Friday, March 12, 2010
Name that dish
Michael Bauer 2010
A surprising dish at Credo, which combines both pasta and pizza
Is it pizza, pasta or an Italian pot pie?
I'm not sure. Earlier this week I went to Credo, an Italian restaurant near the financial district. Chef Mario Maggi worked in Florence, Milan, Minnesota and Florida before working his way here.
Many items on the Credo menu are typical of what you'll find at other Italian restaurants in the Bay Area: Margerita pizza; fritto misto of calamari, shrimp and vegetables; veal meatballs; beef carpaccio and pasta such as penne all'arrabbiata and fettuccine alla Bolognese. It was the last of the 10 pasta offerings that caught my attention: Sedanini alla Credo. It's a prepration I've never seen before.
It's fat macaroni tubes, bathed in creamy tomato sauce with pancetta, pecorino cheese and slices of Italian sausage, covered with a disk of pizza dough and baked in the oven. The top is then sprinkled with cheese, decorated with sage leaves and brought to the table on a big red plate. Diners are instructed to cut around the inside rim and lift off the crisp crust. Underneath is the creamy pasta, which can be accompanied, of course, by the crisp pieces of pizza dough. It's actually fun and interesting. If you like pizza and you like pasta, why not have them together?
I asked all of my Italian friends whether or not they had encountered the dish, and they were all as surprised as I was. However, our California Culinary Academy intern Pailin Chongchitnant saw the photo I took, and remembered having it in an Italian restaurant in Bangkok.
She called Maggi who says the dish is found in some areas of Southern Italy, traditionally done with seafood and tomato sauce.
He says the dish has no official name, so he identfies it after the type of pasta he uses, sedanini, and the name of his employer's restaurant. Anyway you look at it, it combines two of the favorite Italian food groups artfully in one dish.
| Mar 12 at 05:10 AM
Thursday, March 11, 2010
My most memorable meal
The Chronicle 2004
The French Laundry is responsible for one of my most memorable dining experiences
I received an email the other day that got me reminiscing about some of the most memorable dining experiences I've had. Of course while the food is most important, it's often the context that makes it memorable. Here's the email:
Hi Michael,
Like you, I have been a fan of the French Laundry since its inception and growth, as well as having had the pleasure of dining at Fredy G's 20 years ago. I wonder, however, if when you have been in the East, you've had the also fabulous experience of dining at The Inn at Little Washington. If not, it's certainly one that should be on your list.
The reason it struck a chord is that for more than a decade, my most memorable meal was at Fredy Girardet, a restaurant in Crissier, Switzerland. Girardet, the chef/owner, retired in 1996. He was one of the revolutionaries of his time and is considered one of the greatest chefs of the 20th century.
The first time I dined there I was a very young food critic, doing a tour of the three stars of France, and I made a detour here. His creations were unlike anything I'd eaten at other starred establishments. The delicate marzipan bees on the dessert still fly around my brain every time I hear the restaurant mentioned.
Then a few years later, I was traveling with Madeleine Kamman and three other friends and we all loaded into a tiny car in Annecy, got hopelessly lost, and ended up two hours late for our lunch, long after the kitchen was closed. When we arrived, Girardet greeted us at the door and cooked a meal that was every bit as memorable as the first; funny thing is, I can't remember specifics about what I had, but I remember the feelings invoked by that meal.
To me, this was a pinnacle experience until about 2005, when I dined on a cold December afternoon at the French Laundry with Michael Murphy, Marion Cunningham and Chuck Williams. It was white truffle season, so flakes of these fragrant truffles flavored several dishes. In fact, when I think of Marion, it's the image of her sitting against the stone wall, her white hair haloed in the dappled light, that comes to mind.
I've also eaten twice at the Inn at Little Washington, which has become a benchmark for many, but wasn't quite as memorable for me. Of course the meal was spectacular, without question, but the experience didn't resonate with me the same way as it did at Fredy Girardet's or the French Laundry.
