Bucket List 2.012

gfork — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 23:02:10 +0000

In retrospect, I’m a little disappointed in myself. Since 2009, I’ve only been able to knock off four restaurants in my bucket list – Grey’s Papaya, Jean Georges, Alinea, and TRU. Maybe I need to be more realistic. If that’s the case, I will have to fill in the blanks with more attainable choices. We’ll see how 2012 goes. As always, in no particular order:

Per Se (New York City) Because I’ve heard this is better than French Laundry.
Osteria Mozza (Los Angeles) Because this is the best LA choice.
Blue Hill at Stone Barns (Pocantico Hills) Because Dan Barber is a god.
K Paul’s (New Orleans) Because I met Chef Paul last year and he wants me to visit.
Lolita (Cleveland) Because I’ve followed Michael Symon’s career since 2001 when Michael Ruhlman wrote about him in Soul of a Chef.
wd~50 (New York City) Because Wylie Dufresne intrigues the hell out of me.
Chez Panisse (Berkeley) Because I’ve lived in the Bay Area for 14 years and never eaten here. It’s embarrassing, I know.
Coi (San Francisco) Because this Michelin-starred restaurant is ridiculously close to my office.
Benu (San Francisco) Because the San Francisco Chronicle AND The New York Times say so.
Asador Etxebarri (Axpe, Spain) Because I fell in love with this place on No Reservations. They had me at the baby eels.

Filed under: San Francisco

the top ten things I ate in 2011

gfork — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:07:16 +0000

2011 has definitely been a year of good eats for me. Hitting two restaurants from my bucket list, Alinea and Tru, were the highlights and the food did not disappoint. Throughout the year, though, there were many surprises. Below is my list of the best of what was on g-fork’s plate this year (and in no particular order).

#19 - best sandwich ever.

#19 at Langer’s Delicatessen in Los Angeles. Juicy and tender pastrami, house-made cole slaw, and swiss cheese is heaven on rye.

Elvis would've loved this.

Memphis Mafia from Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland. A banana fritter topped with chocolate chips, chocolate, peanuts and peanut butter. Totally awesome, dude.

Best plate o' potatoes anywhere.

Hash browns at Pine State Biscuits in Portland. I came for the fried chicken and biscuits, but fell in love with the hash browns. Best ever. Perfectly crispy on the outside, tender and moist on the inside. This is how hash browns should taste. Always.

Gyoza at Ramen Yamadaya in Culver City. This newbie location came recommended by food god, Jonathan Gold. The ramen was one of the best I’ve had, but the gyoza was THE best I’ve ever eaten. Think pan-fried, pork filled soup dumpling – a taste explosion in your mouth. Sorry, no photo.

The Darth Vader of pizza ovens at Cupola.

Bianca pizza from Cupola Pizzeria in San Francisco. The perfect pizza for me – tomato-less, with pecorino, fresh basil, garlic and lardo. A damn fine pie.

My death row last meal.

Spoonful of Happiness at Koo in San Francisco. It is exactly that – a spoonful of uni, quail egg, tobiko ponzu and a spoonful of ankimo wrapped with whitefish, white truffle-oil ponzu & a shot of chilled sake. This is so delectable, it gives me the giggles every time I have it.

Lobster and cheese. The perfect combo.

Lobster mac and cheese at Blue Plate Oysterette in Santa Monica. Crunchy, creamy, lobstery, cheesy = the ultimate g-fork dish.

A breathtaking presentation.

Salmon at TRU in Chicago. Scottish salmon cooked sous-vide, seared and topped with sorrel and smoked cream, on a bed of pea purée and grapeseed oil. This dish was not only beautiful to look at, but absolutely delightful to eat.

I will take this over a chocolate truffle any day.

Black Truffle Explosion at Alinea in Chicago. One of Grant Achatz’s signature dishes, this was one of 20+ plates presented during the night. A ravioli stuffed with reduced and gelled truffle juice and butter, topped with a razor-thin black truffle slice, crispy romaine and Parmesan.

A finger-lickin' good tuna s'wich.

