“When it comes to food, sounds, too, can be aphrodisiac… the hissing sound of an onion browning in oil, the syncopated rhythm of a knife mincing vegetables, the burble of the boiling pot into which unfortunate shellfish will fall in an instant, the crrrack of of nuts being shelled, the patient song of the mortar grinding seeds; the liquid notes of wine being decanted into goblets, the chink of silver, crystal and china on the table, the melodious murmur of after-dinner conversation, the satisfied sighs and the nearly imperceptible guttering of candles lighting the dining room…” – “Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses”, Isabel Allende

April has been an amazing month and there is much to share… I may send out another newsletter in two weeks because I can’t contain it all in this one!

Have five food/drink/travel-loving friends sign up for The Perfect Spot newsletter, and I’ll give you free “The Perfect Meal” recommendations for a meal based on your request (e.g. exploring a new neighborhood, date night, eating Vietnamese, German, etc…) In Wandering Traveler, I regularly cover places all over, so let foodie-travel-adventurer friends beyond the Bay Area know, too.

Every month, I share Top Tastes, favorite new dishes, drinks and bites from my culinary explorations. Take a look at Oakland’s Marzano in Around the Bay. Favorite events I hit this month, in Happenings, include Meatpaper’s Pig Party and Ministry of Rum. And… back in Los Angeles again for Wandering Traveler.

I’d love your feedback on any spots visited from my site. As your Bay Area concierge, I create personalized itineraries for you or your friends: trips, meals, explorations (check out “Services“).

Let me guide you to the perfect spot!

Virginia

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Eating is highly subjective, and the man who accepts say-so in youth will wind up in bad and overtouted restaurants in middle age, ordering what the maitre d’hotel suggests.”- A.J. Liebling, “Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris”, 1962

I can barely keep up with all the amazing tastes this month. So, narrowing it down…

BREAKFAST

• Nothing like Chicken & Waffles (in maple syrup) on a chilly day. Hit the HP (Hunter’s Point, that is) for Auntie April’s $5 killer waffles with juicy fried chicken. Fills the void when I’m missing Roscoe’s.

SAVORY – VEGETARIAN

• Sweet Corn Tamales with a cup of excellent Champurrado (Mexican drink, traditionally served with churros, made of hominy flour base, water, chocolate, milk, cinnamon, anise… reminiscent of chai) from the Mission’s La Espiga de Oro

• Love Pizza Nostra’s beautifully creamy Burrata with fava beans and wheat toast.

SAVORY – SEAFOOD

• Charleston She Crab Soup ($10) is served at new upscale Southern, Pican in Oakland. Since Charleston, I haven’t even seen She-Crab soup on a menu: a creamy, rich bisque with sherry, topped here with fresh Louisiana Blue crabmeat. Traditionally the soup is enhanced by crab roe, which I believe is the case here, though didn’t see any – maybe mixed in? Either way, it’s good.

• Bushi Tei Bistro, a casual offshoot of what’s long been my favorite upscale Japanese-with-French-cooking-ethos, Bushi-Tei, is a welcome all-day spot for sushi, udon and Japanese curry, inside Japantown Mall, but… it doesn’t begin to compare to the original. Starters are generally better than entrees, but a couple pieces of sushi were slightly rubbery (not ok!) I was, however, pleased to eat a Crab Salad ($9.95) inspired by Bushi-Tei’s brilliant Lobster Salad, replacing lobster with crab, tossed with smoky bacon and papaya, in a salad of Chrysanthemum leaves. Hopefully, BT’s bistro catches up.

• Overall freshness is the name of the game at brand new Otoro, a Japanese sushi joint that just opened this week in Hayes Valley (yes, they do have a lot of good sushi in HV!) Everything from spicy scallop handrolls, to cooked butterfish, to signature Otoro Roll, are made with ultra-fresh fish and generously portioned. The space is tiny, chic… a welcome lunchtime respite.

SAVORY – MEAT

• Kitchenette does it again! At the Dogpatch garage for another weekday lunch, I, once again, licked my fingers clean of Berkshire Pork Korean Tacos ($8) marinated in hot bean & sweet rice, with napa cabbage & apple salad and spring onion-cilantro salsa. Run, don’t walk, if you see it there again!

• Oh, Ryan Farr… if your Chicharrones weren’t addictive enough, I had to try your gourmet Corn Dogs straight out of the oven, dipped in mustard sauce at Meatpaper Magazine’s Pig Party at Camino. Damn!

• Pal’s Takeaway, inside dodgy Tony’s Market on 24th Street, has kick-ass sandwiches on ACME bread, like a Bahn Mi of pink/brown beef with jalapeno, cilantro and carrot.

