Planet Futbol

Went to Berkeley this past Saturday to watch the men's soccer team play an exhibition match against UC Davis. It was a good match that Berkeley dominated and won 2-0. The game started at 2pm and lasted a couple hours. Having only had toast for breakfast and a granola bar for lunch I was famished.

Berkeley in white

My daughter suggested Jupiter near the BART station. Having just sat in the sun for a long while we requested water. The gracious waitress accommodated us with several pitchers. Jupiter is also brewery, so we could have had beer. No one in the group was a beer drinker but the table next door was enjoying their brews with gusto. We ordered our dinner and a bottle of pinot grigio.

The decor is a rugged refectory kinda look with an nice outdoor eating area. The place was busy with a band warming up outside. It seemed like about a minute had gone by when food started to arrive. Big portions, hot and fast and cheap this is my kinda joint. I had the 9"Aries Pizza loaded with pepperoni and bubbling mozzarella cheese. This is the only plate I did not photograph. I think the aroma must have overwhelmed me. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Neptuna Melt

Atlas/ roasted chicken breast

Persephone/ roasted veg on focaccia

Caesar with roasted chicken breast

Mediterranean Caesar

Eat good and play futbol.

Almost a victim of the market

Marin Civic Center Farmers Market

We arrived at 8am and the market is already a swarm of humanity. The sun is strong and the vendors booths loaded with goodies. There is a sense of community and a calmness today. We purchase piles of goodies. We have figs, pears, fingerling potatoes, lemons, limes, beets, and corn. A cornucopia of produce. Oh, I forgot the Rancho Gordo Pinquitos ,with a cool recipe for Santa Maria beans for barbecue. We are thinking about a Aidels sausage for brekkies. Let's just put the bags in the car.

We follow an elderly couple with canes across the street when a white van careens past us in obvious excess of speed and good sense. The man stumbles a bit and yells at the driver. Where is this guy headed so fast? Well now, it appears that it is a late arriving vendor who is headed for the market. As I head back for my sausage I comment to the driver that it might not be good business to take out the customers. I really expected an I'm sorry sir, but instead this kid proceeds to do his I'm an angry man/ gangsta routine. While unloading his product he punches the side of his van. A line has qued up now to purchase product. A man of about fifty looks worried about my presence. I explain my concern, he says that I should stay out of the way because he has waited since 8am to make a purchase. I collect a license and description to file a police report while angry man stomps around flinging merchandise onto the counter. Another patron hears my story and says " he's late every week like this" . Gentlemen I salute you! I have lost track of my priorities. This business must be done, a few people get hurt, who cares! Shame a few boneheads spoil the market for many.

Memories

Fellow blogger, cookiecrumb, over at I’m Mad and I Eat tagged me with a Meme. So far I had managed to dodge these things. They kind of remind me of chain letters, and I like chain letters as much as I like Amway salespeople. But this concept of listing five of my childhood food memories intrigued me.

I jumped into the wayback machine I have attached to an old black and white T.V.in the garage. I started it up and began my journey. Hey Mr. Peabody “what’s up dog?”. There’s Sherman, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Boris and Natasha. Next up, Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, girls dancing, oh my. Adam Twelve 415 man with a gun. I Dream of Jeanie, hot outfit girl! The Mickey Mouse Club with girls dancing, makes me feel all funny in my tummy. Knock it off fool, that’s childhood food memories! M.I.C. see ya real soon, K.E.Y., why because we like you. M.O.U.S.E. Enough already here’s my list in no particular order.

Tastykake chocolate cupcakes

Little Tavern hamburgers – much like White Castle little burgers buy em by the bag

Hot Shoppes Mighty Mo and Teen Twist Sandwiches - a Washington D.C. drive thru restaurant.

French fries with gravy. Closely followed by McDonald’s original fresh cut fries cooked in lard.

Mom’s potato salad. Made with Miracle Whip and Lawry’s Season Salt. Served along ham sandwiches on dinner rolls with hot mustard.