Seared ahi sandwich from Naked Lunch in San Francisco. Chef Ian knows how to make a sandwich but this blew me away. Tombo ahi with a soft fried egg, pea shoots, avocado and garlic aioli. I can’t have a tuna sandwich now, any other way.

Honorable mentions: Pork ramen with brussels sprouts at Hapa Ramen in San Francisco; Salmon bite at Txoko in San Francisco; Soft shell crab sandwich from Naked Lunch in San Francisco; Caramelized carrot cake with pea ice cream at TRU in Chicago; Chocolate and peanut butter nougats, blueberries, crème brûlée, fresh basil, honey, chocolate sauce served on the tabletop at Alinea in Chicago.

Onward to 2012!

Filed under: Los Angeles, San Francisco, the kitchen sink

taking another stab with the fork

gfork — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 05:27:40 +0000

Here’s a re-imagining of g-fork, once again. This is its third incarnation in eight years. Yes, g-fork is that old. If you are curious what the original g-fork looked like, you can check it out on the wayback machine. I am still making small tweaks to the site, but this is what it is and what it shall be. I hope you like the new look.

Filed under: the kitchen sink

trees, please

gfork — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 03:44:42 +0000

I just ate a big o’ bowl full of broccoli. Just broccoli. Steamed al dente, but without mayo (my mom’s preferred accoutrement), cheese , butter, or whatever else people put on it. As I was slicing the flower heads from the stalk, I had a flashback of being six years old, sitting at the white and inlaid gold formica dinner table across from my brother Garret. He always preferred the “branches” while I liked the “leaves” so we always traded broccoli parts whenever my mom would (over)cook it. 40+ years later, while I will happily eat the entire tree as I did tonight, I prefer the meaty stalk and branches over the clustering flower head. I am not sure why. But I am wondering, now, if my brother prefers the head over the stalk so I can trade ‘em.

Filed under: chow time

my lover boy

gfork — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 23:31:17 +0000

I do love all things food – buying it, preparing it, cooking it, eating it. Even the stores where I buy it, the gadgets and equipment used to prepare it, my pots and pans I cook it in, and the utensils and plates I eat it from. I have even fallen in love with a restaurant bathroom (go figure).

Being tactile and pragmatic, a well-designed, well-crafted piece of kitchen equipment does send my heart aflutter. My commercial KitchenAid has been my faithful steed for over 20 years with nary a complaint from its 450 watt motor. (Did you know the silhouette of this mixer is a registered trademark?) My vintage 1972 Cuisinart food processor has still got it goin’ on but my barely one-month old Cuisinart immersion blender (just days out of its Amazon warranty period), however, prematurely burned out. I dug out my mom’s 30 year-old, still-in-box, but definitely out of its warranty, Hamilton Beach Mixette that, when plugged in, still whirred like hummingbird wings. I’d like to add the immersion blender was made in China. The Mixette was made in Racine, Wisconsin. I’m just sayin’…

My latest, new-found love came out of nowhere (as love can sometimes do). I wasn’t looking for it, it just happened.

Winding down from the major gorge fest called Thanksgiving, I chatted with my cousin Michael about the various Japanese dishes he made for this annual family reunion – nimono (stewed vegetables with seasoned shoyu), gomokuzushi (traditionally, five main ingredients over rice), and nukazuke (an involved fermenting/pickling method using toasted rice bran). And that’s when he brought it out – his fresh-off-the-boat hinoki tsukemono ki, a gift from the Kajiwaras who are long-time family friends and own a kitchen supply company in Tokyo. Having known of Michael’s penchant for traditional Japanese cooking, they brought him this traditional Japanese pickling pot. (Old school tsukemono ki are wood, but nowadays most are plastic.) This beauty was about 14″ across, and made from hinoki – a species of cypress with a blonde timber that is grown only in Japan. As I held the bowl in my hands, rubbing its grain across my cheek, I could smell the citrusy fragrance of the wood, so sweet I wanted to lick it. To the touch, it was as smooth and uncut as a single piece of wood – virtually seamless. To the eyes, it was warm and inviting – begging to be touched. It was an elegant vessel of a more civilized age. I was in love.