• Celadon in downtown Napa is romantic, leisurely, with fine service. Starters rule: a Beef Satay ($12) cooked in yellow curry with cucumber, green papaya, pickled ginger, peanut sauce, transported me straight to Thailand. The tender meat was cooked just like I had it in my months there, not like most Thai places in the US. But equally as fabulous was crispy Soy-braised Pork Belly ($13; I know, I can’t get enough of the belly) with tons of watermelon cubes, radishes, mint and Thai basil.

SWEET

• Jardinere’s Chocolate Brioche Bread Pudding with candied kumquat ice cream ($10) is hot, chocolately goodness punctuated with the candied tart bite of kumquat, served in a little cast-iron dish. Luxurious.

• Anthony’s Cookies in the Mission ($5 for a half dozen) taste like Mom’s homemade. They’re ALL good but I think I’d choose Cookies & Cream if you forced me.

DRINK

• 15 Romolo (15 Romolo Place, San Francisco, 94133, 415-398-1359) is back… and then some. With new managing partners, Scott Baird and Aaron Smith, joining owners, Greg Lindgren and Jon Gasparini, revamped Romolo still has the intrigue of alley access in the heart of North Beach, a well-chosen jukebox selection, and a hint of the Old West from handlebar-mustachioed bartenders, to a dim, woody bar. Cocktails hold rank with SF’s greats, including a Pimm’s Cup even better than at Napoleon House in New Orleans (though who can beat their 18th century ambiance?) I was crazy about maybe the lightest, freshest take on absinthe yet: L’arc de Triomphe, with Kubler Absinthe, Egg White, Orange, Lemon and Orange Bitter Syrup. With the care I see going into drinks from each talented bartender, to some of the most creatively playful bar bites around (addictive Jambalini: Italian arancini-style jambalaya balls with Creole aioli; $4 for five), I think we have a new classic on our hands.

• Adesso (4395 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, 94611, 510-601-0305) has pretty much the best happy hour ever… not only because cocktails are of artisan quality, like the Billionaire ($9) with Bakers’ 107 Bourbon Whiskey, Grenadine, Absinthe Bitters, Lemon, or seasonal, mercifully not-too-sweet Fragola Coppa ($8): Pimm’s No. 1, Cointreau, Limonata, with muddled strawberries, cucumber and mint; but because their FREE happy hour food is not just any free food: pork ragu arancini, salumi from their extensive selection, paninis, crostinis. It’s good stuff – all for the price of a drink.

• Passion fruit aroma burst from a glass of Terra Mia Sauvignon Blanc at Liberty Cafe… passion fruit on the tongue, too, with a nice, mineral finish.

• At Sidebar in Oakland, I appreciate the cocktail menu from none other than Jonny Raglin of Absinthe as consultant. Two versions of classic cocktails is a unique/cool concept: “Classicist” or “Locavore”, the latter being versions made with Bay Area liquors. My initial favorite was the hard to define, cinnamonny-cherry refresher, Zamboanga ‘Zenie’ ($10), a 1946 recipe from Charles H. Baker’s Gentleman’s Companion. The “locavore” is made with St. George Chardonnay Brandy, Acqua Perfecta Kirsch, pineapple gum, lime, bitters.

• At Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge, I always have a good time. My latest F.I. fling? The Nui Nui ($8) is a Don the Beachcomber classic with fresh citrus, housemade allspice liqueur and cinnamon syrup. I get the fresh breezes of Summer and the spiced comfort of Winter, all in one drink.

MARZANO
4214 Park Boulevard (at Glenfield)
Oakland, CA 94602
510-531-4500
www.marzanorestaurant.com

Open since December, I finally made it to Oakland’s idyllic, tree-lined Glenview neighborhood for Marzano , opened by the team behind Garibaldi’s. While I sighed at yet another Rustic Italian menu, a tapped-out field in my book, expectations began to shift from first look at the medieval wood-beam ceiling and chandeliers, the Edison-era-slash-modern lighting and rustic wood tables.

The cocktail menu hooked me at first glance with bartender, Alex Conde, dubbed “fastest bartender in the West”, thankfully behind the bar on my visits. There’s classics like an Irish Sour or Savoy Hotel Special # 1, beautiful breakfast imbibements on the weekend brunch menu (Bellinis, Aperol Spritz, Orange Ramos), and a “Della Casa” selection with creative explosions of flavor ($8-10). I rave about the Ciocolatto di New York ($10). Not at all sweet, it’s Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Carpano sweet vermouth, Grappi di chocolate grappa (!) and sea salt, served up. I haven’t sipped one like this before – unique, salty, flavorful, robust. Strong and sure, the Sangue di Christo ($9) is Grappa, blood orange, Creole shrubb, aged basalmic and black pepper, while the Lambretta ($10) uses housemade almond bitters in vodka, gin, zibibbo, dry vermouth, with an orange twist. There’s a short but high-quality wine list, beers, Abita Root Beer, Bundaberg Ginger Beer and Italian sodas.

