I think Johnny Depp likes me...

But what on earth is he doing with his hand?



Since I left the Movie business, for a job in Games, I am happy to have managed, by a whisker, to work on the Visual FX crew of one VFX Oscar-winning movie before I switched career path. Congratulations to all my ex-colleagues at ILM.

© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.

I think Johnny Depp likes me...

FISH & QUIPS

Coming to a Blog Near You



APRIL 23rd 2007

© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.

FISH & QUIPS

Dear John Mackey

re: The Past, Present, and Future of Food

Dear John Mackey

I am one of those people who hasn't read further than the first chapter quite finished Pollan's Omnivore Dilemma yet which means I probably attended your debate last night with less cynicism than many in the audience. But when you made a statement I knew for a fact, beyond any shadow of a doubt, to be untrue I started to question everything else you were saying. Yep, you made a cynic out of me, a previously happy Wholefoods customer.

Last night you said this: "In the UK there was one farmers market in 1997".

My reply is this: "I remember visiting this Farmers Market as a teen. I am now 40. In the mid to late 90s I was living in Greenwich London where, at the that time, there was a local, fully organic farmers' market which I visited every Saturday morning to do my weekly shop. There were also organic delivery boxes available in that area. I don't know where you got that misinformation from. Maybe it was from that American woman who claims to have invented London's Farmers' Markets?

So, if I am acutely aware that particular statement wasn't true, how can I be sure all your other statements also weren't true? How can I trust you?

Archives
2005 | Our New Home - Cleaning the oven.

© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.

Dear John Mackey

John Mackey & Michael Pollan

Watch, live from home:

Whole Foods Market is the largest organic and natural retailer in the world. Tonight, the co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey will offer a multimedia presentation of the past, present, and future of food before joining Michael Pollan in conversation, continuing in person the exchange of views the two have been conducting since the publication of Pollan's 2006 book, "The Omnivore's Dilemma."

This event is sold out but thanks to the generous and collaborative efforts of Shuna and Dairy Queen I have managed to secure a ticket and, barring any gruesome commute and parking difficulties, will be there to watch the discussion live.

You can watch it too, from the comfort of your own home. The Webcast will up and running here, ten minutes before the event starts at 7pm PST.

© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.

John Mackey & Michael Pollan

She Buys Mystipies

For Their Perfect Flaky Crusts



Fellow foodblogging friend, Jeanne of Cooksister in London is hosting a foodblogging event today called "Waiter, there's something in my..." that requires participants to make a pie. Any kind of pie, as long as it is 'covered'. Over here in San Francisco, even Sandra Lee would be hard pressed to put as little effort into pie making as I do.

The recipe is simple: All it takes is a trip to the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market where I can pick up a delicious handmade, artisinal chicken and mushroom Mystipie for $6. I then rush it home to a preheated oven, where I settle it to heat for 20 minutes. This is cooking at its easiest folks! The impressive result of all my hard work in the kitchen is a warm crispy mass of buttery, flaky pastry, encasing a creamy filling of chicken and mushroom, that shatters, crumbles and crunches as I hurry to eat it. It's a few minutes of messy, mouthwatering fun.

To be honest, what's inside the pie is of little consequence here, so overshadowed is it by the tower of light, crispy leaves that hide it from view. The Vegetable Coconut Curry pies have a great flavour, but I prefer some texture and bite in the middle of my pie, so I tend to go for the meat ones instead. The filling is just a vehicle for pastry, anyway and that's the allure. I don't have much patience for making flaky pastry, so I am lucky I have found Yumna who will do it for me.

Yumna, who I met at the Fancy Food Show, is from South Africa. She first started making these pies when she got homesick. She says:

"The smell of pies always reminds me of home. My fondest memory is waking to the delicious aroma of freshly baked beef pies wafting through the house. I still think of my mum every time I smell pies baking."

Thankfully for all of us San Franciscans, Yumna stopped getting homesick, but because everyone she knew loved them so much, she kept on making the pies that had given her so much comfort. One friend even described them as a 'warm hug' which perfectly sums up their attraction. Mystipies are available at the La Cocina stall on Saturdays at the Ferry Plaza, at the Alemany Farmers' Market or at Mission Pies.

Local Resources
South African style Pies | Mystipies
Community Kitchen | La Cocina
Other Resources & Further Reading
Event Host | Cooksister



© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.

She Buys Mystipies

I Food U Food: Food Review Blog

Bay Area Blogger of the week # 63



Here's a fresh approach to reviewing food. Instead of reviewing the restaurant experience, I Food U Food rates and writes about individual dishes. You can even see how many times each menu item has been ordered which gives an insight into the writer's habits and tastes. As someone who is fascinated with what other people really choose to eat, and tries to keep a record of everything I consume, this is the fascinating kind of extra detail I welcome.

Other local blogs and food sites that crossed my radar this past week:

Feeding My Enthusiasms
cucina nicolina
YummySF
Word Eater
sf foodie
Group Recipes



PS Today is Oscar Day and I'll be watching it chez them. For the first time ever, I am very excited. Whilst I have worked on Visual FX nominated movies before, none of them has ever actually won the gold statue. This year two of the movies I worked on - both Pirates and Poseidon - have a chance. If Superman Returns wins, I am going to be in a right old strop, I warn you. I am actually rooting for Pirates to come up trumps because Fred worked on that too which means we'll be able to have a double celebration.