In fact, even though I've eaten at the French Laundry four or five times since my benchmark experience, nothing has topped that day — even though I know objectively the restaurant is just as good today, or better, as it was then.
As a critic I can evaluate the food, but when I talk about memorable meals, it's a confluence of the setting and a particular set of circumstances. The food, of course, is important because it's the element that brings it all together and seems to solidify friendships and cement memories.
I would like to hear memorable dining experiences from others, and what made them special.
| Mar 11 at 05:11 AM
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Two gold stars for Marzano and Garibaldis
The Chronicle 2010
Marzano is a pizza restaurant that shares an entrance with the more expensive Garibaldis on College in Oakland
Since I often write about the negative aspects of hospitality, I thought I'd share an email from a reader about a restaurant that went above and beyond, and developed a customer for life. A quick explanation for those who don't remember: Garibaldis and Marzano are two side-by-side restaurants that share the same owner, but different menus and kitchens.
I wanted to let you know about an extraordinary experience we had last night, with the Marzano/Garibaldis teams, on College Ave. We'd had a double birthday dinner planned for March 6th but a broken oven forced us to start checking local restaurants to see if anyone could handle 10 people with only two days notice. After striking out with the first five places, we struck gold at Marzano on College.
The note is very long, so let me paraphrase. It turns out the restaurant booked the wrong day, and they called the night before the party to ask when his party was arriving. When he explained the party wasn't until Saturday he was told the restaurant was fully booked. He was transferred several times and finally talked to a manager who apologized profusely and suggested he could seat the party next door at Garibaldis.
Because of the change, and because the organizer thought they would be dining on the more expensive Garibaldis menu, he asked that the restaurant waive corkage; the restaurant agreed.
The Chronicle 2010
Garibaldis has the same owner, but a more refined decor and upscale menu
So let's pick up the story:
Come Saturday night we arrived promptly at 6:00 p.m. After a few moments of perusing the menu, I realized it was the menu from the Marzano side. When I asked our waiter about this, she stated they were doing their best to make up for the reservation error and we would also receive a couple of free appetizers. They even offered to bring us a menu from the Garibaldis side, so we could order from it as well.
After receiving and tearing into the two free starters (antipasti board and fritto misto, two of each), we then ordered three pizzas, two chopped salads, three meatballs starters and two asparagus for the table to share. We brought in 5 bottles of wine. The bill came and we were shocked. Even though they had gone though the hassle to serve us from the Marzano side, they honored the no corkage fee agreement, so our total cost was under $130.00. For 9 people!
We did some quick figuring and the totals were correct. The waitstaff was unbelievably kind, attentive and seemed to always be smiling, so it was extremely easy for us to leave a huge tip.
This staff went above and beyond in their response to our reservation problem, ensuring we will come back to these two restaurants as often as possible, whenever possible.
I'm sure similar stories unfold every night at restaurants, but most of the time we only hear about the negative, which seems to be a bigger motivator than a positive. The restaurant could have refused to honor the reservation; it was never really clear how the mistake happened, but the Marzano staff was determined to make it right. It just shows that taking care of business — and simply caring — can turn a potential disaster into a victory.
| Mar 10 at 05:02 AM
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Lower wine prices means more business at Bottega
The Chronicle 2006
Chef Michael Chiarello, also a grapegrower, gives diners a break on wine prices at Bottega in Yountville
I've written a lot about wine markups in this blog and in my weekly restaurant reviews. What I've found is that some restaurants mark up their wines double retail, and don't give the service to justify it.
It's hard to justify a high markup when the glassware is nothing special, the wine isn't properly stored and staff members don't know what they're selling. It's easier to understand higher markups if the restaurant has lots of money tied up in a large inventory, and have hired staff to curate the selection, but that's more the exception than the rule. Most restaurants have a small current vintage list, but often the markups are about the same.
We pay a winemaker for the creativity in the bottle and a chef for what's on the plate; but where's the creativity in opening a wine and pouring it?
I've always contended that restaurants with reasonably priced wine lists sell more wine, at least that's what Gavin Newsom found when he was running PlumpJack Cafe and took the unheard of step of selling wine a little above retail.
