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The View from Artesa Vineyards & Winery, Napa.

12/28/2008

ARTESA VINEYARDS & WINERY: 1345 HENRY ROAD, NAPA, CALIF.

Tucked out of the way in the Carneros Valley, on the Napa-Sonoma county line, Artesa Vineyards & Winery has become something of a family favorite.

After consuming a great deal of Artesa’s 2001 Merlot during Christmas at the familial homestead in nearby Vallejo, it was decided we should make the trip to the winery over the weekend.

Being only 15-miles from home, relatively free of the crowds associated with Napa wine tasting and possessing absolutely stunning sweeping vistas of three Bay Area counties, Artesa is ideal for a quick Napa wine trip.

The winery is almost invisible from a distance, but as you draw closer the structure reveals itself; a modern pyramid-shaped building built into the side of a verdant hilltop.

Originally founded in 1991 to produce sparkling wines, the winery switched gears in 1997 and changed its name, now focusing on still wines. This was probably a good move, given how established much of its local competition like Mumm and Domaine Chandon are in the region.

Not being much of a sparkling wine drinker, I am thankful.

We were able to taste six or seven of their wines, including some of the sparkling wine they no longer produce, but is still very dry and very good.

Consensus, evidenced by the two cases we bought, indicates that we enojyed the 2006 Alabariño the 2004 Tempranillo Reserve, and the 2005 Cabernet Franc.

While not as popular as some of its more well-known neighbors in Napa and Sonoma, this really belies the winery’s virtues, of which there are many.

It’s a good thing there was room in my suitcase for a few bottles…I gotta catch a red eye in a couple of hours…

–CP

UPDATE: Amity Wines & Spirits in New Haven apparently carries several Artesa wines. Then again, they carry a ton of stuff you can’t buy down here in Fairfield County. Or so I’ve heard. Former Advocate reporter Tim Stelloh supplied me with some Brother Thelonious ale from Amity that was – at the time – difficult to find in Stamford. Now of course, you can buy it in bottles at BevMax or by the pint at Monster B’s. I may have to make a trip up there sometime.

BELOW: Artesa’s 2005 Cabernet Franc

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The Ferry Building, San Francisco. [If you thought Metro-North's M2 trains were old, check out the renovated 1948 MUNI streetcar running on the F-Line.]

12/28/2008

FERRY BUILDING MARKETPLACE: THE EMBARCADERO, SAN FRANCISCO

It wasn’t until after I was walking away from the legendary Acme Bread Company with three sourdough rounds that I realized my error: I really meant to order a loaf of pain au levain, the same bread I read so much about in Jeffrey Steingarten’s inspiring book “The Man Who Ate Everything.”

Perhaps it was performance anxiety as the pressure of knowing there were twenty or thirty hungry people behind me in line was intense, but I could have spent ages examining the dozens of stunning sample loaves that lined the counter.

All was not lost. The sourdough was spectacular. Additionally, Cowgirl Creamery’s seasonal, creamy, herb-crusted Pierce Point cheese from Petaluma – which just happens to be for sale in their shop next door – provided for a particularly good pairing.

[According to Ken Skovron, of Darien Cheese & Fine Foods, though Napa & Company carried an assortment for a while, Cowgirl Creamery does not have East Coast distribution. When pressed for a locally available substitute Skovron said, "due to the unusual combination of alcohol and herb marinating, Pierce Point is really a cheese unto itself. It would be unfair to compare another cheese to Pierce Point," adding "Northeast cheese makers produce some seasonal cheeses of their own such as "Winnemere" from Jasper Hill Farm Greensboro, Vt. and "Despearado" from Cato Corner Farm Colchester, Ct."]

The long-neglected Ferry Building was renovated and in 2004 opened as a palace of gastronomy for Bay Area gourmets.

The offerings here span all matter of things deliciously edible: local cheeses, organic meats, unbelievable chocolates (though they have nothing on Norwalk’s own Knipschildt, which is available down the street at CocoaBella), gelato, coffee, seafood, local olive oil, really just about anything you could possibly ask for.

Fear not, if you can’t make it to SF, you can always join the Boccalone Salumi Society, and have artisanally cured meats delivered to your doorstep for a pricey $66 per shipment.

Two days a week, the outdoor grounds are turned into a farmer’s market. While the Ferry Building market is nowhere as big as the Union Square Greenmarket, it certainly does not lack an admirable array of choices. Too many, in fact, to detail here. But trust me.

Next time I’ll just have to remember the pain au levain.

–CP

BELOW: Of note were the Kumamoto and sweetwater oysters from Hog Island Oyster Company, of Tomales Bay.

BELOW: A Blue Bottle Coffee Company barista prepares individual cups of coffee with ceramic drip brewers. [This is how I'm brewing coffee at work these days, easier to clean than a French press and so much better than the swill that masquerades as coffee in the industrial Bunn coffee maker in the "break room."]

BELOW: The view. And, yes, the Ferry Building, while now a foodie destination, is still a hub for maritime-based commuting in San Francisco.

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A tray of In-N-Out burgers, Mill Valley, Calif.

