Riding Shotgun - California (Part 1)

Shortly after waking up at the god-awful hour of 5am, I found myself standing in the cattle-esque Southwest Airlines queue. The drive to the airport went very smoothly, and being able to sing along to some of our favorites (Ben Folds, Guster, The Darkness - I don't care what anyone says about them, I Believe in a Thing Called Love is a classic. A classic.)

It was wonderful getting to see Meg this weekend and witness the marriage of one of my best friends, but now I'm off on a business trip. Five days of tasting the foods and wines of Paso Robles, California, will almost certainly be grueling but someone has to do it. And I will be recording it daily, so keep your browsers peeled (or something).

But we must go back to the present - the airport. I was so excited to see Einstein Bros. bagels in Bradley Airport this morning. I was just relieved that I had a choice of something other than McDonalds or mystery meat airport food. Something that I actually liked. That and their bagels and 'schmear' are actually really decent. Chewy, firm, fresh. Having worked my way through many more unfortunate bagel-like beasts than a normal human being should be subjected to, it's comforting to know that Einstein Bros. seems to be doing well. The cinnamon-suger was what broke that awful nauseous feeling I get when I wake up about 6 hours before I should. You know the feeling; the one where your body is telling your brain that it hates you.

I think we're flying over the Mississippi right now. It's the first time I've seen it in person. It's really quite big. I'll have to check it out on a map once I land in Memphis. [postscript - it could not have been the mississippi, unless we were really far off course. It was probably the Grand Rivers, or Lake Barkley. I'm sure the MS is really impressive too.]

I started reading The Raw and The Cooked by Jim Harrison on the first leg of the flight. It was a gift from my boss after sending me a hillarious quote a few weeks ago. It's a book to be savored and not rushed (thankfully, since I have such a short attention span and penchant for falling asleep on airplanes). Among other things, Harrison is a poet, novelist, and screen writer. I am ashamed to admit that I haven't read anything so poetic in a while.

Snack packs on long flights: useless or godsend? This is not a rhetorical question. I found my Southwest flight snack of dried fruits, miniature cookies, and ritz crackers a mostly useless. It did stave off rabid hunger, but not by much. A lufthansa cheese sandwich would have been really nice about then.

Find these pictures (and more dangerous ones, like me driving) on our Flickr account.

Next time: LAX (rhymes with sux)
Intelligentsia (LA Coffeehouse)
Why Google Maps isn't the best for Paso Robles
and maybe more!

Extra special thanks to frizzlednewt for the airplane picture in the graphic.

I can check that one off the list...

I've made a resolution to catch up on my posting, so I'll be attempting to fulfill my Japan-listy-review goals. Let's start with something tasty :P

Just in case anyone didn't know, I am obsessed with Iron Chef. So, it only follows that I'd be a bit obsessed with Iron Chef restaurants, gimmicky though they might occasionally be. And just to clarify, I'm talking original Japanese Iron Chef - RYORI NO TETSUJIN, bell pepper-crunchin' and all (I don't despise Iron Chef America, and Alton Brown is one of my favorite foodie icons ever, but it just isn't the same).

I've been to Morimoto in Philly a few times (and lurve it lots), but have yet to make a call upon the New York incarnation, which is totally on the list. But, my recent excursion in the Land of the Rising Sun gave me the chance to drop by La Rochelle, Chef Hiroyuki Sakai's lovely restaurant in Shibuya, Tokyo. And good lord, it was delicious.

I've not had the pleasure of a coursed meal without being on my parents' dime before, so I can't say that I knew what to expect. I was pretty concerned about being a totally gauche American and getting my forks confused, but I'm pretty happy to say that the experience was excellent enough it didn't even occur to me to think about it. So without further ado, the food:

Aaron and I chose the Histoire Prix Fixe set menu (Chef Sakai's Grand Traditional Menu, 15000 yen/person, approx. 130 dollars), having no idea what else to do, and really feeling up to a splurge on our last week in Japan.

Appetizers:
1. Three small appetizers together: Seafood consomme jelly, served with mini skewers of turtle and prawn, above an asparagus salad with sea urchin, lobster, and creamy dressing.

2. Large champignon mushroom, stuffed with foie gras. Topped with sabayon, two slices of strawberry, and served on a bed of asparagus in a marsala sauce.

3. Light salad: Japanese turnip (kabu) sliced thinly, layered with lobster and ripe mango. Served with a Prosecco and lemon dressing. AND might I add, the parsley on it was gold-leafed!

4. Steamed abalone and shark's fin, accompanied by fava beans, bok choy, and starches in a truffle sauce.

5. Bordeaux (I can't remember the name...Santa Marrillion?) Sherbet.

6. Wagyu prime rib, served with grilled seasonal vegetables, in a yuzu sauce.

7. Fresh strawberries, served with a lime cream and (yuzu?) chilled yogurt.

Mmm, foodgasm. Everything was beautifully flavored and very seasonally appropriate but if I had to pick favorites, I'd definitely go for the kabu salad and the wagyu prime rib. The salad had this fantastic mix of textures and flavors, crunch and light and sweet and tart and mmm, I really need to see if I can hack duplicating it. Even a pale imitation would probably taste pretty good :P. The prime rib was incredibly buttery, without leaving the cloying feeling of coating your soft palate with fat.

