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Lou’s Coffee Shop

Posted on May 31, 2008 by bayareafoodie

Last weekend it was again time to get my benedict on so Mike and I ventured out at 8:30am to Lou’s coffee shop in Los Gatos. When we arrived to the old school diner it was surprisingly empty. Usually in LG you have to be up at the crack of dawn to get seated in any bfast joint. By 9:15am the place was fairly full.

You know what I ordered and Mike chose one of the specials: coconut and banana waffle with macadamia nuts and raspberry syrup. He must of enjoyed it because thinking back he didn’t even offer me a bite. He devoured the whole thing. My eggs benedict was perfection. Ladies and gents, Lou’s has just bounced to the top of my benedict list. The best part was the sauce. It didn’t taste like a hollandaise but a bearnaise!! I freaking love bearnaise!! Although you can’t see it, the ham was also delicious. The cook had thrown it on the griddle so it had some crusty carmelization. Hands down #1.

The current standings of the benedicts of the Bay:
1. Lou’s Coffee Shop (Los Gatos)
2. The Diner of Los Gatos (Los Gatos)
3. The Southern Kitchen (Los Gatos)
4. The Los Gatos Cafe (Los Gatos)
5. Bill’s Cafe (Willow Glen)
6. Sweet Pea’s (Los Gatos)

FYI- I read a newspaper article from 1998 that said Lou’s and the Diner were owned by the same family. I don’t know if that is still true but they both have mastered the benedict!

Address: 15691 Los Gatos Blvd

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Caprese Salad

Posted on May 28, 2008 by bayareafoodie

A couple times a year we have a wine & food night with friends. The evening consists of decadent food and many bottles of fantastic wine. This time Mike and I were assigned the salad course.

I attempted to make the Caprese Salad Mike and I ate at Enoteca San Marco last month. I had found an adaptation of the recipe online. I will admit I didn’t have time to make the pesto so I picked some up at Whole Foods. It was fresh and had the exact same ingredients the recipe called for but it was not as garlicky as I would have liked.

The 2 hour roasted tomatoes turned out well but didn’t have the same consistency as I remember at Enoteca. Enoteca looked and tasted more like stewed tomatoes.

Final verdict: No complaints from the foodies but I think I could do better.

You can find the original recipe in Mario’s cookbook:Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home

Filed under: RECIPES, Starters & Soups | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Red Velvet cupcakes

Posted on May 27, 2008 by bayareafoodie

The Sprinkles cupcake shop is still not open in Palo Alto so I had to bake up a batch myself to hold me over. I picked up the red velvet mix from Williams-Sonoma. They turned out terrific… If I say so myself!

Get yourself some!

Filed under: Dessert / Baked Goods, RECIPES | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a comment »

American-Italian all’Amatriciana

Posted on May 24, 2008 by bayareafoodie

rachelpasta

I have been watching Rachael Ray hammer out her 30 minute meals for the past 3 years and not once have I actually been motivated to try to recreate her dishes. That is until now…
Last weekend on an episode called “Believe in Bacon” she made American-Italian all’Amatriciana and for some reason I was moved. I went to the grocery, picked up the items I needed and set the clock for 30 minutes. I wanted to see if I could beat her time. I soon realized that she is a really fast chopper and she doesn’t follow all the steps that are listed on the recipe during her show. Looking at the instructions it takes 25 minutes just for the sauce to cook. That leaves me with 5 to organize, clean, chop and grab pots –IMPOSSIBLE. When I had finished it took me about 55 minutes. But it was worth it. Mike loved it and so did I. The pasta called for pepper bacon and fire roasted tomatoes so it was smokey and had a bit of heat. I was super surprised. Rachael knows her stuff.

Recipe link

By the way I didn’t use the cheddar. I stuck with Parm and I added chopped basil like she did on the show.

Rachael 30 minute meal cookbooks:
Classic 30 minute Meals
30 minute Meals
30 minute Meals 2

Filed under: Main Dish, RECIPES | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Ad Hoc

Posted on May 19, 2008 by bayareafoodie

Ad Hoc is a fairly new restaurant in Yountville from the famous chef Thomas Keller (the French laundry/Bouchon). When you enter the building you will feel as though you stepped into a Pottery Barn catalog. The decor is casual and homey yet hip and fun. Ad Hoc is billed as a family style restaurant which usually means everyone at your table orders a few dishes and you share. Here, things are done a little different… Ad Hoc serves ONE 4 course menu every night which you share at your table. So whatever the chef decides to make, you eat. There are no choices to be made. When I first heard about this unique business model I was highly intrigued. With that said I expected every dish to be prepared flawlessly and guess what?…they were! Every morsel was perfectly seasoned. I could actually taste the salt and pepper in every bite.

Here is the menu we were served on May 10th, 2008 ($48/per person):

First course – Frisee salad with beets
I absolutely love beets so I was totally excited about this salad. It was delectable. It was simple yet refined. When you have fresh ingredients you can’t go wrong.

Second course – Stuffed pork with rice, barley, baby carrots, asparagus and apple compote
Mike was drooling…The pork skin was crisp and salty and the meat tender. The veggies and rice were a perfect accompaniment.

Third course – Goat cheese with pinenut brittle and blackberry jam
A combination I would never think of was a symphony in my mouth.

Fourth course – Thin pastry with baked bananas topped with strawberries and vanilla bean ice cream
I don’t know if you notice from previous posts but if a restaurant offers a dessert with bananas and ice cream Mike and I order it. We adore banana anything. It was like this menu was tailor made for us.

The one and only thing I did not care for was the music blasting in the dining room, it really contradicted with the homey vibe they wanted the restaurant to portray. Don’t get me wrong the soundtrack played throughout the night was great but extremely loud. I found it hard to talk with the friends at our table. Around 8ish the music and lights were turned down which was much appreciated.

