The Irascible Chef

iChef serving up a TWO-FER, back-to-back GRAND SLAMMA JAMMA birthday!

I recently found myself turning a little older on a surprise-end-of-the-weekend-adventure as a guest of my fiancee. I didn’t know where we were going, but I did know that it was necessary to take 2 cars and that we would be staying overnight and having dinner. For me a surprise is just as exciting as the actual event. So you can basically stop after telling me there are plans and a surprise (—that alone is pretty special in my book!) let alone going on a secret getaway—OVERnight, and eating at a special place!

But now we’re in separate cars, going I-don’t-know-where, in the rain, I’m wondering how far away that we’ll be traveling and how early I will have to get up to get to work on time… But I don’t care because this is special, an adventure, and I’m excited!

So, we’re traveling through Los Gatos and I figure we’re going to Capitola where my fiancee’s parents have a beach house just a couple of blocks from the water. Great! I love Capitola! What if the traffic is bad in the morning? I’ll have to get up at 4am… What if we have a really good time and don’t go to bed until very late/early… Been there, done it, will survive—again!

As we’re about to get on 17 south, we suddenly make a left—into Hotel Los Gatos! Very Fancy! We’re not staying in Capitola. The morning commute will be the same as usual—Yay!

The room at the Hotel Los Gatos was super delicious!—cozy comfortable, roomy—could have been a bedroom in a very nice home… Nice, clean, warmly furnished bathroom. A bed so snugly you would die in it if you had the choice. TV, DVD player, stocked bar, free T1 Internet service. All this with the gentle spatter of much needed rain. Very romantic…

They have a great comfy living rooms—relaxing reading areas all around the hotel.

My favorite one was off of the lobby area with a fireplace roaring. I found myself there just before dinner relaxing, sitting with my feet up on an ottoman, in front of the fire, with a newspaper and birthday Guinness—perfect!

We had dinner reservations for 6:30 at Dio Deka, the hotel restaurant—we’ve eaten there before. Dio Deka is a Greek Mediterranean restaurant. The menu items are all written in Greek so you have to read the entire description to know what it is. (It all seems Greek to me…)

We did ask to change the original table we were sat at (with little fuss they accommodated us)—we were seated by the kitchen, around a bend so that one diner felt like you were sitting in the middle of an isle, and one of the chairs was like a sink hole—”you would like to move—no problem.”

I love that attitude!

Our waiter, Conan, was right on target all night long. His food and wine recommendations were spot on! He was knowledgeable about the menu items and wine selections, he was friendly with good welcomed conversation. When he was at our table he was like another one of our dinner guests. He knew when to be there when not to be nosing in.

Our custom menu, built for two, went something like this:

O R E K T I K A

Dolmathakia … Metaxa-braised beef short ribs and creamy rice, wrapped in grape leaves and finished with a truffle scented wild mushroom citrus foam. (I think it’s time to let the foam go—why this became a big hit in the culinary world is beyond me…)
I do love grape leaves and these were spectacular!
Octapodi Scharas … Mesquite grilled Greek octopus, warm citrus olive oil, oregano and micro-green.
Tender like filet Mignon—A treat beyond belief!

Trilogia… Crispy Monterey bay calamari, clam-oregano fritters and fried organic asparagus.

Wonderful combination’s of seafood and vegetables!

S O U P E S   K E   S A L A T E S

Ntomatosoupa … Fire-roasted tomato and country bread soup, fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil.

Pantzaria Salata … Chilled slow roasted beet salad, candied walnuts, goat cheese, citrus-olive oil and chive vinaigrette.

W I N E
Nemea, Agiorgitiko, Gaia Estate, ‘Gaia Estate’, Peloponnesus, Greece, 2005

(We had the label… the very nice waiter mounted it on restaurant stationary… it’s a long story—we lost it!)

K I R I A   P I A T A

Paithakia … Mesquite-grilled, premium rib-cut, grass-fed
lamb chops, with traditional seasonings lemon-oregano crusted potatoes and spinach

tender, cooked to perfection, and delicious!

E P I D O R P I O
Greek desserts are typically enjoyed alongside a cold glass of water and a strong coffee.