Now Michael Chiarello is following in similar footsteps. Being a farmer, cook and winemaker, he understands all sides of the business, and when he opened Bottega less than two years ago, he decided to only charge double wholesale, which is about a third less than many competitors charge.
What drove that point home to him was ordering a bottle of wine in a New York restaurant that he knew sold for $40, but was $185 on the list. As a grapegrower, he didn't think that type of markup served the wineries or the guests.
"One of the things I learned doing Napa Style is that you don't look at revenue per square inch but profit per square inch," he said.
He figured with better prices, people would bend a little and be willing to come at 5:30, allowing the restaurant to turn more tables each night.
"I see a direct correlation for us to be able to spread out seating, do more business and sell more wine," he said. "With greater buying power you can get better deals, which you can pass along to the customer."
The first year he was open, he didn't see people "trading up" for better wines, but they were willing to accept those "cusp" reservations either earlier or later in the evening. Now that the economy is starting to turn, he says diners are starting to buy more expensive wines.
"Customers are beginning to feel better about spending more on wine," Chiarello says. "They trade up because the value is so good."
| Mar 09 at 05:14 AM
Monday, March 08, 2010
San Francisco on the plate
The Chronicle 2008
San Francisco, with its great product and love of food, encourages diners to open their wallets
When people ask my opinion of how food in San Francisco stacks up against other cities, I honestly tell them I think it's the best in the country. Naturally others would argue, especially about New York which has us beat by sheer volume. New York certainly has more restaurants, but I think we have better restaurants per capita.
I justify my choice by explaining that food and dining is central to our culture here, unlike in other cities. I can think of only two destinations in the United States where people come just for the food: San Francisco and New Orleans. Sure, lots of people go to New York, and the restaurants are fantastic, but in many cases people are there on business, to go to the theater and for many other reasons beyond dining.
San Francisco's rank in the dining pantheon was well supported by a study conducted by American Express, and released by the San Francisco Convention and Vistors Bureau.While the recession has had a huge impact on the number of domestic visitors coming to San Francisco, those who come are spending disproportionately more at restaurants. The study shows that restaurants account for 54 percent of total spending. When card members visit other markets, the average is 13 percent.
To me, that is both astounding and gratifying, and part of the reason we have so many great places here from which to choose. Every time I go to another city I'm impressed by what I've found and how dining is coming of age in America. However, no place I know has the central core — the products, the wine country and the passion exhibited here. Despite the high cost of doing business, the Bay Area is a very supportive environment that allows creativity to flow.
| Mar 08 at 05:04 AM
Friday, March 05, 2010
A little spice, a little fat and a lot of fun
I must have been in the mood for rustic food the last couple of weeks, because all of my favorite dishes speak of cold, damp weather. Apropos, I guess.
Michael Bauer 2010
At Amber India Anish Potdar marinates duck breast in yogurt to make it tender and juicy; he then rubs it with spices,skewers the meat with Bell peppers. It's grilled and served with a dill caper dipping sauce.
Michael Bauer 2010
Staffan Terje at the recently opened Barbacco braises chicken thighs with almonds, Castelvetrano olives, confit garlic cloves and escarole.
Michael Bauer 2010
What makes this pizza at Boot and Shoe Service in Oakland stand out is that the nettles are left large rather than pureed. With its crisp, chewy crust, a restained scattering of red onions and the soft blanket of cheese, it's one of the best combinations I've had.
Michael Bauer2010
At the newly refurbished Incanto in San Francisco, Chris Cosentino uses all parts of the animal for maximum impact. This appetizer special last week featured lamb liver, sauteed and served on a bed of still crunchy onions.