There’s the list. Hey Rocky watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat….Grrrrrr!

Listen to me wine

Today I venture into the wine arena. I like wine, preferably red. I have a similar philosophy about wine as I do about food. I appreciate the good wines but I don’t have the bank to indulge in the expensive stuff so I look for a bargain that tastes good. I think sometimes the wine makers sell the sizzle rather than the steak. It is possible to get real good wines without breaking the bank.

About a month ago I attended a family function and met an old buddy, Rick. In the spirit of full disclosure Rick and I tended bar together in a past life. I say, “Hey Rick what you been up to?” He replies, “I opened a wine shop.” I say, “I been writing a blog about food and travel and stuff,” and he says “Come on by!” So we do.



We’re at Rick’s Wine Cellar at 207 Corte Madera Ave. in Corte Madera. You know that crazy four way intersection with three stop signs, proceed with caution. Rick and his wife Candy have taken over an old wine shop and lovingly remodeled it. The place is pristine. Rick has managed every detail. A beautiful tasting bar and a private room in the rear, decorated with colorful paintings from a local artist. What appealed to me were the weekly flights that allow you to compare three or four wines made from the same grape.


Private room

I tell Rick that I’m a bit of tightwad when it comes to wine and he says it’s his mission to bring unique wines from all price ranges to his shop. The guy is a fountain of wine knowledge and is truly customer service oriented. There is also a large selection of meat and cheese plates available. What a great place to hang out after work. Take home a bottle or case of your favorites and start wining.

Mr Rick mans the tasting bar

BBQ in Marin ?

This blog started as a visit to the Wednesday night farmers market at the Town Center in Corte Madera. It is a very pretty market in the courtyard mall. I was checking out the produce when I catch the smell of smoke, ‘that’s barbecue,’ my nostrils declare. Barbecue in Marin? Sure enough attached to the side of the upscale Bryan’s Fine Foods is a barbecue pit. A Southern Pride modern, shiny stainless steel beast.

Corte Madera Market

I understand that barbecue is probably like religion and politics, discussions to be avoided if you don’t want conflict. I consider myself a semi-professional pit master. Having slaved over charcoal during my years of higher learning. Nothing like someone in class commenting “smells like barbecue” when you walk into the room. Yada, yada that being said here are my comments.

We choose the Mr. Ribs Sampler Platter $19.99, 4 pork ribs, 2 beef ribs, half a chicken, 2 corn muffins and baked beans. They burn oak and the result is heavy on smoke. I liked the pork ribs best, the beef was good too. The chicken had fine smoke but was a little on the dry side. Killer baked beans and the corn bread was moist. I tried not to like the barbecue sauce but it worked when added to the meat. Wish we had tried the pulled pork and tri tip, next time.

Sampler Platter

We spoke briefly with owner Fred Mosher as he was about to get a batch of pork shoulder ready for it’s 14 hour stay in the pit. His mission was to bring authentic barbecue to Marin. This is takeout place, so next time you’re tired of pizza and Chinese give Mr. Ribs a try.

You say tomato

At last!! Our crop of backyard tomatoes has started to ripen. We planted a lot of the small varieties. Just pop one in your mouth..so sweet. Garden to kitchen, can't get more local than that. I have been very envious of cookiecrumbs crop for some time now, I think she has more of a green thumb than us. So what to do with these beauties. I believe in the KISS (keep it simple stupid) style of food. A tomato salad... that will do pig. We used it a couple nights as side dish for dinner.


tomato salad

New York steak with baked tater

grilled pork with bbq sauce and brown rice

Tomato Salad

Assorted sweet tomatoes(cut in half if larger)
Fresh basil, oregano,and parsley
chopped onion
olive oil
lemon or lime juice
salt and pepper

Mix and enjoy!

