Marius

Prinseneiland, October 27, 2017—

DINNER WITH FRIENDS — almost family, in fact — at our favorite Amsterdam restaurant, and not only because the chef-proprietor is an old friend. Almost family, in fact.

This is such a pleasant kwartier of old Amsterdam, the Westlijke eilanden, a group of small islands built up over a century ago — first as warehouses, then as low-income housing, now increasingly being turned into condominiums. The lighting, the architectuee, the openness to sky and water all contribute to a degree of serenity rare in contempor\ary cities. I love it here; I always feel at home.

Kees's restaurant is on the table d'hôte format: a four-course dinner for a set price, with minimal opportunity for substitutions. (Vitello tonnato and a grande bouillabaise are always at the ready, though.) Tonight I had poached hake with squid, olives, and what else I can't recall, followed by pieces of onglet, the lower back cut of beef, with mushrooms and potatoes. Delicious, both of them, as we knew they would be, and gezond — sound and healthful, a joy after a day or two of travelling.

Dinner: Kees's "Chocolate Nemesis," a deep, serious chocolate brownie-like dessert, and apple tart with raisins — the original "Dutch apple pie," but utterly superior to what I used to get at lunch counters in the States.

     🍷Vin blanc, Mas Saint Laurent (Langueoc), 2015 (a little flinty, crisp and flavorful); Cabernet sauvignon, France, delicious and serious, details not noted
•Marius, Barentszstraat 243, Amsterdam ; 📞+31 020 422 7880

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

Hamburger

San Francisco International Airport, California, October 25, 2017—

GOTTA EAT. Not a lot of choice without going through security, which we don't want to do tonight; time enough for that tomorrow. So off we trundle to the "food court," a term that always suggests trials to me.

Could have been worse. Your standard flat-grilled hamburger, decent onion and lettuce, mustard and mayo in little plastic packages. Okay fries.

     🍷Zinfandel, Cline Family Cellars "Ancient Vines" (Contra Costa), "V.2015": does that really mean 2015? In a half bottle, ready to drink…
•Potrero Grill, SFO International Terminal

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

Risotto

Eastside Road, October 24, 2017—

SUCH A RELIABLE, nourishing, comforting dish, clearly one of the Hundred Plates. Risotto.

Cook found some chicken stock in the freezer, an onion at the ready, Arborio rice in the pantry, Parmigiano in the refrigerator. We picked up a bottle of halfway cheap white wine in town. Olive oil, of course.

The usual procedure: bring the stock to a simmer, sweat the chopped onion in olive oil until soft, add a one-grain layer of rice and cook until the grains are just beginning to go transparent around the edges. Add a half-glass of white wine; then the stock, a ladleful at a time, stirring to absorb the liquid before adding the next ladleful.

Green salad afterward, and then a nice melon.

     🍷Sauvingnon blanc, Fetzer, nv

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

Home again

Eastside Road, October 23, 2017—

HOME AGAIN, but in no mood to cook. Besides, who can remember what's in the larder? So we stopped off at our local upscale supermarket for a half pound of bulk hot Italian sausage, three potatoes, a head of lettuce, a loaf of bread, and a bottle of milk.

I shaped the sausage into four or five balls and browned them in the black iron skillet, flattening them afterward. I cubed the potatoes and a cipollino we had lying around, also a small pepper thoughtfully provided by the neighbor down the hill, and tossed them unto the skillet, moving the sausages above them. Salt, of course.

Green salad after.

     🍷Rose, Giulhem

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

Faux Denmark

Santa Nella, Califoria, October 22, 2017—

WE'VE DRIVEN PAST this place so many times, but never stopped for dinner. Tonight there was no choice.

I had "Veal Cutlet Copenagen": three "veal" cutlets, breaded and greiddled, with sautéed potatoes mixed with bits of green bell pepper, a steam-sauté of zucchini, yellow crookneck, and carrot, and that little tub of "homemade beef gravy" you see. You know what? It wasn't disgusting.

     🍷A Martini

•Pea Soup Anderson's, 12411 State Highway 33, Gustine, California 📞+1 (209) 826-1685

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

Diner bistro

Pasadena, October 21, 2017—

I NEVER THOUGHT about it this way before, but perhaps the classic American diner is the closest thing we have in this country to the French bistro. And the closest thing I found to the classic American diner lately is Russell‘s over we have supper before share another play here.

Booths upholstered in red leatherette , red walls with reproductions of famous paintings. We dined under the girl with the pearl earring and the milkmaid, looking at a group of Frans Hals’s customers.

I had a small Caesarish salad and this bowl of boeuf bourguignon, not bad. With it, a glass of Rhone. 

•Russel’s, 30 N Fair Oaks Ave, Pasadena, (626) 578-1404

Back to The Raymond

Pasadena, California, October 20, 2017—

I THINK IT'S A PLACE to have a drink, the Contessa said at the end of the evening, and then go on somewhere else for dinner. And I guess I agree with her: but I do think this is a pleasant, rather romantic little place. If only the menu were a little more interesting, and perhaps not quite so complicated.

We started, after a decent Martini, by sharing a big garden lettuce salad. The leaves were quite big and not at all torn. They were dressed with a little lemon juice; a bottle of gloppy ranch-style dressing came with them — not a very inspired salad.

I went on to a pretty nice hanger steak, grilled, served with fingerling potatoes cooked with a slice of bacon, a poached quail egg, and a spoonful or two of nice English peas, undercooked in a pleasant way.

     🍷Cuvée Sabine, André  Brunel (Rhone), 2013: very rich and rewarding

•The Raymond Restaurant, 1250 Fair Oaks Avenue, South Pasadena, California; 📞+1 (626) 441-3136

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