Archives
2005 | A Food Quiz


© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.

I Food U Food: Food Review Blog

Dear Jeffrey Chodorow

Re: Mix, Las Vegas


February 22nd 2007

Dear Jeffrey Chodorow


A couple of days ago I watched the story unfold about you paying an estimated $40,000 for an Ad in the New York Times denouncing Frank Bruni's damning review of your new restaurant, Kobe Club. I see you are a man who believes the restaurateur should have the chance to publicly respond to the critic, in which case I hope you might understand that your paying customers deserve an equally public forum too.

At the end of last year I went to Las Vegas where I visited your restaurant, Mix. I could not have been more excited at the promise of this glamorous experience when I walked through the stunning bar with its incomparable vista of the strip into the futuristic white room where we sat down to eat.

Alain Ducasse's menu did not immediately appeal to me. I had difficulty choosing, not because there were too many options that made me curious, but because there were too few. Eventually I settled on a Cauliflower Soup, Wild Mushrooms and croutons ($21) which arrived with much pomp and ceremony. A deep white bowl bearing vegetables and croutons was placed in front of me by one server as a broth was ostentatiously poured from a spouted silver pot by another. After the theatrical wait staff had had bowed and made their exit I dug in my spoon. Waaah! Save an accidental gulp of sea water, this was the single most salty thing I have ever tried not to swallow. For the next ten or so minutes I sat, miserable, unsatisfied and peckish as my dining partner finished his Tender Potato Gnocci, fresh chanterelle and asparagus ($27). His was too salty, too, but not quite so much as to be inedible, like my dish, and as he was very hungry he suffered through it. No one should have to suffer through a small dish they are soon to pay $27 for.

After what seemed like eons, and after the Gnocchi were quite finished, our Waiter eventually noticed my predicament and asked if there was a problem. "The soup", I explained, "is so salty I can't eat it". My dining partner mentioned his dish had been too salty, too. The waiter made an apology and hurried my bowl off to the kitchen for its post mortem. When he came back, he had good news. He explained that the chef had tasted the soup and that I was quite right. Apparently my complaint caused them to discover that an entire vat of stock had been spoilt and since the stock was used in so many of their dishes apparently I had saved them from further embarrassment. "The chef will look after you", our waiter promised.

At this stage I will fast forward through our main courses. The Crispy Thai Snapper, fried rice, soy glaze ($39) and the Beef Filet Mignon, stuffed Piquillo, BBQ Marmalade, Pomme Pont-Neuf ($55) were decent enough but neither were as memorable or as satisfying as the perfect side dish of Elbow Pasta, Ham, Gruyere Cheese ($11).

What I really want to discuss with you, Mr Chodorow, is the notion of your chef 'looking after me' as a thank you for having helped avert a disaster in the kitchen by pointing out the error of their over salting. Instead of allowing me to choose my own dessert, or even giving us the opportunity to have a dessert each, the paltry way in which the chef chose to 'look after me' was by presenting us with one twelve dollar dessert of his choice to share. I was gutted. From the entire menu, the one item that had been causing my mouth to water at the future thought of enjoying it was the Coconut Ice Cream Lollipop with Caramel Sauce, seconded by a Maple Syrup Napoleon. I wanted and would have tried both. But oh, no, no, no. I was not permitted to have any more fun. My grand reward from the Chef for my appetizer disappointment was to have my dessert choice taken away from me and instead a safe Chocolate Dome, Mango Compote and Passion Fruit Sorbet ($12) was plonked down between us. Gee whiz, thank mate, are you the kind of guy that picks up a bunch of wilted flowers from the gas station for your girlfriend on Valentine's Day? I save the restaurant's ass and this is my reward? The Chocolate Dome was actually very good, but your restaurant's presumptuous treatment of me left a bitter taste. A taste that could not even be sweetened by the complimentary, warm, Madeleines served straight off the baking tray with a bowl of dipping sauce that accompanied the $260 check. Is this Nutella? I asked. Yes, it's Alain Ducasse's way of making a joke, it was explained. A joke? A joke! Oh, ha! The whole wretched experience was a not very funny joke in my opinion. You could have done better than that. Don't ever assume you know what your customers want. They know it better themselves.



This review was a first impression.

© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.

Dear Jeffrey Chodorow

The Sweet Kiss of Almond Oil...

...Anoints Citrus, Avocado, Tarragon


And pairs Perfectly with a 2004 Horse Heaven Sauvignon Blanc


Stop! Wait right there. Before you nonchalantly dismiss this post as being too simple; after all who doesn't know how to chop up a few citrus fruits and avocado and sprinkle with herbs? Please bear with me. I have some unexpected information for you: Almond Oil!

A couple of weeks ago I collaborated with Food Editor/Writer Amanda Berne to cook what I'll rather immodestly describe as a rather fantastic meal. If you look at our menu planner (we followed recipes for most things), you'll see that there was one of our eight courses we were less prepared for - the salad course: "Farmers market salad tbd."

Whilst doing our market shopping on the morning of the dinner, together we plumped for a combination of pomello, orange, lime and avocado paired with tarragon. What we didn't really think about was the dressing. Ad libbing later that evening, our brainstorm went something like this:

Amanda "I think we should use some kind of nut oil".
Sam "I only have almond".
Amanda "Great, let's use that then".

