A Night to Remember: Dinner at the French Laundry

Sometimes, things just work out.

One of those times happened to Karen and me recently. Taking advantage of the Thanksgiving weekend, we decided to head up with Napa Valley for a few days. Since we don't usually stay up in Wine Country more than a single night, we thought that it would be fun to see if we could land a coveted reservation at the French Laundry (6640 Washington Street, Yountville; 707-944-2380). Owned by world-renown chef Thomas Keller, this 62 seat restaurant is recognized as one of the premier dining establishments in the world. Landing a table during the dinner hours in this tony Yountville restaurant is extremely difficult. In fact, there are web pages dedicated to doling out advice on how to get such a reservation.

So, a couple of days before Thanksgiving, I picked up the phone and called the reservation line at the French Laundry. When the receptionist answered, I told her that we going to come up with Napa for a long weekend and was wondering if we could get ourselves on the waiting list for each of those nights, with the hope that someone might cancel on a two-top during one of those evenings. Boy, was I surprised when I heard that there actually was a table for two available on Saturday night! I took advantage of this good fortune and immediately booked that open table. We were going to the French Laundry!


Arriving 15 minutes early for our 9pm reservation, we waited in the foyer of the rustic brick building, perusing the Bouchon and French Laundry cookbooks on the coffee table. After a few minutes, the host called our names and led us through the dining room to our seats. We sat down at the table, taking in the environment as we looked around the room. On the table in front of us was a neatly pleated napkin, on which was clipped a French Laundry clothespin.


Our dinner commenced with a couple of amuse bouche dishes. The first dish was warm Gruyère gougères, small savory pastries filled with cheese:


The second amuse bouche were a pair of ice-cream cone shaped salmon cornets with filled with crème fraîche. The cone was crunchy and its texture contrasted nicely with the minced salmon and silky crème fraîche.


At the French Laundry, you have the choice of two menus: the chef's tasting menu and the "tasting of vegetables" menu. (As I understand, there is also an unpublished 20 course tasting menu, but that needs to be ordered in advance.) Since it was the first visit to the French Laundry for both of us, we decided to order the chef's tasting menu.

The first course of the nine course tasting menu was the classic Keller dish "Oysters and Pearls", a sabayon of pearl tapioca with Beau Soleil oysters and white sturgeon caviar. The dish was wonderful. The texture of the tapioca contrasted nicely with that of the sabayon, and the oysters and caviar provided a perfect amount of briny flavor. We enjoyed this fabulous course with a flute of Pierre Gimonnet, a classic pairing of champagne and caviar.


For the next course, we had a choice. We could have had the hearts of palm salad, but we opted for the Moulard duck "foie gras au torchon" with stewed Oregon huckleberries, Tokyo turnips, spiced bread crumbs, and Garden Mâche, which was available with an additional $30 charge. If you follow our food adventures in this blog, you'll know that both Karen and I are huge fans of foie gras. Without a doubt, this was the single best foie gras dish that we've ever eaten. It was absolutely phenomenal. The foie gras was served with three different types of salt: a grey salt from the Brittany region of France, a Japanese sea salt, and a "Jurassic" salt from Montana, each with a different flavor and coarseness. Served with a side of toasted brioche from the Bouchon bakery just a couple of blocks down Washington Street, the dish was a meal in itself.


One very nice touch: in the middle of this decadent course, one of the servers came by to refresh our accompanying brioche with a hot slice of freshly toasted bread. The wine director steered us to a 2006 Yves Cuilleron Blanc "Roussilliere", which paired fabulously with the foie gras.

Next came the first of the fish courses. For this course, we had a choice of two different dishes, so Karen and I ordered one of each. I order the "Tartare" of Kona Kahala with cauliflower fleurettes, toasted Marcona almonds, Satsuma mandarins, and mizuna greens. I have to say that I was a bit underwhelmed by this course, especially after the two previous dishes, both of which were simply stunning. I was expecting some bold flavors, but this dish was a bit flat in my opinion.


Karen went with the line-caught Atlantic striped bass with glazed sunchokes, wilted Arrowleaf spinach, San Marzano tomato compote, and niçoise olives. This dish was pretty good, much better than my choice of fish. For this course and the next, we enjoyed a glass of Spencer Roloson viognier, which again was a great pairing suggested by the wine director.