Yiaourti … Greek yogurt with rare wild thyme-scented Greek honey and honeycomb, toasted Macadamia nuts, seasonal fresh fruits

Milopita … Warm honey crisp apple tart tatin, vanilla bean gelato and sauce caramel

D E S S E R T  W I N E (complements of our waiter)
Kourtaki, Samos, Muscat

Funny, I observed our waiter at times, when he was at other tables and I almost felt like he was cheating on us—giving equally good service, information and conversation to all his diners… I thought we were his favorites—NICELY DONE!)

We said we wanted to take our time and take our time we did… We were not rushed or neglected or anything other than treated like guests of rich family or friends! (RICH: in spirit, in hospitality, and in understanding the point…)

Conan brought us two beautiful and delicious desserts one with Happy birthday written in very good quality chocolate on the rim of the plate—Conan also brought us two complimentary glasses of Muscat! Very nice! Everything was fan-dabey-dosey-tastic—Very delicious!

A very perfect birthday!

Thank you Honey!

We even took some time on the way back to the room to sit by the fire and critique some art—we did it all…

Technorati Tags: birthday, Dio Deka, excellent food, fan-dabey-dosey-tastic, great hotel, Great service, Greek food, Los Gatos Hotel, special, Surprise

It was the worst of times, it was the best of times…

It was some night, a dining experience that won’t soon be forgotten. Family was in town from NY and we were staying in one of my favorite places in the country—San Francisco! I will try to stick to the subject—Food, wine, hospitality!

There are many tours one could take to experience a cities, sites, smells, and tastes. One tour that has never failed to please has been affectionately dubbed the Phil Tour after your humble narrator…

Even people who have been on the tour before, people who try to find fault have been unsuccessful. But these times, they are CHANGIN’!

The Phil Tour might need a face lift, after all, some of the places on the list have been perfect for over 14 years—This is just impossible to keep up! So like the Dow Jones Industrial average updates and upgrades from time to time, the Phil Tour needs a little remodel…

Who should stay and who should go now? (Which reminds me it’s been a while since I’ve practiced Rockband)

Yabbies Coastal Kitchen, a stalwart legend for neighborhood seafood fantastic and Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine chain in every city will get a little looksie…

My first experience at Roy’s was about 15 years ago at The Inn at Spanish Bay on Pebble Beach overlooking the ocean—beautiful! It was amazing, it hadn’t been franchised all over the place yet and was too far away to revisit. Since, I’ve been to the one in San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Palm Desert—all fantastic!

And Yabbies, I fell in love with when it first opened 14 years ago and quickly became a regular. I did some advertising work for them in the early days and had an opening of one of my photography shows at the grand opening of their wine store located next door. I became close friends with the owners and staff and was eating or drinking there at least 4 nights a week. The food was always outstanding, regardless of how often they turned over chefs and they did quite a bit! The food and extensive wine list was always reasonable and I would go out with the friendly knowledgeable staff and owners after they closed for the night. Yabbies has always been on the recommend list—always!

Continue Reading »

Technorati Tags: Clift Hotel, EOS, Friday night out, it was the best of times, phil tour, Red Room, Roys, san francisco, The worst of time, Yabbies

Haiku Asian Bistro and Sushi Bar

Good freakin’ food!

When I come to New York, Westchester to be more specific, I don’t think about going for sushi. I’ve been to places in recent history that weren’t worth writing or reading about, which equals not worth spending another dime in let alone going back to.

It is, what it is, or is what it used to be. We didn’t go to Asia de Cuba, or the Volcano afterward in NYC, this year. Lot of changes this year—Change could be carved in granite as the word of the year for 2008. Only time will tell if the word change translates to actual change in the future. But we have made some changes this year including going to a sushi restaurant in Crossriver NY—again Westchester to be specific.

I was looking forward to trying this little number and I’ve been jonesing for sushi when I come to Westchester for a long time—so seemed perfect.

Well, the ambiance kicked ass and the fact that it did annoyed me because I didn’t have my camera. In fact it made me feel like that’s why it was so cool…

The waiter seemed to be rushing us when being in a rush was the last thing we were interested in. It was Saturday night, around 8pm, and we were sat right away, with several tables available.

