The Pleasures of Paris in a Flat World

Thanks to talented pastry chefs and bakers in the U.S. who are infatuated with French sweets and baked treats, it is not necessary to travel to Paris to enjoy them....well, at least, you can get by without doing so.

The display at La Pâtisserie des Rêves--tranlates to "the pastry of dreams." Amen.

For example, In San Francisco you can get killer bread, croissant, muesli and meringues at Tartine; canelé, if you get there early enough, at Boulette's Larder.

Macaroons displayed at a bakery in the sweet 'hood of Saint Germain.

In Palo Alto you can get a buttery, flaky croissant and satisfying pain au chocolate without searching too hard.

Rich yet pure: French strawberry planted in a jar of crème fraîche. 

Californian farmers markets can--unequivocally--match the quality of produce I saw at Raspail Market if not the selections (animal brains) and varietals (gariguette strawberries).

Raspail Market on a rainy Tuesday morning.

There was a food truck at Raspail Market!  Apparently more to come!

In the category of dairy, we have St. Benoît Creamery in Sonoma with Euro roots, whose sumptuous yogurts can easily compete with the delicious whole-milk ones I tasted in France.

And in the area of coffee, there is simply no competition. The U.S. does it better.

Never to-go. Café Crème (café au lait) from Coutume.  

So it is possible to get a taste of France without going far, at least living in the Bay Area.

Chocolat chaud at Coutume.

But I will have to go to Paris for everything else: to hear the melodic sounds of French being spoken in the Metro; to sip local café crème--even if Blue Bottle could prepare it better--, to admire a market's endless rows of butter and yogurt in pristine glass jars...to have a chat with the owner of a little, white dog in a neighborhood park.

Named for a cycling race from Paris to Best, le Paris-Brest is a wheel of small puff pastries filled with praline buttercream.  These, from La Pâtisserie des Rêves, are absolutely deadly--among the best tasting pastries I have ever had.  

Yogurt anyone?  From Bon Marché before I was told to put away my camera.

Bottom line: though bits of Paris can be experienced here, Paris is still distinctly Paris, even if it is being invaded by food trucks at the moment.

San Francisco International Tea Festival - Year I

I kind of want to keep this a secret, but how can I?

This was the first annual (yes, they are planning on doing it next year) San Francisco International Tea Festival.  Though I love coffee, I am now seriously considering converting to being a 100% tea drinker. All, if not the majority, of products were from (or have North American HQs) in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York--an added thrill for me.

The display at Oakland's own  Sky Tea

Over a course of four hours, I learned about how tea is processed and sampled 15-20 varieties (green, black, red, white) including:

Oolong
Puer
Jasmine
Chai
Black teas from Indian and British companies
Matcha
Genmai-cha
Rooibos
Herbal

There was also, oddly, one chocolate and ginger ale booth each, both marvelous.

From Pure Puer. 

MY FAVORITES

• Masala chai (blended with brown sugar and 2% milk) from Oakland's Sky Tea . It had a gentle kick to it, and its creaminess reminded me of the delicious chai I had in India which was made with buffalo milk.  

• Ito En's matcha.  To be fair, we didn't see other pure matcha teas there so they didn't exactly have competition. But we were told that Teas's Tea Matcha won some kind of taste award...and that is quite believable.  This booth had at least a dozen varieties of their chilled teas as well, which were clean tasting and refreshing.  Ito En also produces green tea bags under the Kirkland (Costco) brand. They are the best tasting green tea bags I have had and contain a bit of matcha in them.

• Claudio Corallo's chocolate with raisins in liquor.  Absolute seduction.  However, I did not buy it because a small package (< 6ounces) was $25.  But in case I regret this, I needn't travel to Italy as I can find them in Gourmet Ghetto thank goodness.

Claudio Corallo's soap-sized packages of chocolate.

• Red Circle Tea was delightful and wins my award for friendliest and most informative service.  Sky Tea, with its enthusiastic crew, was excellent too.

