Bay Area Foodie

Mike & I took a trip to Napa May 8-11. Our weekend started off with a visit to the Oxbow Public Market. It is a new market in downtown Napa (very similar to the Ferry Building in SF). I had first heard about this establishment when reading the January 2008 Food & Wine Magazine 100 best. It was #29 and listed as Napa’s best Market. We were going on a picnic so we stopped by to pick up some eats. What we found was a snazzy building filled with restaurants, wine shops, butchers, bakers and a fantastic cheese merchant. On the outside was about 4 farmers market stands. I was expecting a lot more. Hopefully on the weekends (it was a Thursday) they have a bigger selection of produce. It’s a great start and looks like more will be coming soon.

Website: http://www.oxbowpublicmarket.com/index.htm

I don’t usually blog about chain restaurants but I’m going to make an exception for the Cheese Steak Shop in Pleasanton. I have been going to this place since high school– so over 18 years! I have never been able to find a restaurant without “cheesesteak” in the name that can do it like they do. Establishments that don’t specialize in the sandwich just don’t make it right. This cheesesteak has so much flavor and so few ingredients it amazes me every time I eat one. Inside the soft roll is well-marbled steak, white American cheese, onions and sweet peppers from a jar. The shop claims to serve “Original Philadelphia Style Cheesesteak Sandwiches”. It’s so juicy and delicious, makes me want to move to Philly. All I know is if by the end of the day you still can’t smell that cheesesteak on your fingers you haven’t had the real deal!

Website:http://www.cheesesteakshop.com/

On our last night in Vegas we decided to have a light, casual meal at Mario Batali’s Enoteca San Marco at the Venetian. The restaurant is located in the Grand Canal Shoppes area of the hotel.

We started things off with a Caprese salad. It was the most interesting and tasty version of a caprese salad that I’d ever had. No sliced tomatoes and cheese. What we received was a ball of mozzarella surrounded by roasted tomatoes and covered in garlic pesto and pinenuts. I actually found a version of the recipe on epicurious. I plan on making this at home. Recipe link

Mike and I then shared an order of veal and ricotta meatballs and the cavatappi primavera which is corkscrew pasta and fresh veggies tossed with olive oil and cheese. Both were outstanding. We of course couldn’t leave without getting dessert. We had seen gelato shops all over Vegas for 2 days and we waited until now to get any. We chose 2 sundaes to share. Yes, two! The first was banana gelato with walnuts, chopped banana, carmel sauce and mini banana muffins. YUM!! The second was espresso gelato with marscapone, espresso bean chips, chocolate sauce and lady fingers. YUM YUM!! Both were deliciously sinful. Enoteca is great for lunch or dinner. In addition to the pasta they offer thin personal pizzas and many antipasti dishes. We highly recommend you visit.

This was a wonderful way to end our Vegas vacation. In regards to the weekend battle between Flay and Batali… Who’s cuisine reigned supreme? Chef Batali! Hands-down!

Rating:

Website: http://www.venetian.com/ENOTECA.aspx

For our ”Big” night out in Las Vegas we decided to dine at Picasso which is located in the Bellagio Hotel. Mike had always wanted to go. Picasso named after artist Pablo Picasso serves elegant French cuisine with a Spanish influence and is prepared by chef Julian Serrano. The award winning restaurant has paintings and ceramic art by Picasso throughout the dining room. When we arrived for our 6pm reservation (the first seating of the night) we were offered the option to sit outside on the terrace. Since it was a gorgeous night (mid 70’s, no wind) we said yes. I love dining al fresco. We were ushered to a 4 table balcony overlooking the Bellagio Fountains. Every 30 minutes we viewed an amazing water/light show as relaxing music played throughout the night. If you ever have the opportunity to dine at any Bellagio restaurant and sit on the terrace…go for it. It really is an experience to remember. As we sat and enjoyed the view we opened the menu and SURPRISE we saw 2 prix fixe menus. One with 4 courses the other with 5. We didn’t realize you only have two menu options. After we made our selections we were promptly served an amuse - bouche which included potato leak soup and a smoked salmon spear. It would be a waste of time for me to go through all 8 dishes that followed and describe what we liked because we loved everything. ALL the food was fantastic and prepared perfectly. The service was impeccable. The only negative thing we can think of is the wine menu. It is EXTREMELY pricey. One of the cheapest half bottles was $70 and a glass was $22. When you are having a dinner like this you have to have wine. It really enhances the flavors of the food. The wine in conjunction with the 4 courses is what actually made this the most expensive meal of our lives, but well worth it.