We started with Asahi and hot saki—the way I prefer to start when dining on sushi. One guest started with that AND a fancy umbrella drink with out the umbrella—a White Cosmo: Svedka Raspberry Vodka, Cointreau, White Cranberry Juice & Sour Mix.
Saki hot, beer and Cosmo cold and delicious.

Interesting menu because although it was a Japanese sushi restaurant which also offered Chinese. This is something I noticed in the burbs of NY—Chinese restaurants offering sushi and Japanese places offering Chinese versus stand alone’

We stuck with the Japanese selections and actually ordered additional food a couple of times throughout our night out. One odd thing was that the sushi was priced by each piece versus the standard 2 per. What compounded this oddity is that the same version of the sashimi offerings was priced per 2 pieces. If your concerned about food cost just make the sushi slightly smaller, but really what are we talking about here—the tablespoon of rice can’t cost a penny. And it comes off cheap when they don’t need too. We ordered Salmon, Yellowtail, Albacore sushi and sashimi and both were lovely, fresh, and excellent quality. We ordered a couple of their special rolls which were interesting and creative, and I would recommend all of them.

Geisha roll: Inside- Shrimp Tempura & Avocado / Outside- Spicy Tuna & Tempura Crunch
Dinosaur Roll: Inside-Shrimp Tempura,Spicy Tuna & Avocado/Outside-Topped With Soft Shell Crab,Caviar & Eel Sauce
Yellowtail and Jalapeno roll

The food, drinks, and decor were fantastic!

The waitstaff didn’t seem like they were all together and I felt that they took turns rushing us out the door in the guise of being helpful—no, not going to fool the IrascibleChef, but they were “pass-able,” as my grandmother would say (thank you for that perfect descriptor Grandma.) You can see what I think about the importance of the waitstaff to your restaurant here.

Haiku: Definitely an overall winner.

Technorati Tags: food review, Haiku Asian Bistro and Sushi Bar, Restaurants, Review, Sushi, Westchester

I told the padre, I like it here, get to do what you want, nobody fucks with you, the only thing you have to worry about is dying, and if that happens it won’t matter anyway…

—Bunny (Kevin Dylan) from Platoon

The Internet is a funny place. You can find information about anything and everything 24/7. Go to places that are real and imaginary. Ask people questions and tell people answers, find/lose people, solve/create problems… The people that set up soapboxes make rules for their spot, but for the most part it’s the Wild West.

Anybody can put up information and anybody can say what they want and no one really knows anything—mostly opinions. People either agree or disagree, the information for the most part is free flowing, we’re not like China—not yet!

This blog posts information that is opinion based on: different personalities, different sources of information, different experiences, different days of the week—the variables are vast and ever changing. The content is controlled here—people can’t post whatever they want, whether that’s the authors of posts or those commenting. I don’t let people use my soapbox to spread spam, inappropriate, or hateful content. I make the rules here, but sometimes people try to break those rules and maintenance can be a job in itself.

Now, when you go to other places they make the rules.

Where I come from you need to stand up for yourself because its been my experience that no one is going to do that for you. And, if you don’t stand up for yourself you’re not going to survive.

So, one of the subjects we write about here is restaurant reviews. We actually go to restaurants with the intent to review them and share our results with the rest of the world. The people we choose for these assignments have decades of experience including University, real world training and dining.

Besides posting here we share our posts with other review websites. They all have different sets of rules, audiences, and people commenting. Today we will be reviewing ChowHound.com a pretty popular site dedicated to those who love to eat.

Now, remember there are people who post articles and people that post comments—both can post and or comment.

Let’s just say there are some miserable people in the world that have nothing good to say, pic nits, pee in Cheerios—you get the point! People who have nothing better to do in fact. They can sit behind their computer and poke holes in anything and hide behind their damn computer and anonymity.

So, I re-post on ChowHound about this orgasmic pizza experience at this wonderful pizzeria Portofino in New York. (Portofino Dreaming) The comments on my article on Chowhound have since been deleted and even the post was pulled down twice, but it’s back up and stands alone…

Excerpt from my post Portofino Dreaming (the reason I give why I think their pizza is the best):

First, they make a slice that’s as big a small child and when in a whole pie it measures at least a yard from end to end. (probably an exaggeration, but close!)