Drinks alone are worth a visit, but the food keeps up. Wood-fired in a brick oven means the Pizzas ($11-14) have blistered crusts with toppings and cheeses of such quality and flavor (love the fennel sausage) you’ll be hard pressed not to eat one by yourself, though they’re plenty big enough for two. Breakfast pizzas add an egg on top (yay!)

A Chicories Salad ($10) is fresh and bountiful, satisfying where many salads do not. Laden with fuji apples, page mandarins, toasted umbrian faro, hazelnuts, buttermilk bleu cheese and cider vinagrette, it’s an entree on its own. One of the better sharing appetizers I’ve had in awhile, the Fritto Misto ($10), is a lightly fried helping of veggies: cauliflower, sweet onions, aspargus, fennel and lemon with a spicy aioli. Everyone descends and devours. I have found service to be a bit patchy, I hate to say, though not bad, with the host and bartender graciously engaging.

Paired with a crema-heavy espresso ($3), Straus Organic Soft Serve ($4), topped with rosemary honey, nuts, caramel or, in my case, aged balsamic vinegar and sea salt (an additional $2 for toppings), is a sensual finish. As Italians quip, “A tavola non si invecchia“, or essentially, you don’t age while eating a (great) meal. With good friends and conversation, time stood still within these walls, and if I aged, it was contentedly so.

My favorite events this month…

MEATPAPER’S PIG PARTY at Camino

The setting couldn’t be more ideal for a pig party: wood floors, beams and chandeliers, long tables, and a roaring hearth fire with counter big enough to hold a massive pig and all array of homemade sausages, pig tails and terrines. It felt akin to a rustic, British home where we’d come for a heartwarming feast.

Celebrating the Spring issue (pig-focused, natch) of Meatpaper, the definitive meat magazine, the food/drink spread is well worth the $35 fee, though good luck snagging a table and making your way through a body-to-body crowd in the sold out event. I hate things that packed, but the vibe was convivial and Camino’s staff stayed upbeat throughout, even when descended upon coming out of the kitchen carrying Ryan Farr’s gourmet Corn Dogs with mustard sauce (I guiltily admit to being a descender).

Camino’s patient bar staff made a couple house cocktails using sponsors, like Leopold Brothers gin and St. Barths‘ Batiste Rum, while wines (from Pacific Edge), beers (Trumer Pils) and a mild hibiscus juice flowed.

Leif Hedendal created some gorgeous vegetarian offerings in the midst of all the pig, like a bright Snap Pea/Blood Orange salad, Potato Salad and one of my tops, a bright Pea & Mint Crostini. Fatted Calf’s Taylor Boetticher cooked juicy, grilled Crepinettes with Becker Lane Organic Pork wrapped in. His Pork Terrine with spicy mustard on toast was nuanced. Staffan Terje of Perbacco laid out charcuterie, but better was his one-of-a-kind Bacon Marshmallows. Camino’s chef, Russell Moore, made Green Garlic & Herb Sausages (using Prather Ranch pork), and Ryan Farr’s famous Chicharrones were piled in bowls around the room. Smart move. No one could stop eating them.

With quarterly release parties for each issue of the magazine (check their website), there will be more chances to indulge in such a feast. But back at the party, butchery of the hog commenced, its head sitting proudly on the counter, overseeing the festivities.

MINISTRY OF RUM at St. George Distillery/ Hanger One in Alameda

Ministry of Rum… what is that, friends asked? Some cool ministry of spiritual significance, roping in followers with fine rum? Well, that’s not too far from the truth. An event focused on education in cane spirits, specifically rums and cachaças, in the massive airplane hanger of incomparable St. George Distillery, Ministry of Rum tours the country, its focus on “the noble spirit”. Mainly attended by spirits cognoscenti, it was one fine taste after another through the bustling hangar. Thanks to a well-paced crowd, I could talk reasonably with and hear from vendors about their rums, sampling different ages and styles. I heard stories of distilling processes, or in the case of delightful Sergeant Dave Classick himself, of his family who are all involved in running their distillery – his daughter and son poured tastes and mixed cocktails as we chatted.