Anyone who has supremed a citrus knows that there is enough of the skin and pith left over to squeeze out a decent amount of juice, which is what we did. We simply blended the juice with a splash of almond oil (to taste) to make a dressing which we poured over the presentation of fruit and herbs.

Happy accident #1 was followed by happy accident #2. Every wine pairing for the evening had been carefully planned out but because the salad was an unknown entity we had just gambled on the fact it might pair with a Sauvignon Blanc. One of our guests had brought a 2004 Columbia Valley Horse Heaven Sauvignon Blanc to the table and its pairing with all the elements of the salad couldn't have been more stunning. Noticeably so. In fact a particularly wine-savvy guest even remarked on the fact. I lack confidence with and am a little wary of wine pairings in general, they so often don't work for me or seem a little contrived but this marvellous combination at once illustrated to me exactly what a good wine pairing is all about. All the flavours mingled together on my tongue to produce an experience that was at once creamy and bright.

So good was this salad, I have made it more than once since. And I think Amanda is rather smitten with it too.

Local Resources
Pomello | from Hamada Farms
Oranges/Limes | Bernard Ranches
Avocado | Wills Avocado

Other Resources & Further Reading
Almond Oil | by La Tourangelle. I love this oil and its packaging is charming but not practical. It is impossible to pour from the tin without dripping the oil into the grooves at the top. If you don't clean it up immediately then the spillage turns gooey and sticky. I spoke to Tourangelle about this problem at the Fancy Food Show. They are aware of the problem and told me they had done a lot of research into trying to fix the issue but that they had not had any success so far. It's something I am going to have to live with because all their nut oils all taste great.


© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.

The Sweet Kiss of Almond Oil...

Wine Pancakes?

For Pancake Day, Shrove Tuesday or whatever you call it...



Today is Pancake Day and so I am reminded of one of my favourite childhood food memories. As I will be otherwise engaged this evening, I celebrated Shrove Tuesday a couple of days early this year, at the same time taking the opportunity to do a little experimentation.

I blame Christina over at The Thorngrove Table, a fascinating food blog with a serious interest in Medieval cookery. She wrote a post about c.1393 'Crespes' – medieval French Crêpes made with wine instead of milk. My interest was piqued - I had to give it a go.



From the outset I knew I wanted a savoury crepe so in a minor departure from Christina's attempt, I decided to use buckwheat flour instead of regular white flour. My eggs, from Marin Sun Farms, were on the small side and the batter turned out too thick so in addition to what the recipe called for I added an extra splash of water and another glug of wine to thin out the mixture.

I can't say I was totally enamoured of these crepes in their unadorned state, but once they had been smothered in Fatted Calf Petit Jambon, Cave Aged Gruyere and topped with a barely cooked egg in the style of a Crêpe complète, there was little telling them apart from a regular buckwheat crepe. Simply a nutty, toothsome backdrop to all the good stuff you want to throw on top of them, who am I to complain about a successful vehicle for transporting gooey melted cheese and runny egg yolk with a tasty bit of pig thrown in for good measure? It's clearly a French favourite, Fred appeared to be uncharacteristically happy with the outcome. I must have done something right, but next year it's back to the British method for me, after all that saltiness, I now need dessert.



PS Update: Christina at the Thorngrove Table kindly posted an answer to my question about Flour & Buckwheat in medieval times. Thanks Christina!

Local Resources
Ham | Petit Jambon, The Fatted Calf
Eggs | Marin Sun Farms
Favourite Place for Crepes | Ti Couz

Other Resources & Further Reading
Ancient, medieval and modern food | The Thorngrove Table
Wine Used | Horse Heaven Sauvignon Blanc, 2004
BBC Food | Why do we eat Pancakes on Shrove Tuesday?


© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.

Wine Pancakes?

Sticky Little Caramel Walnut Tarts

From Petite Patisserie, Potrero Hill, San Francisco



My love for Petite Patisserie, the little organic bakeshop that opened on 18th Street almost six months ago, grows stronger with every visit. The walnut tart pictured above, just seconds before I gobbled it up, every last crumb, really has me hooked right now. The pastry is tender and so buttery, I could happily eat it with no filling present at all, but those sticky, gooey, toffeeish walnuts are the real draw. This patisserie is such a danger to my diet, I've almost considered moving to a different 'hood City State Country. Next time you are in Potrero, don't miss out on Petite. You'll be charmed.



Little tarts like the one above cost $4.50 each

Petite Patisserie: 1415 Eighteenth Street, Potrero Hill, San Francisco CA 94107

I have made more than three visits to Petite Patisserie.

Archives
2005 | Marmite on Toast

(PS - Have you heard about the Guinness marmite?!)


© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.

Sticky Little Caramel Walnut Tarts

Good News re SF Blog Restaurant Reviews

And Bay Area Blogger of the Week # 62

"but I suspect you could melt some decent fontina over dog food and make yourself a nice meal" (A few reservations on Wichcraft)


A Few Reservations is a new local blog writing about dining out in San Francisco from a non-meat-eating point of view...