Second, the sauce is perfectly seasoned with the right amount of cheese per any size bite.

Thirdly, we can talk about toppings, but I’m going to talk about one topping—broccoli rabe sauteed in garlic and olive oil. I’m still not ready to talk about how unbelievable this combination is—O M G! No, I’m just not ready yet…

Lastly, and I saved it for last because it is in fact the foundation—literally. The crust is thin, not paper, not notebook, but I’m going to call it the Goldilocks Crust—just right! But it’s not just right it’s just perfect!

Obviously size does matter and their perfect pizza crust is thin yet supportive, 1/8 inch of crispy, crunchy, able-to-support-the-sauce-and-cheese (and broccoli rabe in my case) perfect!

Continue Reading »

Technorati Tags: Ace Wasabi, articles, Chowhound, Commentors, Goldilocks Crust, iChef, Irascible, Opinion, Portofino Goldens Bridge, posting, The Internet, Wild West

Village California Bistro and Wine Bar on Santana Row in San Jose.

We just saw Valkyrie with Tom Cruise across the street (which is a review in the making) and decided we needed a bite to eat! Stopped to look at a few menus down Santana Row and passed by the french place—Left Bank, which if I had my druthers we should have given a try. The Village Bistro could seat us right away if we were willing to sit outside. We gave outside a try because it was nicely decorated with heavy drapery and heaters that made us feel like we were inside except for the open ceiling to remind us we weren’t. They went to the trouble to not only tell us about the outside seating, but showed us as well. That gave me more confidence about sitting in that area.

The drink / wine menus were pricey—looks like they’re trying to offset the relatively reasonable food prices with the higher drink prices. Some restaurants are so clever or should I say, think we’re all so stupid! There’s a recession going on you know!

The waitress even told us how lucky we were to be able to get a great deal on a half bottle of wine, it was ONLY $24 dollars! And there are 2 glasses worth of wine in a half bottle! $12 per glass—Yay! (I almost forgot about the financial disaster that is currently consuming the rest of the world! $24 dollars for 2 glasses of wine is a bargain!)

We, of course ordered a whole bottle of some french Chenin Blanc, poured into warm wine glasses, and told by the waitress that the wine didn’t need a cooler because it was cold.

Signals: Red—Stop, Green—Go, Smile—Happy, Frown—Sad. You get the idea…
Feeling the glass, picking the glass up and feeling it—should signal to the waitress that something is troubling the diner. Especially when my guest noticed my signal of touching and looking at the glass and asked if we should get a wine cooler, to which the waitress told us the wine was cold enough. But not if it’s being poured into warm wine glasses. Maybe I’m too picky, but when a bottle of wine costs $42 I expect the glasses to be the proper temperature! Hell, I expect that at any place that serves wine at any price!

Did I mention that the table was not sitting on the floor properly—one leg shorter than the rest—needed a wedge or something. I can’t stand putting my arm on the table and shifting weight and the whole table rocks back and forth. Also, I couldn’t put my feet straight down on the floor because the legs of the table limited where I could put my feet and move my chair. Bad place for a table.

My guest was willing to keep her foot on the leg for the entire dinner versus me asking the waitress if she could fix the table. I eventually asked anyway and the waitress’s solution was to push the table so it would butt the table up against a 2 inch beam on the wall—which sort of solved the issue temporarily.

We ordered:

Small plates

• Heirloom Beets on a bed of arugula with shaved Ricotta Salata cheese on the menu. Very nicely dressed, fresh and tasty. $10
• Confit of Duck leg with pear chutney, visually not what I was expecting, but creatively presented in a ring mold on dressed frissee and served with toast points—very delicious! The duck was moist and crispy and flavorful. The chutney was nicely laced with ginger and not overpowering. Assemble it all on a toast point—a winner! $10
• Braised Duck Strozzupretti: below… $16

Yes, I would say we eat on the slower side. You know take a bite, talk a little, drink some wine, talk a little, take a bite, talk a little, drink some more wine… You get the idea—the idea of the whole dining out experience thing!