You should have been here then

I have to admit this trip north is more than a “culinary road trip”. It is also a family vacation/check out real estate trip. Sometimes trying to do everything is a frustrating experience. On day one we check out downtown Portland. The one unique place we checked out was Powell’s City of Books. Large and complete are the keys words. The food section alone is the size of some small bookstores. One section dedicated to barbecue was about ten by ten feet. I was in heaven, until I got that feeling you get when you eat a whole pizza and think “I ate too much”. Too many books too many choices.

We also checked out Whole Foods, Sur La Table, and Buffalo Exchange. No excitement, we got that In SF. My kids wanted to check out Pioneer Place Mall. Kind of like any other mall, but stacked up layer cake style instead of meatloaf style. We also visited the Portland Zoo which was the bomb. I thought I would blog about the zoo food or the mall food but couldn’t bring myself to do it.

zoo food makes me sleepy

There were a couple of food blog possibilities but we ran into the “you should have been here then” routine. Westeren Culinary Institute's Restaurant Bleu offers a five course meal for $15; they were closed this week for semester end. The revived downtown section of Vancouver offers a farmer’s market that is open on Sunday (we leave Friday) and is about to open on daily basis (next week). Next trip.

And that’s when we went to Little Italy’s Trattoria in the afore mentioned downtown section of Vancouver. It had been recommended by a friend of my daughters as a cool place to eat. It was the totally non corporate place we were searching for. Ok, technically they are a chain because they own two but trust me this is not corporate. As soon as I saw the murals on the outside and was heartily invited into the brick walled, red table clothed dining room I knew I was in the right place.

My daughter and I both chose the Pizza Napolitano. She the classic Margherita and I the Quattro Satgione (four seasons) with one quarter each sausage and olives, spinach, mushroom, and plain cheese. This is how pizza should be made!! My son had the meat Calzone with pepperoni, ham, and salami. I managed to sneak a bite before he polished off the huge portion, damn good. The wife had Fettuccine Di Davide with roasted garlic, olive oil, pine nuts, green olives and fresh tomatoes, Molto Buono!

Pizza Margherita

Quattro Stagione

Calzone

Fettuccini Di Davide

Sharon our waitress was gracious, has a genuine smile, and made us feel at home. We chose the the Defeat by Chocolate (Sconfito dalla Cioccolata) for dessert. Image a soft, hot chocolate cake with molten chocolate center that you dip fried sugar puffs into. A chocolate fondue on steroids. Can’t forget the wonderful cannoli my wife had been yearning for.

Defeat by Chocolate

cannoli

About this time the chef/owner Ida Cuomo-Jones (pronounced Ee-da) stops by the table and jokingly asks “who’s out here causing all the trouble and taking pictures of my food?”. Introductions and what’s a blog explained, we lavish her with deserved praise for her restaurant. I wish I could move this restaurant to my neighborhood.I'd be their best customer. You should have been here now.

Corporate America

Having never been north of Redding, I was excited to check out Oregon and southern Washington. Lord that’s a lot of driving! What does Oregon have that I like? It has lots of green trees, rivers, bridges and blackberry bushes. My wife said “if you ever stalled on the side of the road you wouldn’t starve, just eat the blackberries”. What does Oregon have that I don’t like? Lots of traffic and aggressive drivers just like good old Cali. So much for first impressions.


The world's largest slow sign is appropriate

I know I’m going to flip flop a little here so bear with. About three hours into the eleven hour trip I start to bemoan the corporate takeover of the U.S. Starting soon when you go online for driving directions it will read. Start in Marin go north 73 McDonalds, 22 Taco Bells, and turn right at Subway number 62 and arrive at your destination. Go into any mall and you could be anywhere USA. All the kids wear the same clothes and talk the same. There are contingent groups Goths, Preps, Gangsters etc. Within each group they all try to emulate the same fashion trend.