Our second fish course was the fantastic sweet butter poached Maine lobster tail with caramelized cippolini onions, sugar snap peas, Yukon Gold "Pommes Maxims", and "Mousseline Bearnaise". This dish was as good as it looks. The lobster was perfectly cooked and buttery, especially with the luxurious Bearnaise sauce. The potato crisp was crisp and savory, but a bit difficult with eat with a fork and knife.


After the two fish courses came the meat courses. The first meat that came out of the kitchen was the all-day braised Kurobuta pork belly with grilled hearts of romaine lettuce, celeriac purée, and Périgold truffle glaze. The pork belly was succulent and fall-apart tender. The purée was a nice complement to the rich pork, but the romaine lettuce seemed a bit out of place on this plate. To go with this course and the following one, we had a glass of 2005 Brewer Clifton pinot noir. The wine was again quite good, a testament to the fine skills of our sommelier.


Our second meat course was a herb roasted saddle of Elysian Fields Farm lamb with globe artichokes, Nantes carrots, golden chanterelle mushrooms, and sweet garlic "jus". We could have opted for a course of Wagyu beef in place of the lamb, but the $100 supplemental charge seemed a bit steep to me. The lamb was amazing tender and quite flavorful. I enjoyed this dish very much, but I think that Karen was a little less impressed.


After finishing the lamb course, both of us were getting pretty full. We had finished all of the main courses, so we were now heading into the desserts. Our first dessert course was a cheese plate: "Petit Sapin" with Royal Blenhein apricots, red beet relish, and arugula leaves. I was not expecting a soft cheese for this course, but I liked it. I think that Karen enjoyed this dish as well, even with the beet relish.


Next came a palate cleaning feijoa sorbet with Maui pineapple relish and angel cake. The sorbet was very refreshing and the angel cake was very light. Given the heaviness of the previous courses, this was a welcome dish to enjoy at this point in our meal.


The last of the nine courses on the menu gave us two options for dessert. As it is our habit, we picked one of each course. I chose the "Charlotte aux Poires et aux Dates" with Bartlett pear sorbet, "Japonais", candied hazelnuts, and pear coulis. Like the previous sorbet dish, I like this dish quite a lot. At this point in the meal, I was definitely okay with enjoying some lighter dessert fare, and this dessert was lighter than it appeared.


Karen picked the "S'Mores" with cashew nut "Parfait", caramel "Délice", and "Sauce a la Guimauve brûlée". As with the corresponding dessert during our last dinner at Manresa, I wasn't a huge fan of the S'more, but that's probably more of a reflection of my personal preference than anything bad about this dessert.


With the last of the nine courses, we were finished with our dinner. Oh wait. We still had the mignardises.

After clearing away the dessert plates, the waiter brought me a Meyer lemon pot au crème and set a Tahitian vanilla crème brûlée before Karen.




After those two desserts were cleared away, we were completely stuffed. But there was more yet to come. Next came a little bowl of chocolate caramel macadamia nuts and some olive financier cookies (not pictured).


Next, we were presented with a huge platter of chocolates. On the suggestion of our waiter, we picked one of each type of chocolate for a total of six. It was six chocolates more than I should have eaten - now we were completely stuffed.


At this point, our waiter asked me for my camera so that he could take a photo of the two of us to commemorate the occasion. Here's a photo of two very sated diners:


Last, but not least, about a quarter past midnight, came our final mignardises course: a gold box filled with pâtes de fruit and other petit fours. I managed to try each of them, somehow finding a tiny bit of open space in my stomach.


Of course, such opulance does not come without a price, and a hefty one at that. Here's the damage:


Ouch.

As a final treat, our waiter presented us with some shortbread cookies to take home, courtesy of their pastry chef.


The service that we received that evening was impeccable. It was perhaps the cleanest and best executed service that I've ever experienced at a restaurant. The pacing of our meal was superb and we were never lacking for attention. Throughout our dinner, the waitstaff cleared our empty plates as soon as we finished our food and kept our water glasses full with complementary bottles of Hildon still water.


The members of the waitstaff were obviously well-practiced, delivering top-notch service throughout the evening with spot-on precision. It seemed like each of their movement were deliberate, well-thought out, and completely choreographed. Our main server was quite friendly, but it was not the personalized-type service that we've enjoyed at other restaurants, such as Frasca and Chapeau, though I don't think that either of us would have expected that type of atmosphere at a restaurant like the French Laundry.

