Will Frank Bruni Find Humility?

Every Wednesday morning I struggle into my local food megamart to purchase an array of newspapers. The friendly checker Phil always asks "are your going to read all those?". Well yes and no. The food section yes and the rest probably not. I will recycle the rest. I, like many other foodies/bloggers, fulfill my passion/addiction to all things food related by reading the latest food news. One of the best food sections around is the New York Times. I know I'm a little late in penning an opinion about this because other bloggers have already written about it. Shout out to Dr. Biggles. I have been kinda busy/tired/ lazy but I wanted to make mention.

Each week Frank Bruni writes a review of NY restaurant. The places he visits are normally way out of my league price wise. I read him anyhow just to see how the other half lives. I've found him to be a little snotty, in an 'I'm entitled cause I'm special way.' His recent article "My Week as a Waiter" has him working the other side of the table. He is funny and self deprecating in this article and sounds like the kinda guy I would like to hang out with. Will it last? Hard to say. Some of the quotes from the waiters at the restaurant he worked at are really insightful. I think waiting tables should be mandatory service for everyone. It will either make you into a cynical fool or make you humble and forgiving to those who serve. Frank stay humble.

Davis Farmers Market

Took a little trip to Davis, Ca. Saturday. On our last trip we spotted a butcher block top kitchen cart in the Ace Hardware store and fell in love with it. That was almost a year ago and as the old saying goes "you snooze, you lose". Turns out it was a close out sale at half price. If we want to order a new one it will cost double.

All was not lost. Davis has a year round Farmer's Market on Saturday. We bundled ourselves in layers of clothes to fend off the cold damp weather and went shopping. Some of the farmers were familiar from the S.F. Ferry market. Capay Organics' display was a work of art. We purchased some carrots and Meyer lemons from them.

Dragon Gourmet Mushrooms supplied us with Fresh Oyster and King mushrooms.

oyster mushrooms

king mushrooms

East & West Gourmet Foods of Concord was a new vendor to us. Their sign said Italian/Afghan foods. They offered an array of flat breads and dipping sauces. We purchased bolani, an Afghan flat bread stuffed with spinach, and a container of spicy cilantro pesto.

Attractive young ladies be warned! The handsome young man behind the counter will seduce you into buying lots of food by flirting with you endlessly. I watched it happened several times. His banter is smoother than Tuscan Olive Oil. If his bedside manner is as good as his pitch you could find yourself compromised in a heart beat.

I know we may have violated some unwritten market law with our next stop, Pedrick Produce in Dixon. An ugly Quonset hut building at the Pedrick Road off ramp west of Davis. Hordes of people stop here on the return trip from Tahoe. Probably not all organic, but a great value, they offer fresh and dried produce of all kinds. A twenty five pound sack of sweet navel oranges for juice was $4.99. We also purchased some dried, candied cantaloupe that was tasty and very sweet.

Dried Fruit

Garlic Stuffed California Olives from Armstrong Olives rounded out our cart.

Dine on a dime

Ikea Emeryville

The first time I visited Ikea I was amazed and amused. That feeling lasted for about an hour and a half. Then I reached my retail tolerance level. Like a kid locked in a candy factory I had overindulged. Listen, I admit the place is cool and has some great inexpensive flat box furniture. Cookware and linens and just about anything you need for the house displayed in mountains of merchandise. In order to to make it a real pleasant experience you gotta have a strategy. Go on a weekday if possible. You can park closer and not feel like you're part of a sea of people on a forced march . Arm yourself with map (available at the entrance). Study it and look for the short cuts to the kind of merchandise you want. Otherwise they rat trap you into walking the whole distance of the store. Unless your a marathon person, pick your route carefully.

Fortify yourself. This is food blog after all. There is a couple of choices. Upstairs is the fancier restaurant. They serve big portions of food at extremely low prices. For about $5 dollars you can choose a number of healthy looking platters. I've tasted the Swedish meatballs and gravlox plates and both are excellent. For breakfast you get the full on American egg, bacon and taters for about $2.

On this visit we tried the snack bar located on the first level near the checkstand. Hot dogs at fifty cents seemed to good to be true. They tasted good albeit a little on the small side. The meal deal $3 gives you two hot dogs, a refillable drink and a ginormous bag of exceptional chips. If you got a sweet tooth cinnamon buns are $1 a piece or six for $4. There is also a number of Swedish products available to take home. The meatballs served upstairs come frozen so you can take them home for quick meal.

You have got to wonder if the food is loss leader to get people into the store. With prices this cheap and the quality so good I'm sure it attracts crowds just for the food. Out there in Google land I read about pensioners in England who used the restaurant to help make ends meet on a fixed income. Beats the heck out of a lot of our fast food joints.

