Saturday, November 28, 2009

Reality and Authenticity in Yountville

The olives we ordered were really good. They were delicious green olives, cured and brined with coriander and other spices. According to the waiter, they came from the front yard. Jonathan (who was excellent) referred to them as "Front Yard Olives". At Bottega, Michael Chiarello's new Napa Valley restaurant, I learned that the olives are good and ostensibly come from his front yard. One of us had a very nice, rather pricey glass and a half ($20) of the Chiarello Family Vineyards Cab. I started feeling bad for the poor Chiarellos. Here we are taking all this food from their table and this wine from their cellar. With his rustic Napa Style retail shop across the courtyard, the Bottega/Napa Style complex represent the latest in the simulacra of the old world in the New World Wine Land of Napa. The dark woods and distressed furniture, the hammered copper water mugs, the light fixtures, and the fireplaces all denote the pretensions to recreate a sense of the past.

My first exposure to Chiarello's cooking was at the long established St. Helena restaurant, Tra Vigne, that he opened in 1986. We first went in the November of 1996 and many times thereafter. His tenure as Executive Chef ended in 2000. Tra Vigne was (and arguably is) a fine example of the fusion of California's emphasis on fresh, top-quality ingredients with an Italian culinary vernacular done in a large, open plan restaurant with earthy tones and spare decor. But it had other charms as well, including an excellent front of the house and a number of long-timers on its waitstaff. One of these fellows, a true gourmand, is Murph. I might say, "The Murph", as the usage of his name seems almost titular, like Mahatma, but I think his name is John. With his bushy red mustache, his warmth, and sincere enthusiasm, he was also a treat. Murph ended his 14 years of service (to the day) at Tra Vigne in 2003.

Now Bottega is in Yountville, which is upmarket (barely) and down valley from St. Helena. Yountville is the home to The Restaurant That Shall Not Be Named and the two other Thomas Keller places. So it has high culinary status. In opening Bottega there, was Chiarello hoping to benefit from the food traffic in town or trying to compete with the resident Chef impresario Keller or is the commute simply a little easier from his place? But given the nature of the Napa Valley, it may simply have been the place where the right space was available.

All this said, Bottega was a great place for lunch. The menu is extraordinarily appealing and, like Tra Vigne, is reasonably priced for the quality of the food and the experience. I tried the calamari, the zuppa (Cauliflower), a salad of the first courses and had the duck half confit for the main course. The food was great. This is not the height of haute cuisine, but there are other places in town for that. This is about great food in an appealing environment that, while it is annoyingly derivative, is the real deal - a great place for food and drink with friends and loved ones. We ate late and guess who I caught up with just getting set up for the dinner service? The Murph. Who was looking virtually unchanged from that November thirteen years ago. With his presence, I was doubly assured that in spite of the "Napa Style", this place is real.


My use of "simulacra" is the first paragraph was only partly to show off my liberal arts education. I feel that this word (as articulated by the author/quote below) truly expresses the idea I am trying to convey. 
Jean Baudrillard - The simulacrum is never that which conceals the truth -- it is the truth which conceals that there is none. The simulacrum is true. 

Decorous

There are many ways I could describe the Friday after Thanksgiving, but none would be "black". Decorous Friday seems more precise. The leftovers are plentiful and, maybe, more delicious than game day. The pace is generally relaxed. With two more travel days available over the weekend, no one has to hurriedly get anyway. So decorum reigns. The fact the Black Friday is a reference to retail shopping and commerce sullies the name further. One of the redeeming qualities of the Thanksgiving holiday is its less commercialized nature. But this Black Friday bombardment belies this.

Of course, this Friday business is associated not so much with Thanksgiving as with Christmas. We were confronted with this going out to lunch in Yountville with its Festival of Lights. Now being half-Jewish (if you must know, the right half - interpret that as will you) the Festival of Lights brings to mind something other than an adult female dressed as an elf singing holiday songs (read: Christmas) while confounding her diminutive co-singers who appeared to be small children. There was an effigy bear dancer of sorts, a fire truck, a silent auction, an ice sculpture of Frosty and lots of wine tasting. And, after 5:30, there was a festival of lights. There was a delightful showing from both the locals and us visitors and some good cheer.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Mr. Thanksgiving

Or Mr. T... I met him recently. If you go to culinary school and your nickname becomes "Mr. Thanksgiving", you are the real deal. You must have earned the moniker. Surrounding a roasted turkey with a slices of turkey roulade - boned breast and legs separately stuffed rolled and tied, then roasted - in the midst of a plated, multi-course Thanksgiving for 35 is not for novices.