All in all, we had a fabulous meal. It was definitely one of the best meals that I've ever enjoyed at a restaurant. Everything was there: spectacular food and flawless service in a luxurious setting. But, on the other hand, neither Karen or I thought that the food was far superior to that of Manresa, where we've enjoyed a couple of fabulous dinners at a much lower price point. In fact, we both thought that the food was, in fact, quite comparable. While the service at the French Laundry was superior to Manresa, I'm not convinced that it justifies the difference in price. So, did we enjoy our dinner? Absolutely - it was a fabulous dinner, perhaps a once in a lifetime opportunity to dine at one of the best restaurants in the world. Would we go back? Maybe (and really just maybe), though it wouldn't be any time soon, especially with Manresa just a short drive away.

All the Lobster You Can Eat

The price: $2,995.

For that price, you get your very own lobster trap for the season and all of the crustaceans that you catch (guaranteed minimum: 40), courtesy of Ready Seafoods. The price includes shipping, as well as other accoutrements, including mussels, clams, Maine-made gourmet desserts, bibs, cooking instructions, and gift cards, as you catch a piece of Maine.

Just Sit Tight... Will Be Reporting Back Soon...

For those of you who are waiting for the report on our visit to the French Laundry, just hang in there for a few more days. I had to travel to Europe this week for work, so I haven't had a chance to sit down and write a proper post. Once I return from Sweden, I'll get cracking on the write-up. I'll just say that we had a wonderful evening - it was one of the best meals that I've ever eaten.

Thanks for your patience!

My Aha! Food Moments

Every so often, each of us experiences an "Aha!" moment. During these brief flashes of insight, you make a quantum leap and suddenly have a profound revelation that changes the way you view the world. Over the past few days, I've been thinking about the "Aha!" food moments that I've experienced. I came up with a list of five such moments which I would like to share with you.

O-Toro
Date: July 9, 2005
Place: Sushi Ran, Sausalito, CA
During the summer of 2005, I had my first encounter with o-toro, the most luscious cut of maguro available. I can still remember that piece of tuna belly just melting away in my mouth like it just happened yesterday. The taste and texture were simply amazing and unlike anything else that I had ever eaten before. That utterly decadent slice of fish changed the way that I think about eating sushi. Since then, every time that I eat o-toro (which is nearly every time I eat sushi), I close my eyes and hope that I can once again experience the feeling of eating o-toro for the first time.

The Complete Dining Experience
Date: August 17, 2005
Place: Frasca Food and Wine, Boulder, CO
It was during my dinner at Frasca when I first understood how exquisite service combined with exceptional food executed with culinary precision can elevate a simple meal into an out-of-this-world dining experience.

The Corn Croquette
Date: October 1, 2005
Place: Manresa, Los Gatos, CA
Karen and I celebrated our first year together with a fabulous dinner at Manresa. Ordering the tasting menu, we were treated to a series of amuse bouche prior to our main courses. One of these amuse bouche offerings was a croquette, a small, breaded morsel meant to be eaten in a single bite. When I bit down on the croquette, I was completely surprised by its warm liquid center which released the pure and unadulterated taste of sweet corn into my mouth. Its sun-soaked flavor simply made my taste buds sing. The croquette utterly captured the delectable essence of corn and demonstrated that little packages can be full of wonderful surprises.

The Cheese Plate
Date: November 21, 2005
Place: Le Bistro de l'Olivier, Paris, France
At the end of an otherwise ordinary meal at a mostly empty bistro in the 8th arrondissement, Karen and I were both blown away by the cheese course. The plate had a couple types of cheeses and was served with a smear of honey sprinkled with lavender. The cheeses tasted fine, but combined with the honey and lavender, their flavors were elevated to extraordinary level. For the first time, I understood how good a cheese plate could be, the elements of the plate coming together to show how the whole can be far greater than the sum of its parts.

And there is one more moment, but it's certainly not the least important. In fact, it probably is one of the defining moments of my life as a foodie.

Beer Can Chicken
Date: Early Summer, 2002
Place: Chez moi, Silicon Valley, CA
One afternoon, I pulled out my copy of Steve Raichlen's How to Grill book and found the recipe for beer-can chicken. It looked simple enough, so I followed the recipe and set up my gas grill to hot smoke the poultry until it was golden brown. Taking my first bite of chicken, I was utterly amazed by the exceptional flavor and juiciness. I asked myself if I could have actually made that bird myself. It was better than any rotisserie chicken that I had ever bought at a store and it was so easy and simple to make. I even remember calling my mom to tell her about what I had made and how good it was.