The waitress did ask, from time to time, how everything was. In the middle of appetizers she did fly by, observed, and then told us that our entree would be there shortly. I thought that odd at the time because I would say that we were only through a third of our delicious appetizers. Signals! Remember to watch for the SIGNALS, still eating appetizers—DON’T BRING OUT THE ENTREE! Did I mention we asked for the apps to come out first then the entree?
So, after two more bites a different waiter shows up, looking to put down the entree that we were to share AFTER we had the appetizers. My guest did ask me if she could combine the two appetizers to make room, while the waiter stood there with our food. I said “NO,” hoping he would get my SIGNAL and take the food back until we were ready for it. I got his signal that he wasn’t going anywhere and my guests signal that I should be more reasonable—and I accepted her signal. After all…

Now, we pushed the delicious apps aside and started on the entree. Listed on the menu as Braised Duck Strozzupretti, a main dish of duck, told by the waitress it’s actually pasta tubes with duck, mushrooms, broccoli rabe, pearl onions, and a brandy cream sauce. Sounded delicious, although, I still believe, not as advertised on the menu. Still sounded good. Small portion though, long pasta size made it hard to put it in your mouth gracefully, stingy on the amount of duck, and could have used a bit more flavor. The dish was pretty as a picture though. I did have to ask for cheese… The warm bread, for the table that I always enjoy, was perfect for dunking. Which I enjoyed more than taking forkfuls.

The waitress asked if we wanted dessert, but looking to drop the bill—was in hand motioning the drop. We asked to see the dessert menu, which the waitress brought us and at the same time dropped the bill! SIGNAL to us from the waitress—get the hell out!

Before we could even open the menu the waitress was back to ask us if we decided to get out or order dessert, actually she did this twice, just like she did for the original order. We said, “no,” on the third ask and put the credit card on the bill. Which, ironically I might add, she was then in no rush to pick up and take our money!

I think restaurants should be resisted the days right after New Years Eve—unless we’re talking about McDonalds, which you know you can count on being the same food, same service, at the same prices—they don’t even do that up-sell “Supersize,” thing anymore! Clever restaurants!

Couple of notes:

• Seat only as many guests as you can serve in the manner of your restaurant. (even if it’s only one diner and you have 100 empty seats!
• The restaurant was moderately busy and it did look like the waitress did get a large dinner party half way through our meal. Not my problem.
• The busboy was helpful and attentive—thank you!
• I did like the beets and the confit very much—both presentation and taste.
• I liked the variety of the menu.
• Would I go back? Yes, I would give them a second try, but really, have you seen how many restaurants there are on Santana Row to try?
• Is service important? Yes, I don’t believe that’s even a question, but who does the fault really belong to—Management.

—iChef

**********************

Technorati Tags: Poor service, Restaurant, San Jose, Santana Row, The Village Bistro and Wine Bar

Merry Christmas!

Italian style:
at my uncles, lots of people, lots of drinks, lots of incredible food!
I write about my uncle, his house, and style in the book The Road Letters.

This is the one time of year I actually get to relive and recapture the sensation of the dinner rush so-to-speak. It’s usually crazy, out of control, and under pressure. And anyone who has been on the line knows exactly what I mean.

The night is filled with people shouting, laughing, loving. Smells of great food wafting. Drinks free flowing. Family, different generations all over the place.

Tradition, familia, food and wine… Yes, Virginia, this is what Christmas is all about…

The Menu:

• Cold Seafood Salad: Shrimp celery, calamari, scungili, red onion finely sliced, light olive oil and lemon dressing.
• Hot mussels marinara: beautifully cooked mussels is a perfectly seasoned spicy hot marinara sauce.
  Sweet mussels marinara: beautifully cooked mussels is a perfectly seasoned marinara sauce.
• Bakala: salt cod in a tomato, olive, and mushroom sauce.
• Stuffed fillet of sole: baked golden with a luscious bread and cheese filling.
• Linguini with clam sauce—my uncle’s specialty: garlicy, clammy, tilt the bowl to catch the last drop..
• Alaskan King Crab legs: (cut down the middle by me—the most dangerous and my least favorite job!) steamed to perfection and served with lemon butter.
• Garlic Croutons: for sopping up all the unbelievably flavorful sauces
• Homemade cookies including petit fours, cakes, chocolates, and coffee.