Since we sat outside we didn’t get to see much of the art so as we left we quickly checked out the paintings inside. After completing our 2 hour excursion I don’t regret making the decision to come to Picasso and if I am in Vegas, and I hit the jackpot, I will go again! As we left the hostess handed us a gift box. Inside were 2 cinnamon pastries. I am not sure why we were given this but they were great in the morning and a little reminder of our fantastic night.

Check out the slideshow of our evening below. Cue the Andrea Bocelli music…

Menu (Nicole):                          

Pea Soup     
with Mint, Shrimp, Creme Fraiche

Kobe Beef Spheres                    
with Lentils                               

Veal Chop                                
with Mushrooms, Potato, Beets, Dash of Horseradish, Pinot Reduction 

Chocolate Fondant Cake            
with Espresso Toffee Ice Cream     

Menu (Mike):
Crispy Squab Salad
with Micro Greens, Beets

Salmon
with Cauliflower Mouse

Sautéed Medallions of Fallow Deer
with Caramelized Apples, Zinfandel Sauce

Banana Walnut Torte
with Banana Ice Cream

Website: http://www.bellagio.com/restaurants/picasso.aspx

Rating:  

 (If the slideshow is not running above, click the PLAY> arrow in the bottom left corner)

As you may have guessed from the previous post Mike and I spent the weekend in Vegas. Since I am a food network fanatic I decided we would check out a couple of the iron chef restaurants while in town. We started things off with brunch at Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill at Caesars Palace. I was really excited about finally getting to try out some of the grill masters food. We arrived at 10:45am with an appetite. Mike and I both ordered egg dishes since it was still early in the morning. I picked the spicy chicken and sweet potato hash with poached eggs and green chile hollandaise. Mike opted for the scrambled egg enchiladas with chorizo, red chile sauce and goat cheese. I didn’t want anything too spicy but when I asked the server about the heat he said all 6 of the egg dishes have a kick. I thought to myself “how bad could it be?” I didn’t want a salad or burger so I didn’t have much other choice. The brunch menu which is served on weekends until 3pm is very small. 

When my dish arrived it looked good. I soon learned that looks can be deceiving. I then glanced at Mike’s dish and actually laughed. His enchiladas were so tiny they looked like taquitos. There were two extremely small tortillas filled with barely any eggs on a plate with some sauce. For $16, I expected A LOT more. I then took a bite of my bfast and immediately felt fire swirling in my stomach. I could not taste any flavors of sweet potatoes, chicken or egg. The spice totally overpowered the dish. I needed a swig of water between each bite. I could only stand to eat half. Mike ended up liking his highly overpriced miniature meal. Since his chile sauce was on the side he could control the hotness.

I know Flay is known for his southwestern cuisine but this was overkill. Even the bread basket was filled with chili/pepper muffins and biscuits. Give my pallet a break! This ended up being a super dissapointing experience. Bobby is lucky I only rate dinners or he’d be looking at a single drumstick.

I guess we could have come at a different time of the day but that heat wouldn’t be bearable at any time. I won’t be back unless I have a craving for a hamburger. At every table (and I’m not kidding) there was at least one burger. The waiter said it was the most popular burger in the hotel.

Website: http://www.mesagrill.com/lasvegas/

If you’re in Las Vegas and looking for a wine bar, stop by Double Helix in the beautiful Palazzo Hotel. They offer VERY generous 2 and 5 oz. glasses of wine from around the world. Due to their unique preservation system they are able to offer highly sought-after wines not usually poured by the glass. Mike was impressed by the selection. A light menu designed by Emeril Lagasse is also available if you are hungry. At the moment the hotel is not completely finished so Double Helix is not overcrowded which is rare in Vegas. This is a great find — check it out before it becomes well-known!

Have you ever seen the mob of people on a Saturday or Sunday morning on the corner of Main & Maple in LG?

Well, they are waiting for a table at the Southern Kitchen, another small diner in Los Gatos. I had to venture in to see what all the fuss was about.

I of course had the eggs benedict. Only seemed right. I also got a side of grits since I rarely see grits on a menu. The grits were nothing like grandma used to make. They were thick and creamy with a mashed potato like consistency. All in all good food, friendly staff and great coffee. I’ll be back.

Address: 27 E Main St

Current ranking of the benedicts of the Bay:

1. The Diner of Los Gatos (Los Gatos)
2. The Southern Kitchen (Los Gatos)
3. The Los Gatos Cafe (Los Gatos)
4. Bill’s Cafe (Willow Glen)
5. Sweet Pea’s (Los Gatos)

Other places I plan to visit to get my benedict on…

• Gilley’s Coffee Shoppe (Los Gatos)
• Lou’s (Los Gatos)
• Little Amsterdam (Saratoga)

Any other recommendations? Leave a comment!