The important point of this "Aha!" moment is that up until this point in my life, I considered myself to be an adequate, though unexceptional cook. Sure, I knew how to keep myself well-fed and even improvise a bit on existing recipes, but I never strayed too far from the tried and true. However, at this moment, I realized that I might have some potential in the kitchen. Perhaps I always had it in me, but this moment gave me the confidence to believe in my own culinary abilities and set me off on a course to being a foodie, a path that I'm still following today.

One of my favorite quotes from Julia Child is:

"The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude."

This moment gave me that "what-the-hell" attitude.

So folks, I'd love to hear some of your "Aha!" food moments. I hope that you will share them with me!

As Simple as That...

This afternoon, I picked up the phone, dialed a number in Yountville, and landed a Saturday evening dinner reservation here. Woo-hoo!

Swinging Steaks U.S.A.

What I thought was a passing fad appears to be a national trend. As you might recall, I recently posted about two festivals, one in Wisconsin and another in Utah, celebrating what is probably one of the more famous 'cuts' of offal, namely Rocky Mountain Oysters. Well, it seems that there are many other such events taking place all over the country. I was able to find the following:

Past events in 2007

• The 16th Annual Calffry, in Stillwater, Oklahoma; You can buy tickets for next year's festival starting March 1, 2008. There also appears to be a College Fest scheduled at some time later this year.


• Tiro Testicle Festival, in Tiro, Ohio, last Saturday in April;


• Testicle Festival East, Washington D.C., April 28


• Olean Testicle Festival, in Olean, Missouri, June 2;

Upcoming events in 2007

• Ryegate Testicle Festival, in Ryegate , Montana, second Saturday in June


• Round the Bend Steakhouse's 14th Annual Testicle Festival, in Ashland, Nebraska, June 15-16;


• The 25th Annual Testicle Festival, in Missoula, Montana, August 1-5;


• Clinton Testicle Festival, Clinton, Montana, every September;


• (Honorable mention) 28th Annual Turkey Testicle Festival, in Byron, Illinois, October;

I'm sure that the list goes on and on...

In Case You Forgot Your Sack Lunch...

For those of you who missed out on the feeding frenzy at Mama's Place Bar and Grill, you're in luck. The Black Gold Cattle Company will be holding its 7th Annual Testicle Festival next month in Woodruff, Utah. Brenn Hill will be among the entertainers at this event, which is held over three days spanning two weekends. Proceeds from last year's event, totaling $4,500, were donated to charity to help children with medical problems.

On a related note, Chris Cosentino recently updated his blog with additional information on duck fries. Note that duck fries are not French fried potatoes cooked in duck fat, as the name might lead you to believe.

Festival at Mama's Place

I just got back from a long weekend in Wine Country, about which I shall post later. After getting home tonight, Karen found out that during the course of planning for this weekend, we completely overlooked the Testicle Festival, an annual event held at Mama's Place Bar and Grill. Perhaps we could have caught the red eye to Wisconsin had we not had alternate plans in Napa Valley this past weekend. (Hey, we are both fans of offal ya know.)

Oh well, maybe we'll catch the 10th annual event next year.

Mile High Class Dining

Hawaiian Airlines recently announced that they will be serving the airline industry's first "tasting menu" for its First Class passengers. For lunch and dinner, those passengers will be allowed to create their own meal by selecting three dishes from a choice of five items; for breakfast, First Class passengers will pick two dishes from a selection of three to go along with a fresh fruit plate. The lunch and dinner selections will come from a list of twenty different entrees, designed and developed by Hawaiian chef Beverly Gannon. Gannon is the owner of Maui's famed Hali'imaile General Store, where we enjoyed a nice (though overpriced) lunch during our trip last year. The list of entrees includes Hawaiian Crab Cake Tantalizing "Taste of the Island" with a Zesty Pineapple Salsa, Rock Shrimp and Lemon Pepper Ravioli with Creamy Sun Dried Tomato-Basil Sauce and Tri-Pepper Garni, and Chicken Tandoori served with a tangy Makhani Sauce and Sultana Basmati Rice Pilaf.

Passengers riding in Cattle Coach Class will continue to be served complementary meals (also designed by Gannon), which is a lot more than I can say about other domestic airlines where you have to pull out your wallet if you want something more than a can of soda and a bag of pretzels.

