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.

No more Grinch

Creekside Bakery Novato

My family hangs Christmas stockings on the rail every year. Norman Rockwell style with trees, Santa and wonderful stuff. The one hung for me is The Grinch. I really get a little grumpy this time of year, you see. It's not that I hate the holidays. I hate what the holidays can become. A frantic, sugar induced retail rampage. Let's try to cram a whole year of festivities into two weeks.

Mr. Grinch

We just rented the movie Christmas with the Kranks based on John Grisham's novel, Skipping Christmas. The Kranks try to opt out of the holidays and take a cruise. But alas the holidays take on a life of their own and in the end win. I kinda would like to skip the holidays as well but they continue to go on around me so what the hey.

Fudge crack is what I call it. My wife makes this fudge stuff I know that I could sell. The first bite is free and there after you would have to meet me in a back alley and pay dearly. Hey Greg can I score some fudge man. I really need to get high! You gotta pay to play dude.

Wanna buy some fudge??

So anyway, the Creekside Bakery is hidden in the back of a strip mall in lovely downtown Novato. I really didn't need any more sweets. They do have them though. Cakes and cookies and all manner of goodies looking fine in the cases. But I have fudge crack at home. I'm interested in lunch. Sandwiches and soup and specials. On this day I had chicken and rice Azteca soup that was wonderful. My daughter had her standard turkey sandwich that was served on house made bread with a side of potato salad. She needed help finishing so I volunteered. Wife had a half turkey sandwich special with cranberry sauce and stuffing. If that's a half how could you eat a whole? I forgot to take my usual copious notes about the prices but they were low as memory serves.

Chicken rice soup

Half turkey special

very large turkey sandwich

Enjoy the holidays. Don't let the Grinch get you down.

Creekside Bakery and Cafe

1719 Grant Ave.

Novato,Ca. 94945

415 892-7655

Berkeley Gourmet Ghetto West

Tokyo Fish Market

There is no trepidation cruising the ghettos of Berkeley. Maybe a little scary traffic and parking problems but little to fear and much to enjoy. The Tokyo Fish Market is located at 1220 San Pablo, Berkeley. It seems they have moved to a brand new location directly behind the old location. We carefully made our way through the tight parking lot between the two buildings. Once inside the store is large, bright and inviting. All kinds of fish, meat and Asian products. Got questions, just asked the staff. All are friendly and knowledgable. They deserve very high ratings for customer service and great products. We scored some Bluefin Tuna, soba noodles, and some white miso.

lots of fish

prepared foods too

Down the street in the 1600 block of San Pablo is a austere building that houses a trio of shops known as Gourmet Ghetto West. Acme bread, Cafe Fanny, and Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant beckon. At noon on Saturday the lines for Acme look like lines for Rolling Stones tickets or the queue for the new Xbox 360. The wait is worthwhile. I ducked into Kermit Lynch while my bride held forth for bread. I know not about French wine so I placed my trust in Richard a happy looking wine guy. I told him I had a nice piece tuna on ice. After a moment of thought Richard proffered a Chateau du Trigonon 2003 Rasteau Cotes-du-Rhone Villages($18). Don't ask me to pronounce that. It was outstanding by the way. About the time I reached the door wifey had bread in hand.

Salad with Meyer Lemon dressing and tuna

the bread that made it home

Cafe Fanny was slammed. A whole bunch of beautiful, well dressed people eating extraordinary looking egg dishes. It looked like a photo shoot from Gourmet Magazine. No time to wait, we have to meet my daughter for lunch later. Well ok, we sacrificed a loaf of French bread for an appetizer. Note to self, eat at Cafe Fanny another day.

Holiday Spirits

Hangar One Vodka/St. George Spirits

During most of my working life the holidays have equaled a lot of hard work. The hospitality business cranks into high gear with good cheer for all except the employees. It's sort of an inside family joke that my Christmas stocking has the Grinch on top. In my new line of work I can enjoy the holidays spirit fully.

In this frame of mind I thought why not taste some spirits. Napa and Sonoma Counties draw mega crowds to their numerous wineries this time of year. I was looking for a different experience. On Craig's List I had seen an event listing for St. George Spirits. I checked out the web site and decided to visit this weekend.

