Periscope Cellars

“Hey Dad I just found out there’s a winery in my building and I’ve set up a meeting for your blog”. My daughter lives in an old industrial building in Emeryville that has been partially turned into lofts. The back part of the building is still very much commercial. While walking her dog she noticed a bunch of guys rolling large oak barrels onto the loading dock, to be used in the wine making process. A conversation and emails ensued and the deal was sealed.

I try to stay away from blogging about wine. Not that I don’t like wine, it’s just that the subject gets so serious and snobby sometimes. My philosophy about wine is drink it often and in copious amounts. Between generous relatives’ wine collections, and employers who’ve paid for wine training classes, I’ve been fortunate to taste and enjoy some of California’s best vintages. Having lived in the Bay Area for a long time I remember when Napa and Sonoma wines didn’t cost the price of a car payment. Lately I limit my wine purchases to Trader Joe’s bargain section.

With some uneasiness I prepared for my meeting with the winemaker. It didn’t help my confidence level when the Chronicle wine section did an in depth article about the East Bay wine scene that included the very guy that I’m going to meet. Will he be serious and snobby?

On the appointed day we finally meet Brendan Eliason, owner /winemaker of Periscope Cellars. While having serious credentials and experience he is far from snobby. Brian seems part guy next door, part artist and part mad scientist. He is generous to a fault with his time and seems extremely happy to be doing his wine thing.

The surroundings are certainly not like the palatial settings of the North Counties, more like a big old military bunker. It is a pleasant learning experience. What did I learn? The name Periscope Cellars comes from the fact that submarines or parts thereof were repaired in this building. The walls are many inches thick and made of the most heavy duty concrete. I learn that the first Top Chef was filmed here and that Brian has a lot of really cool set pieces from the program. But most of all, I learned that the wine thief is my friend. A wine thief is a long tube device that allows you to extract wine from the barrel. Thief we did and tasted the components of Brian’s creations. It seems the winemaker likes to blend, and blend he does well in Deep Six, his newest vintage. Smooth and easy to drink; it was a big hit on Thanksgiving Day. Even those amongst us who don’t normally drink red enjoyed.

Brian is attempting to jump through the bureaucratic hurdles necessary to open a tasting room in the building. Until that time, his wine is available online at Periscope Cellars.


Wine Thief is my friend


In the barrel


In the bottle

Fra' Mani

I say salame you say salumi. You can’t read much food related news without stumbling across mention of salumi. If I’ve got this correct, salame is singular and salami is plural. Salumi, on the other hand, is an Italian reference to cured meats, similar to the French charcuterie. You can call it what you will, deli, cold cuts, antipasto (yes dear, antipasto includes other things), just call me when you've got some around.

The west coast seems to be fertile ground for the salumi craze. In Seattle Chef Mario Batali’s dad, Armandino, has been producing product for a while under the Salumi Artisan Cured Meats label. In Berkeley Chef Paul Bertoli, is creating salumi with his own label, Fra’ Mani.

I thought it was about time I checked out the local guy’s goods. I went to the Fra’Mani website and found that the Pasta Shop in Berkeley sold the products at retail. I was on the way to the East Bay anyhow so it was an easy stop. I have a love/hate thing about the Pasta Shop. I love the products and I hate how much I spend when I checkout. I’m a sucker for good beautifully presented food. Low and behold! On our arrival there was Chef Bertoli himself in his immaculate white chef’s coat. They happened to be doing a tasting of their products this day. At first I thought it was my lucky day, but having left my riot gear at home, I avoided the teaming mass of people munching away like a pack of lions after a fresh kill. Good luck, however, was had at the cheese counter where the Pasta Shop had packaged the goods in small sampler bags. I picked out several varieties, along with olives, cheese and Acme Bread, and exited, ‘stage right’.

At my daughter’s house I laid the salumi on a stone tile ($2.50 from Urban Ore in Emeryville) and the tasting began. I have to be honest here. I did not want to like this product. Are they selling the sizzle here? I thought it was another “artisan” product at a high price (15 to 22 dollars a pound). You’re killing me man - what’s wrong with good old “cryovac” salami down at the Safeway? Well, to borrow a hip hop phrase, this stuff is off the hook! The texture and flavor is incredible. Let’s just say comparing this salami to the supermarket stuff is like comparing Velveeta to Parmigiano Reggiano. A little goes a long way; a quarter pound will provide four people a nice starter for dinner. I used mine to accompany a little wine tasting. Wine, that’s my next blog.

Fra’ Mani you’ve done the Bay Area proud.

clockwise from the left

prosciutto salami (that's what the label said)

nostrano

soppressata (my favorite)

gentile

Pupusas Manana

In July I announced that I was on the lookout for underground foods. I read stories about New York and foreign street food vendors and my mouth waters. Yes we have local street food here in Marin. The food stalls at the farmers market provide some tasty bites but I’m still looking for that “underground experience”.

The food gods work in strange and mysterious ways. Roberto, the maintenance manager at my work asked if I would like to try a pupusa made by his aunt. Of course I said yes. Heavens to Betsy these are good! Hot, filled with pork, cheese and topped with curdito (spicy cabbage salad) these little Salvadoran beauties are the best I’ve tasted. May I have some more kind sir? His aunt does make these to sell on occasion and Roberto will let me know when the next batch will be available. It comes to light that I, in fact, know his aunt. Her name is Vincenta and she normally works the swing shift cleaning offices. Every now and again when the day person calls off Vincenta fills in.

Well this is my lucky day. Vincenta is a charming woman who speaks little English. In El Salvador she worked in a Pupuseria and made piles of pupusas each day. Now she makes them about once a month to earn a little side money. With my culinary Spanish and little help from a translator I found that the addition of rice flour to the corn flour is the secret to the extraordinary lightness of these pupusas. It is an all day process to prepare the product. Shopping, preparing, cooking and packaging are labor intensive. The final product arrives wrapped in foil warm from the griddle. Packed in a separate plastic bag is the essential curdito. The office is filled with the delicious scent of corn. I always order 20 so I will have leftovers for a few days. They microwave nicely. Now when Vincenta arrives and says "Pupusas Manana" I reach for my wallet and anticipate tomorrows dinner.

Hawaiian Lunch Plates

Hawaiian lunch plate places have been popping up in the bay area like mushrooms after the rain. There are several big players vying for a piece of the fast food market. History has it that these plates were a great way to feed workers a lot of food at a cheap price. Heaven knows I enjoy a lot of food cheap!

On a visit to my daughter's place I was anxious to check out Kilohana Grill in Emeryville, a two location operation. There were four of us so we were able to select several plates for our tasting. Each plate comes with a protein, two scoops of rice and pasta/potato salad.

Our selections

Hawaiian BBQ Beef

Kahli Ribs/Korean style short ribs


Hawaiian BBQ Chicken


Kalua Pork


Mango dessert

Jury foreman may I have the verdict please? Ok I had jury duty last week but reviewing restaurants is similar to deciding a verdict. Kilohana Grill is a great value; large portions will fill you up for about eight dollars. There were a lot of goods and yums being mumbled in between bites. I was pleased but thought everything was on the bland side. Monochromatic rice and pasta/potato salad got lost on the Styrofoam plate. Maybe with some vegetables and few shakes of hot sauce or soy would improve my verdict.