Even in my beloved left-wing, local-produce, low-mileage, Alice Waters-worshiping city, it's tough to find a genuinely exquisite vegetarian meal. Especially if you're dining out with non-veg friends. So out of the vegetarian ghetto and into the mainstream I go, delicately picking my way across the city's best menus. It's one thing to review a restaurant when you can eat everything they offer. It's another to test the mettle of their solitary "alternatives". Be warned, though. I'm gonna eat some fish along the way. Because there are times when I just can't hack another night of Pasta Primavera.

Do You Blog San Francisco Restaurant Reviews?
Then You Need BlogSoop!

In 2006, Doug at BlogSoop started to build a comprehensive site for food blogs and restaurant reviews. BlogSoop's database of nearly 5000 restaurant reviews, created by tracking over 100 blogs, provides an easy means to access the best food content allowing users to search by neighborhood, cuisine, zip code or restaurant name.

Currently limited to New York the site, which launched a couple of weeks ago, wants to add San Francisco to its roster. If you're a Bay Area food blogger interested in having your restaurant reviews included in the Soop, drop Doug a line. Details here.


I am beginning to lose track of all the local food blogs - there are so many now.
Here is a list of food blogs in and around (and missing) the area I've recently come across and which I don't think I have mentioned before...

Verdant San Francisco Vegetarian Food & Comics
Cooking with the Single Guy | Restaurant Reviews, Recipes, Seasonal Shopping Tips
The Short Exact Guide | To Fine Dining in San Francisco
Simcooks | Cooking Made Easy, by a Singaporean in the Bay Area
Project Foodie | Large undertaking by person keenly interested in food
YumSugar | Cook & Entertain with Style & Ease
Eat, Eat, It's Good For You | Food, Drink, Culture...Whatever
Guinnah | Vegan Cooking form Nancy in Lafayette
What Did You Eat? | The first question asked by my family on any occasion
Savoring the Moment | Cookbook author Mindy Toomay's Blog
Cafe Fernanado | Missing San Francisco :(
The Food Diva | Celebrity Chef in the making
Yogurt Land | See What's Cooking Here



PS It's the year of the pig? Every day is the year of the pig to me. Bacon, ham, salami, coppa, pork shoulder, sausages, more bacon... mmmm....

Archives
2005 | My Mum would love Tabla (and I miss it badly since I no longer work in Marin)



© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.

Good News re SF Blog Restaurant Reviews

The Sweet Seduction of Five Young Ladies

by Boris Portnoy of Campton Place, San Francisco

Dessert Tasting

The very idea of eating at Campton Place again had been playing on my mind ever since my food writer friend, Catherine Nash, awarded Portnoy, a man who she claims can "engage my intellect and make me shiver with giddy pleasure" with San Francisco's Best Pastry Chef honour for Northside last November.

My initial plan to get a bunch of my girlfriends together for a New Year Saturday Dine About Town lunch was thwarted by Opentable whose reservation system showed the restaurant to be fully booked on weekends for the entire duration of the January promotion. On hearing my plight, Catherine approached the Campton Place contact she'd made, after her article was published, who managed to secure us a lunch table, just for us two.

The three course tasting menu started well for me with a mouthwatering celeriac soup. It was rich and intense with a supersmooth puree into which bite-sized chunks of the celery root were folded. The surface glistened with dribbles of oil and speckles of mysterious dark brown seasoning that made my tastebuds sparkle with the taste of umami. "How come I can never make soup taste this good at home?", I somewhat rhetorically asked Catherine. "Because you don't use enough cream", she quipped. We were both still laughing as one of the servers approached our table. "I'd just like to take a moment to explain your courses to you", he started, "to my left we have the celery root soup, which is completely vegan...", at which point my descending chuckles stopped dead in their tracks as my eyeballs widened to the size of saucers and I shot Catherine a look of amazement. Proof, if any was needed, that soup can taste startling without any help from dairy.

I could describe the other savoury courses we ate that day, but since it is what happened at dessert that deserves your attention, I won't waste your time with anything less. After the table had been cleared of the entrees, a server brought us another knife and fork. Always sharp as a butter knife, me, I immediately protested, "I think you have made a mistake, we are expecting dessert next". The waitress, with a cheeky twinkle in her eye, wryly smiled and explained "the chef has something special arranged for you." The penny dropped. Since Catherine had made the reservation through her contact, it was clear that the pastry chef knew that she, the woman who had given him that accolade in the press, was dining in his restaurant again. We were to be treated accordingly.

And so it was, on that early January Saturday, that Catherine and I indulged in a three course dessert sampling of five of Portnoy's desserts, two cheese courses, two palate-cleansers and then each a coffee tart with Meyer lemon curd, cold-infused coffee sabayon, espresso bean ice cream, coffee cookies and a chocolate praline. As they presented the final dish my spirits dropped. I don't like coffee desserts. OK - let's rephrase that. I didn't think I liked coffee desserts. Boris had baked a simple but tender little round pastry case that acted as a tray to hold his cast of unexpected bed-partners. It was like Christmas, discovering the contrasting tastes and textures of hidden sweet treasures, most bewitching of which was the 'white-coffee' sabayon. Boris came to visit us at our table and I couldn't help but inelegantly blurt out "I don't really like coffee, but I love the way coffee smells and you've managed to make a dessert that tastes like the smell of coffee, not like the the taste of coffee". As I spoke, the Chef was nodding his head in agreement, so perhaps I hit the nail on the head and understood exactly what he was trying to achieve. Boris returned to his kitchen smiling.