Minor caveats: I hadn't ever had shark's fin or turtle before, and while both were pleasant, I have vague moral concerns about the acquisition of shark's fin which weren't dispelled by any sense of overwhelming deliciousness. I was also uncertain about the idea of a Bordeaux sorbet, as I'm terrible with wines (pass the Belvedere, please), but it was really very delicate and refreshing.

I've only got the one crappy picture, as it feels verrrrry strange to be trying to surreptitiously photograph your food in a nice French restaurant, but hopefully, it'll give you a sense of the lovely plating. If you look at the top of the salad, you can just make out the gold-leafing on the parsley (warm lighting + turning off the flash to be sneakier = poor detail >_<). The next time I'm in Japan, I'll definitely be going back. I might read up on fork etiquette first, though...




Technorati Tags: Iron Chef, Sakai, French Cuisine, Tokyo

My tummy is full, but my wallet is so, so sad.

I've been very, very bad about posting, even though it's not like I stopped eating...I'll put another overview up so you can see what to expect from me in the upcoming weeks. This is all Osaka/Tokyo/Vietnam stuff I've been saving up for a while, so for an overview of restaurants/cafes/snack bars that will be showing up, refer to the list below. And if there's something you're particularly interested, feel free to badger me unmercifully for information :).

I'm in Tokyo at the moment, getting ready to come back to the States. It's been pretty whirlwind, but I got some good eats in while I was at it.

Notable (and not necessarily in a good way):

Osaka:

~ Kani Doraku (Dotombori)
~ Hakata Ippudo Ramen (Namba/Shinsaibashi)
~ Mithila (Dotombori)
~ Krungtep/Gaow Thai (Namba/Dotombori)
~ Haya (Dotombori)
~ Poire Bakery (Tezukayama/Himematsu)
~ Otakoya (Dotombori)

Tokyo:

~ The Lion's Head (Big one in Ginza)
~ Tully's Coffee (Izumi Garden Tower/Roppongi)
~ Paul's Bakery (Izumi Garden Tower/Roppongi)
~ Star Kebab (Akihabara)
~ The New York Grill (Park Hyatt Shinjuku) - yes, that's right, LOST IN TRANSLATION.
~ La Rochelle (Shibuya) - IRON CHEF HIROYUKI SAKAI IS MY FAAAAVORITESSSST!
~ Soup Curry (Kabukicho)

Vietnam:

STREET FOOOOOOOOD!!
I'm not sure I have notes for most of this, as Aaron and I generally ate at random holes in the wall, or places that didn't have names that family took us to. BAD FOODIE! BAAAD! But I can still talk at length!

Okay. I shall return. Right after I finish packing up for goin' home to good ol' Virginny. Heeeeellllllz yes.

Technorati Tags: Food, Tokyo, Vietnam, Osaka

We now return to our...um, food.

So, it's been a while since I posted, as I've been acclimating myself to new surroundings - OSAKA-freakin'-JAPAN.

Yup. And trust me, my food adventures have continued. But! As I've compiled nigh-unto 2.5 months in good ol' Nippon, there's a lot of food to be discussed. For your (and my, because otherwise I'll have issues remembering how many things there are) benefit, a brief snapshot-y, list-y type thing for discussion and introduction, to be expounded upon at length at a later date.

Things of Excellence:

• Osaka street food is delicious, e.g. takoyaki, okonomiyaki, and these DELICIOUS pancake-type sandwich-y things filled with vanilla pudding/custard.

• Cup Noodles can in NO WAY COMPARE to real ramen.

• Festivals at temples produce amazing snacks. I'd like to see carnivals in the U.S. up their game appropriately.

• Conveyor-belt sushi ("Kaiten-zushi") is cheaper, fast, and tastier than a lot of sushi I've had in Northern Virginia. 28 pieces of freshly-made nigiri sushi for $15 USD? Unheard of.

• Dotombori.

• Chu-hai. Made from Shochu and soda, with flavorings like lychee, plum, grape, lime...it's the perfect beer replacement, since beer here is on the poor side.

• On a similar note, liquor is shockingly cheap. Example: 750ml of Absolut? About $14 USD.

• Oh, you crazy Japanese people. Your snack food verges on the surreal. I've never had so many varieties of Pocky at my disposal. And might I add, the honey and milk Pocky are totally my favorite.

• All varieties of seafood live up to reputation (extraordinary quality and freshness)



Things that make me So Very, Very Sad:

• So far as I can tell, cheese here is a travesty. Someone mail me some Parrano and Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam, dammit.

• "Authentic Ethnic Food" restaurants are like urban legends.

• You call this a supermarket?

• This...this isn't butter. Holy crap, it doesn't even melt at room temperature if left out for an hour!

• So, that was a little bland. Have any kimchee? Red peppers? SRIRACHA?? Please?

• I DON'T HAVE AN OVEN IN MY KITCHEN?

That's not everything of course, but as a primer, it'll do. I'll be back to rant/rave soon!


Technorati Tags: Food, Japan, Osaka, Cooking