“Having found myself on business in New Orleans – or… having found it my business to find business in New Orleans...” – Calvin Trillin

Pot de creme at ever-satisfying Bar Tartine

I returned a mere few days ago from my adored New Orleans for Tales of the Cocktail (yes, I found myself finding business there), where I averaged three hours of sleep a night, met wonderful people from around the world, drank and ate like a queen, attended dream-like events, and was sad to leave (despite the sweltering heat and humidity)! Stay tuned next issue (and in my Guardian column) for tales from Tales…

SF Guardian’s Best of the Bay issue came out on July 28 and yours truly selected and wrote 12 entries in both the Food & Drink and Arts & Nightlife sections. Check it out online, pick up a print issue around the Bay Area until Tuesday or at the Guardian offices. any time.

Top Tastes highlights impeccable food at a restaurant that is also a wine haven, and fills up on lasagna and spaetzle gratin.

Chris Cosentino's Albacore Puttanesca at Incanto

I’m in love with Camus Cognac and sipping beers in Half Moon Bay in Imbiber. Wandering Traveler imbibes the latest cocktails at some of NY’s greats.  The Established revisits two of my all-time favorites via photos: Incanto and Michael Mina. I am On the Town at winemaker dinners with wines from Alsace to Argentina.

I’d love your feedback on any spots visited from my site. Please tell your friends and have them sign up for the newsletter. As your personal concierge who tells it to you like a good friend would, I also create personalized itineraries: trips, meals, explorations (under “Services“).

Let me guide you to the perfect spot!

Virginia

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ThePerfectSpot

Here’s recent entries in my SF Bay Guardian column, Appetite:
Smoothing Out with Camus’ Fabulous Cognac
Paging Through M.F.K. Fisher’s Kitchen
NYC Food Cheat Sheet, Part Two

**Unless otherwise noted, all photos by Virginia Miller**

Potrero's new Rocketfish

Top Tastes, rather than a list of all-time favorites (another thing altogether), are among the best eats since my last newsletter, often from new openings. Many don’t make the cut, being a revisit previously written about or simply not as stand-out as dishes mentioned (for example, I appreciate Rocketfish opening by my office in Potrero Hill, though don’t have a stand-out menu item to share yet in my initial three visits. The remodel from the former Lingba space is now bright blues and browns).

MID-RANGE RESTAURANTS

Heirloom Cafe

HEIRLOOM CAFE, Mission -   The menu at Heirloom Cafe is simple: there are merely six items total, including appetizers and entrees, one $50 prix fixe option, three cheeses, and a couple desserts. But each is done to perfection, as such a brief menu should be, with more than a little Chez Panisse ethos, focusing on ultra-fresh, pristine ingredients. Opened by Matt Straus, who came from LA’s Grace to the city he calls “the best place in the world to me“, his passion for wine shows in his thoughtfully chosen wine list, ranging from $8-19 per glass, with an older wine list available by request. Sip a lush 2008 Chateau Musar Rose from Lebanon ($8 a glass), or a 2004 Lopez de Heredia “Vina Cubillo” Crianza from Rioja, Spain ($11 a glass).

Stellar Heirloom Tomato dish

With a juicy mountain of Heirloom Tomatoes piled over toasted bread and a mix of pickled fennel, cucumbers and feta ($11), the melding of this uber-fresh dish with the Rose becomes revelatory. But the Bacon Onion Tart ($11) is equally brilliant: flaky, doughy pastry loaded with sweet, caramelized onions and meaty bacon. One of the best onion tarts I’ve ever had. 

Plum & White Nectarine Crumble

Potato Gnocchi ($15) is not exactly traditional in style or texture, but you will love it just the same: pillowy, lightly toasted, with crisp corn, mushrooms and a spicy house fennel sausage. A dessert of tart Plums & White Nectarines with a crumble and Straus vanilla ice cream atop ($10), continued the meal’s trajectory of perfection in straightforward language. In a dining room that’s Victorian country kitchen circa 2010 Mission, it’s one all-around satisfying experience.

Delightfully cheesy murals & grapes

GASPARE’S, Outer Richmond – Though I’ve been to Gaspare’s before, an old school bastion of East Coast-style Italian with individual booth jukeboxes, fake, plastic grapes and straw-covered wine bottles hanging from the ceiling, it’s always been just for pizza.