Manresa: A Culinary Experience (with pictures, of course)

Last week, as I was wandering from John Wayne Airport to the office, Karen called me and asked if I would have any interest in going to Manresa this weekend. She had just taken a quick look on OpenTable and saw a couple of available seatings. We had talked with Tesha and Jeremiah about going to Manresa, which they had never visited and which we had visited previously for our one year anniversary. Unfortunately, our friends were unable to join us, but we decided to take advantage of the opportunity to pay another visit to the two-star Michelin destination.

Yesterday afternoon, we made the hour-long trek from the City down to little town of Los Gatos, nestled near the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Though we arrived a bit early for our reservation, we were warmly greeted at the door and promptly seated at a window-side table. We didn't even really need to look at the menu, as we both assumed that we were going with the chef's tasting menu. Once again, we would leave our dinner in David Kinch's very capable hands. We also ordered the wine pairing for the tasting menu, splitting one flight between the two of us.

Our dinner started out with several amuse bouche offerings. First we were presented with some petit-fours: olive madelines and roasted red pepper gelées. Our previous dining experience at Manresa started in the same fashion and once again, Karen loved the madeline and I really enjoyed the gelée. It was a nice way to kick off our dinner.


Our next amuse bouche was a garden green croquette, of which I did not get a picture. Similar in appearance to a tater tot, each croquette is filled with a liquid center and meant to be eaten in a single bite. Our croquette was bursting with the essense of seasonal spring vegetables from the Manresa garden, though it was not quite as good as the corn croquette that we had during our previous visit, which was utterly amazing.

After the croquette, we were served oysters with uni and sea water gelée. As you might know from reading past entries in this blog, we love raw oysters on the half-shell. With the uni and gelée, I was expecting a very briny tasting dish, but the tasty was more subtle and really brought out the flavor of the sea without overwhelming the palate.


The next amuse bouche was a kohlrabi and foie gras royale served with apple cider. The custardy foie gras mousse was velvety and rich, which went very well with the cider and the wine pairing. Karen thought that this was one of the best dishes of the evening.


Our last amuse was the famous Arpège egg. As some of you may know, I've made these eggs myself at home with the help of a Clacker. It looked like they also use a Clacker or another similar device in the Manresa kitchen. I also noticed that they sliced open the bottom part of the egg as I did, probably to help keep the egg balanced while it is coddling on the simmer water. The egg was fantastic as always, just a great balance between sweet, savory, sour, and bitter flavors.


Our first main course was a preparation of twice-cooked foie gras with strawberries over a strawberry-Pedro Ximénez sauce. The foie gras was unbelievably rich and absolutely exquisite. (You can probably guess that Karen and I both love foie gras.) This was definitely my favorite dish of the evening.


Our second main course was a fatty blue tuna belly salad over a seaweed pistou. The toro salad also contained a few tender leaves of Ficoïde Glaciale, an ice plant harvested from the Manresa garden. The salad was very rich and extravagent - two thumbs up.


The next course was a smoked sturgeon over red thumb potatoes and beets from the garden. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo until we had eaten the plates clean. The dish was very good, much better than a similar dish that I had on a Lufthansa flight a few months back. Karen even admitted that she liked the beets, which is quite a statement if you know her feelings about that root vegetable.

Our next dish was a Monterey Bay abalone with peas and asparagus and a vanilla soubise. This was fantastic. It was the most tender plate of abalone that I've ever had. The vanilla foam was quite subtle and enhanced the flavor of the shellfish without overpowering it.


The last fish course was slow-roasted monkfish with exotic Indian spices, naval orange, citrus foam, and spinach. While the flavors of the spices and citrus worked well in this dish, the fish was less tender than I expected, as was the spinach. While the taste was quite good, this was probably my least favorite course of the evening.


Moving on to the white meat course, we were treated to some slow-roasted pork belly of suckling pig in a green garlic stew with a fava bean maro. A fabulous dish, the pork tasted as good as it looked.


Our final main course of the evening was milk-fed spring lamb, prepared two ways, with a carrot puree and carrots from the garden. We were treated to a nice slice of loin, roasted to medium-rare doneness. The lamb was quite tasty but we both really liked the braised lamb, generously portioned and falling-apart tender. Another excellent dish.