12/27/2008

IN-N-OUT BURGER

After foregoing breakfast and lunch then watching six consecutive hours of  Top Chef on a transcontinental flight Wednesday, I was primed for a visit to La Taqueria in San Francisco’s mission district.

“CERRADO HASTA EL ONCE DE ENERO,” read the hand-written sign on the front door of the well-known taco destination.  Closed. This is not good.

Advice via SMS came too late for Pancho Villa on 16th St and a half-hearted attempt to find a Yucatecan restaurant that had been recommended the night before died when – counter to GPS directions – I wouldn’t be able to make a left on 18th.

Plus, I really wanted tacos.

PLAN B: I’m on Mission so I figure we should drive downtown and hit up Blue Bottle Coffee for an espresso and we can take a minute to consider our options. I need beans anyway.

I run in for a quick ristretto and a cappuccino; it’s too late in the day for a $7 cup from the totally insane $20,000 Japanese vacuum brewer, (they shut it down after lunch because producing a pot is incredibly labor intensive). They are out of beans for sale by the pound.

At this point, I haven’t eaten since the night before and I’ve just consumed two shots of espresso. The situation is dire.

My trips back home to California are too infrequent and too short to waste even one meal on a sub-par sandwich. Compromising is completely out of the question.

I guess there is the Chinese place I like on Columbus, but my sister wants to get across the Golden Gate bridge before the Christmas Eve exodus traffic piles up.

Fortunately, there is an In-N-Out in Mill Valley, just on the other side of the bridge. It takes us all of three-seconds to decide this is something we must do.

The parking lot is packed, but we manage to get a space near a Chevy Suburban with California personal plates that read “A STONER.”

I am finally at peace after we order our burgers and one basket of animal-style fries, off of the “secret menu.”

In-N-Out is debatably the pinnacle of American fast food.

The family-owned chain has garnered a fanatical cult following for good reason: the burgers and fries are without parallel. All of the food ingredients are fresh, never frozen, the fries are hand cut right before they meet their fate in the deep fryer and the shakes are thick and creamy.

While only available in the Western states, In-N-Out has even made it’s mark on New York, influencing places like the Shake Shack and an In-N-Out knock-off, Blue Nine Burger, which is known to California ex-pats across Manhattan (it is is twice as expensive and half as good as In-N-Out).

The tacos will have to wait, but for now, In-N-Out is a saviour.

–CP

UPDATE: I managed to stop by the Tacos Jaliscos truck in my hometown, Vallejo, Calif., for a mess of $1.25 al pastor tacos. They are not as good as the al pastor tacos at Casa Villa in Stamford, but they certainly hit the spot.

BELOW: A Tacos Jaliscos feast for $12.75

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12/22/2008

Midway through reading Calvin Trillin’s eminently enjoyable food book, “Alice, Let’s Eat,” two realizations converged, hitting me like a ton of bricks: I will be in the San Francisco Bay Area this week and Dungeness crabs are in peak season.

Forget Christmas. Forget family. It’s crab season.

And crab season is big business in SF: In Connecticut’s maritime shipping circles, the words ‘Cosco Busan’ trigger serious conversations about legal liability and the criminalization of seafarers, but in the Bay Area, it recalls the panic that ensued last year after 58,000 gallons of spilled bunker oil postponed the opening day of Dungeness season by a few weeks.

Breathe easy, those dark days are behind us and Dungeness is once again being hauled from the Golden Gate.

So, after three days of fantasizing about picking up a couple of crabs for Christmas Eve dinner, then settling in with a six-pack of Anchor Steam and some sourdough (preferably from ACME), I broke down and bought a crab in Norwalk. I couldn’t wait. The impulse was so strong I battled the traffic to Norwalk and the utterly wretched Costco parking lot.

Even in Northern California, I wouldn’t be buying live crabs. Regrettably, I probably wouldn’t even be buying San Francisco Bay crabs. The bay and surrounding waters are generally fished out within weeks of opening day.

Most of the crab sold in the Bay is taken much farther up the coast or in Oregon or Washington, then boiled and flash frozen. Basically, it’s exactly the same as what you can pickup at Costco in Norwalk for $5.99 per pound.

I’ve seen Dungeness at a few different markets here, but the crabs at “Seafood Showcase” at Costco are superior. Really, the difference is huge. [Plus, the crab is right next to the wicked good Manchego that is about 1/3 the price of similar Spanish cheeses at Stop and Shop]

I prefer to eat my Dungeness with nothing more than drawn butter or cocktail sauce, but I end up with most of the body meat left over for a crab louie (or a crab and avocado omelet). The fact that nobody on the East Coast has heard of a crab louie is an absolute crime, though so is charging $32 for a louie at Scoma’s in San Francisco. [To their defense, it's really a ridiculous mountain of fresh crab over a thin layer of salad]

With my Dungeness urge out of the way – at least temporarily – I can relax and consider the other possibilities for a first Bay Area meal; a double-double from In-N-Out, a Wisconsin Burger from Taylor’s Automatic Refresher, a few $1.25 tacos from the Tacos Jalisco truck…the possibilities are limitless.