Gaspare's pasta

My latest visit, I ordered an array of pasta, from Spaghetti with meat sauce ($12), to Eggplant Parmigiana ($13.75), then a Caprese Salad ($7.75) and Garlic Bread ($4.50). But nothing transported me back to my Jersey high school days so much as the divine Baked Lasagna ($13.75), oozing with cheese, meat and the reddest of red sauces, lightly sweet, heavy on the savory, as good as home.

Spire in SoMa

SPIRE, SoMa – Just back from New Orleans, I was happy to assuage immediate pangs of loss in leaving the South by visiting brand new Spire, whose Executive Chef, Laird Boles, is native to beautiful Charleston. The space is modern, industrial, clean, if not particularly memorable, but touches of the South on the menu intrigued. I’ve merely tried two dishes so far and they just began serving dinner (it was lunch only initially). Each staff member is genuinely warm and their friendly welcome, along with the promising menu, makes me ready to return.

Oven-baked Truffle Spaetzle

Whenever I see Shrimp and Grits ($11) on a menu, I have to order it. But having eaten that dish in Charleston, Florida, New Orleans (just had a brilliant version at Le Petite Grocery last week), and with stand-out versions in SF (at 1300 on Fillmore, or the best at Brenda’s), Spire’s lemony grits, flavorful as they were, did not hold a candle in taste or texture to the best. But I did appreciate plump shrimp and juicy toy box tomatoes in tarragon-chardonnay butter. I was won over by what is a worthy change of pace from mac ‘n cheese: cheesy Oven Baked Spaetzle Gratin ($8), with gremolata and truffle infused throughout. More, please.

SPIRITS

Camus Borderies' beautiful bottling

CAMUS COGNAC – Cognac is a realm I’ve yearned to dive more fully into ever since I had my first cognac flight at Brandy Library in NY years ago. I have made attempts to learn more by attending cognac seminars at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans or the Manhattan Cocktail Classic. But where is the cognac equivalent to the excellent Ministry of Rum, which, thanks to founder Ed Hamilton, has done much to educate the country on the complexities and range in rum? There is a stigma to cognac in some circles that it’s too elitist, expensive or unapproachable. As with any spirit, this is not true if you know where to sip.

I am smitten with Camus cognac, the last of the independent, family-owned cognac houses (since 1863) in Cognac, France. Though it’s the fifth largest cognac producer in the world, and readily known in Asia and Eastern Europe, it’s only just beginning to permeate the US market, and is, for the moment, only available in CA through Wine Warehouse (ask for it at your local liquor shop). I had the privilege of enjoying lunch with Cyril Camus, the president and fifth-generation distiller, after I tasted through the line beforehand. By the time I got to my second taste-through with Cyril, it confirmed my initial impressions.

Lunch with Cyril Camus

There is much to love in any one of their cognacs, all blended, 80 proof, some with innovative screw-caps which double as a one ounce measuring shot, and aged in lightly-oaked cognac barrels so there is less oak influence and a smoother taste.

Camus VS: I serve this one as an introductory cognac for those unfamiliar, and also as proof that cognac can be both exquisite and affordable. At a mere $25 a bottle, this lively cognac balances citrus fruit with subtle vanilla and is light and smooth, while flavorful. Excellent on the rocks or in a cocktail, you won’t likely find a better deal for cognac at this level.

Camus VSOP: With a little more oak and vanilla in the profile, this crisp, lively VSOP retails around $45 a bottle and works neat, on the rocks or in cocktails. As their best-seller, I actually prefer the VS, though you won’t go wrong with the VSOP.

Camus XO Elegance: Now we get to greater age and a $120 price tag, but the signature Camus taste of fruit with subtle vanilla, mild oak, even hints of liquorice, remains. This is a fine sipping eaux-de-vie blend that holds up for whisk(e)y drinkers like myself. I could sip it after dinner on a regular basis.