Here comes the flip or flop. At twelve hours into the eleven hour trip, corporate starts to look pretty good. We arrive in Vancouver, Washington and register at the Marriot Residence Inn. In the small print I discover that our room includes both a hot breakfast and manager’s reception. I took that to mean beer, wine and snackies. To my surprise they served a different meal each night with the alcohol. During our stay those meals included sub sandwiches, nachos, pasta bake and shepherd’s pie. All of which are at least fair to good. Our room is a called a penthouse, it has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, full kitchen and living room. There are four of us and the rate is $134 per night food included! Corporate strikes its first blow.


hot breakfast includes waffles, scrambled eggs, sausage etc


nacho night


pasta night small portion

By the time we arrive it’s too late for free food so we walk next door to Olive Garden. Ouch! More corporate. There is something comfortable about knowing what to expect at the end of the day. We are provided with a good meal at a reasonable price by a great waitress. The waitress is a local and more than earned her tip by providing us with sightseeing tips. The downside was the constant pitch to add on to the check (no doubt drummed into the head by the corporate trainer). Approach the table with wine to sample. Well wine of course. Would you like appetizers? No thank you. After the bread sticks arrive, would you like some marinara sauce with those? Ok, got ya add $3.50. Total bill for four people $105 including good tip. We are so tired from our trip we did not photograph the food, sorry. Tomorrow in search of non corporate.

April's Blog

My wife's company sprung the big bucks for a executive lunch and we decided it was a blogable event. Enjoy

Three Martini-Less Lunch

Kitchen at 868 Grant
Novato

One of the advantages of working in the corporate caves is occasional “appreciation” meal. When my boss solicited names of possible lunch places, I jumped at the opportunity to try a new restaurant in my hometown.

The restaurant is Kitchen @ 868 Grant Ave – a place my foodie husband Greg mentioned had gotten very good reviews when we passed it on the way to the farmer’s market. My coworker, Katy, had dinner there with her husband and we rallied our other coworkers like professional lobbyists. Everyone seemed up for a new taste adventure!

So our group of six ventured into Kitchen, a smallish restaurant decorated in warm reds with gold trim and ornate mirrors. After drooling over the menu, I ordered a grilled prosciutto/mozzarella/tomato/basil on French bread sandwich. Sandwiches come with a choice of French fries or salad. I opted for salad. My sandwich was sumptuous – it was like the ultimate grilled ham ‘n cheese w/the addition of basil and seasonally ripe tomatoes. The salad also earned my respect – a non-bitter mesclum mix with little yellow ripe cherry tomatoes and the house vinaigrette which was neither too acidy or too oily.

Two grilled skirt steak sandwiches with roasted red peppers, horseradish, balsamic mayonnaise and arugula, also grilled on French bread were among the other items ordered, declared very edible with the balsalmic mayo particularly enjoyed.

Among the orders was a Cobb salad dressed with pancetta instead of bacon and chicken Caesar salad, everyone seemed very happy with their choices.

Moving on to the best part of the meal – dessert! I couldn’t resist Strawberry Shortcake with Tarrgon Cream. It didn’t disappoint! Whipped cream atop the layers of strawberry and a true shortcake which really accentuates the height-of-the-season berries better than its sweet, spongecake-like counterpart. There was a lovely cake with a hard sauce and homemade strawberry ice cream. Mmmmmm.

The only downside is this is not the place to go if you’re in a hurry. Then again, some might considered the extended company lunch hour to be a plus.

There were some interesting wines on the menu, but alas, none of us partook. I’m guessing the thought of any one of us dancing on the desk at work later was enough to reinforce our sobering resolve. I’ll have to save that for an evening out with that handsome hubby o’mine.

April's sandwich

A Little Help from friends

Road trip recon. I just found out I'm driving to Portland Oregon this weekend. Never having been there before, I am looking for fun food adventures . We are staying in Vancouver Washington a few miles beyond Portland. We have allotted two days for driving and four days in town. There is a little business attached to the trip but mostly fun.

Anybody out there got ideas? I'm looking for small budget, tasty places to eat. Also want to absorb some of the local food scene. Comments emails encouraged. Dr. B has mentioned A&B meat market in Bend Oregon for bacon. I'd like to stop at farms stands and such too. Let me know. Thanks!

Greg