Not really knowing Alameda well, we had a bit of search. The distillery is located in an old hangar ( hence the name Hangar One ) on what was once Alameda Naval Air Station. Just down the road is the USS Hornet Museum. It's next to the water with a view of the city and some palm trees at the entrance.

For ten dollars you purchase a glass and then you get free tastes of about a dozen vodka's, liqueurs, and they even a single malt whiskey. There was a selection of olives, cheese, bread and salami set out to cleanse your pallet. Our favorites of the group were Kaffir Lime Vodka ($36), Raspberry Liqueur($20) , and the Grappa ($40). It's a difficult decision because all the choices were tasty. Not a stinker in the bunch. A great place to buy holiday gifts for your friends or yourself even. Check out the rocket ship shaker set that would look great on any bar.

Get in the spirit!

tasting gear

Rocket Shaker

Fourth Street Cruise

We stayed away from the mega mall last week. Yes, it is the season to be jolly and spend the family fortune. With great effort we try to stay away from the maddening crowd whenever possible. Fourth Street in San Rafael was our destination.

Most of the world would recognize this street because it's where George Lucas shot some of the cruising scenes for his movie American Graffiti. A movie about the fifties shot in the seventies. You remember the part where the hot blonde (Suzanne Somers) in the white T-bird drives by. That's Fourth Street. It really has not changed much looks wise since the movie was filmed.

Now the street contains a nice mix of mom and pop retail stores and a whole lot of restaurants. We decided to walk the ten or so blocks to work up an appetite for lunch. I had my heart set on tapas at Sabor of Spain but they were not doing lunch on Saturday. We checked out their retail store and purchased some Serrano Ham and Spanish Olives. With so many choices it was difficult to decide on a restaurant. Hahn's Hibachi had pictures on it menu posted outside that enticed us to to go inside.

We later found out that this Hahn's is one of many in the bay area operated by the Hahn family. The menu is large and boasts Korean style barbecue, tempura, clay pot, stir fry, soba noodles, salads and more. One of the most interesting to me was the Meat Mountain ($13.95), described as "A Big Ol Pile". Being a little less hungry than a pile I chose BBQ Beef($8.50). As you can see it was a bit of a pile itself.

The wife chose the Shrimp and veggie saute pan ($9.50).

The food was great, the portions were large, and the price was small. We'll give Hahn's two Yums Up.

Hahn's Hibachi
816 4th Street
San Rafael, Ca.

Virtual Co-op Cooking

Some time ago I read an article in the Sonoma Independent about Co-op cooking. I was fascinated by the idea and ordered the the book Homemade To Go co-authored by Dee Sarton Bower and Mary Eileen Wells. It's a homey book that includes a start up guide and some bascic recipes for a group.The basic premise is you find four like minded families and each cooks a meal to feed all families once a week. That gives you three days a week you don't have to cook. With busy schedules for my wife and I that sounded great. A small investment in storage containers is about the only cost involved.I struggled with the co-op plan for a while and decided it would not be practical in my neigborhood and shelved the idea.

This week while rooting through my cookbook collection I came accross the book again and decided if I couldn't do the real thing, why not do it the virtual way. A quick look at the right side of my blog and the light bulb inside my head went on. Let's pretend that all you food bloggers are in my food co-op and I will decide what you will make for dinner tonight.

Sam at Beck's and Posh Autumnal Risotto

Dr. Biggles at Meathenge Tomatillo Chile with pork

Amy at Cooking with Amy Gremolata Chicken

Cookie crumb at I'm mad and I eat Roasted Califlower Soup

Jennifer at Novato Experiment Paella

Mona at Mona' Apple Antipasto and Focaccia from Arthur Street

Tana at Small Farms Pumpkin Soup with goat cheese

Brett at In Praise of Sardines Lamb with Romesco Sauce

Monkey Gland at Jam Faced Carbonara

Sweetnicks Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage

Jennifer M. at Life begins at Thirty Rosie Chicken, butternut squash and scarlet runner beans

Good Eats all!!

If I left anyone out check in and I'll add you to the Co-op.