Camus XO Borderies: In a stunning, perfume-like bottle (for the XO Elegance the bottle is clear, for XO Borderies, it’s frosted), this the only non-vintage, single estate cognac in existence, made from 100% borderies grapes in Camus’s vineyards. With a raisin-like sweetness, this silky cognac still remains light, complex with citrus and a robust floral quality balanced by hazelnut and dried fruits. An exquisite imbibement.

BEER

Inside HMB's brewery

HALF MOON BAY BREWING CO. – A Half Moon Bay (HMB) institution, Half Moon Bay Brewing Co. celebrates it’s 10th anniversary this year and I made a visit with a handful of media in celebration. I wasn’t aware that husband and wife owners, Christine and Lenny Mendonca, have a long tradition of giving back to the town that supports them by employing local high school students, giving them $1,000 scholarships towards college when they end their working stint there. HMB supports local charities, and gives free beer to the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival.

Ten years in, Half Moon Bay Brewing Co., is a local’s favorite for beers and ocean views, live music on weekends and a go-to watering hole during the legendary Mavericks surf competition.

Brewmaster, Kirk Hillyard, shows us the brewery

Lenny Mendonca transformed his home-brew hobby into a brewery in 2003, 2 1/2 years after the restaurant opened, while current brewmaster, Kirk Hillyard, a native to the area, tributes HMB with beers such as Mavericks Amber Ale or Sandy Beach Blonde Hefeweizen.

Out of 1,200 barrels a year, all are served at the restaurant, including seasonal specials that only come around annually or once. Out of everything I tasted, a couple specials stood out, particularly Double Overhead Double IPA made with Golden Promise and Aromatic malts, six varieties of hops and a Belgian strain of yeast redolent of spice and pineapple. Bitter and full of flavor, it’s the strongest at 8.0% abv.

Seafood Sampler: ceviche, poke, mango salsa

On the light tip, a honey wheat beer, Devil’s Slide Summer Ale, is brewed with 48 pounds of raw orange blossom honey from Santa Rosa. It offers notes of tropical fruit and orange zest.

Oceanside views invigorate from the patio or by the bar fireplace on a foggy day, where beers work with Chef Gaston Alfaro’s Fish & Chips ($15.75 with Rock Cod, $17 with Mahi Mahi or Salmon) or his Fresh Seafood Sampler ($15.75): Yucatan ceviche, ahi tuna poke and bright mango salsa with both won ton and tortilla chips.

Imbiber in NEW YORK CITY

Cocktails

Though my May New York adventures brought me to some of the city’s newer treasures (see June 15 issue), I also made sure I hit up some of the greats of the past decade for a sip of what they’ve been serving lately:

Milk & Honey classics (L: Paper Plane; R: Penicillin)

Milk & Honey, Lower East Side - Through its dodgy, unmarked door into a musty yet romantic (?) interior, Milk & Honey remains one of the best bars in all of NY, father of the speakeasy renaissance (opened in 2000), even if cocktails are a whopping $15 or $16 each. Ice is of highest, hand-chipped quality, and the Penicillin, created here, is always the go-to drink for the uninitiated. But my recent visit held the beauties of a boozy Paper Plane (Amaro Nino, Aperol, bourbon), and a brilliant variation of a Corpse Reviver, along with the company of lovely regulars we chatted with for ages at the bar.

Death & Co's Southern Exposure & Pearls Before Swine

Death & Co., East Village – In the early days, this bar was mellow, sophisticated, with impeccable cocktails. That still holds true, while required table seating thankfully attempts to keep the mellow part in check, but it is a scene now and doesn’t always feel like a bar filled with cocktail lovers. This is apparent from the (kindly) bouncer, the long waits to get in, etc… Fabulous, new Cienfuegos is on the same block so if the wait is too long, head there instead. But Death & Co. creates some of the best cocktails in New York, evidenced by their double win last week (it was exciting to be at the Spirited Awards in New Orleans – more next Perfect Spot) at Tales of the Cocktail for Best American Cocktail Bar and World’s Best. Not sure I’d call it either, but it remains a wonderfully fine bar.

My last visit showed range and contrast between the spicy, vibrant Southern Exposure (jalapeno-infused Chinaco Blanco, Sombra Mezcal, lime, petit cane syrup, fresh red pepper puree, kosher salt) and a lightly creamy, intriguing Pearls Before Swine (Martin Miller’s Westbourne Strength Gin, lemon, orgeat, greek yogurt, lemon curd, rose water). The latter was a delicious stand-out. I respect (when well done) this kind of experimentation in cocktails.

