Here's the thing-we like food. I know thats obvious and stuff, but its like when ppl say 'Oh ya, I love Star Wars!' but then you start talking to them, and they've only seen the most recent 2..and you realise that they only like it to a certain point-unlike you, whose love for it is more intense than the 12 parsecs it took Han to do the kessel run.
But I digress...
Here, there are a lot of ppl who like food. Genuinely. But not the same way we do I think-they like to eat it-especially if it tastes good. But thats the extent of it. And I get that! If someone tried to talk to me about their car hobby, I'd probably not be super interested in a conversation about the mechanics and specialised parts or whatever. I probably wouldn't understand why they'd spend so much of there precious time or money thinking about something as mundane as a vehicle. But thats not how hobbies are-they entice your mind, tantalise your interests, inspire your imagination, rejuvenate your soul and so much more! The truth is, there just ISN'T enough time or money for these things.
Thats how we feel about food. The history of it, the art and work and engineering thats involved, the science that goes into finding the perfect balance of textures and flavors, the way it can divide groups of people into different cultures, and then totally unite worlds into one as they break bread over one table and see that we all have things to offer. Its love, its service, its art, its communication, its an outlet, its family and friends. And I love it.
So while we had the chance, we thought we'd take advantage of the amazing food Meccas we were going to be exploring [with the kind support in that regard of my inlaws haha-most of this would have been impossible w/o their support of our interests]. So we started w a combination of our old favourites from home, and some new ones we'd heard about and researched in CA. Both in SF, and in Yountville.
Thats how we feel about food. The history of it, the art and work and engineering thats involved, the science that goes into finding the perfect balance of textures and flavors, the way it can divide groups of people into different cultures, and then totally unite worlds into one as they break bread over one table and see that we all have things to offer. Its love, its service, its art, its communication, its an outlet, its family and friends. And I love it.
So while we had the chance, we thought we'd take advantage of the amazing food Meccas we were going to be exploring [with the kind support in that regard of my inlaws haha-most of this would have been impossible w/o their support of our interests]. So we started w a combination of our old favourites from home, and some new ones we'd heard about and researched in CA. Both in SF, and in Yountville.
San Francisco
Artiscault: Chocolate croissant, Almond croissant. Still the best.
Bloom Chocolate Salon: Chocolate Koignn Amann, Nib Breakfast yogurt granola bowl, Churros w chocolate dipping sauce, S'more. All solid, but I think we were too basic for the ambiance. I like their greatest hits at the OG location better I think..still delicious though.
Dandelion: Frozen hot chocolate [still has my heart, but not for the occasional chocolate lover..this is the real deal dark chocolate schtuff], hot chocolate, yuzu caramel chocolate tart [this one was mind blowingly good, perfect textures and different taste combinations], paris brest.
Dumpling Time: Soup Dumplings aka the best comfort food in life. This, the garlic green beans, shrimp toast and pork baos are what you need to order here, and they you can die fulfilled.
Farmhouse Thai: Farmhouse Wings, Roti, Crab Fried Rice, Pad See You. Totally and completely lived up to the hype, and had a very true to itself vibe that I loved and felt like home.
Places We Ate: Dandelion, Bloom, Farmhouse Thai, Dumpling Time, Artiscault, Mixt, Humphrey Slocombe, Mr. & Mrs. Miscellaneous, Craftsmen & Wolves, Three Babes Bakeshop, El Porteno, Cowgirl Creamery, Mr. Bomboloni, Salt & Straw
Yountville
Bouchon: Eclairs, croissants, macarons, oreo [this one was the bomb] and few others I know I'm forgetting. This, and the next few are Chef Thomas Keller's joints and all held their own. I actually preferred the Bouchon in NY better though, but that could be what we ordered.
La Calenda: Elote, El Pastor Taco, Pescado Taco [as long as I live, I'll never find a fish taco as beautifully delicious as this one I think..], Carnitas Taco, Barbacoa Taco, Mole [Lester's wheelhouse for sure..] I think one thing alot of all American cuisine lacks is acid-but hispanic food in general owns that department, and makes it so you cant stop coming back. Out of all of the Yountville places, this one was our favorite for that reason.
Ad Hoc & Addendum: Fried Chicken [the ambience of this place too was amazing. It was outdoors with string lights over head, grassy areas and flowers, all surrounded by picnic tables for family and friends to eat at. It was simple, non greasy, fried chicken accented w thyme and finishing salt.]
Bouchon Bistro: Deviled Eggs [best I've ever had-sorry Grandma Hanaike haha!], Lobster, Oysters [Addy and I were in heaven! They had a good mix of briny ones and more buttery, bc of the locations they were each individually sourced from], Mussels, French Bread
Places We Ate: Bouchon Bakery, Bouchon Bistro, La Calenda, Ad Hoc & Addendum
New York
Katz Deli: Matza Ball Soup [Matza ball texture was goals, I feel confident in my soup ability, but I need to hone my Matza ball density for sure], Pickles, Rueban Sandwich [the pastrami here was definitely the star..]