Midnight ends the sacrifice of not eating meat. So the cooking starts up again at about 11:30 pm.

• Sausage (mix of sweet and hot Italian—sliced), with Sam’s special salad and crusty bread at midnight. Ice cold beer!
• Drinks of the night included Tanqueray and (diet—I don’t need to get filled up on soda!) Tonic, Pinot Grigio, Assorted beer, Gin and cranberry,
• Oreo cookies at 2 am.

Important pieces missing: my brother who is with his girlfriend and her family and my fiancee and her children who are spending it across the country with her family.

Food and beverage missing: stuffed calimari—my grandmothers recipe. Louis XIV, like gentlemen after all is said and done… We needed to get to bed.

You would think that the preparation, cooking, and execution for this party would be enough for a while, but not for my uncle. The aftermath that was still around in the am, needed to be cleared, so that the preparation could start for Christmas—sit down dinner for 25 that will include: stuffed artichokes, filet mignon, baked stuffed mushrooms, sweet potatoes, on and on.

We won’t be with them for this dinner, but the dish I will miss most of all comes before we even sit down(not that sitting down happens for the cooks until everyone is already eating—the hot antipasto that his mother-in-law makes—thin lean beef rolled with layers of salami, mortadella, prosciutto, ham, parmesan and provolone chheses; slowly simmered in tomato sauce for hours until it literally falls apart and melts in your mouth. The crusty Italian bread for dipping—OMG!

Bon Apetito and Bon Natale…

—Irascible Chef

Technorati Tags: 2008, Bon Apetito, Bon Natale, family, food, Italian style, Menu, Merry Christmas, Recipe, wine

We had a little dinner party last night and although I prefer my food a little hotter (the trouble with being the cook) I think the food was right on target! The guests were happy—the goal!

If you would like any recipes just ask—lol!

The Menu

Passed appetizers included:

• Jarlsberg & Cambozola with crackers
• DL Pate with orange marmalade
• Fresh Mozz rolled with prosciutto and basil on seasoned croutons—warmed in the oven and drizzled with balsamic and olive oil.
• Jumbo lump crab meat on endive leaves with a dill mayo.
• Assorted California roll sushi with wasabi and ginger

The main event included:

• Sweet potatoes roasted with a modest cinnamon sugar, brown sugar, butter and seasoned just right.
• Baked stuffed mushrooms with, garlic, onions, diced mortadella, cheese, and bread crumbs—my grandfathers recipe.
• Green beans sautéed with garlic and onions.
• Beef Wellington iChef-twist—roasted filet of beef sliced and placed between puff pastry, garnished with a duxelle and pate and served with a cognac demi-glace with mushrooms.
• Mixed salad greens with carrots, mango, green apples and a balsamic vinaigrette.
• Wine and dessert brought by our guests were perfect!

The company was great! The wine was great! Yeah, the food was great too!

—iChef

Technorati Tags: # Baked stuffed mushrooms, # Sweet potatoes, Beef Wellington iChef-twist, demi-glace, Dinner Party Menu, Fresh Mozz, Jumbo lump crabmeat, Mixed salad greens, mortadella, prosciutto, sushi with wasabi and ginger, wine

Not bad, not bad at all. Not spectacular either. Decent is what it was and I would go back.

I should preface by saying, I love sushi and all the accoutrement’s and ceremony that revolve around the dining experience. That being said, this dinner was a dining out of hunger and need—not for pure enjoyment. What do I mean? I mean we had a time limit and NO hot sake nor beer… So sad.

The restaurant itself was very charming and decorated very nicely with Japanese touches. Clean, comfortable, and cozy!

We did have a very nice and accommodating waitress. I did have to do the double take when I heard her speak to us. A blond haired, blue eyed, white skinned girl sounding like authentic Japanese girl, speaking second-language-English—I had to check what my ears and eyes were separately telling my brain.”Veg-ah-tobbles,” made me look.