The spread at Flatiron Lounge

Flatiron Lounge, Flatiron - Though I don’t think Flatiron Lounge has held up in the cocktail renaissance compared to some newer, better bars (I’d rather go a block or two away to Raines Law Room), Julie Reiner (who went on to help launch Pegu Club and Clover Club) opened this place ahead of the resurgence, back in 2003. It has historic touches like an original 1927 mahogany bar from The Ballroom that Sinatra and other celebrities frequented. These touches make it special, even if the space is a little lacking in warmth or transporting mood. Cocktails (mostly $13) are solid, if not revelatory, from a refreshing King Rose: gin, basil, strawberries, lime; Vincente’s Antidote: silver tequila, Green Chartreuse, elderflower liqueur, lemon, grapefruit bitters; to Ship to Shore: cognac, dark rum, earl grey tea, figs, lemon, sherry.

Little Branch, West Village - Little Branch, from the unstoppable Sasha Petraske of Milk & Honey, is (similar to M&H) a musty bar that comes off a little like a bowling alley bar tucked in a basement during Prohibition. The menu is short, sweet, sticking to classics. But what these bartenders make best is off menu. It is pretty much about spirituous classics here and I go with bartender’s choice, knowing they’ll always satisfy my thirst with well-crafted libations.

Amuse Bouche trio w/ truly sublime Uni Flan

It’s ever a joy to return to two of my all-time favorite SF restaurants (one for fine dining/special occasions), the other, my top Italian for offal, meat and wines.

I’ve visited Incanto many times over the years, falling in love instantly with Chris Cosentino’s bold cooking, his gift for making innards palatable, and a deft hand with meats, seafood and pastas.

Michael Mina has remained one of the few special occasion destinations where I never leave disappointed, always thrilled by the balance of flavor and inventiveness… here’s hoping we won’t lose Mina’s brilliant trios when he moves the restaurant to the former Aqua space.

Now, my walk through these two greats via photos from recent dinners:

MICHAEL MINA, Union Square
www.michaelmina.net

Trout & Smoke Trio: Tasmanian Sea Trout w/ fermented garlic & grilled lemon vinaigrette/ Confit Trout Rillette w/ pumpernickel melba & smoked onion cream/ Sweet Trout w/ smoked potato on russet crisps

Shellfish Trio: potted Dungeness Crab w/ toast/ Island Creek Oysters w/ applewood smoked bacon, fennel remoulade/ Catalina Island Abalone w/ abalone mushroom & Pernod emulsion

One of the greatest dishes of all time: Mina's legendary Maine Lobster Pot Pie post-dismantling (comes potted, then pie top placed on plate w/ lobster, brandy cream sauce and veggies over pie crust)

Dessert Trio: panna cotta/salted caramel ice cream & St. Germain chocolate mousse cake/ raspberry chiboust

Vegetarian Tasting Menu: Sunny-side up Jidori Egg w/ toasted brioche, Stockton asparagus

Sonoma County Duck Trio: Breast w/ nectarine compote/ Foie Gras w/ cherry marmalade/ Leg Confit w/ apricot puree & walnut stuffing

INCANTO, Noe Valley
www.incanto.biz

Lucious Beef Heart Tartare ($11)

Albacore Bones loaded with meat and grilled chilies (Chili & Bones - $9)

Silky Albacore Crudo w/ charcoal ash & pickled grapes

A "wow"-inducing off-menu Cosentino special: Albacore Shank (and Tail) Puttanesca

Cornish Game Hen ($23) w/ divine zucchini waffles subtle w/ heat & honey

Incanto's ever-perfected Panna Cotta, tonight's was Lemon Verbena w/ strawberries ($8)

Vanilla Chocolate Toffee Chunk Ice Cream ($7.50) w/ piggy cookie

Winemaker dinners… intimate affairs where a winemaker comes to town, and shares a multi-course dinner with you as their wines are paired with each course. Not a bad way to spend the night. Especially with these two winemakers and their wines:

ARGENTO Winemaker Dinner at One Market

Place setting for Argento Wine Dinner

New Zealander, Nick Goldschmidt, is one of those rock stars of winemaking. This is reflected in his 20-plus years of experience as winemaker and consultant to wineries from Chile to Napa and Sonoma (he was Simi Winery’s winemaker & VP for 14 years), but also in his feisty spirit and frank opinions.