–CP

P.S. DON’T FORGET: Dungeness enchiladas

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Chicken sandwich, though not what I ordered, from Mulberry Street Deli.

12/18/2008

MULBERRY STREET DELI & MARKET: 1100 HOPE ST., STAMFORD

A fleeting break in the bleakness of winter provided an opportunity for lunch outside earlier this week.

Initially, I proposed getting sandwiches from All American Gourmet Deli and taking them down to a picnic table at Cummings Beach. The reported threat of foraging gulls deterred me from this.

We were running out of time as an increasingly dark sky forecast the possibility of precipitation. Ultimately it would be Mulberry Street Deli and benches at Springdale Little League…both locations in close proximity to the office.

While Mulberry Street is undoubtedly a reference to New York’s Little Italy, the deli on Hope. St., does actually sit at the intersection of Hope and Mulberry, a residential side street.

Number twelve on the sandwich specials menu hit the spot: grilled chicken breast with ultra crispy bacon, fresh mozzarella, lettuce tomato and basil on a Kaiser roll. It was one of the better take-out sandwiches I’ve had in a while.

[The Kaiser roll or hard roll or whatever you East Coast people call it, was something of a defeated concession on my part. Just why is it nearly impossible to find sourdough out here? We can put a man on the moon, but we can't get a decent sourdough loaf east of Oakland? Really?]

It should be noted, when I went back today to buy the same sandwich (this time on a wedge, which was excellent) to photograph for the LBC, not only did I have to wait around a while for them to scare up some grilled chicken, but it wasn’t until I got back to work that I realized it was missing the bacon and fresh basil: two absolutely key ingredients.

This sandwich, though I liked it better on the chewy wedge, was a complete failure consisting mostly of chicken swimming in a mayonnaise-based sauce.

The deli is a popular lunch spot for the trades. The steel-toe-booted clientele is slightly incongruous with the dual hi-def televisions simultaneously broadcasting Mario Batali and Martha Stewart from opposite ends of the room. But this group of regulars is also what lends a true neighborhood feeling to the deli.

At lunch, the espresso served in actual ceramic cups (from an evil pod-based machine) is a particularly popular post-meal refreshment among the many Italian-Americans that frequent the deli. After hearing a customer say to a friend “you want a splash of espresso with the ‘buca, pal,” I know why.

While there is now way I’m ever going near that espresso, I am definitely going to be back for lunch.

I’ll just have to pay attention to what, exactly, is going on my sandwich next time.

-CP

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Keelin Daly/Greenwich Time, special to the LBC

12/10/2008

UPDATE

As previously reported – or at least speculated on – Stamford’s Sabatiello’s Italian Grille, did close last week, not long after the Fox network aired an episode of Kitchen Nightmares featuring the restaurant and its problems.

According to owner Sabatiello “Sammy” Settembre, he and his brother will open a pizzeria in Greenwich, where he previously operated a pizzeria for eight years before opening Sabatiello’s in Stamford.

The new business – also called Sabatiello’s – is reportedly opening tomorrow, Thursday, Dec. 11, and will neighbor the Yangtze Riverside restaurant‎ on East Putnam Ave in Riverside.

READ: The Advocate article on the restaurant’s closing.

–CP

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Lomo saltado at Omar Restaurant in Stamford.

12/08/2008

OMAR RESTAURANT: 210 WEST MAIN ST.

Omar Restaurant, a hole-in-the-wall Peruvian establishment up the hill from Casa Villa makes the latter look like a fine dining establishment.

Orders are taken from a window cut from a temporary wall with a dry-erase board menu above the counter. The tables are covered in plastic and the silverware comes sloppily wrapped in paper napkins. There appears to be basically no heat in the dining area. This is all beside the point.

Lomo saltado and papa a la huancaina were on my mind as we all sat down, still bundled in heavy coats and scarfs to deal with the frequent blasts of frigid air from the front door.

Traditional lomo saltado is a nearly perfect lunch; sauteed onions, peppers and tomatoes mingle with steak and French fries to result in an entirely satisfying, albeit heavy, meal. I couldn’t even touch the rice.

The papa a la huancaina, prepared traditionally, is a cold salad appetizer of boiled potatoes drenched in a creamy sauce of cheese, milk, hard boiled egg and peppers, prepared in a blender. This dish is a little bland at Omar, or at least, I prefer the papa a la huancaina that my Peruvian brother-in-law makes since it is much spicier. (Upon consultation, he uses this recipe, though he says “I add some extra touch, but it’s a secret.”)

To combat this, Omar makes a great jalapeño hot sauce that is served with everything (in what appears to be ketchup bottle on the table, so be careful). Thankfully as I was about to apply it liberally to my lomo saltado, I was warned of its potency.

I didn’t get a chance to try one of the three ceviches but I will make a point to sample them on my next visit.

West Main St. is not exactly a dining destination in Stamford and it is just about the furthest from my office I can travel for lunch and still stay in Stamford.

Though, lately, this is sort of the point.

–CP