At that moment Catherine and I decided we should return to Campton Place for a girls night out and a full dessert tasting. So, the arrangements were made and a few weeks later, after an at-home chaser of Prather Ranch bacon, eggs and champagne, five of us turned up at Campton Place to be treated to another symphony of sweet things by Mr Portnoy.

Proving that Portnoy's work is always in progress, our first cheese plate, Epoisse Cheese, Vanilla Icecream, Argan Oil, was an improved version of the cheese course I'd first eaten a few weeks earlier. Back then he'd used a sweet biscuit crumb base, but by now crunchy, toasted pumpkin seeds had taken their place, giving the dish a better contrast of textures and a more savoury flavour to counter balance the sweetness of the ice cream.

Gorgonzola Popovers, Pear Saffron Pearls, Poire William Honey Sorbet were next up. The popovers are ugly little greyish-blue bites that wake up your taste buds with a gazump! The shame is that there are only a few on your plate. Eating a dozen of these strong and zingy baby pancake-like morsels would be no hardship.

I love Negronis. Campari has been one of my most-favoured spirits of choice for over twenty years and grapefruit is my favourite citrus, so how could I not love the Nigroni Granite, Grapefruit Sorbet, Celery? Tiny little celery micro greens giving forth a peppery flavour adorn the top of these two ices, which far from being a palate cleanser, leaves your taste buds fizzing and assaulted for quite some time after this dessert has packed its initial punch.

It was if Boris had made this sequence of desserts just for me. Maybe others at the table weren't so keen on campari. Maybe they aren't so hot about egg yolks either. As someone who has been known to just get rid of the white before frying an egg, I could totally appreciate the Pistachio Financier, Golden Egg. What I had before me was one piece of toasty cake and one whole, soft egg yolk crusted with a crispy gold-leaved translucent sugar shell. I cracked open the coating, causing the yellow to run over my plate where it was mopped up by wedges of the nutty financier. Like a sweet version of fried egg on toast, Boris really caught my attention with this dish which he also described as 'something I am still working on'. [Boris, you can experiment on me any time.]

Carrot coconut ravioli, Avocado Semifreddo, Spiced Tangerine Sorbet, Carrot cardamom nage was the star dessert course of the evening. Just thinking about this combination of unusual flavours makes me want to jump up and down for joy and squeal in my chair even though there is nobody to hear or see me. Cute little parcels of creamy coconut wrapped in sweet tender carrot ribbons with cold, creamy, frothy, mousse-like avocado that slips onto your tongue so softly, it whispers to your heart strings and they succumb immediately. The nage, a strong smear boldly striped across the plate, is almost an affront to the other softer elements, but its appearance is misleading and it's bark is much stronger than its mildly spiced and perfectly balanced bite. It is worth visiting Campton Place just for the specialness of this one unique plate.

After such a whimsical and dainty platter of bright summery colours the dark and sombre finale entitled A study of Chocolate in Textures and Temperatures could, sadly, not hope to engage such a euphoric reaction from any of us present. Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate, much as I love chocolate, did not do Portnoy's many talent's justice and I prefer it when he plays with a wider palette of flavours and colours as he did with the wonderful coffee tart on our previous lunchtime visit.

Our sweet meal ended with a couple of trays of delicate petit fours which we nibbled on, slowly, as our evening together drew to a satisfied close. There is no question that Boris knows how to give the perfect sugar high. If you are looking for an alternative girls' night out that will make your mates sigh with satisfaction, Boris is your man. If he visits your table, he's so cute, you might even swoon...



This review was a second visit with the current cooking team.
This was my third visit to Campton Place.

We were charged $35 per person for the tasting. We consumed rather an immodest number of sweet sticky wines and our final bill was considerably more than that. You may want to call and check with the restaurant first if you intend to visit for the sole purpose of eating dessert.

Campton Place Hotel
340 Stockton Street
San Francisco, CA 94108
415 781 5555

Local Resources
Sugar Yum | Visits Campton Place (includes pics of some of the dishes described above)
Catherine | describes our DAT Campton Place lunch
The Restaurant Whore | pays hot lip service to our evening
2005 | My previous review of Campton Place, BB. (Before Boris).



Archives
2006 | Cutbacks at Becks & Posh (they didn't last long, did they?)
2005 | Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon Rose 2004


© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.

The Sweet Seduction of Five Young Ladies

I ♥ my Hood

Poco Dolce, The Fatted Calf & Yield
A lifelong ambition achieved: I was invited to bar tend at Yield! Woo hoo.

If you read my post on Monday, the one about how a bunch of food bloggers got together to volunteer at the San Francisco Food Bank, you may have noticed that we enjoyed a social reception afterwards. So I wanted to put a big shout out today to everyone who helped me pull the event together, especially our sponsors and hosts.

Here is the flyer I put together for the event

Yield Wine Bar
First off - I could not have done this without Chris, the manager of Yield Wine Bar and his business partner Celine who kindly volunteered to open up two hours early on Saturday afternoon to accommodate us. I can't say I really minded too much about the numerous visits to Yield I had to make over the past two months in order to thrash out the details of the event with Chris and familiarise myself with their menu of organic, biodynamic and sustainable wines. And then when Chris added that he would actually allow me to volunteer my services as bartender for the afternoon, dare I say it, although I was a little nervous, I became quite excited at the prospect of trying my hand at pouring wine on the other side of the counter.

