CHEZ:PANISSE, Say Fresh!

Berkeley, CA - We celebrate the turn of the decade with Alice Waters...she was actually in the restaurant, in the cafe, and in the kitchen. She came by our table and wished us a Happy New Year and thanked us for being there.

The New Year Eve's menu was a four course prix fix: smoked Bolinas cod salad with salmon caviar and chicory lettuce; Dungeness crab (and uni) consomme with wild mushrooms and green garlic; Roulade of Paine Farm squab breast with black truffles, Pommes Anna, and grilled Chino Ranch veggies; and Chocolate souffle Rothchild. There was an amuse bouche and the additional dessert at the end of the meal. The hearty bread lay on the Prette linen table cloth. A special pear and champagne aperitif was served before the meal.

The wine was a Margaux 2000, nice nose, long legs and really smooth and silky.

The decor was homey and warm. The holiday greens were festive. The fresh whole fruits and flowers in serving platters & vases were placed throughout the restaurant. What was really cool was the custom water carafe and water glasses.

It was a special night. Prior to the strike of midnight, the wait staff passed out the noise makers, hats, and champagne filled flutes. It was a memorable night. The live jazz quartet provided the music all night. The food was fresh, delicious and simple; and the service friendly and unpretentious. A definite special occasion place.

BTW, they passed our napkin test. I left the table, and when I returned, the napkin was folded.

El Dorado Kitchen Is Muy Delicioso!

On the rainy eve of my wife's birthday in December, the comfort food of El Dorado Kitchen helped warm our stomachs. While we waited for the restaurant to open its seating at 5:30pm, we sat on a leather couch in the fireplace room warming ourselves.

The open kitchen permitted our senses to hear the flash frying of the french fries doused with truffle oil. Our noses smelled the truffle oil as the staff whizzed by with pomme frites dish in hand. We could almost hear the wood crackling in the 750F oven baking our pizza topped with sopressetta and egg. The duck pastrami was interesting and tasty. The lamb shank simmered in its pot so tender that when put the fork to the meat, it fell off the bone. We finished with the crepes dessert with vanilla ice cream and passion-fruit sauce . For wine, our Jayson Pinot Noir 2006 went well with our dinner. It was fruit forward, a long finish to the tongue with spice. The service was timely and helpful with our questions. We will go back and bring friends. They passed our "napkin test" when we returned to the table with our napkin folded.

Puffy Profiteroles

My first attempt at making the puffs for a croquembouche turned out flat, but my second attempt turned out these nice puffy ones. I ended up filling them with chocolate custard. My flat ones I turned them into an ice cream filled profiterole .

I split up the flat puff in half and filled it with homemade

vanilla ice-cream, and topped it with chocolate.

My second attempt had a nice air pocket to be filled with chocolate custard. It's nice and airy inside. Instead of a pastry piping bag, I used a small ice cream scoop.

The plain topped puff is filled with vanilla ice cream. What a light taste with a punch of flavor. Wait for my croquembouche. The holidays are around the corner, so my wife suggests I make the crunch in the mouth dessert.

Americano at Hotel Vitale

The Americano offers Italian food. Chef Paul Arenstam got the mushroom pizza with fontina cheese and truffle oil right! The thin crust is crunchy, and the mushroom and truffle oil make a tasty combination. It's surely the taste of Autumn.

For the main dishes, my wife had the butternut squash ravioli. The texture of the the butternut squash was smooth and soft. The ravioli was fresh. The dish was sweet and savory.

I had the duck breast special that night. The breast slices were seared nicely, but I prefer the inside to be a bit more rare. It was served medium-well and I preferred it to be medium-rare. The serving portion was good- about eight slices. The potatoes were cooked just right topped with watercress. Next time, I will order the rib-eye because I know it's more flavorful and could get it medium-rare.

For dessert, the fried creme brulee caught our eye on the menu. It sound interesting and tasted interesting. Usually creme brulee is soft and jiggly in a ramekin, but the interesting characteristic of this dessert was that it was fried. The cream was firmer and drier. What makes the dish is the passion fruit-caramel sauce. It added sweetness to the otherwise flavorless cream. The portion had two triangular pieces.

The Cabernet Sauvignon was very nice. We chose a half bottle of 2005 Opus One. It's a wine collaboration of Mondavi and Rothchild. It had a nice aroma and dark ruby color. There were hints of blackberries and currant. There was a spicy finish. It really matched well with all our dishes. It was surprisingly smooth for an young Cab.

