Pity the poor venture capitalists. Most of their investments end up being a bust. Relegated to the wasteland that is Sand Hill Road, they have nowhere nearby to commiserate over a beer let alone celebrate, on those rare occasions when everything goes according to plan. Well you can stop feeling sorry for them starting April 2nd when Madera at Rosewood Sand Hill opens.

I had the privilege of attending a preview lunch yesterday and got a chance to chat with the Executive Chef Peter Rudolph and Wine Director, Paul Mekis. Their enthusiasm was a joy to behold as were the food and wine pairings. I had mixed feelings about the food at Campton Place under Rudolph. Sometimes it hit the mark other times it missed it completely. But everything I tasted yesterday was spot on.


First up, an oak smoked warmed Hog Island sweetwater oyster with cucumber, avocado and fromage blanc. The herbal vegetal flavors played off the barely smoky oyster and was an inspired combination. It was perfect with sparkling wine. Madera will have a Champagne cart and included on it will always be at least one grower produced Champagne.


A tender piece of octopus was well seasoned and surrounded by vegetables, a nice contrast from the typical Spanish style plating with potatoes.


Next a take on "surf and turf", smoked arctic char with artichokes, crispy veal sweetbreads topped with tarragon. This was one of Rudolph's signature dishes at Campton Place and it's a keeper.


Rudoph explained his own meal choices have leaned towards more vegetables these days and it was clear from the farro, mushroom and vegetable stew with oak grilled leeks. The chewy farro with the crunch of walnuts was hearty and satisfying and the vegetables and plump mushrooms were fresh and full of flavor. Vegetarians and meat eaters would be happy with this dish, it's by no means an afterthought and might just become a signature dish.


The Kurobuta pork chop from Snake River was brined and grilled over black oak then served with beans, mushrooms and a bread dumpling wrapped in cabbage. The pork chop may have been the best I have ever eaten. Really. It was intensely flavorful and perfectly cooked. It had more smoky flavor than most of the other dishes which was fitting. The dumplings were tender and had bits of vegetables inside them, frankly I thought they could have been a side dish or main dish on their own instead of a garnish on an already full plate but that's a minor quibble.


I'd be remiss in not mentioning how well the dessert fit with the rest of the meal. The pastry chef Shannon Swindle is diabetic and perhaps that influences his less sweet and more adult desserts. The serving of delicate vanilla flecked ricotta cheese cake was creamy but not overly sweet, accented by grilled fruits and a few caramelized nuts.

The wine list has over 600 wines and over 100 are Pinot Noir, a good wine to pair with gently smoked and grilled dishes. The list is impressive and the mark up reasonable, ranging from 2 to 2 1/2 times retail. It features lots of interesting French choices some familiar and others less so. You can view a sample of the wine list here.

While there is no set tasting menu, you can arrange to have as many courses as your would like and to have wines paired with them as well. Rustic but refined in it's food and decor, the restaurant fits well with the surrounding rolling hills and it's easy to imagine the energy you will feel when it's filled with deal makers and holiday takers, even just those sneaking away for a leisurely lunch...

Madera
2825 Sand Hill Road
Menlo Park CA
650.561.1540

Opens April 2, 2009

Delicious reception
March 15, 2009 2 - 6 pm
Studio
1815 Polk St
San Francisco

Studio gallery on Polk St annual show Delicious features art work on the theme of food from 90 local artists. This is always a playful, fun show with paintings, prints, sculpture, drawings, photography and even jewelry. The opening reception is this Sunday March 15th, from 2 - 6 pm and the show runs through April 12th. There are plenty of affordable pieces, like this charming woodprint by Ayu Tomikawa called Nibela reaches for a cake.





White on Rice 5:30 reception, 6:45 film
March 17, 2009
Sundance Kabuki
1881 Post St
San Francisco

The Asian American Film Festival is showing the Japanese film, White on Rice. If the trailer is any indication, it promises to be a quirky, humorous slice of life. Tickets are $11 and there is a free pre-screening reception hosted by lyemon Cha where you can meet the director and cast and enjoy appetizers and of course, green tea. Reception is at 5:30 at the Bar Bistro and the screening is a t 6:45 at the Sundance Kabuki Theater





San Francisco Chocolate Salon
March 21, 2009 10 - 6 pm
Fort Mason
Marina Blvd
San Francisco

Chocolate! This year I am a judge at the San Francisco Chocolate Salon. Come to Fort Mason on March 21st and try chocolate and beverages from over 50 chocolatiers, confectioners, and other producers. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door.