Top my photo, bottom Ikea photo. Where's a food stylist when you need one?

Nice buns

Ok, that's $3 for food and $289 for furniture. Dine on a dime? Maybe not.

Mulberry Street Pizzeria

Sometimes it is hard to see the forest for the trees. I have literally driven by this place several hundred times and never checked it out. Oh there's the Mulberry Street Pizzeria that won the Food Network pizza battle. I'll go there someday.

I finally made it there yesterday. It is located in low profile business park in the north end of San Rafael. The name pizzeria conjures up beer posters and picnic tables in my mind. This is not that kind of place. This is an attractive restaurant with light wood tables and a bright interior. Unlike Emeril or Flay's restaurants, Chef Ted Rowe is on site. He works the room greeting guests and such. The place was really slammed, but the smile rarely left the chef's face. You get the feeling he likes what he does.

The winning pizza, a mushroom with white sauce combo, is on the menu. I, however, ordered the 10 inch pepperoni. I know that's pedestrian, but it's what I like. Oh boy, did I like it! No hide and seek toppings here. Pepperoni covers every inch of cheesy goodness. The crust is crisp and the sauce right on. The leftovers cold out of the box later that day were better than most pizzas hot.

mucho pepperoni

My wife decided to check out the vegetarian black bean soup. I tasted it and it was good. It would have been better with some added pork product. Then it wouldn't have been veggie eh? A well executed small Caesar salad arrived on a chilled plate. Extra points points for the chilling.

just chilling

A most pleasant experience.

Rants and ramblings

Underground Portland

There has been a lot of mention lately of underground restaurants. Unfortunate for me I've never been to one. Sometimes I think my wife and I run one when children and friends of children show up at the house. What's for dinner Dad? Tri tip, grilled vegetables and cheesy polenta. My daughters friend says "all we had at my house was a bowl of cereal". If only I could charge an entrance fee. Most recently I read an article in Jim Dixon's Real Good Food about a couple who started with underground and ended up going mainstream with a restaurant called Family Supper. They have a real cool web site that describes it and gives some sample menus. The basic premise is they serve a set menu, family style at long communal tables. You get to know all the strangers at the table and have closer contact with the chefs. It's a new but old concept. It reminds me of some Basque restaurants I use to go to. The burning question, in my mind, is Portland the new San Francisco? Attracting the young and the restless with bold new entrepreneurial spirit. Maybe so. The fact that rents are cheap and new ideas are welcomed helps support that theory.

Now you're laughing

I was overjoyed when my kids came up with a copy of Jamie's Italy for my birthday. It is not available in the U.S. for some strange reason. They got it on eBay. I think you can get anything on eBay. This book is probably Oliver's best yet. The pictures and graphics are wonderful. A part on greens, simply served, has inspired me recently. There are a number of pictures of recently slaughtered animals which are a bit startling. Oliver thinks that if one chooses to eat meat they should be aware of the process. Ok I'll go along with that.

Food Diary

I know that this time of year everyone is dieting. One the the tools that comes highly recommended is a food diary. I'd be very afraid of one myself. Photographer Peter Menzel and partner Faith D' Aluisio have taken food diary to a new level. They have taken pictures all over the world of families and what they eat. The book is Hungry Planet What the World Eats. Check it out.
Happy New year!!

Shelter in Place

Marvin's Breakfast Club

The Northbay has been pummeled by a series of serious rain storms this week. As I write, the lastest storm is shaking the windows and throwing rain sideways at us. We've heeded all the shelter in place warnings and stayed in the house to avoid the dangers and drama going on around here. This morning cabin fever got to us. There are so many repeats on the telly, even the food channel got a little boring.

An escape plan was necessary. We checked out Marvin's and were lucky enough to score seats at the counter. This is a tiny, very popular breakfast and lunch place. It has been around for as long as I can remember. I confirmed that when I spoke to Gilton, one of the chefs confidently making omelets, he has worked here for 18 years. The newest owners have maintained the welcoming feel and still provide huge plates of comfort food.

I like to sit at the counter so I can watch the show. Chefs side by side choreograph the production of your breakfast at the speed of light. When you order scrambled, fresh eggs are placed into a milkshake machine then end up in hot pan. When they arrive they are hot and fluffy like a souffle. Burgers, sandwiches and salads are all available. We stuck with breakfast. I had scrambled eggs with bacon, hashbrowns and wheat toast($7.95).

April had the "boomba omelet"($9.95). Fresh spinach, tomatoes, hickory smoked bacon topped with hollandaise. She substituted a scrambled egg for poached. Lord that's a lot of food!

We headed home fully prepared for any more storms.

Marvin's Restaurant

1112 Grant Ave.

Novato, Ca.