The service was a bit lacking, though our server was very friendly. It was hard to get his attention behind the see through curtain. The dining area can get loud from the patrons at the bar.

We would go back for the pizza if we were in the area.

O La La Boulud!

A must stop in Las Vegas dining is Daniel Boulud Las Vegas- one Michelin star. It offers fantastic service, a helpful sommelier, and delicious French food and wine. We gave ourselves plenty of time to enjoy our meal before the 9:00 p.m. showing of La Reve and had a 6:30 pm reservation. The entrance is from the Wynn Hotel taking the escalator down to the bottom floor. Above the entrance are color parasols. They’re very festive and classy.
We were greeted by the hostess and she showed us to our white linen covered table. We wanted a view of the water fall since there was going to be short musical entertainment.

Our sommelier helped us pick a smooth, silky red wine. We picked a half bottle of 2005 Les Fiefs de Lagrange -wonderful nose and dark cassis color. There is a light touch of oak but not overpowering. There is a hint of berries and chocolate.
The small seafood platter appealed to us because we wanted a fresh and cold appetizer. This seafood was really refreshing and sat on a bed of ice. The serving was just enough to please our palette. Included in the platter are raw oysters, shrimp, clams, mussels, lobster, and three types of sauces…cocktail, horse radish, and basil aioli.
For the main dish, my wife and I shared the seared day boat scallops with terrain of foie gras and steamed fall veggies. The scallops had a nice caramelized sear, the terrain of foie melted in the mouth, and the veggies crunchy and flavorful. To accompany the dish were a piece of peanut brittle, a sweet fruit puree, and sliced grapes with champagne gelee.

The anniversary dessert was the dark chocolate soufflé with crème anglaise. The soufflé was rich, moist and creamy! This is a definite go back place for us. When we left the table to use the restroom, our napkins were re-folded by the time we returned. In addition, the bread was crusty on the outside and airy on the inside. We even got petite fours to go at our asking. The coffee was strong and bold.

I'm Dreaming of a Dose of French Toast!

French toast topped with strawberries and New Mexican
Pinon nuts

Great on an October fall morning weekend when the sun is just rising over the back patio fence and the squirrels are peering into the patio sliding door to see what’s cooking!


Ingredients
3 slices organic multi-grain bread
1 large organic egg
¼ C organic heavy cream
1 t vanilla extract
1T ground cinnamon
1 pinch of kosher salt
¼ t organic olive oil for cooking
Organic butter for cooking
6 organic strawberries
¼ Pinon nuts (alternative, pine nuts) If allergic to nuts, do not use.
Organic maple syrup
Shaved organic dark chocolate (optional)


Pre-heat medium sized pan on medium-low heat.

In a small mixing bowl, mix and scramble egg, cream, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Set the bread slices aside until soaking.

Pour mixture into a 8" x 8" glass or tin Pyrex for bread soaking. Soak each slice of bread separately on each side for about 30 seconds. Let the bread soak the mixture. Don’t over soak another slice of bread while cooking the first slice bread.

In the pre-heated pan, put ½ t olive oil and a little butter. Place soaked bread into pan and cook for about 1 to 1 ½ minutes until the side is golden brown and then flip with a spatula to the uncooked side for about the same amount of time.

Pre-heat the oven to “warm” and turn off. Each time a toast is cooked, put it on a oven safe plate and put into oven that is warm. It keeps the cooked French toast warm while the other slices are being cooked.

Top with sliced strawberries, Pinon nuts and dark chocolate shavings (if you’re craving sweet). Drizzle maple syrup on top too.

Happy eating!

Amazing Amuse Bouche!

The best amuse bouche I've ever had was at Joel Robuchon's The Mansion. He's the chef that has the most Michelin stars (18). The executive chef is Claude LeTohic at the restaurant in the MGM Grand Las Vegas.

When the wait staff brought over the dishes, my wife and and I looked at each other in utter disbelief. We were giddy like kids and couldn't wait to dig in. I mean, enjoy each spoonful. I knew our anniversary dinner was going to be a great one.

The amuse bouche is dungenous crab topped with Oscietre caviar served in the caviar tin. The sweet crab and mild salty roe complimented each other. C'est magnifique!