There is an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G chocolate cream pie in the February 08 issue of Food and Wine magazine. It actually has you sieve the chocolate filling before you add to the crust. This process makes the pie extra silky and creamy. Since you can prepare this up to a day in advance it is great for when you are having guests over. This got me some rave reviews at our last dinner party.

By the way the whipped cream that goes along with this is scrumptious …I could of eaten a bowl of just cream!

Recipe link

Mike went and did it again. Another killer risotto — this time with veal, shiitaki mushrooms and asparagus tips. The recipe can be found in the Risotto cookbook. If you make this dish, add more veal and double the amount of asparagus. We chose to omit the cream and add Emmentaler cheese. Serve with a simple green salad, some crusty bread and a hearty Pinot. You will not be disappointed!

If you’re at Santana Row in San Jose and you want a slammin’ burger, stop by the Counter. The beef/chicken is tender and always tastes extremely fresh. Be warned a little goes a long way. I always leave feeling stuffed. This is the only burger I usually end up eating with a fork and knife. It’s a tasty mess.

How it works: it’s a build your own burger or chicken sandwich shop. After you are seated you are given a clip board and a pencil and you choose your meat and toppings. I went with a burger with grilled onions, lettuce, tomato and gruyere cheese. I kept things classic but they have more interesting options like herb goat cheese, grilled pineapple, roasted corn and black bean salsa or a fried egg.

Sorry about the blurry photos. First attempt at using images from my cellphone.

Don’t forget to try the onion strings and sweet potato fries. One order can feed 4 people. They come with 3 dipping sauces…good stuff. The shakes are yum too.

Website: http://www.thecounterburger.com/

Whenever I’m in my old stompin’ grounds and I’m craving a turkey sandwich, I stop by Gimanelli’s. It’s a fantastic little Italian deli with a variety of sandwiches, homemade soups, pastas and salads. It is located in downtown Pleasanton and is a little hard to find but is worth the search. Cruise by if you’re in the area around lunchtime.

 Address: 915 Main St. Pleasanton, CA

Mike and I finally broke out the pizza stone we got as an engagement gift (2 years ago!). We decided to make a vegetable pizza with whole wheat crust. I don’t know why we didn’t do this earlier. I loooove pizza. We have it at least 4 times a month. I actually worked at a pizza place for 2 years during high school so I’m no newbie to the art of pizza prep. To make things easy we purchased the dough pre-made from Trader Joe’s which is a nice alternative to making dough from scratch. To start things off we sauteed the onions, peppers and shrooms before putting them on the pizza to ensure the crust didn’t get soggy. Next we rolled, sauced, cheesed and assembled everything then baked the pizza for 10-12 minutes at 450 degrees. It turned out magnificent. The dough was perfect – using a pizza stone really makes a difference. The pizza seemed a lot healthier. There was no grease and the veggies were crisp. Next time we are going to try more exotic flavors and fresh herbs. This was a great test run… I have a feeling we will have a lot less pizza deliveries in the future. 

Tasty Tip: Invest in a pizza stone if you want authentic pizza crust. We got ours from Sur La Table but you can also order online from my sister who is a pampered chef consultant: order pizza stone 

Pics of the process..

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Mike whipped up this classic french fish dish the other night. He got the recipe out of the “best of Cooking Light 9″ special edition magazine. It can also be prepared using sole or flounder.

Take the cod and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet over medium heat then coat with cooking spray. Add fish. Cook 2 minutes on each side or until flaky. Remove from pan, cover and keep warm. Add 3/4 cup dry white wine and chicken broth plus shallots (1/3 c) and garlic (1tbsp). Bring to boil. Simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in 5 tsp butter, 1/4tsp salt, 1 tbsp chives, and 1.5 tsp fresh tarragon. Spoon sauce over fish and serve. 

For Mike’s birthday we went to the Plumed Horse in Saratoga. It recently re-opened after a lengthy remodel. The lodge like decor has disapeared and has become ultra modern. The dining area is fairly small. There are ~17 tables packed into a single room. It looks like there will be more areas to dine but they are not ready yet. Pretty unbelievable, but Mike and I were probably the youngest couple in the place. Those that were younger where having dinner with family members. The restaurants clientele is probably older because of the hefty price tags on the menu. Come to think of it, I think I even saw a couple coats and ties on some of the men. Who wears a suit to dinner in California anymore?

Let’s move on to the food…the evening started off with a complimentary Amuse-bouche from the head chef. We received a tiny mug that contained an artichoke and prawn soup. A single roll and butter was then served to each of us by one of the many assistant servers. (I’ll go into more detail about that later). Mike ordered our wine from the extensive wine list. You will see the new 1,800 bottle wine cellar as it is a prominent design element. Then we sat and waited for our first course to arrive. I don’t know if they were really busy or if they don’t like to rush things but there was a slight time lapse between courses. It also could of been that we were REALLY hungry. We had a 8pm reservation, which we never do, but because of things planned during the day this time fit our schedule. For the first course I chose the crab and asparagus bisque and Mike had the butter lettuce with radish and pine nut vinaigrette. My crab and asparagus bisques came in separate pouring vessels and were presented table-side. When poured into my bowl it looked like a yin/yang sign…very artistic display. The soup was good, nothing spectacular. 