Wasn’t happy with the look of the albacore (gray in color) or salmon (small in size) sushi, but they both tasted fine. Fine. I also had a spicy shrimp tempura roll that had more tiny golden roe on it than I’ve ever seen as a garnish (not my favorite—garnish or not) but was almost easily brushed aside. Very tasty And all washed down with hot green tea—which I enjoyed quite a bit.

Leaving the restaurant was the most difficult part, as getting the check, checking the check—thankfully, needing the check to be corrected ($20 dollars of refilled cokes had to be removed—honest mistake), and finally paying the bill at the register took longer than reasonably necessary. See even explaining took a long time…

I would definitely try Fuki Sushi again, if I’m in the right place and the right time—there are so many places to go! Next time I will include the hot sake and beer! (definitely check for the soda refills—if anyone’s ordering them!)

—iChef

sidenote: when apologizing for the bill our authentic Japanese sounding waitress sounded more like a German accented, second-language-English speaking girl.

www.fukisushi.com

4119 El Camino Real
Palo Alto, CA 94306
(650) 494-9383

Technorati Tags: Beer, English, Fuki Sushi, German, green tea, iChef, Japanese, palo alto, sake, tempura

—Travel all the way to Beijing, you know, what used to be called Peking! Painstakingly suffered through 13 luxurious hours in Business Class—which by the way shouldn’t even be counted as travel time, and didn’t find a way to get authentic Beijing Peking Peking Duck!

Did manage to attend 3 Olympic events including the final round of Mens Individual Gymnastics with medal ceremonies, did walk the Great Wall (with crown they gave me at BK), did go through the Forbidden City, did see Tiananmen Square, did have dinner with my childhood hero and Olympic World record holder Janet Evans, did invent and drink b-O-b®, did go on crazy taxi ride, did eat at McDonald’s in China (tasted like chicken) did say hello and thank you in Chinese like an authentic Chinamanperson, did eat traditional Chinese breakfast—DID NOT get to try: Scorpion, or doggie, or most disappointingly, authentic Peking Duck or roasted duck as they called it at the best Peking Duck restaurant in Beijing, Da Dong, because we got back to the hotel 15 minutes too late! (Did have greasy poor quality Peking duck sliced to order, wrapped in pancakes with Hoisin and scallions at the J&J hospitality center in the Hotel Kunlun, which was superb except for their rendition of Peking duck! It was nice because they had two chef’s making them to order, and we did get to actually have Peking duck in Beijing and it was after we foundout that we wouldn’t be able to have it in the restaurant, but…)

All this in 3 days on the ground, one of which was day 1 and we arrived at the hotel 4:30pm…

China Stix, here in Santa Clara, California!

A recommendation from a trusted (foodie) colleague. And, as promised from the onset, “it won’t look like much from the outside, and it didn’t! —to complete the visual it didn’t look like much on the inside either. But we were there for the Peking Duck! The same duck that eluded us in Beijing—or was it?

We tried in Beijing to communicate, we really did! My goal was to say 2 things—Hello, pronounced, nee how, and thank you pronounced, shia shia. I felt stupid, but I did make an effort. Communications in China otherwise was impossible, even simple sign language went no where—painfully slowly!

Well, communicating with our waiter was like trying to communicate with our taxi driver in Beijing. IMPOSSIBLE!

I wanted Tsing Tao, but I tried to get the hot sake on the menu, but as much as I tried I ended up with cold hot sake. My daring Sous Chef tried the plum wine that was so sweet we could have made Shirley temples for all of china!

SWITCH! Tsing Tao, and Chardonnay!

Let’s just say we got the Peking Duck for 2, not that it says it’s for 2 on the menu, but when asked if it would be enough for 2 we were told, “it is a whole duck! With pancakes.”

Okay we came for the duck, why mess it up with any other flavors, or possible disappointments? The duck, and only the duck, it shall be! For 2.

It was presented very nicely with head and beak included—no extra charge!
The skin was crispy, the meat was juicy, the fat was all but nonexistent! The pancakes were individually handmade, the Hoisin sauce was sweet, but not too sweet, and the scallions were uniformly sliced thin and not over powering.