Having finished the main dinner course, we had an intermezzo of strawberry sorbet with rhubarb soda. It was very refreshing and cleansed our palates in preparation for dessert.


Our first dessert course came in two parts. First was a caramel soufflé that was simply ethereal.


Accompanying the soufflé was a shot glass filled with butterscotch, espresso, and caramelized banana. This dessert was stunning. Even I, the non-dessert guy, really liked this offering. The flavors melded extremely well together to form a delicious and decadent dessert.


The final dessert was chocolate marquis, which our server described as a "deconstructed Rocky Road". It was okay, but as I'm not a huge fan of Rocky Road, it didn't do that much for me.


The end of our evening was bookended the same way it started, with madelines and gelées. This time, we were presented with a chocolate version of the madeline and a strawberry gelée. I enjoyed this course, especially the gelée, which tasted like an intense strawberry jam, but Karen liked the olive madeline better.


Once again, we had a fantastic evening at Manresa. Tim, our server, was great, as was the rest of the staff. They did a great job with the pacing of our meal, slowing things down as the courses became heavier, and were very attentive to our needs. Tim effusively answered our many questions about the restaurant, the food, and the wine. It was another fabulous dining experience, one that we hope to repeat with our friends in the near future.

A Foodie Friday

Last weekend, my sweetie and I headed up north to Mendocino to enjoy another long and relaxing weekend, one during which we were able to unplug from the outside world. Yep, no cell phone coverage and no internet access. It was a much needed break from the Bay Area hustle and bustle.

On the drive up, we decided to check out a couple of Marin County's many foodie destinations. Our first stop was in Point Reyes Station, where we paid a visit to the Cowgirl Creamery at Tomalas Bay Foods (80 4th Street; 415-663-9335). Founded by Sue Conley and Peggy Smith, the Cowgirl Creamery is known throughout Northern California for their handmade, artisanal cheeses. Every Friday morning, the creamery hosts a tour in the refurbished barn that houses Tomalas Bay Foods. Having gotten a late start to our morning, we arrived just in time for the tour, which led by ex-park ranger Nan Haynes.



The word 'tour' is a bit of a misnomer; the 'tour' consists of a presentation giving a brief overview of the making of cheese along with a sampling of their products. Part of the presentation involved a short demo of the cheese making process, in which Karen and I were selected to assist Nan (mainly because we sat at the end of the table closest to the demo cart due to our tardy arrival). While Karen stirred a bowl of organic milk from Straus Family Dairy, I drizzled in some rennet, which immediately coagulated the milk. It was very cool to see how quickly the milk separated into curds and whey, though admittedly we used far more rennet than would be used in practice. In the actual process, the curds are scooped up and put into perforated plastic molds, which are pressed together to force out more of the liquidy whey - you can find more details on their website.

We sampled seven different cheeses during the tasting, including four fresh cheeses and three aged ones. The first fresh cheese was their clabbered cottage cheese. I normally despise cottage cheese - it's a texture thing. But, I figured that I would give it another try. To Karen's surprise (and my own), it was actually okay, though I'm not positive that I would actually pay money for it at the grocery store. Next, we tried some fromage blanc, which is their version of cream cheese, followed by a sample of their crème fraîche. Both of these cheeses were very tasty. The final fresh cheese was a paneer, a cheese used extensively in Indian cooking. We both loved the paneer, enough to purchase a container at the end of the tour.

While the creamery's fresh cheeses were delicious, they are known better for their aged cheeses. The first aged cheese we sampled was the seasonal St. Pat, a double-cream cheese made with stinging nettles leaves, which are in season around the middle of March - hence the name. Next came the Mt. Tam, their award-winning triple-cream, which was followed by the final cheese of the day, the Red Hawk, the Best in Show winner at the 2003 American Cheese Society annual conference. All of the aged cheese were fabulous, especially the full-flavored Red Hawk. We added a round of the St. Pat to the shopping cart, as we figured that we could get either the Mt. Tam or Red Hawk year-round.