• Fresh Ginger Ginger Ale in jasmine flavor was refreshing.  

Also from PurePuer.

Did you know that:

• Unlike wine, all tea (we aren't talking about tisanes here) comes from one plant, but that its processing distinguishes them from one another? 
• The difference between Japanese green tea and all the rest is in the processing.  Japanese green tea is steamed whereas other teas (including Chinese green teas) are roasted during production.  
• Matcha, ground tea leaves, is the purest kind of green tea. For optimal brewing, do NOT use boiling water.  This is really important!
• You can use the tea leaves you used for making tea and throw them in your stir-fry to get more anti-oxidants out of your meal says Ying Compestine.
• "Kung fu" means something that is achieved through dedicated effort. (Imperial Tea Court's Roy Fong said so.) The reference isn't just to Bruce Lee et al.  Why he mentioned this in his talk, I cannot remember. But Roy Fong also believes that tea lowered his blood pressure (he had a heart attack at 41),

These were some of the bits of info that we were told.

Since this is their first year, the festival had some first-year glitches. For example, an intimate Japanese green tea ceremony, which I had won a ticket for, was way overbooked.  I couldn't get in as a result.  I was disappointed.   (But I got over it.)  All the volunteers we ran into (and there were many) were friendly and accommodating, if a little lost.  The crowd was also manageable and small enough that you could move around, but I would strongly recommend the festival stock their booths with double the number of staff next year. This would make traffic even better and reduce wait times.  

But for a debut, nice job, tea festival!

From Roti Roti.  Not a vegetarian sandwich! Hunk of porky inside. 

Of course the venue, on the second floor of the Ferry Building, is a gem. Before entering the tea festival, we got a bite. At the Ferry Building on a Saturday morning, the options are luxuriously overwhelming.  Miraculously, there was almost no line at Roti Roti and J was able to get one of their famous porchetta sandwiches in no time.  This was possible only because it is still officially winter and tourists haven't yet taken over the place.  Just a few more precious weeks before they do...

Philz Coffee (Downtown Palo Alto) - Review

What was all the fuss about Philz Coffee?  No matter when I pass by this glass-walled cafe, I see tons of people inside. Nevermind about the spectacular customer reviews.

Summary

Disclaimer: this is based on one visit on a springy, Sunday February morning.

Tip: Order first at the barista bar and then go to the cashier and pay.

• All coffee is made to order.
• Service is efficient even though the coffee prep takes time.
• Vibe on a Sunday morning: all kinds of Palo Alto types, slim, trim and wiling to pay $3.25 for a small cup of black coffee. So they are 20-40 somethings typing into laptops and adults with children in jeans, hoodies, button-down shirts, and Patagonia jackets. Some customers are alone
• Pastries to stay are served in huge coffee filters. 
• Baristas take care of your cream and sugar if you want any.
• Lots of individual attention and coffee counseling (as needed). I felt like I could take my time talking (unlike at some places I love in SF) because there was not a long line of customers behind me.
• Lounge chairs, tables, and lots of natural light. Bottom line: I am intrigued! I like it!

MORE….
Went in and wasn’t exactly sure where to go. The place is big and there was a cluster of people both by the cashier and on the other side of the deep barista bar.  But since the staff is attentive, listening was all that was required to figure it out.  Still, maybe Philz could benefit from having someone out on the floor guiding people.

I asked for a black coffee.  I barely glanced at the menu in part to avoid being overwhelmed with choices (I had heard that so many drinks were good here) and because I just wanted black. But the Philz’s hot chocolate was tempting me.  Anyway, I ordered. “This your first time here?” said the long haired man behind the counter. He had a cross earring dangling from his left ear.  He could have been a professional wrestler. In fact the entire line of baristas looked as ethnically and culturally diverse as what you’d find on BART.

He told me: every serving is brewed individually and that I should try Tesora, described on the menu as “a grand representation of our coffee and they way coffee should taste."  He also asked: cream or sugar? We prepare that back here.