Fran Gage's The New American Olive Oil includes profiles of artisan producers and 75 recipes, each using extra virgin olive oil. Having tried a selection of the recipes I wholeheartedly recommend the tangy Tabbouleh with Meyer lemon olive oil and the Almost flourless chocolate cake, it's a light and fluffy version as opposed to the heavy ones you sometimes get.

Fran Gage is a particularly wonderful baker, experienced in sensory analysis and is one of the members of the California Olive Oil Council tasting panel. She uses extra virgin olive oil in desserts like pound cake in place of butter and in recipes like rillettes where you would expect to find pork fat. Over the next few months there will be plenty of opportunities to attend a olive oil tasting and book signing event with Fran Gage.

Another olive oil book I'm excited about is Micki Sannar's Olive Oil Desserts. Sannar was inspired to develop recipes using olive oil for health reasons, and her baked goods are delicious. I particularly like her lemon cookies, but everything I've tried of hers is good.

A sweet book in more ways than one, the recipes are interspersed with funny and heartwarming stories. While Gage uses all extra virgin olive oil, Sannar uses pure olive oil. This is to minimize olive oil flavor and maximize cost efficiency. Like all good cookbooks, this one is clearly a labor of love and I know Micki spent years and years working on it and perfecting her recipes.


A final book I have to mention is Joanne Weir's Wine Country Cooking, now out in paperback. Joanne is a terrific cooking teacher, which you undoubtedly know from her successful television shows. She is also a fledgling blogger and has always been utterly gracious to me. I was a big fan of hers, from the moment I reviewed her book From Tapas to Meze, several years ago. Wine Country Cooking, out in paperback, might as well have been subtitled "the extra virgin olive oil cookbook" because almost every recipe uses it. This mostly Mediterranean cookbook includes mouthwatering recipes like Pork and Artichoke Stew, Farmer's Market Risotto with Zucchini and their Blossoms, Warm Olive and Caramelized Onion Tart and Braised Fennel with Orange. You'll want to make everything in it!

Joanne Weir will be signing books and offering samples of her recipes at the newly renovated McEvoy Ranch shop at the Ferry Building. RSVP and take home a bottle of McEvoy Traditional Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil with your cookbook purchase on March 19th from 6 - 8 pm. See you there?

Olive oil has a lot in common with chocolate, wine and tea. Each has a long history, compelling health benefits and is a staple in just about every kitchen or dining room table. The more I learn about each, the more I realize how much more there is to learn. After the olive oil tasting I attended yesterday, I feel like I've woken up and smelled the, oh, you know what. The tasting was led by Fran Gage, author of The New American Olive Oil and member of the California Olive Oil Council's tasting panel.

I thought I knew a bit about olive oil because the family I lived with in Tuscany produced their own olive oil. We used it for just about everything including frying which many "experts" will tell you shouldn't be done. Most prized was the olio nuovo, a first pressing that is particularly fresh and intensely fruity and peppery. We used it on fettunta which is toasted bread, scraped with a raw garlic clove and sprinkled with a little salt. In my kitchen I usually have several citrus flavored olive oils and a variety of mild and more robust varieties open at one time. Some get used for cooking, others as a finishing touch.

I've tasted a lot of olive oils, but I never knew there was a proper way to taste them. Here is just a little bit of what I learned:

� Each extra virgin olive oil will smell and taste mild, medium or robust

� All extra virgin olive oils should be "fruity"

� A desirable extra virgin olive oil balances the fruity aspects and the amount of bitterness and pungency

� Bitterness you can taste on your tongue

� Pungency you detect in your throat, if an olive oil makes you cough, it's pungent

Official olive oil tasting is done with little blue glasses that hide the color of the oil. Color does not indicate anything in terms of flavor and can mislead tasters. Glasses should be warmed and agitated slightly to release aroma, just like wine. Judge the scent, then the flavor. Sniff the oil and breathe in like you do with wine tasting, then slurp a bit to get the full flavor. Some of the flavors and scents you may detect are almonds, artichoke, herbs, dried roses, hay, grass, green apple, banana, spice (especially cinnamon) Aromas might include tropical, floral or buttery. Gage offers suggestions for how to put together a tasting in your own home, tasting oils on a variety of different foods.