After completing our purchase, we packed the cheese into the cooler and took a short drive up California Highway 1 to our next destination, the Hog Island Oyster Company farm (20215 Coast Highway One, Marshall; 415-663-9218). Having visited the oyster farm last year, we were excited that we had the opportunity to make a return trip. The fun thing about the oyster farm is that you can purchase a variety of oysters, which have been fresh harvested from Tomalas Bay, and shuck them right there yourself in their picnic area. Shucking an oyster is pretty straightforward: hold the oyster with a gloved hand (gloves are provided), insert the oyster knife (also provided) between the top and bottom shells at the hinge at the back, and then run the knife around the oyster to cut through the muscle holding the shells together:



Then, twist the blade of the knife to separate the shells (carefully so that you don't lose any of the briny liquor inside), lift off the top shell, and voilà:



To be honest, it does take some practice to perfect the shucking technique. During our first visit, it took us a long time to open each oyster, but I guess that practice makes perfect, as we were able to shuck the oysters in rapid succession this time. You need to do trial-and-error to figure out the amount of force that you need in order to insert the blade - you definitely need to force it between the shells.

That afternoon, we started off our lunch with a dozen Sweetwater oysters (pictured above). We fired up a grill (several are available at the picnic area) and took turns shucking the oysters. After the charcoal was ready, we threw on some Beddar than Cheddar sausages that we picked up to accompany the oysters. The combination of cheese-laden sausages and fresh oysters, washed down with some Bordeaux that we picked up a few weeks ago, hit the spot.

After finishing off the first round of oysters, we were ready for some more. I went back, picked up a half-dozen Kumamotos and, after asking what went well on the grill, a couple of Cowboy oysters. The Cowboys were massive, easily several times larger than the Kumamotos and roughly the size of my hand. We put the Cowboys on the grill for about 10 minutes or so, shucked them, and slurped them down with the Kumamotos. For a size comparison, check out the Kumamoto sandwiched between the Cowboys:



After all of the sausages and oysters, we were pretty stuffed (especially after the Cowboys). Once we polished off the last Kumamoto, we packed up the cooler, loaded up the car, and proceeded on the drive up to our weekend destination. It was definitely a good way to start our restful and relaxing weekend getaway.

For those of your with some cash to burn...

Introducing... the Caviar Pizza. Perhaps I should order one for delivery, using my Gold Vish "Le Million" cell phone, of course. I imagine that it would pair nicely with a Martini on the Rock. I just want to have something simple, like pizza, after that dinner the other night in Bangkok.

Shopping at Le Village

Yesterday, my sweetie and I paid a visit to Le Village (211 South Hill Drive, Brisbane), a gourmet food wholesaler located just south of San Francisco. We had heard about this distributor from our friends Tesha and Jeremiah and had been looking forward to seeing it for ourselves for the past couple of months. Lauded by Thomas Keller and Anthony Bourdain, Le Village caters primarily to institutional or commercial buyers. Indeed, private consumers can usually only purchase items via mail-order through the company web site. However from time to time, usually about one weekend a month, Le Village opens its warehouse doors to the general public. This was one such weekend, so we took advantage of me being in town (instead on a flight to Europe) to check it out.

On Saturday, we made the short drive from the City down to Brisbane. We found our way to the warehouse, which is nestled in deep in an office park next to San Bruno Mountain.


We had only intended to take a look around to see what was available, but we grabbed a shopping cart in case there was anything that might we want to pick up. Within a few minutes of entering the warehouse, it was apparent that we would be putting the cart to a fair amount of use. There were so many tasty things that caught our eye - pallets of imported chocolate; rows and rows of French lemonade and cider bottles; a huge walk-in refrigerator filled with cured meats, stinky cheeses, and imported yogurts. It was a food lover's fantasy.

A hour after we walked in, we walked out with a cart full of goodness and a significantly lighter wallet. We bought a bunch of Mamie Nova French yogurts which were highly recommended by Jeremiah and Tesha. We also found ourselves with a smoked duck breast, some duck confit, and a round of stinky cheese (whose name escapes me right now), as well as several bottles of French lemonade and cider. We also bought a case of petit fours, which are currently residing in my freezer, awaiting my next dinner party. We picked up a case of mix and match French wines, which included some white and red Burgandies, a couple bottles of Bordeaux, and some wine from the Rhône region. I did a quick online check and saw that many of the bottles were retailing for twice the price that we paid per bottle.

On top of all of the great food, the service was excellent. Everyone there was very friendly and helpful. One of the guys, who was passing out samples of cured dry salami, stopped what he was doing, went out of his way to help us find the items that we wanted, and took the time to answer our questions. It was a far cry from the service that you usually get at your local megamart. I'm looking forward to the next open warehouse weekend. If you are interested in visiting yourself, check out their open warehouse events page.