Home again

Eastside road, September 12, 2017—

AFTER WHAT SEEMS weeks hither and yon we are home again but in no mood to cook. Cook sliced some tomatoes and prepared some store-bought ravioli; I made a vinaigrette for the salad she washed and dried. 

Dessert: delicious figs from our tree, and lemon sorbet. Perfect for a too-warm late summer evening. 

Rosé, Guilhem

Faute de mieux

Los Angeles, September 8, 2017—

THERE ARE TIMES when you just have to suck it up and make the best of it. Giovanna always says if you can't do better, a chocolate bar and a beer will do. I guess I'm a little more health-conscious, having a generation of years on her.

After looking over the menu, I settled on a Martini and a Caesar salad. The salad wasn't authentic — no anchovies graced the plate, though some sort of ground anchovy may have been present in the dressing. Nor was there raw egg, which I count on, on evenings like this, for protein.

Still hungry, I ordered the plate of hummus, raw carrot and celery, and pita that had constituted the Contessa's dinner, along with a Margarita.


•Los Angeles Airport Marriott, 5855 West Century Boulevard, Los Angeles

☛RESTAURANTS VISITED, with information and rating:
2016      2015     2017

Ember

Arroyo Grande, California, September 7, 2017—

WE LIKE THIS PLACE enough to break the drive down Highway 101 to spend the night. I think it's edging to one of my Five Restaurants; it is certainly among the Hundred.
The plates have depth, crunch where appropriate, and edge. Cal-Ital, I suppose, with the wood-burning oven a central focus (pardon the pun). But after the last few days of near-constant motion alternating with fatigue I knew I had to eat wisely, so stuck to three courses:

Minestrone: the classic, though based on chicken stock rather than beef or veal, with lots of vegetables in a rich, deep tomato-infused soup with generous parmesan and a dollop of fine pesto.

Grilled romaine: a split, stripped-down head of romaine grilled over coals, with anchovy-lemon vinaigrette inevitably bringing bagna caoda to mind, chives, and shaved Parmesan.

Gnocchi: very nice large Gnudi, tender yet substantial, in garlic brown butter, with steamed spinach, garnished with fried artichoke petals and Parmesan.

Oh well, yes, dessert too: Mascarpone cheesecake with fig jam, candied bacon, and honey, with rum date ice cream.
     🍷A very good Martini; then Albarino: Mattina Fiore (Edna Valley), 2014
•Ember, 1200 East Grand Avenue, Arroyo Grande, California; 📞805-474-7700
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Margherita; Ceviche

Eastside Road, September 1, 2017—

BEING IN BERKELEY for the day again — the fourth time this week -- it seemed reasonable to return to Summer Kitchen for a pizza. I felt a little guilty asking someone to work a pizza oven; it was 102° in Berkeley, probably a record — but the oven was going anyway; might as well make use of it.

I haven't looked back over these posts, but I'd guess I must have eaten well over a dozen Margherita pizzas in the last three years — in Naples, Rome, probably northern Italy, and up and down the Pacific coast. This one is still the best, the standard by which I'll judge all the others. There's a perfect balance of flavors of tomato, mozzarella, and basil. The crust couldn't be better: you can taste the wheat and the yeast. There's a very discreet use of olive oil. And the pizza is baked perfectly.

     🍷Amarone, Palazzo Della Torre, Allegrini Veronese, 2010: generous
•Summer Kitchen and Bakeshop, 2944 College Ave, Berkeley, California; 📞(510) 981-0538

The contessa had an egg salad sandwich, and bought a corn salad to take home, which we had for supper tonight — corn stripped fresh from the ear, barely cooked, with flecks of tomato and chive. With it, I had the remains of the ceviche I made myself for supper yesterday: Tombo tuna sliced thin, marinated in lime juice with chopped tomato, jalapeño pepper, shallot, and cilantro, and not cooked. Delicious.

     🍷White wine spritzer: Cheap Pinot grigio with sparkling water

☛RESTAURANTS VISITED, with information and rating: 2016      2015     2017