It seemed to me, that since both the Food Bank and Yield are close to and in that lesser-known part of town, Dogpatch, we should simply let our neighbourhood suggest the theme for the festivities. Since so many delicious local, artisanal foodstuffs are made within a few blocks, I guessed we would be on to a winner by featuring a couple of them. Paired with the fact that Muni's new T-Line servicing Third Street has just started running on weekends and is set to start a full-time schedule in April, it seemed like the ideal opportunity to start getting the word out about this upcoming, often ignored, part of town.

Bittersweet Tiles - Burnt Caramel - from Poco Dolce
Poco Dolce Chocolate
You wouldn't know it from the large, anonymous brick buildings that front Third Street, but in this area Poco Dolce make some wonderful bitter chocolate tiles, each sprinkled with their signature crystals of sea salt. Unlike other salted caramel chocolates you might have had, in Poco Dolce's version the caramel is crunchy and crisp. For any Brits out there - I would have to describe this as a very adult Crunchie with the emphasis on dark chocolate; delicious. The photo above does not really do justice to the generous size of these tiles which I would guess are four or five inches square and come with other fillings inside too, my other favourites being the Aztec Chile and the Almond Coconut. A huge thanks to Poco Dolce for the samples, and to Chris for introducing these wonderful locally-made chocolates to me.


The Fatted Calf
Regular readers will not be strangers to the fact that I adore The Fatted Calf. What you may not know is that currently their kitchen is hidden away in Dog Patch, just a stone's throw away from my house. Can you imagine living less than a block away from all that bacon. It makes me weak at the knees just thinking about it. Fatted Calf kindly donated some of their delicious meaty products, including wafer thin slices of their ham that just seems to get better and better every time I taste it, to help feed us hungry, hard-working food bloggers.


Not from the Hood, But Just as Good:
McQuade Celtic Chutney
Amy, my event co-organiser, managed to persuade Alison McQuade to bring along some of her McQuade's Celtic Chutneys as accompaniment to the meats and cheese. Since I was toiling away behind the bar, I didn't have as much chance as I would have liked to eat my way through all that Alison had on offer, but let me just tell you that when I managed to sneak a moment to try her Moray Fig and Ginger Chutney, I was blown away. Her relishes are fat with large chunks of fruit and vegetable which balance with the unique blend of spices perfectly. This is another product that will especially appeal to any Brits out there. It has whiff of Branston about it, from the combination of spices used, but a it's a million times better.

I am pretty sure everyone enjoyed themselves


In wrapping up, a huge thanks to all of the people mentioned above who gave their time and their products to help feed and wine us hungry food bloggers. And another shout out to those food bloggers who volunteered to help at the food bank. I sure hope we get the chance to do this again some time! Who's organising the next one?

Local Resources
Charcuturie | The Fatted Calf
Wine Bar | Yield
Chocolate | Poco Dolce
Chutney | McQuade's
San Francisco | Foodbank
Event blogged by | Amy | Dairy Queen | Catherine | Restaurant Whore | Marc | Sean | Shelley

Archives
2006 | $14 billion
2005 | Heart Failure


© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.

I ♥ my Hood

Three Citrus Bundt Cake

with Orange, Pomello & Lemon



For Christmas last, my friend Del kindly presented with two different types of Bundt Cake baking tin. These were gifts of substance: Weighty, shiny, symmetrical and intricately patterned. The delight with which I graciously received these generous presents belied my inner panic. I wasn't sure I had ever even eaten a Bundt cake, let alone bake one. In fact, until I started reading food blogs I am not sure I'd ever even seen one. How would I be able to do these pans justice?

I wanted my inaugural Bundt attempt to be for Delphine. It seemed only fitting that the person who gave me the utensil to make a Bundt Cake should be the first to taste the result of using it. You might be thinking to yourself that perhaps I should practise a little before taking an untested cake to such an important event as a friend's Baby Shower, especially when I am set to become the child's god earth mother, but life is too short and I am too confident in the kitchen to worry about little things like failure.

None of my cookbooks know anything about Bundts, so I hopped online to find a recipe, preferably one that would use up some old oranges that were threatening to fester in my cupboard. There were plenty of variations up for grabs, but I really wanted to use one written by a blogger, one with pictures, one that I could see I could trust (after all, I had to muster up that kitchen confidence from somewhere).

The set of instructions that most caught my eye were from tasty blog 'My Husband Cooks'. I kept coming back to look at it over the couple of weeks before the day I was due to make it and on each return, my mouth watered more and more. Making the cake was a breeze and it turned out really well. At the Baby Shower there were lots of beautiful, delicate, pretty-as-a-picture cakes by Miette, and I was a little doubtful setting down my large, almost clumsy Germanic Bundt cake in their midst.

I needn't have worried. This cake met with rave reviews from the mainly-French audience. They wolfed down slice after slice. Several whispered to me in confidence, "shhh, I 'ad two sliceeez". Even Fred enjoyed a piece, I am not sure I've ever seen him eat cake before. It wasn't fancy, but it was homely, it was moist and it had the benefit of the sharp citrus to balance its cakey sweetness. This Bundt is a winner, a crowd pleaser; she's bold and forward, large and lusty, the centre of attraction not because she's beautiful, not because she's wearing the latest fashion, but because she's got substance. Ms Bundt cake, through the forcefulness of her bigger-than-life personality left all those skinny, half-eaten little Miettes* hiding awkwardly on the sidelines, no doubt wondering why all the effort they put into their appearances just wasn't enough.

