Eastside Road, September 15, 2015—
THIS DESSERT, believe it or not, was listed on the menu as a tarte Tatin. More specifically, "local stonefruit tarte tatin: candied almonds, salted caramel ice cream, apricot mostarda." When I asked the waitress what stone fruit was involved, peaches and apricots, she said.And this at a restaurant with a reputation for having a certain cachet. Now Tarte Tatin, and I capitalize it because it's a proper noun, is a specific thing; it's made with apples (I grudgingly admit pears if necessary); it's in a pastry shell. It might be garnished with a bit of cream, or even vanilla ice cream or possibly whipped cream, but only a little, I think.
This dish was what I would call a pudding, more marzipan than fruit, crumble (streusel) substituting for pastry. It was caramelized, but on the bottom, and getting soggy in the "mostarda," which seemed to me innocent of mustard. Those are basil leaves garnishing it. An odd dessert, not unpleasant, but not Tarte Tatin.
It ended today's lunch, which was otherwise a platter of radishes (as many Japanese daikon as French breakfast, alas) served with anchovy butter and a steak-frites beautifully cooked and nicely anchovy-buttered.
Red, "Le Cigare Volant," Bonny Doon Vineyards, 2014
•The Girl and the Fig, 110 West Spain Street, Sonoma, California; 707-938-3634
DINNER TONIGHT was the frozen "tarte Alsacienne" we occasionally buy at Trader Joe, a nice enough flatbread covered with simply onions and crème fraîche, cooked on the pizza stone in our oven, with sliced tomatoes, a green salad, and fruit compote for dessert.
Garnacha/Monastrell, Laya (Almansa), Old Vines, 2013
CATCHUP: yesterday we dined on hominy cooked with chorizo, some of it Franco Dunn's, bought at the Healdsburg Farm Market, some of it the dry coiled chorizo we find in Berkeley at The Spanish Table, excellent shop. The day before, Sunday, we drove home from Los Angeles, contenting ourselves with trail mix and salt peanuts in the car.
☛Restaurants visited in 2015 are listed at Eatingday's Restaurants
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