Michael Bauer 2010
One of the weekend specials at Vik's in Berkeley are nuggets of fried fish with a crisp, eggy exterior, served with cucumbers, lime and chutney.
| Mar 05 at 05:11 AM
Thursday, March 04, 2010
What to do about loud tables
The Chronicle 2008
Large parties are loud; many restaurants such as Spruce create out of the way spaces for them
A reader's experience about being seated next to a large party:
My friends and I recently ate at (a popular San Francisco restaurant). We were seated next to a large table of 25 women celebrating a special occasion. However, they were extremely loud and boisterous which affected our dining experience because we could not hear over their loudness.
Instead, our party of six spent most of our dinner trying to shout over the noise or just talking to our immediate neighbor. We mentioned something to our waiter who happened to be their waiter as well and he said that he was "afraid they would kick his butt" for telling them to pipe down. Our sense is that he didn't want to anger them which would affect his sizable tip.
At the end of the dinner, the manager came over to apologize for their loudness but did not offer any compensation (ie. free dessert, etc.).
My question to you is: what should the restaurant do in this situation? Should they have compensated us for our dining neighbor's loudness? Moving us was not an option since the restaurant was fully booked. Should they have asked the large party to keep it down?
Many restaurants wouldn't take a party for that many people unless the diners could be accommodated in a private room. Trying to serve that many guests in a regular dining room creates many challenges. Seating parties around that oversized table is like plotting a battle plan to help alleviate stress on the staff and other customers. Most places will try to seat other parties surrounding that table early or late; sounds like you were seated at approximately the same time which was probably a mistake on the restaurant's part.
I'm also surprised your table had the same waiter as the larger party; 31 people is a lot for any one waiter to handle, but it doesn't sound like your service suffered.
When you have 25 people dining together, it's going to get loud, there's no way around it. Your waiter was a little flip in his response. However, it could be that they weren't really all that noisy, but when you have dozens of voices speaking at once in such close proximity, it's bound to be annoying.
Unless diners are being obnoxious, telling people to quiet down generally only upsets things, makes everyone in the dining room uncomfortable, and doesn't solve the problem.
It was nice that the manager acknowledged your complaint. Whether you deserve compensation is an arguable point. Strictly speaking I'd say no. However, many places would probably have sent over an extra dessert, or a small pour of dessert wine as an apology. I don't think a customer should expect something free when something like this happens; but it's a generous, often appreciated, gesture.
I'd like to hear the thoughts of those in the business. What would you do?
| Mar 04 at 05:17 AM
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Nothing can stop a cook from cooking
The Chronicle 2003
Good beef stew requires well-browned meat. So what do you do when the fire alarm doesn't cooperate?
I received a pleading e-mail (if an e-mail can be pleading) from a long time reader who had a real cooking dilemma: She lives in a residential care facility and the fire alarms are so sensitive that every time she tries to brown meat, they go off.
Her question:
How do I develop the flavor and fond from browning meat without having the whole building evacuate for a fire alarm? I tried roasting in the oven. It sort of worked, took forever, and I could only "rescue" half of the fond.
I was unsure how to help, so I sought out staff writer Lynne Char Bennett, who is uniquely qualified to answer the question: Not only is Lynne trained as a chef, but in a former life she was a fire and safety specialist and a veterinarian, so she has both a practical and scientific mind. Her suggestions were to check the vent filter over the stove to make sure it was clean and sucking up the smoke properly, or to open a window and point a fan next to the stove toward the window. I sent off the reply and a week later I got another e-mail. She had solved the problem:
Eureka: I think I found a solution for browning stew beef without setting off the fire alarm in the whole building. I've tried it three times, and it works better than not trying at all: Window open and fan on, all three times.
First, I cut the stew-sized beef pieces in quarters, to provide more browning surface, tossed it in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, and spread it out under the broiler, on the top shelf, for about 6 minutes on each side, until it browned, and there were juices to deglaze. It had to be watched carefully. First try was on the top rack, unsalted. It worked. Second time was on the top rack, but salted. Too much juice was released, and it splattered on the heating element, smoking, until I caught it before the fire alarm went off.
Third time was on the second rack. Took a little longer to brown, but I was able to see it more closely. Transferred the meat to the pot. Deglazed the broiling pan on top of the stove, after cooking it down to continue to develop the fond at a medium, instead of high temp.