Recipe Notes/Tweaks
Read about how to make this Bundt Cake over at My Husband Cooks.
The blog offers a great service: you can download the recipe in PDF format, too.
My oranges were nice and juicy, but their skins were clearly past the zest-by-date so I subbed the orange zest with pomello instead. I didn't use any butter in my glaze. Instead I made a very thin glaze using the juice of one orange, the juice of one lemon and about 1 cup of powdered sugar. I gently spooned the result slowly over the surface of the cake, giving it time to soak in, making the cake extra moist.




PS - *At the Baby shower I actually tried Miette's heart-shaped chocolate cake and I personally thought it was totally delicious, moist with incredible ganache. Maybe that Bundt cake is just a big bully?

Local Resources
Pretty Cakes | Miette
Cute Blog | Non Dairy Diary
Pomello | Hamada Farms

Other Resources
Wikipedia | What is a Bundt Cake?
Thanks to | Lynette who sent me the little gold balls I used to decorate my Bundt with.

Archives
2006 | On Expanding My Palate: Chicken Livers et al!
2005 | Fred rules his own kingdom. Pasta King

© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.

Three Citrus Bundt Cake

If you want to Piss your Pants Laughing...

Move over foodblog, it's time for a larf innit...



I love Karaoke, but it doesn't love me!...

© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.

If you want to Piss your Pants Laughing...

Volunteering at the San Francisco Food Bank

Food Bloggers are a Funny Looking Bunch, aren't they?..

packing frozen corn

Look at this picture. It was taken at Michael Minna late last Summer. Way, way in the background somewhere is a little speck that is me. To my right there is a glimpse of Amy who is seated next to NS. We were three lucky local bloggers who were guests that evening, of Tanya Wenman Steel, editor at epicurious.com.

The dinner was part of wine.dine.donate, raising money for America's Second Harvest and the Nation's Foodbank Network. As some of my regular readers know, I feel quite uncomfortable accepting freebies, but I agreed to attend because I hoped that by doing so I would have the chance to raise awareness for this worthwhile campaign.

apples ready to box

My initial idea was to try and mobilise Food Bloggers nationwide to take part in the Home Feast part of the programme, where readers of Epicurious are encouraged to host dinner parties and then ask their dinner guests for a donation for America's Second Harvest.

I am still thinking about perhaps trying to do this in the future, but Amy came up with a much better idea about how we could help in the meantime, by suggesting we get a group of local foodbloggers together to actually volunteer at the San Francisco Foodbank which is part of the Second Harvest Network.

on to the oranges

A date was made and dozens of food bloggers agreed to show up and help out. And so it was that last Saturday a huge turn out of food blogging friends, old and new, were sorting and boxing apples, oranges and frozen corn to later be distributed to local people in need of food. Everyone who took part agreed it was not only enormous fun, but that it felt good to be able to do something both food-related and worthwhile for the community too.

How about you? Find out how you, too, can volunteer in San Francisco, throw a dinner party to raise funds or donate to and advocate America's Second Harvest. Otherwise contact the Foodbank in your own area and ask them if there are ways you could volunteer your time to help in your own locality. You could even do what we did here in the Bay Area and get a bunch of nearby foodbloggers together to help you. It's a great way to meet likeminded people!

Volunteers are essential to the Foodbank's mission, with more than 7,000 people contributing 64,000 hours to ending hunger in San Francisco. This support will enable the Foodbank to distribute 26 million pounds of food this year, enough for more than 55,000 nutritious meals a day. To learn how you can volunteer click here.

After the event we hosted a reception for the foodbloggers at a wine bar just a few blocks from the Food Bank that you may have heard me mention in passing before, Yield. Many thanks to them for opening early to accommodate us. Huge thanks also go to The Fatted Calf, Poco Dolce and McQuade Celtic Chutneys for so kindly providing us with delicious nibbles. Additional thanks to food blogger Ore who brought along some Fra'mani samples for us to try too. I am planning to write more about our generous sponsors and the fabulous reception, where I had the chance to realise one of my lifelong ambitions ~ bartending ~ later this week.



PS. Many thanks to all the food blogging volunteers and friends:
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27
As I didn't have a copy of the sign-up list I am sure to have missed someone out. Please leave a comment if you were at the event but I missed out a link to you here. Thanks again, everyone!

Local Resources
San Francisco Food Bank

Other Resources & Further Reading
Epicurious | Tanya's blog 'Epi-Log'
Homepage | America's Second Harvest

Archives
2006 | Albion Cooks
2005 | Tomoe, San Rafael

© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.

Volunteering at the San Francisco Food Bank

Under the Covers with Ryan Tate

Bay Area Blogger of the Week # 61



If Marcia is the Queen of Scoops in the Bay Area, then Ryan Tate must surely be the King. Ever since The Chronicle's Food Section's "Inside Scoop" column went down hill after the departure of its writer Amanda Berne, I have been looking to other sources for a more rounded view of local restaurant news.

Between Tablehopper and Tate's blog, Covers, which is in the business of writing about local restaurants and hotels, I've found a good balance. Since Tate writes about this stuff for a living, his blog has a drier less-gossipy approach. I'll let him tell it in his own words...