At the cash register I asked a kind kid who looked like a graduate student in CS to recommend some pastries. He likes the chocolate croissants best.  When I kept probing, he also suggested the almond twist and the apricot bar. I went with the bar. But I will be back for the other two.

Philz Coffee

101 Forest Avenue

Palo Alto, CA 94301
philzcoffee.com

Camino & World Champion Latte Artist at The Proxy Project

The report on the last 20 hours of food prowling.

Latte art by Hiroshi Sawada. Baked goods in background from Sandbox Bakery and Black Jet Bakery.

• 7:00pm Friday - It started Friday night at Oakland's Camino, which is easily among the best restaurants I have been to in years. Communal tables, open-flame cooking, unpretentious service, first-rate Californian cuisine. More at the end of this post.

• 10:00am Saturday - Ferry Building farmers' market for beans and eggs at Primavera's booth.  Then, a visit to the Farmhouse Culture stand, where I tried three kinds of sauerkraut: horseradish leek, apple fennel, and garlic dill pickle.  I took back a container filled with the first.  The salty-tartness and crunch of the sauerkraut pairs superbly with roasted beets!   

• 11:00am Saturday - Ritual Coffee at the The Proxy Project to see Hiroshi Sawada, THE master of latte art--the man who literally wrote the book on the subject.  He is also featured in this NY Times article from yesterday about Tokyo coffee.  

Hiroshi-san creating one of his ephemeral masterpieces.

As soon as I arrived at Ritual on this sun-drenched Saturday I began to envy everyone living in Hayes Valley (all the tail-wagging dogs and toddlers included).  Why? On the other side of Ritual is liquid nitrogen fueled Smitten Ice Cream; in front of it are two fashionable food trucks; and a stone's throw away are Blue Bottle, Absinthe, Miette, and probably many other awesome places that I would rather not know about. 

As I said, the day was bathing in sunshine and mildness for a winter day.

Smitten Ice Cream just upon opening. The Santa hat tells you it's December.

Attention carnivores!

Wha??  "Brighter Faster" is what the Proxy Project landmark says. Below is Casey's pizza truck,

This is why I sing "I left My Heart in San Francisco."

---------------------------

More on Camino

Here is what three of us ordered (verbatim from the menu). My favorites are asterisked.

• Avocado, orange and rutabaga salad with pomegranate and walnuts *
• Wood oven-baked local oysters with absinthe, breadcrumbs and carrot salad
• Wood oven-roasted chanterelle mushrooms with pounded wild nettles and grilled flatbread
• Half a Dungeness crab grilled in the fireplace with radicchio salad and aioli*
• Grilled local ling cod, rockfish and artichokes with new onions, Yukon Gold potatoes and chile broth*
• For dessert: persimmon pudding (tasted like a milder version of pumpkin pie).  

Every dish had a "WOW!" factor. This means that every time I took a bite of a new dish, I interupted the table conversation or chewing silence to repeat (yet again that night), "Wow! That is good!"  Camino uses fireplaces and wood ovens rather than stoves to cook its food.  Also unlike the majority of kitchens, theirs is not made of stainless steel or plastic, but stone. The resulting look and feel of Camino is warmth--chestnuts-on-an-open fire lighting. (This is truer the closer you are to the kitchen, which we were.)

This gorgeous hearthy kitchen is also an open kitchen.   The colorful mis en place preens for onlookers.   Last week's Good Food show featured an interview with the chef, Russ Moore, a/k/a the "Gentle Griller." His kitchen is decidedly anti-macho--he said it himself! Here's to you Chef Russ!

My trip to Camino should have taken 45 minutes from Palo Alto, where I was coming from.  Instead, it took two dreadful hours, much of which was spent muttering obscenities, along with: I should have left earlier. Why am I doing this? I should have stayed home tonight!  Nothing like a good Friday evening traffic jam to soothe your nerves following an intense day at work.