When I was a little girl, whenever I’d come across a big post – be it a granite street lamp, a wood telephone pole, a cement pylon – I would joyfully run up to it, enthusiastically wrap my arms around it, let out a content sigh and proclaim to all within earshot, “This is my lover boy!” So it’s no wonder that as I hugged the hinoki tsukemono ki to my breast, and a certain excitement, pleasure and peacefulness arose, I was four years old all over again - this was my lover boy!

my lover boy

Filed under: chow time, the kitchen sink

a brief history of Thanksgiving, 2011

gfork — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 07:30:27 +0000

Filed under: the kitchen sink

I am, I said.

gfork — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 17:43:15 +0000

My dad eats everything with chopsticks. He has for as long as I can recall. Cottage cheese, salad, watermelon, spaghetti, oatmeal, eggs, even the bits at the bottom of soup, not to mention meat, fish, and rice. So it’s no wonder that, after making a plate of stir fried baby Brussels sprouts, the first utensil I reach for, and use, are a pair of chopsticks. Then I remembered I also keep and use a pair at my desk at work. I used to think it was because of a certain “fork shortage” we have at the office. But now I know – I am my dad. And that’s not a bad thing. In this case, that is.

Filed under: chow time, the kitchen sink

d’oh! nuts

gfork — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 18:37:55 +0000

Sometimes, my life surprises me. Take for instance, doughnuts. I am a baker’s daughter. I grew up surrounded by amazing, fresh baked goods and confections. My dad’s cookies are still in my dreams – butternut, peanut butter, oatmeal, but most of all he used to make kick-ass chocolate chip cookies. So good, in fact, when I was a kid I wanted to bake some at home so I naturally asked for the recipe. “If everyone baked their own chocolate chip cookies, I’d be out of business,” he replied. Disappointed but I knew he had a point. It wasn’t until years later that I actually made my own chocolate chip cookies (recipe from the infamous Mrs. Field’s chocolate chip cookie recipe hoax…hey, it was the 80′s). After 20+ years, I’ve been able to fine tune that recipe and come up with something fairly close to my dad’s. But I digress.

For 49 years, I had been a doughnut frying virgin. Several reasons come to mind. First, I don’t like to fry. Well, eggs, yes. Dough, no. It’s messy. It’s oily. And I hate cleaning up oil spills. Second, my dad’s doughnuts were the best. Ever. His glazed raised were my favorites. Krsipy Kreme has nothing on my dad. There were just sweet enough, light as air with just enough crunch when biting into the nut of the fried dough. Making these at home, I just couldn’t go there. So I surprised myself yesterday when I made a decision to attempt doughnuts at home. I found a fairly easy recipe (I thank gawd for sending me Michael Ruhlman every cooking day) and, well, here are the results.

apple cinnamon d'oh! nuts

They came out pretty good, though it was tough to keep the oil at a constant 350 degrees. I think this resulted in a browner and not-ideally-crispy crust. They are passable (as long as I’m the only one eating them) for a first attempt.

Now I have to figure out what to do with the leftover oil. And the clean-up. Probably not going to make another batch of doughnuts for a while.

Filed under: San Francisco

chili today

gfork — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 04:56:48 +0000

Cold weather is here which means it’s chili season.

the makings for vegetarian chili

the makings for cornbread

jalapeno blue and yellow cornbread muffins served with honey butter; chili served with a berrylicious 2006 Berryessa Gap petite sirah

Filed under: San Francisco

dessert for one

gfork — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 03:24:49 +0000

Dinner alone? Check.

Bottle of pinot? Check.

Semi-sweet chocolate? Check.

Eggs? Check.

Flour? Check.

Confectioner’s sugar? Check.

Frozen raspberries? Check.

Lemons? Check.

Heavy cream? Check.

Nothing better to do tonight? Check.

chocolate molten cake with raspberry coulis

Filed under: San Francisco