"I am a staff reporter at the San Francisco Business Times, a weekly newspaper where I cover hospitality and East Bay real estate.
At the Business Times, we aggressively pursue exclusive "scoops" through in-the-field reporting and extensive face-to-face networking.My reporting focuses on San Francisco's world-leading restaurants and hotels, which are fast becoming global businesses complete with celebrity chefs and owners. I also investigate political and business stories in the fast-growing cities on the eastern side of the San Francisco bay, including Oakland and Emeryville."

He's well worth the read. You are bound to find out some things that perhaps I already knew but maybe you didn't. Or let Ryan remind you about exciting things you'd read last year, but had completely forgotten all about. Or have him initiate a bout of depression with reports like this. If that's the direction San Francisco is heading in, I may as well move back to London. Whatever he's writing about, if you like to be one step ahead of the gossip, add his blog to your RSS reader right away.



PS - Do we have room for another San Francisco-based Dining and Gossip Blog? NYC-based Eater seems to think so. If you are a witty writer with your finger on the pulse of the local restaurant scene, who has always fancied yourself as a local food blogger but hasn't quite gotten round to it yet, Eater is looking for an editor to write and manage their forthcoming title, Eater SF. The job comes with some kind of salary and, I imagine, some kind of ready-made audience too. I'll be interested to see what develops from this since generally, unlike the Food Bloggers in New York who can come across as competitive and gossipy, Food Bloggers in the Bay Area seem gentler and more community driven. Which reminds me, I must wrap up this post shortly to attend the food blogger volunteer day at the San Francisco Food Bank...

Other Resources & Further Reading

I have split my google calendar (links can found on my blog roll) into two parts:

The first is a Food Events Calendar where I record details of any food events that catch my eye, like the 1st Annual Artisan Cheese Festival I picked up a flyer for this morning at the Ferry Building. Just because something is listed on this calendar, it doesn't necessarily mean I am going to attend the event.

The second is Sam's Personal Food Diary which is probably of interest only to weirdos who like to pry into other peoples' eating habits. OK, you're not weird, it's natural curiosity. Right now I use this calendar to make quick notes about restaurants I have visited and the food I have eaten there, and to list recipes I have tried out. When I am in a good place (January) I also note my daily food intake and if I remember (today!), I keep a note of my food spends because I want to find out more about the cost of my food.

Google's Calendar defaults to 'week' mode but I recommend 'month' mode for easier viewing. You can change the default under 'settings'.

Thanks to my friend Del who just emailed me to let me know her mother had contacted her with the news I just had a mention in French newspaper Le Figaro. C'est excitent!
Here is the quote she sent me:

"Sam,blogueuse culinaire basée a San Francisco,a trouvé un compromis.Sous chaque table chroniquée,elle indique le nombre de visites faites dans l'établissement"

Archives
2006 | A classic Fijian Dish - Kokoda
2005 | Music in My Kitchen


© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.

Under the Covers with Ryan Tate

La Cocina Launches at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market

And I Discover ClaireSquares
(much to the pleasure of my belly and the regret of my waistline)

Claire with her Squares: Little Blocks of Heaven

Do you know any of those food-obsessed kind of people who prefer to only buy unprocessed food and to make absolutely everything from scratch if possible. You know - the kind of people who, if they were throwing together an English trifle would, make the Boudoirs themselves, and make up some freshly made custard, using egg yolks and cream without going anywhere near Birds Instant Custard Powder. Yes, I am one of those people. And for the longest time I have been meaning to find out, some day, how to make some of those shortbread and caramel squares topped with chocolate, those Millionaire's Shortbreads that I sometimes miss from the UK.


Rewind to last Saturday when I was preparing for a little dinner party. Early in the morning, co-chef Amanda and I popped to the market to pick up the remainder of the ingredients we were missing for our feast. And because we needed some energy, some breakfast, we decided to stop at La Cocina on their inaugural day at the market.

La Cocina is a Community Kitchen, a nonprofit, shared use, commercial kitchen and business incubator. La Cocina was founded to serve as a platform for low-income entrepreneurs launching or expanding their food businesses. La Cocina assists low-income food entrepreneurs by providing access to a fully approved and equipped commercial kitchen and to the training and technical assistance they need.

And this is where I discovered Claire. And her Squares. Claire grew up in Ireland where, as a child, she started baking these treats and selling them at school. Clairesquares.com are the most delicious caramel shortbread chocolate squares I have ever tasted. I am not sure about Ireland, but back in Britain I am certain they used to make these with margarine and cheap baking chocolate. But not Claire, she only uses the best preservative-free ingredients - Belgian chocolate, unbleached flour, butter! These squares are quality, they should rightly be called Gazillionaire's Shortbreads. You even have a choice of a milk or plain chocolate topping. That's what I call class, that's what I call luxury. That is also what I call a good enough excuse to let someone else do your baking for you from time to time...

Local Resources
Community Kitchen | La Cocina
Delicious | Clairesquares
Flakiest Pastries, Mmmm | Mystiepies
Cute Jams | CMBsweets

Other Resources & Further Reading
Archives
2006 | Mabel's Just For You Cafe - 22nd Street - San Francisco
2005 | Shrove Tuesday - Pancake Day

© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.

La Cocina Launches at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market