But when I sat down and took my first taste of the avocado, orange and rutabaga salad,  all cares went POOF!  

Simple Pleasures in Oakland

Three reasons why I am crazy for Temescal:

1. Breakfast at Pizzaiolo.

Doughnut hole and morning bun at Pizzaiolo. 

These deadly delights, along with Blue Bottle cappuccino mend all.  (OMG--the morning bun.)

So far, I have every reason to believe that the Pizzaiolo folks really mean it with their hearts.

2. Bakesale Betty's, on the corner.  

At 10:00 AM on a recent Saturday, this place was preparing for the lunchtime invasion of customers   who line up for their fried chicken sandwich.

Fried chicken sandwiches  on tap at Bakeale Betty's.

 I wasn't quite in the mood at 10-in-the-morning so I bought cookies instead: oatmeal raisin and molasses. 

Oatmeal raisin cookie with bits of walnuts.

These are extremely recommended for those who love a soft cookie.  They are pliable in your hands, like a firm dough.  This was especially true of the molasses' cookie.  I found the sweetness of both cookies, and the spiciness of the molasses cookie, to be very pleasant.

Molasses cookie. (Not all of it made it to the photo shoot.)

The service here on this day was as sweet as the cookies. Makes me really want to come back. Very, very soon.

3. La Calaca Loca (no website available at this writing).
La Calaca Loca--is that a kick to say or what. It's the stylish-looking Mexican place on the other side of Pizzaiolo. I haven't been there yet, but it is on my list, especially as I love a Mexican breakfast and this place is open from 9am on weekends. There is a nice outdoor patio in the back, says my knowledgeable foodie insider friend. 

There are plenty more social, political,  cultural and sun-drenched reasons to love this irresistible section of Temescal...as if one needed any more reasons.

Eleven Madison Park: Cloud Nine

Even the coffee is extraordinary here.

Lobster

Even at the finest New York City restaurants, coffee service is a relative after-thought that is hardly given the kind of attention granted to its entrees, desserts or cocktails.  Not so at the highly decorated Eleven Madison Park. This elegant restaurant, on the edge of verdant Madison Square Park, was recently minted with three Michelin stars. Moreover, it has won every James Beard award that it is eligible for, along with maximum starred-ratings from the New York Times and Forbes. Its coffee program, featuring the highest-end beans and siphon brewing, was started by James Betz, a bartender at the restaurant who enjoys brewing coffee at home.  (His uncle is Ken Nye of the New York coffee institution that is Ninth Street Espresso, but that’s strictly an aside.)

Siphon in the day.  Even more gorgeous at night.

It hardly takes a meal at this restaurant to see how attentive the staff is to details.  As soon as you walk in, you are cordially greeted, and taken in by the towering ceiling, cream colored roses, and linen covered tables.  This is a restaurant where every one of your servers—and there are several—are able to answer any questions you may have about where, exactly, the food is coming from and how it is prepared. If you show a particular interest in say the cakes of butter served with your bread, you will be presented with information about the farm it came from on a hand-written note on cardstock stationary.  If you step away from the table, you will find it in even nicer condition than you left it, with your napkin neatly folded, crumbs swept away.  The staff manages to accomplish all this without being a trace overbearing. And the food?  Almost too beautiful to eat, it is exceptionally delicious.

Jim explained his motivations to pitch the idea of a coffee program to the restaurant’s management.  “The pinnacle of coffee could only be found at coffee shops,” he said.  “I wanted to bring that kind of quality here. I thought it was possible, at a place like this, to do even more than what is done at a specialty coffee shop.”  On the first night of Eleven Madison Park’s coffee program, there were so many orders for siphon and Chemex (their other brewing offering) that Jim was on the phone to his supplier asking for all the specialized equipment he could possibly send over—pronto!

While Jim continues to manage the program, Eleven Madison Park has a barista on staff who, like Jim, the restaurant captains and sommeliers, has completed 14-16 hours of training in siphon brewing at the Intelligentsia lab across town.