It has to be carefully watched the whole time, but so does top of the stove browning under high heat.
So the proverb "Where there's a will there's a way" is true. Just shows you can't keep a good cook down.
| Mar 03 at 05:11 AM
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Should restaurants charge tax on service charges?
The Chronicle 2008
If a restaurant adds a service charge for larger parties, it's not technically gratuity, and is taxed
From a reader:
Someone told me a story of 10 people dining at a local restaurant recently. When the bill came, the tip was added to the bill, (a common occurrence for large parties) and the tip was shown in the total and taxed. An argument ensued as to whether it is legal to tax the tip. I think not. The restaurant uses an automatic billing system common to many restaurants in S.F., so this happens over and over. What is the legality of this practice, and who gets the tax? The house?
I thought that in California, service charges were subject to state sales tax, but I emailed Kevin Westlye, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant association. He said that when a service charge is added, it's not technically a gratuity and is therefore taxed, as is the percentage some San Francisco restaurants add for mandated health care. He says the house can distribute the service charge as they see fit.
He adds: "A gratuity is not subject to sales tax, and is defined by a customer voluntarily leaving a tip for service provided. The gratuity belongs to the server (or bartender, etc). The restaurant can establish tipping guidelines defining percentages that should be given to bus person, host, etc. Owners and their agents (managers) are not allowed to participate in the tip 'pool.' The server must keep a minimum of 50% for the tip guidelines to be legal. The industry standard is roughly 65%."
For more on tipping, check out this Thursday's Datebook story.
| Mar 02 at 05:08 AM
Monday, March 01, 2010
How children affect a restaurant's bottom line
The Chronicle 2008
Restaurants such as Luella welcome children, but it can have adverse effects on profits.
Last week, when I wrote a blog entry about the rising prices at the Tavern at Lark Creek, I received a very nice email from T.J. Jacobberger, the managing partner of the Larkspur property. In explaining why they raised prices, he pointed out an element I hadn't thought of: the cost of welcoming children.
Here's what he had to say:
It's a fine line to make a business succeed these days and still pay the bills. We were so special occasion (Lark Creek Inn) to so many people that we did not see the average diner on a more regular basis. Now we do.
The check average is a significant driver in all restaurants for budgetary planning purposes. We started to see more children in the restaurant which was a departure from the past. We have tried to be more child friendly and lower the price point there as well.
When you do 40 children a night on a busy night, that can impact you average check quite significantly. The average check for a child is $7.50; our average check for an adult is about $31.00.
40 children x $7.50
150 adults x $ 31.00
190 covers total net sales is $ 4,950.00 or $ 26.06 per cover
I emailed him to make sure it was OK to share the numbers with you, and he agreed, which led to another discussion on the benefits and challenges of welcoming children into top restaurants.
It's a controversial issue many restaurateurs don't like to talk about, because they're often put in a no-win situation.
Some parents don't see why they shouldn't bring their children anywhere they want; if their children aren't accommodated, they get angry. Other parents, who have paid for a babysitter in order to have a night on the town, don't appreciate others who bring kids along, especially when they don't behave.
That's another touchy issue. One big challenge many restaurants face is how to handle parents who let kids run wild. Jacobberger says, "We have the host staff manage them and try to entertain them, if the parent won't. It can be quite a challenge on a lot of levels."
He says he comes from a family of nine and his father would often take the family to great restaurants including 21 in New York, The Pump Room Chicago, Ernie's San Francisco and Don the Beachcomber in Los Angeles.
We used to love the attention and the ability to order anything we wanted. My mom used to carry a stainless silver serving spoon in her purse. One of the nine of us got out of line and bang you would get a heaping serving of the silver spoon of etiquette bopped on your head. If you cried you were escorted to the bathroom by my father until you could regain composure and mind your table manners. Needless to say, not only were we very polite but we also kept quiet when the adults were speaking.
I think I'll stay out of this one.
| Mar 01 at 05:21 AM
