff, for chips. Probably mojitos, too. Small group, not the usual crowd.

I ain't sayin' nothin' about the revolting item. I've done my best to like it, and it didn't work, so I live with the burden of my genetic deficiency. Carry on.

Er, um, if you're talking about eating raw marijuana, you might be right, otherwise I think you're blowing smoke out your ass. So to speak. A friend of mine was given a pot cookie a few weeks ago. Unaware of the intensity of its ingredients, and accustomed to the donor being used to much milder "currency" than he himself is used to, he ate half of it. He found himself having to warn his housemates of his intoxication, and found television commercials to be the height of intellectual entertainment for hours. A little goes a lonnnnng way. I'm reminded of one of my favorite books, which is Dick Cavett's eponymous autobiography. In it, he wrote about Janis Joplin visiting his show and giving him a joint "rolled by Montezuma himself." He smoked it with a friend, and they convulsed themselves "over the fact that carpets were rectangular and that the alphabet has only one 'N'." From my long-ago party days, I was never one to get the munchies requiring massive ingestion of snack foods. And when coming down from a psychedelic, I always found miso soup with tofu and vegetables to be a nice bridge to the real world. This was never part of my usual diet, but I could only face truly nourishing, gentle fare in the transition.

Respectfully disagree, Geoff. There is a particular food I loathe. I loathe the smell, the taste, and the texture, no matter how "well" (or badly) it's prepared. If I had a dollar for every person who said, "Oh, but you'd like it the way I make it," I could open my own restaurant. (Where it would not be on the menu.) I wouldn't know if it were perfectly prepared, or otherwise, because it tastes and feels awful in my mouth, no matter what.

Tommy, you fonny!

If I were coming to Napa for only two days, I'd stick to Napa. There's plenty to do there without the hour-each-way trip to Sonoma. Sonoma deserves its own weekend which, for me, would include eating and staying in Jenner. Eating at Land's End and renting a cottage from the Jenner Inn.

I feel your pain, Jensen. My Meyer lemon tree is bent to the ground, and I'm afraid it will break. Here are two of my favorite uses of the lemons. Tagliarini with Lemon Sauce Tagliarini al Limone from (one of my faviorite cookbooks ever) Patricia Wells' Trattoria: Simple and Robust Fare Inspired by the Small Family Restaurants of Italy 4 T (60 g) unsalted butter at room temperature 1 c (250 ml) heavy cream 1/4 c (60 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice Sea salt 1 pound (500 g) fresh tagliarini, tagliatelle or fettucine Grated zest of 3 lemons 3 T fresh flat Italian parsley, snipped with scissors Freshly grated Italian Parmesan-Reggiano cheese, for the table (optional) 1. In a skillet big enough to toss the cooked pasta later, combine butter, cream and lemon juice over low heat. [Tana's note: I melted butter, added lemon juice, stirred, and then slowly added the cream to prevent curdling. Maybe unnecessary, but it worked.] Remove from heat when thoroughly combined. 2. In a large pot, bring 6 quarts (6 liters) to a rolling boil. Add 3 tablespoons salt and the pasta, stirring to keep pasta from sticking. Cook until tender. Drain, leaving a little water clinging to the pasta so the sauce will adhere. 3. Transfer pasta to the skillet, tossing to blend. Add the lemon zest and toss again. Cover and rest for 1 to 2 minutes to allow pasta to absorb sauce. Transfer to warm shallow bowls, sprinkle with parsley leaves, and serve immediately. Grated cheese optional. [Tana's notes: Fresh pasta is necessary because this is a delicate sauce. I didn't have Italian parsley, so once I made it with curly parsley, which was delicious, and another with fresh snipped marjoram, which was equally good.] There is also a recipe for lemon risotto that I've made: The lemon risotto recipe is (loosely): 2 shallots sautéed until translucent in 2 T. butter with 1 T. olive oil (I, of course, used lemon olive oil), add 1-1/2 cups risotto and stir over moderate heat until the risotto is slightly translucent and shiny (glistening). Add 1 c. white wine and stir until absorbed. Then, stirring, add one ladleful at a time of 4 cups simmering chicken or vegetable stock. When that is all absorbed, remove from heat and add the grated zest of 3 lemons, their juice, and minced herbs (about 2 T. each: mint, sage and rosemary). Serve immediately with grated parmesan.

In the first link of Carolyn's, I posted about those great maps. They are fabulous. Clickable map of Napa: very useful. My chief recommendations: 1. Do not miss the Nienbaum-Coppola winery. There is paraphernalia from all his movies there, including a Tucker automobile (on the second floor...you figure it out), the Godfather's desk, costumes from Bram Stoker's Dracula, etc.). Take a tour. Huge and beautiful grounds. The wines are excellent, of course. 2. With the exception of Niebaum-Coppola, go up the Silverado Trail and avoid the main drag, which is often just clotted with traffic. Besides Phelps, which is beautiful, two great places are S. Anderson (just off the Silverado Trail). They specialize in sparkling wines; I've never had better. Also (can't find a working link) Robert Sinskey vineyards is at the lower end of the Silverado Trail, on the righthand side of the road. It's very nice. 3. Frog's Leap. They have beautiful organic gardens, and if there is anything growing, you can pick it and take it with you. Seriously. One of my favorite places in Napa Valley. 4. Go to the Oakville Grocery and load up on the most amazing condiments and cheeses in creation. Oh, Lordie, be prepared to swoon. The deli's fantastic, too. 5. Copia is worth a gander.

Aw, I don't think I'll really do it. I should...but I probably won't. (Thanks for the sweet words!)

I look forward to your report. I should tell those people I'll design them a prettier website. "Will work for cushy lodgings!"

I was too timid to post what Marlene did, but I sure thought it.

Easiest thing on earth, and my husband's favorite recipe of all time. (We are goat cheese sluts, I admit.) Ingredients: 1. We're obviously talking about half breasts with the skin on. (You could, I suppose, use skinless breasts and split and stuff them, but the skin is so good.) 2. Fresh rosemary 3. One shallot 4. Goat cheese 5. A little olive oil Preheat oven to 350°. Sauté minced shallots until translucent and soft in about 1 T. of olive oil (1 shallot for three or four breasts is good. Turn off the heat and add rosemary (only fresh, of course, and chopped as fine as possible) and goat cheese (2-3 T. per breast—or more!), and a little turn of ground pepper. When it softens, stick it under the chicken skin (that is the fun part) and use toothpicks to batten down the hatches. Cook for 25 minutes or so, depending on how big your breasts are. Um, you know what I mean. WHOOPS! Edited to include goat cheese.

Fresh Cream's website

All clowns are nightmarishly freaky. I can't emphasize that enough. Well, except my favorite, Shakes the Clown.

Yay, you're going to Amma! Lucky Marlene! Lucky everyone!

Hey, Dutch, where is that pretty photo in your profile taken?

Oh my goodness, yes. I sang there once with the Mt. Madonna Choir. It's one of the most beautiful places in California.

Marie-Louise, Pacific Grove is just a beautiful little place. I'd stay there, if you want to avoid the stiffness of Carmel. It has some beautiful B&Bs, and most have spectacular ocean views. Gosby House Inn Green Gables Inn Martine Inn (Ouch. Painful website for such a nice place.) Centrella Inn I really like Pacific Grove. It's a beautiful little hamlet, very walkable, very scenic, and very unhurried. It's like time travel.

Uh, I'll go out on a limb here and say it's not just women who want to polish his scimitar, if you know what I mean and I think you do.