So now an exquisite gastronomical experience at one of the most coveted restaurants in Manhattan can be finished off with some of the best java on the planet.

By the way, if I ever have the privilege of eating here again, I will never, ever take stealth photos  again.  It was like sacrilege.

Blue Bottle: Baked Treats that Speak for Themselves

Review of three baked treats from Blue Bottle in Oakland.

Holy Pumpernickel!

This coffee cake has the perfect ratio of cake to crumbs. Because the cake is only about a centimeter high, you don't have to have a mouth as wide as an alligator's to taste all the flavors at once.  This moist cake also has a sense of humor.  It's speckled with oats and nuts...and--surprise--pumpernickel seeds! I'd have never thought to combine pumpernickel with a sweet cake, but man my life is better having experienced this.

Talk about a wolf-in-sheep's-clothing.  Shy and diminutive looking--plain, even.  But it's flavored with a touch of rum, bits of almond, and dried fruit.  Truly an adult cake. I can imagine what a divine pairing it must make with coffee.

Now this cookie.

This cookie does not look very dark, but it has a distinct dark chocolate flavor. It is sweet but not too sweet.  It is cripsy on the outside and soft on the inside.  I don't taste any coffee in it, which is a good thing since it is to be enjoyed with coffee.  

Blue Bottle knows how to make rabid followers out of people. As if the coffee weren't enough to travel for...watch out also for the baked goods!

Happy Pill

...in liquid form.

If health insurance covered this, I am sure the happiness quotient in this country would improve.

Meow! Spicy Mocha from Coupa Café.

It's been way too long since I've had this. One sip and life is instantly improved.

In fact, it has been way too long since I've been at Coupa. The blonde who works at both the Stanford and Ramona locations has been wondering where Danica and I (addicted regulars) have been!

A Summer Afternoon in Manhattan

Saturday, August 15, 2010

For lunch, Maura and I went to Cafe Zaiya (18 E. 41st) a Japanese deli. There are several locations in the city.

The tables were all taken so we took our lunches to-go, heading for Bryant Park, a couple of blocks down. It was an usually mild day in NYC, which has been suffering from triple-digit heat this summer. On these days, I would rather be in California. Really.

Movie-perfect carousel on the edge of Bryant Park.

Across the street from Bryant Square Park is Lily O'Brien's, which is a dangerous place to go. They feature gourmet "chocolates with personality," and chocolate drinks, iced or hot. Satisfied from lunch, and looking forward to even more pigging out later, I miraculously managed to stay away.

Featured here are their macaroons:

Next stop: Grand Central Station to Joe’s (the Art of Coffee). Joe's makes really good joe! Thank you, New York Times for your recommendations. All coffee is to-go at Grand Central's Joe's. Indeed, you will have a more pleasant journey where ever you may be headed with a cup of Joe's in hand.

Joe is on to something.

Mo' Mocha

The Egoless Boss took me to Coupa for breakfast and we both ordered the Spicy Maya Mocha. She ordinarily reserves her enthusiasm for things she is certain about (eg hard, quantitative data and chocolate truffles), but raves about this drink. Had to try it.

Well, the mocha was surreal. I think it even trumps Spicy Maya hot chocolate, an idea that would have seemed inconceivable just two days ago when I bolted out the door to get my can of $18.50 Spicy Maya chocolate mix.

The mocha gives your throat a hit of tingle at the end, just like the hot chocolate does, but it has added complexity to it, which I would call caramel. WOAH.

Oh man...

To be enjoyed alternately sipping and sighing, with a serene smile on your lips.

Fantasia Coffee & Tea - Santana Row

378 Santana Row
San Jose, CA 95128
(408) 260-1668

Reviewed 8/25/09

I was in Santa Clara for a meeting and ended up at Fantasia at some point. Possibly one of the very few reasons to be caught dead at Santana Row.

I ordered the taro milk tea sans ice.