I still remember having better (the duck 3 ways) at a Peking Duck House in Northern NJ— By the way, when we mentioned that we wanted Peking duck 3 ways our waiter asked us as if we were lunatics if we saw that on TV or something—because all us, pathetic American’s, see something on TV and must have it—after-all, it was on TV! (he also mentioned that we wouldn’t like the soup any way—way number 2 of 3, because it looks unappetizing with the duck bones sticking out—annoying American’s watching too much TV!)

TheMommyblog also, talks about this evening very positively!

—Irascible Chef

Technorati Tags: Beijing, China, China Stix, dog, iChef, J&J, Janet Evans, Johnson and Johnson, Peking Duck, Restaurant, Scorpion, The Mommy Blog

Let me just start by saying that the last time I saw Janet Evans she was a young girl, winning race after race and breaking record after record in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

I had the biggest crush on her… She had the greatest smile, the biggest wide eyes, and the most enthusiastic personality—who could blame me?

Janet became America’s sweetheart and I didn’t stand a chance. I did think about joining the US Olympic team, but what would I do? When I was younger, I planned to be an Olympic bicycle racer, okay, why not, it’s a start? But. Oh, that’s right that was when I was 13, never competed in bike racing, and I was a kid—when that type of dream was still possible. I was 13 talking trash riding around on a 10 speed with my friends—it was a dream.

Sorry, where was I going with this? Oh, right, iChef Mindy won an all expense paid trip to the 2008 Beijing Olympics from sponsor Johnson & Johnson. For two! J & J ROCKS! They paid for every single thing, including food, drink, 5 star hotel, Olympic event tickets, AND round trip Business Class tickets to China— a small a freaking fortune!

One evening we were treated to a special intimate dinner for 11 at Green T in Beijing with special guest—can you guess who? No way!

YES! Janet Evans—all grownup!

Why was dinner for 11 and not 12 ? Because unfortunately Janet’s husband couldn’t make it—Unfortunate…

Would I speak or trip over myself? Continue to keep my secret or step up to the starting blocks and tell about my ridiculous unrequited feelings from over 20 years ago to someone I only met on TV?

Well, we show up at the restaurant and the hi’s, hello’s, and how-do-you-do’s, come and go and we all pressed palms, exchanged names, had a cocktail as a group (I had a GreenTea Martini.) The table at this fabulous Asian fusion restaurant rivaled Asia de Cuba (here in the states)—it ran the length of the restaurant and had seats with chair backs as high as the ceiling. There was a seating chart and iChef Mindy was so lucky (it almost wasn’t fair) because she was sat RIGHT next to Janet! Where would I be, probably at the end of this table as long as the Great Wall (just so happened we visited earlier.) Where’s my place card, where’s my name, where’s my— What’s this? There must be a mistake! Yikes! I was also seated next to Janet!

As fate would have it Janet was seated right between Mindy and myself! (because, unfortunately, as you know her husband couldn’t make it) Hoo-freaken-ha!

What a wonderful event, dinner, and conversation. Kids, blogging, writing books, (can’t call me inconsistent!) sponsorships, beer-in-a-bowl® (which IS of course trademarked) etc.

I didn’t tell her about the crush I had, I thought that would be so passé. Though when I did tell her what I told her I think she knew what I meant.

I told her what her smile, enthusiasm, and big brown eyes meant to (me) the country, how excited she made (me) the country feel, dot dot dot

She was great, she showed us pictures of her daughter and husband on her phone, talked to us like she was one of us. We took pictures before leaving. Yes, the group shot was great, but I wasn’t leaving without a pic of just the two of us—dreams do come true!

What a wonderful life!

PS. Predictably during the 1992 Olympics, I managed to fall love with Olympic swimmer Amy Van Dyken—I was young, a dreamer, falling in love with unattainable, enthusiastic, Olympic-Gold-medal-winning-women, that I would never meet, let alone have a meaningful thought provoking conversation with…

Though, my dream did eventually come true, in China of all places, with Janet.

—IrascibleChef

Technorati Tags: 2008 Olympics, America, Beijing, China, Crush, Dreams, J & J, Janet Evans, Mindy, Restaurants, Swimming, travel, USA