So while I wait for my Indian Pudding to finish cooking, I am reminded of my family and friends and of this delicious Bolivia Cup of Excellence coffee I roasted last night. It is exceptionally bright and smooth. I did not find the "apple blossom" aroma, my purveyor describes, but it is excellent.

I have a lot to be thankful for this year (other than this excellent coffee).With the passing of time and events, my appreciation of the significance of "my people" has changed. With the illnesses, births, deaths, marriages, dissolutions, beginnings, and goodbyes, the preciousness of these people grows.As an aside, you know the end of apple season always gets me thinking this way (about the transience and preciousness of life). But this year I am especially grateful - for recovered friends, healthiness, recoveries, additions to my baby portfolio, my work, and a just completed decade of marriage (I know you are incredulous someone could put up with me that long mostly continuously).

Mr. T will certainly inspire me to create with Parker a wonderful meal to celebrate this good fortune for us and ours and to request, to pray for more health, more happiness, more fulfillment in a world of more health, more peace, more kindness. Happy Thanksgiving! Alex

Thursday, November 19, 2009

In Defense of Thanksgiving

I never really thought Thanksgiving needed support. I never thought it needed advocacy, but an old (not old, but one I have had a long time, you know) friend recently told me they did not really care for Thanksgiving. Now I admit Thanksgiving has some issues. It is a perfectly designed four day holiday, yet the main event is right at the beginning. So there is no leisurely build-up, no Thanksgiving Eve to build the crescendo and the spirit. And then there is the question of what to do with the rest of the weekend? The travel is difficult unless you do not have to and family is a mainstay of the tradition.

And Thanksgiving's main competition is Christmas. Now Christmas doesn't have four days specifically designated for it, but the Birth of the Son of God kind of trumps some funny looking people (the Pilgrims - come on, who designed those outfits?) having a dinner with the natives of Massachusetts. Please do not mistake me, I love Massachusetts and have had myself some great dinner with Massachusetteans. But none that were worthy of a naming a holiday after. And, honestly, what young person doesn't have their Jesus identification fantasy? Now, admittedly, mine came late, in college, and whil3 many thought the hair was just about right, I was a Jesus with too large an appetite and too much time in the weight room. Of course, I may have been having a Mac Wilkins in Montreal period. (He took the Gold. Might that be holiday worthy?)

So why should we care about Thankgiving? There is no Messiah, unless you had a few too many spiked ciders and the turkey carcass starts talking to you. The timing is tricky and, often, forces evil travel options. Turkey is a cursed poultry ever since it got dissed as the Nation's bird, in spite of Ben Franklin's efforts. After the let down, it all dried out. I am not sure  if the Bald Eagle tastes any better. And there is family, usually lots...

But Thanksgiving is very uncontrived. We humans have been celebrating the harvest and abundance since before we started harvesting. We did this in part because there was limited means of storage and it was a great excuse for a party. Though there are hard times for all of us always, it is natural to acknowledge our good fortune when things are flush. The story about the Wampanoags and the Pilgrims (the First Thanksgiving) may have bits of fiction and fact, but all people everywhere have celebrated their excesses and good fortune. Also, gratitude, that attitude of gratefulness, adds a remarkable richness to my peception of the human experience.

One interesting reflection I had on this was after attending a workshop by a Mohawk man named Jake Swamp in 1995. Jake began with the usual introductory words all Iroquois people use to begin their meetings. Not surprisingly, they refer to this "talk" as Words That Come Before All Else (Ohenten Karihwatehkwen). But this talk has become known as The Thanksgiving Address. It seems they use these words evoking this gratitude to join themselves together with a common appreciation of the value of their world, whether their meeting is to celebrate, to mourn, or to negotiate.

