Salmon again

Foreign Cinema, 2534 Mission St., San Francisco, tel. 415.648.7600
mixed baby lettuces, Delta asparagus, baby beets, Champagne vinaigrette
Roasted salmon, new potatoes, fig-hazelnut aillade, green olive toast, radishes, lemon mayonnaise
small dessert "tastes"

THE BAKER'S DOZEN, an organization of professional bakers and associated paraprofessionals, meets at one of our favorite restaurants every few months, with a presentation or panel of some kind, a question-and-answer session, lots of conversation, and a fine lunch.
Today the subject was cupcakes, and four bakers were on hand to compare notes and describe their commitment to the genre — three of them having gone into the business of cupcake specialization. That was very interesting, and the samples they and other members had brought were delicious. But so was the lunch.

We started with a tender spring salad: soft, flavorful lettuces and crisp sturdy asparagus under a floral vinaigrette. There were those beets, but they were small and as subtle as their nature would permit: I think farmers have finally figured out how to grow edible beets.

Then came the dish you see up at the top, in the big photo. As you know we had salmon and new potatoes for dinner last night: but as you may also know, we don't mind repeating foods in consecutive meals. Last night's sockeye was grilled, smoky with grapevine wood, assertive; today's salmon was supple and tender. The fig-hazelnut aillade formed a sort of tangy chutney to set off this subtle fish, and the tapenade toast and lemon mayonnaise continued the theme.



Then there were the desserts, hardly needed you'd think after the cupcake samples we'd had before lunch, but cleansing and wholesome: a perfect strawberry wearing a discreet white-chocolate robe; a chewy little cookie whose texture recalled that fig-hazelnut compote; and strip of candied citron dipped in dark chocolate. Nothing more, nothing less.