Despite a number of highlights (El Dorado distills some beauties), I was pleased, as a Bourbon lover (who hasn’t yet met a spirit she didn’t find some good qualities to), to discover a number of sipping rums that would stand beautifully alone, paired with a fine cigar (as the Renaissance Man continued to point out). My tops at first sip: Zacapa’s rum, aged in bourbon, sherry and wine barrels, each barrel imparting another layer to the nuanced rum grown from Guatemalan sugar cane. The color of rich mahogany, it’s dense with woody, vanilla and spiced notes. Another favorite was Mount Gay’s Extra Old Rum from Barbados, one of the oldest rum distillers in existence since 1703. Aged 17 years in toasted oak barrels, it’s smoky but smooth with notes of molasses and oak on the nose.

A major perk of the evening was having some of SF’s best mixologists serving drinks made from each vendor’s rum. The line-up was stellar and they were often educating on the rums they were working with: Martin Cate, Erik Adkins, Brooke Arthur, Thad Vogler, Duggan McDonnell, Marco Dionysos, and so on. Reason enough to go, but all in all, a richly informative night… and sensory delight, the lights of San Fran twinkling in the distance. All this in an airplane hangar.

Los Angeles: Italian or Japanese?

FAVORITES:

ANGELINI OSTERIA

The best Italian I’ve eaten in Los Angeles… even LA Times calls Chef Gino Angelini: “hands down, the best Italian chef in LA.” Angelini Osteria is cramped: you’re literally sardine-packed in, but affably flirty Italian waiters and gustatory pleasures make you (almost) forget. You have to shout above the din, but even with a group of friends, I was able to hear everyone raving over their dishes. This isn’t offal perfection like my Incanto at home, rather it’s a classic pasta and meat sort of Italian osteria with intriguing specials and plenty of Italian wines. Starters like the lightly Fried Anchovies ($12) over artichokes and beets, are the right balance of hearty and veggie fresh. Risottos ($18) are creamy rich, pastas are beautiful renditions of spaghetti or pumpkin tortelli, while daily specials like Sunday’s Saltimbocca alla Romana (Veal with Prosciutto,Sage and White Wine; $22) or entrees like Breaded Veal Chop alla Milanese ($30) with zucchini fritto and eggplant, are hearty and satisfying.

ASANEBO

My favorite Japanese in LA is this humble Studio City spot. There’s sushi but there’s much more, from Izakaya-style plates to sashimi. The all Japanese staff is sweetly welcoming and food comes out without much of a wait, but cost adds up fast, so be forewarned. Paired with lovely sake selection, my last visit included a hefty Seared King Scallop ($13) cooked in olive oil and lemon, topped with Hawaiian sea salt. Red Snapper Sashimi ($20) in Japanese Yuzu with sea salt and hint of tangerine infusion, reminded me of dishes I love at Sushi Ran in Sausalito. Yes, Miso-Black Cod has been sooo done, but theirs is a buttery beauty ($17), while Japanese Ono ($24) is served slightly chilled with ginger, garlic and fresh-grated onion. Even Fried Calamari stuffed with asparagus is a gourmet eat here. Being one of the few places I get actual fresh wasabi, I eat the stuff by itself, never wanting to go back to goopy, faux wasabi again.

HONORABLE MENTION:

MORI SUSHI

Mori is a brightly pristine Pico Boulevard gem with just as pristine service. My one complaint is the portions are not only an expected small, they’re often miniscule, so come prepared to either spend a lot (it looks reasonable at first glance, till you realize how hungry you still are) or as a starter meal. Still, what wins me over is that the usual sashimi/nigiri offerings are accented by delicately creative endeavors. Halibut Carpaccio ($10), topped with olive oil and yuzu juice, black pepper and pink peppercorn, was delicately fresh. Toro Tartare ($12), though long past it’s heyday, is mixed playfully here in the shape of an egg with minced toro, real wasabi, onion, pine nuts, drizzled with olive oil and soy sauce. Inappropriately-named Spicy Tuna Tacos ($8.50) are in dumpling skins, tasty, but basically two bites. There’s a somewhat reasonable $17 lunch special, but it doesn’t include any of these dishes.

SUSHI NOZAWA

With the infamous “Trust Me” motto, I find Sushi Nozawa overrated, without much to set it apart from the greats. But for straight-up sashimi (i.e. ultra-fresh piles of fish), this dingy strip mall spot has it down… and for a reasonable price. Just beware the unlisted sake prices: wanting a cheap bottle of serviceable sake, I fell back on Sho Chiku Bai Ginjo, which retails around $3.99, and I usually see at about $6 on restaurant menus. I should’ve asked. They charged $15! “Trust them” and go for the fish. But not for anything else.