We tasted several olive oils and one of the most robust was from McEvoy Ranch. McEvoy did poorly in a completely amateur taste test done by Cook's Illustrated but was rated highly by our group and also by the professional tasting panel, that is trained to look for complexity and nuances. Panel members like Fran even take olive oil sensory evaluation classes. Like many American olive oils, the McEvoy oil contains oils from a blend of olives. McEvoy uses Frantoio, Leccino, Pendolino, Maurino, Leccio del Corno and Coratina olives. In California there are 125 varietals alone. While there are a couple of other states beginning to produce olive oil, for now, California is the major producer of olive oils in the US.

Tomorrow come back for reviews of some olive oil cookbooks and information about olive oil events and tastings.

It's exhausting being a celebrity! Ok, maybe I'm not famous, but I felt like I was this weekend. On Saturday I spoke for about 45 minutes to a sold out crowd at the Larkspur Library, and then demonstrated four "no cook" recipes, including one adapted from New Flavors for Appetizers. On Sunday I was at the Palo Alto Williams Sonoma store signing copies of my book. We sold about 40 copies! It was fun chatting with customers and accepting compliments on the two recipes that were being sampled, Chilled Green Pea Soup and Dates Stuffed with Chorizo and Aged Goat Cheese. Both of those just happen to be "no cook" as well.

If you'd like to attend my next talk and cooking demonstration at the Larkspur Library it will be on April 4th from 4:30 - 6:30 pm. Tickets are $10 and include a donation to the Friends of the Library, tasting of four appetizers (plus the recipes), St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc and Bionade (non-alcoholic beverage). The recipes I'll be demonstrating are Fava Bean and Ricotta Crostini with Fresh Mint, Chevre Stuffed Apricots, Prosciutto Pear Bites and Endive with White Bean Dip. The event already is about halfway sold out, so call 415.927.5005 or stop by the library to reserve soon if you'd like to attend!

Here is just one of four "no cook" appetizers I demonstrated and served this past Saturday. It's endive topped with a dollop of white bean dip. Canned cannelini beans become very creamy when mashed. This recipe has an Italian flair to it, because the dominant flavors are lemon, garlic and olive oil. It also just happens to be vegan. I'm trying to include a few more vegan recipes in my repertoire.

This Sunday, March 8th I will be signing books and offering samples of one of the recipes from New Flavors for Appetizers at the Stanford Shopping Center Williams Sonoma store in Palo Alto from 1 - 3 pm. Please stop by and say hello!

Williams Sonoma
Stanford Shopping Center
180 El Camino Real, Space 701
Palo Alto, CA
650-321-3486

Is Contigo the next big thing? The future may be unknown, but as the magic eight ball says "signs point to yes." I was one of the few that got a preview of the restaurant and while my expectations were high, having eaten Brett Emerson's food a few times before, I was very impressed. Emerson creates food with big flavors and clearly uses the best ingredients he can find. The staff even in early days, are friendly, helpful and joyful.

The menu is divided into small plates "Pica-Pica" and large plates, "Platillos" and is inspired by the cuisine of Spain and Catalunya in particular. The vibe is San Francisco meets Barcelona. On the small plate menu, the Patatas Bravas were the crispiest I have ever had and the aillioli and salsa brava really whet my appetite. Even something as simple as Setas a la Plancha or grilled mushrooms were intensely flavored and delectable. This time of year nothing quite says comfort like a grilled cheese sandwich and Contigo's is a winner. Slices of salty jamon (Spanish ham) mingle with gooey queso de tetilla cheese and sweet membrillo (quince paste).

My favorite dish might have been Butter Beans with Pork Belly, Ears and Feet. Everything was tender and soul-satisfying and showed expert technique in coaxing the goodness out each of the cuts. The Trout with Baby Leeks was great too, so fresh tasting. Be sure to leave room for dessert. It's hard not to order churros and chocolate. The churros are particularly thin and crunchy, perfect for dipping, but as our waiter pointed out, even when the churros are gone, the chocolate is good for sipping too. Thankfully even when full, the noise level is kept in check. I know I'm biased, but I'm also excited to see this wonderful restaurant make such a terrific debut.

For more first impressions, check out the Bunrabs report and Thy Tran's report on Bay Area Bites.

Contigo
1320 Castro St
San Francisco
415.285.0250

Tuesday - Thursday 5:30 - 10 pm
Friday - Saturday 5:30 - 11 pm

Well it may not be 100 top picks, but The Examiner asked me about a handful of my favorite spots around town. Check it out online to learn where I find homemade sour cream, stock up on candy, enjoy a cocktail, go for Vietnamese soul food and more...