Nick Goldschmidt discusses wine over dinner

An entertaining and delightful host, he talked us through terroir and regions of Argentina and the winery he works with there, Argento. He has a rousing passion for Malbec and its accessibility.

If Argento’s Malbecs are any indication, he may be right about the future this grape has, even as it’s already become widely popular. 2009 Malbec ($12.99) and ’09 Reserva Malbec ($15.99) are not only great values but wines I could envision with all kinds of meals. Tannic and fruity, there is balance and roundness. Sipping between the two, I had a difficult time claiming a favorite. I’ll take both.

Smoked Black Cod w/ Berkshire Pork Jowl & Guinness Glaze

I also tried their 2010 Pinot Grigio, ’10 Torrontes (mineral, citrus stand-out of the whites at $12.99 a bottle), and ’09 Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon.

In One Market’s elegant, private dining room, we had a decadent cheese spread (Laura Chenel to start, then a range of cheeses, chutneys and nuts to finish) and meat courses. The highlight in a Lightly-Smoked Black Cod dish (paired with the Torrontes) was Berkshire pork jowl and Guinness glaze. Oh la la… pork and beer.

NY Steak

Roasted Sonoma Lamb Chop & Shank rested on green lentils, roasted garlic and bacon. The Reserva Malbec was at home with medium rare Almond Wood-grilled NY Steak in chimichurri sauce, Blue Lake beans, and a creamy, polenta-like corn base.

Enter a blissed-out food and wine-induced coma…

HELFRICH Winemaker Dinner at Bar Tartine

Helfirch Wines

Anne-Laure Helfrich is a surprisingly young, lovely, up-and-coming winemaker who was weaned on the vine, having grown up in the Alsace region in a family of third generation Helfrich winemakers. Working alongside her brother, Frederic, and winemaker, Benoit Pattin, she’s taking her international business knowledge and degree to further the reach of Helfrich wines around the world.

The lovely Anne-Laure Helfrich

Already counting Alsatian wines among my favorites, I was pleased to taste through six Helfrich whites, three 2009 wines – Gewurtztraminer, Pinot Gris, Riesling (all retailing at a reasonable $14.99) – and three more of the same wines but 2007-08 Grand Cru releases ($24.99). The Rieslings are both light and delicate, taking on a little more complexity as they warm up.

I prefer the honey-colored Pinot Gris, both the silky, fig, peach notes of the 2009, and the similar but more honeyed, rich notes of the 2008 Grand Cru. 2009 Gewurtztraminer hits with lychee and floral notes, warming up with a hint of clove. 2008 Grand Cru Gewurtztraminer intensified in floral, musky notes. All wines are a nice value and a welcome entry point for introducing friends (or yourself) to Alsatian wines.

Roasted (and stuffed) Bunny Leg

The setting for this dinner was one of my beloved restaurants: Bar Tartine. No surprise, Chris Kronner’s food paired happily with the wines. Summer salads refreshed, like Cresta di Gallo Salad ($13) with tomatoes, bacon, avocado, cucumber and fantastic fromage blanc. I love Kronner’s Savory Bread Pudding ($6) as much as I ever did. A dessert of Blossom Bluff Peach Pie ($7.50) with buttermilk ice cream pretty much encapsulates Summer’s goodness.

Decadent Braised Pork Jowls

Watch out for these two kick-ass entrees: Roasted Bunny Leg ($26) must have come from a mighty large rabbit. I was delighted when the juicy meat tasted a little of Thanksgiving filled with a stuffing, served with Thumbalina carrots, crescent potatoes, creme fraiche and dill. You’re pretty much eating a giant slab of silky pig fat with Braised Hog Jowls ($23) with grilled romaine hearts and sweet corn puree. You could deem it too fatty (though you’ll never hear that from me!) but when you get to the crispy bits of skin and char melds with the meat, it’s sublime.

Wine and food marry with ease…