The flavor was good, but more creamy than taro-y. The pearls though, were definitely on the squishy side. I didn't mind so much but was surprised that a Santana Row establishment, where peacocks preen their feathers and Lamborghinis share lanes with Bentleys, could get away with serving pearls like that.

Well, maybe I just answered my question. Go to a glitzless mall, and you get high quality pearls, worth every chew.

Teaforest

8686 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 815-1723

Reviewed 7/1/2009

The forest of tea tins

A sip of milk tea with a shot of espresso and BANG! I was in heaven.

But the pearls were not quite right. Slimey on the outside and firm on the inside. And my friend could taste some powder when she chewed on some of hers.

But when you're sitting there, sipping that milk tea in that room filled with aromatic teas and in that incredible food paradise that surrounds you in Culver City...well, you feel like one of the cool people. At least I do in memory, which is probably distorted but:

One thing is sure: that milk tea was AWESOME.

Blue Bottle Coffee

Embarcadero
1 Ferry Bldg
San Francisco, CA 94105

Reviewed 11/1/2009

I have never shown up at Blue Bottle with a smile on my face.

Rather I am looking pissed and disgusted, and fantasizing about grabbing an appliance off the shelf and hurling it. Not to hurt anyone of course.

1) The line is long;

2) it gets annoying navigating the strollers and starry-eyed people who don't know where they are going;

3) Dozens of people cut in front of you as if you were a makeshift walkway and don't even pardon themselves. If any of you are reading this, "excuse me" is the polite thing to say do when doing that. Try it sometime!

But once the coffee hits my palate, my irritation disappears. I am calm, focused, serenely content, and ready next to hit Scharffenberger with a smile.

I like to think of Blue Bottle as an SF institution. Well it is. And it makes me smug that we have it to call our own. And so I will get in that stupid line again and again.


Plus I want to look like the gray and black clad dudes and dudettes behind the counter, exuding urban cool, SF style. Thank you guys for being mellow and kind and devoted to what you are doing.

I want this place to keep thriving. Maybe I will think differently when I round the corner on my next visit and see the line spilling into ciao bella.

Oh, but when the barista calls my name and presents me with a cup he's filled with a frothy heart, my love will flood back.

Wonderful Foods Co.

2035 Irving St
San Francisco, CA 94122
(415) 731-6889

Reviewed 6/7/2009

Some Kind of Wonderful. (Ahem)

Have been on a quest to find the best real taro pearl drink in Norcal and, based on some of the local reviews I have read, I thought it would be here. But it way wasn't.

I believe they use frozen taro, which might be acceptable except that my drink gave me brain freeze and didn't particularly taste of taro (though that could have been due to taste-bud-paralysis resulting from the freeze).
Service was also chilly. They do not seem to believe in eye contact here.

But they do have the tapioca DOWN. Gummy all the way through.

Based on my one experience, the shop might be better called Mediocre Foods & Lousy Service.

Fantasia Coffee & Tea - Milpitas

528 Barber Ln
Milpitas, CA 95035
(408) 382-9168

First Review 6/7/2009

Man, the hot taro drink with "taro balls" was BLISS.

My taro-drink quest was at last satisfied!

The server asked me if I wanted "taro balls" with my drink so I said yes, absently thinking they were tapioca balls. Instead they were like these tender, taro-flavored chunks of mochi, settling at the bottom of my cup. Pure heaven.

The drink itself was distinctly taro tasting, and creamy but not heavy. And it was the color of malt, not purple eyeshadow.

I want to go back and try the cold version.

I will be back!!

Second Review 12/4/2009

I still enjoy the tea here but man the service is so.....irritatingly fake!

I can't stand it when people say "have a nice day," with a fake, forced smile. Please, I'd rather you said nothing. Or better yet, just say "thank you." You don't even have to smile. Or say "have a nice day" and look at me in the eyes--again, no smiling required.

The pretense of being caring when you're not...well that drives me crazy, and for some reason this place really set me off for having this quality.

I could be back for taro tea though.