So perhaps Thanksgiving is a bogus holiday. Perhaps we all might spend a few more moments each and everyday in acknowledgment of what we have and its meaning to us. Perhaps we might slow ourselves and see what is really most important to us: our dear loved ones - family and friends, our furry ones, our places, our homes, our helpers, our lands, our ancestors, and our world. Perhaps, but for me, I really like the gravy.

The Bridge to H.U.

The serene pond with its' attendant geese is my welcome company at breakfast. The morning sky streaked with dawn sleepiness. Across the water, Hamburger University sits dark.

I am at the Hyatt Lodge at the McDonald's Campus. I was to be in the area for the weekend and heard (correctly) that it is a nice place to stay. But the symbolism did not really strike me until now, sitting over my plate of organic scrambled eggs and hash browns with Superior (ahem) coffee. Coming to breakfast through the hotel, I passed the sign, "Bridge to H.U.". Hamburger University.

Evidently, hamburgers need a university. I think I need to go here. I like ground beef a lot, but patty making is an elusive skill. Can you over work the meat? How much to dimple the burger to get a flat patty off the grill?

What kind of degree could I get? a Ph.H... a M.H.. or even better a D.H...

The "bridge" to me is really about crossing over to corporate industrial food, leaving food as culture, as personal, as inherently local and human. For most of human culture, food has been all of these things. With the lack of easy storage, refrigeration, preservation techniques, not to mention agriculture as we know it, food has been all about place and people. Gathering and hunting was largely social. It encouraged cooperation and, in some cases, competition for the scarce resources. The bridge to H.U. represents all that modernity has developed - the ability to produce a massive supply of homogeneous food for a system capable of preparing very similar, if not identical, items capable of being transported globally to feed people trained to prefer exactly what can be delivered to them. These are calories, cheap and quick, with yummy fats and sugars to keep us coming back for more.

Sunday, November 08, 2009

A Quick Post Market Lunch


The color of this photo probably does not do it justice. Dennis of Mission Fresh Fish, who is a terrifically nice guy, and a very good fishseller, suggested these "Barry Bonds" prawns instead of the mediums I was eyeing. So we had two pan-seared jumbo prawns with a piece of butterfish and my unfussy (less rich) beurre blanc with broc and cauliflower from Swanton's Berry Farm. Beurre blanc is a simple sauce when made last minute and its bright flavors are a contrast to some muted restaurant versions (who use cream to help hold the emulsification). My off the cuff recipe is 1 medium shallot finely chopped with equal parts (2 tablespoons for this amount of shallots, but really who cares) white-wine or apple cider vinegar and lemon or lime juice. Reduce the shallots and the liquid over medium until it thickens and is about half the volume. Hold over very low flame until your entree is ready and whisk in the butter (6 tblspns or so). Julia suggests white pepper and salt, but I just taste it, add more butter, if needed, and pour over the entree. I really have only used it on fish. My main discovery is that more acidic vinegars require more reduction and more butter to balance them. As I prefer it lighter, I used a fantastic Gravenstein vinegar from Nana Mae.

Saturday, November 07, 2009

The Rome Beauty


Dear Friends, As I have written to you about apple season before, you probably recall the relish and melancholy that attends this time of year for me. My main apple grower, Paul of Nana Mae, has mostly Rome Beauties and Granny Smiths left. Last weekend, he explained how the Rome Beauty apple seemed to be going out of the style, how trees we being pulled up in favor of some of the newer super varieties, like the Honeycrisp. Now the Honeycrisp is a delicious apple, but a world of only Honeycrisps would be sorely lacking. Part of why the Rome Beauty has been around and is still grown fairly extensively (though it is falling out of favor) is its' variety of use and its' solid production. The apple is good eating and good for baking. I did not know it is not a good juicing apple and should be used, at most, as at 50% of a cider blend. The tree produces very well. So all in all, we have a great producing and very useful apple. When I entertained visions of having a couple of head of cattle, I wanted a Red Poll. The Red Poll is a manageable size (it is smaller). It is an easy breeder, good for meat, a pretty good milker, and nice looking. I understand the desire for bigger, better, sweeter, tastier, but what do we lose?
Sincerely yours, Alex