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If you’re looking for an inexpensive wine club to join I urge you to consider Michael Chiarellos NapaStyle Wine Club. Mike and I have been members for 1 year and are extremely happy with our quarterly shipments. We receive the Cucina club which includes 6 bottles (red & white) from around the world for $90! What makes this club unique is that within each box delivered are recipes to go with each wine and suggestions on what types of foods they will pair well with. These are the kinds of wines that you can open up and enjoy immediately…no need to store in a wine cellar for years or wait for a special occasion. So far we have received 24 bottles and only 1 or 2 did I not care for. Michael Chiarello is a well known chef and proprietor of a small family winery so his recommendations are reliable.

Tasty Tip: There currently is an offer for $25 off your first shipment on the website.

Website: http://www.napastylewineclub.com/

We finally made a one pot meal. The Feb 2008 issue of Sunset magazine titled “slow-cooked comfort” had a recipe for Smokey Beef Stew.

The preparation was fairly easy and it was all done in a single pot. I love that! The main ingredients included a 4lb beef chuck, smoked bacon, potatoes, onions, carrots, chipotle chile powder, smoked paprika and TWO full bottles of dry red wine. After 4 hours we had ourselves a delicious dinner for 8 (Yes, we had guests coming over!). It was garnished with chives and blue cheese.

The finished product was very hearty and had a spicy kick but the blue cheese helped tame the heat.

I had heard that the Los Gatos Cafe was one of the best breakfast joints in the area. We finally made it over last weekend. It is located on the end of the main drag in LG near highway 9. You probably would never notice it unless you were looking for it. It is a diner with very modest decor. Could use a bit of a makeover. When we arrived at 8:30am we were promptly seated and the place was almost filled to capacity. I ordered the eggs benedict and a slice of the Kahlua pound cake. About 6 months ago I strayed away from my typical bfast order of a denver omelet and began seeking out benedicts. Why?? I have no idea. This one was good… not the best. Better than Bill’s Cafe and Sweet Pea’s but not better than THE Diner down the street. They are still the reigning champs (yummy hollandaise). My eggs came with a side of potatoes. They were a blazing yellow color so I’m guessing they were saffron. They had a nice crispy top. Not bad but I prefer home fries. Mike had the french apple pancakes which ended up being mounds of apples wrapped in thin crepes. He said he enjoyed them. The best part of the meal was the pound cake! WOW! It was fantastic. Unlike typical pound cake which can be heavy and dry this was light and super moist. I love my baked goods. Anyways, the menu has a huge selection of omelets, benedicts as well as pancakes, waffles and french toast. We will be back to sample a few more of their dishes. 

Tips: Cash only. Open from 6-3pm daily. Get there before 9am and be seated quickly, arrive later and plan to wait. 

Address: 340 N. Santa Cruz Ave

In an attempt to eat more healthy (during the week) Mike and I have been feasting on tons of white fish. Last night we tried orange roughy. We decided to cook on the grill so we placed the fish in some foil with a drizzle of evoo, lemon slices and a sprig of rosemary and thyme from the garden. I tossed in a few slices of tomato in mine. We seasoned it with some Citrus Rosemary salt from the NapaStyle salt box I gave Mike for Xmas.

It was super easy to prepare and surprisingly scrumptious. It tasted like butter.

My prayers have been answered…THIS summer Sprinkles Cupcakes is opening up in Palo Alto. It’s not my backyard but it’s closer than LA. I’m truly excited. It will be at the Stanford shopping center. Start your diets now!

Here is another shout out to a local hot-spot. Sweet Pea’s is a small cafe in Los Gatos. We go all the time for lunch especially on a nice day because most of the seating <if you can get one> is outside. The sandwiches are delicious. They use a lot of fresh ingredients. My favorite is the chicken salad. It has all kinds of goodies in it including nuts, red grapes and cranberries. They are also known for their savory & sweet crepes. One Sunday morning we stopped by for breakfast and were introduced to the homemade nutella muffins. They had just come out of the oven and were still warm. The muffin melted in my mouth. It was down right delectable. What is nutella? It’s the original creamy,chocolaty hazelnut spread. Sweet Pea’s also makes a nutella & banana crepe that is the bomb!

Feast your eye’s on the nutella muffin…Sooooo good.

Address: 453 N Santa Cruz Ave