This was the best meal of the weekend and probably the best I have ever had in Napa. I hear the evenings with fried chicken and chocolate brownies are to die for. Unfortunately, they only post the menu the day of so you can’t plan ahead. It’s the luck of the draw. Make your reservation (far in advance) and keep your fingers crossed. But really unless you are a picky eater I don’t think you can go wrong on any night.

Side Note: We were told by one of the servers that Ad Hoc originally was a temporary fix until Keller could open a burger and half bottle joint but it became so popular that it had to stay. I’m so glad it did!

Rating:

Website: http://adhocrestaurant.com/

Keller cookbooks:
The French laundry
Bouchon

Ad Hoc on Urbanspoon

Filed under: Napa Valley, PLACES TO EAT/DRINK | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Solbar at Solage

Posted on May 18, 2008 by bayareafoodie

I had heard rave reviews about Solbar the restaurant in the new Solage resort in Calistoga. A bit off the beaten path, Solbar is an interesting mix of hip Napa style and a tropical island. The dining area is split in two — indoor and outdoor. It’s very open and airy and when you are inside you still feel like you are outside, as one main wall is open to the patio. Very much like you would find in a Hawaiian restaurant. Our group of 6 decided to sit on the patio next to the beautiful fire/water display. Mike and I had dinner with 4 friends so we sampled the majority of the menu (Hi- DB, CB, R & JB). We started off with a couple orders of the flatbreads & spreads to share and a bevy of unique mixed drinks. The breads were light and flavorful and the drinks refreshing. The appetizers that followed were the sliders, a mixed green salad and I had the asparagus soup. No complaints there. The dishes were enjoyed by all. Dinner then arrived for everyone except me. I had ordered the sliders as my main course and the kitchen forgot them. No worries …I was actually not super hungry that evening — for a change. Our server was very apologetic for the mix-up and she removed the charge from the bill. Other entrees included the yellow fin tuna, barbecued pork buns, pasta with fava beans and roasted lamb. When my sliders with bacon, cheddar and ten-hour onions arrived they were not all that they had been built up to be. Prior to coming I had a bunch of people tell me to try the sliders. They were tasty but a bit bland, they needed a sauce of some kind (maybe it was left off in the rush to get to my table?). I actually prefer the sliders at the Paragon restaurant in San Jose. For dessert we had the cinnamon sugar doughnut holes and a mix of house made sorbets. The sorbets were the hit of the night. Some were still talking about them the next day.

The food was good but the setting was magnificent. It was a great spot to hang out with our friends. I would go back to have cocktails and dessert anytime.

Rating:

Website: http://www.solagecalistoga.com/dining/index.shtml

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Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen

Posted on May 15, 2008 by bayareafoodie

For our first night in Napa we decided to check out Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen in St. Helena. The owner Cindy Pawlcyn, is the James Beard award-winning cookbook author, Chef and owner of Mustards Grill, so we knew it would be good. It was a beautiful evening so we chose to sit outside on the small patio under a large 100 year old fig tree. Light Jazz music pumped through some speakers. Don’t expect a loud, mardi gras like environment. Some colorful hand blown drinking glasses and rooster signs are as crazy as you will get. Cindy’s serves up home inspired dishes in a charming rustic setting.

Mike and I started our meal by sharing a warm spinach salad with smoked apple bacon, caramelized onions and pouched egg. It was nice and the vinaigrette dressing gave it a tangy kick. For the main course Mike picked the smoked duck with fritter and I had the pan seared halibut with fava bean mash, pickled onions, asparagus and artichokes. Both dishes were remarkable!! Check out those photos, they were almost too pretty to eat…but we did 😀 . Mike’s duck was HUGE. The skin was crispy and the meat juicy, it had been cooking all day in a wood burning oven. My halibut was cooked to perfection, light and flaky and the artichokes were magnificent. I love fresh artichokes not the marinated kind in a jar. These were soft and buttery like when I make them at home. Even though we were stuffed we couldn’t pass up a dessert called Campfire pie. I didn’t get a photo because we tore into it as soon as it hit the table. Picture marshmallow fluff filled with peanuts and chocolate chips on top of an oreo cookie crust placed in the oven so it had a meringue like finish. Sooo scrumptious.

I actually enjoyed Cindy’s more than the beloved Mustards. It has all the elements for a perfect restaurant: comfortable atmosphere, awesome food, attentive and fun staff plus very reasonable prices. I can’t wait to go back.

Rating:

Website: http://www.cindysbackstreetkitchen.com/

Cindy’s cookbooks:
Big Small Plates
Mustards Grill

Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen on Urbanspoon

Filed under: Napa Valley | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Del Dotto Wine Caves

Posted on May 14, 2008 by bayareafoodie

We have been going to Napa for many years. For the first time we decided to check out the Del Dotto Cave Experience & Barrel Tasting as it was recommended by a friend. The tour starts off with some history about the winery owner, some background about the caves and info on the different kinds of oak barrels. A guide then takes you into the caves and you taste their red wines directly from the barrel. Following the barrel tasting you return to the winery and sample a few bottled wines along with chocolate truffles and cheese. Our guide was fun and knowledgeable and the wines were good. The tour lasted 1 ½ hours. You taste over 15 different wines so be prepared to be buzzed!

Tip: Make a reservation, not a walk-in situation ($40 per person)

Website: http://www.deldottovineyards.com/

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Oxbow Public Market

Posted on May 13, 2008 by bayareafoodie

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

Filed under: Napa Valley | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Cheese Steak Shop

Posted on May 7, 2008 by bayareafoodie

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/

Filed under: East Bay | Tagged: , , , | Leave a comment »