Russ & Daughters [had the best smoked salmon on a bagel w a chive cream cheese, and also some delicious rugelach.]
Milk Bar: Cereal Milk soft serve; Compost cookie soft serve ice cream [the cereal milk lived up to the hype], Crack Pie [as did the crack pie], Truffle Flight, Caramel Grapefruit Oat Cookie [this was SUCH an interesting delicious cookie combination..almost ruined by the fact that they whole thing was dipped in white chocolate-a sin in my eyes. Sad bc other then that I loved that cookie!]
Maharlika: Sisig [delicious, and scramble in front of you], Uni Palabok [not as good as I expected..], Bihon Pancit [classic goodness], Chicken and Ube Waffles [also delicious], Kare Kare, Garlic Rice
Four & Twenty Blackbirds: Honey Lavender [Lester's new favorite pie and also a revelation], Salty Honey, Strawberry Rhubarb, Black Bottom Oat, Salted Caramel Apple, Blueberry
Little Eataly: Pizza, Pasta, Gelato, Cannoli Flight [all pretty delicious, but how wrong can you go w Italian I ask you?!?]
Chelsea Market: Sfogliatella [Its like a big flaked pastry filled w in this case a lemon ricotta-I've had them before, but this one was pretty decent!]
Places We Ate: Halal Guys [chicken platter-better here then in SF], Xi'an Famous Foods [this one rocked my world-we got the pork noodle bowl. I've been dreaming about it ever since..], Russ & Daughters [I will never be able to eat smoked Salmon without thinking of this. Not overly salty, over chive cream cheese on a bagel..so delicious. And the rugelach was alright too..], Little Eataly, Chelsea Market, Four & Twenty Blackbirds, Milk Bar, Katz Deli, Maharlika, Nathan's Hot Dogs, Magnolia Bakery [they were on our way back from Rockefeller Center and had good banana pudding and ok key lime pie], Bouchon Bakery [again haha]
Salt Lake City
Tuille: Olive Oil cake [this and the next one were nye on perfect, although decadent-which isn't a bad thing at all, but just means that you had to share bc it would be too much otherwise..], Dark Chocolate Bouchon, Chocolate Tart w Candied Orange
SLC Eatery: I don't have the menu, and I can't remember all the things we ordered. But this was our fine dining option in Utah and it worked both ala carte and order. We decided that there were some definite high points [the almond mole dish, my crab pasta and Addy's chicken were superb] and some misses [their Asian inspired ones were a bit unbalanced we thought, but still good enough.]
Normal Ice Cream: Soft serve chocolate cone dipped, w homemade shortbread crumbled on top. The best one though was the lemon soft serve w home made graham crumbles on top. It was pretty bomb.
Places We Ate: Normal Ice Cream, Ginger Street, SLC Eatery, Gourmandise, Tuille, Caputos, The Lion House.
Boise
[This was from the luau we went to and was home made potluck style-but still worth noting! I was shocked everyone ate the musubi haha, and the pig they roasted in the ground was delicious!]
Chandlers: Beef carpacio, steak, lobster, broiled tomatoes, veggies, goat cheese cheesecake, and chocolate souffle w orange whipped cream. This was the single most expensive place we ate over the trip, and it was you all American style meat and potatoes kind of place. While it was the best lobster I've had, and you could tell everything else was done well, it was still not our style of dining and though I'm glad we tried it, I will probably never go there again...both bc we too broke, and also bc its not our style...
Sno Biz: Shaved ice combos. Perfect for a refreshing day.
Farmer's Markets: Strawberry Rhubarb Ice Pop, Coconut Vanilla Ice Pop, Strawberry Basil Lemonade
Stella's Ice Cream: Flower Power [Blueberry Lavender]
Richards: As far as nicer dining goes, this was probably right around where Lester and I land. You could kind of see the CA influences in this food-it was an Italian place, but with locally sourced ingredients that directly affected the weekly menu, and it was simple, but delicious and effective. The vegetable tart was amazing, I want to try to make something even remotely similar, the octopus was just ok, the lamb was awesome, the bison meatballs were delicious, and the pistachio pavlova w Raspberry sorbet was great too.
Places We Ate: Stella's, Chandlers, Richard's, Thai Basil, Pho Tay, Kiwi Shake and Bake, Wild Roots, Crumbl Cookies, Urban Fox Boba, Porterhouse
So, now that we are back in our cozy little home, we are excited to not eat out, but cook and create, from recipes, from our own ideas and inspiration and from other cultures. It was good to try so many new things-and now we're excited to get back to the kitchen, where our love for good food started.
