Follow @tablehopper on Threads!
Learn more
Nov 15, 2012 13 min read

November 16, 2012 - This week's tablehopper: butter-poached.

November 16, 2012 - This week's tablehopper: butter-poached.
Table of Contents

This week's tablehopper: butter-poached.                    

Steak tartare with pommes frites and a Kusshi oyster at Boulevard. Photo: © tablehopper.com.

Jeez, this has been quite a week. Someone pinch me. (No, not there! My waistband runneth over.) Tuesday night I attended the opening party for La Maison Cointreau (what a party) and had the honor of not only watching the divine Dita Von Teese perform, but interviewing her as well! Stand by for a transcript soon—we had a fun chat.

Wednesday night I swung by DIFFA’s Table Hop and Taste event for a hot minute (thanks to La Crema wines for the kind invite) and had a chance to catch up with some of my favorite gays and check out some fun table designs. I would love to do one with a designer pal one of these days (and it’s not just because of the event name).

I think I am still recovering from the opening party at Capo’s last night. Yeah, I tried three kinds of pizzas (cast-iron pan, deep dish, and stuffed), they were ridonkulously good. Duh. The joint opens tonight, call and get your reservation now. Oh, and don’t miss the Made Man barrel-aged cocktail, it’s a winner.

One of the highlights of my over-the-top week was a Chablis dinner at Boulevard Wednesday night, probably one of the better wine tasting dinners I’ve ever had. Chef Nancy Oakes slayed me with the steak tartare with pommes frites topped with a Kusshi oyster, a wicked combo I’ve never had before (I am going to beg her to put it on the menu—Nancy, pleeeeease?!). And paired with the 2010 Domaine Séguinot-Bordet Chablis Vieilles Vignes? In a word? Mmmmminerals. (The wine is all-stainless, and for less than $20, a total steal.) Anyway, we tasted our way through seven delightful wines, including the 2008 Domaine Drouhin Vaudon Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos, which made the table utter a collective “wow” when paired with the butter-poached quail. Yeah, you heard me right. Butter. Poached. Quail. Excuse me, it’s time to make myself a salad.

Have a swell weekend in spite of the rain (I am kind of excited about it), and please consider attending these fabulous fundraisers: tonight is the Taste and Tribute event for the Tibetan Aid Project, Saturday is a pig roast for Share Our Strength at Elixir, and Sunday afternoon is SF Hearts NY at Local Edition.

Bisous! Marcia Gagliardi


the sponsor

This Round Is On Me... (hey, thanks!)

(Sponsored): Calling All Chocolate Adventurers! (Who Want to Win $25,000)!

Are you up for the Adventure? Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker and TuttiFoodie.com invite you to enter the fabulous sixth annual Chocolate Adventure Contest. So go ahead: invent, create, explore the boundaries of your own culinary imagination.

This year the contest is accepting entries in one category—Sandwich Cookies—for the chance to win a $25,000 grand prize. To be eligible, combine any Scharffen Berger chocolate with one or more of 12 select “adventure ingredients” (yerba maté, coconut cream, tapioca flour, cornmeal, pine nuts, sweet potato, and other ingredients native to cacao-belt countries) in an original recipe. Whether whoopie pie, macaron, s’mores, ice cream sandwich, alfajores, or any other sandwich cookie—you can enter up to 10 recipes total.

More information at www.chocolateadventurecontest.com.


fresh meat

New Restaurant Reviews (I'm looking for somewhere new to eat)

Pläj

1-plaj-beetrootsalad.jpg

Beetroot and sunchoke salad with black summer truffle, Sausalito Springs watercress, hazelnuts, and Västerbotten cheese. Photo: © tablehopper.com.

2-plaj-gravlax.jpg

House-cured gravlax with spicy Swedish mustard, dill purée, and lemon crème fraîche. Photo: © tablehopper.com.

3-plaj-herring.jpg

Taste of herring with rye crispbread. Photo: © tablehopper.com.

4-plaj-lobsterskagen.jpg

Krondill-poached lobster Skagen with whitefish caviar, horseradish, avocado, and chile. Photo: © tablehopper.com.

5-plaj-oxcheek.jpg

Porter-braised ox cheek with roasted beetroot, fried onions, and horseradish. Photo: © tablehopper.com.

Passing through the Inn at the Opera hotel to get to this restaurant may make you pause for a moment if you were on a date. (“Hey now, this is only date one! It’s not time to get a room just yet.”) But once you’re nestled into your table, and your little bag of sliced Acme rye bread and whipped butter hits the table, you’ll start figuring out it’s a place you want to be.

San Francisco has been sorely lacking on the Scandinavian cuisine front, with locals depending upon trips to IKEA for a Swedish meatballs fix. Chef-owner Roberth Sundell (a Swede) is here to change that, although he is also integrating local ingredients and a California style into his menu.

It’s not a standard appetizer-main dish format—I recommend going with someone who likes to share food (i.e., no convicts), so you can try dishes from a few different sections of the menu. In the “hagen” section, the beetroot and sunchoke salad was a bit spendy as far as salads go ($14), but it did feature black summer truffle and made for a killer flavor combination with Sausalito Springs watercress, hazelnuts, and shavings of Swedish Västerbotten cheese. Okay, sold.

When you say Scandinavia, of course you think of fish. I wanted one of each dish in the “fjord” section of the menu: there are raw selections like thickly cut, house-cured gravlax ($12), and for those with a taste for herring, there’s a trio of herring ($14) with combos like saffron-tomato and ginger-smoked soy. The hot dishes are quite rich, like the krondill-poached lobster Skagen ($20) in a foamy, creamy cloud with whitefish caviar and avocado, or the house-smoked caraway salmon ($18) that was beautifully pink inside, with a side of lemon crema, roasted radish, and thick ribbons of tender fennel. You will soon see this place is not afraid of butter.

Chilly weather is here, so dishes like the potato dumpling kumla ($14)—almost like two large potato gnocchi—in a bath of brown butter with lardons and lingonberries are perfect for a rainy night (just don’t tell your cardiologist). The tender Swedish meatballs ($15) in pan gravy are a must, and the hearty porter-braised ox cheek ($22) has a visually arresting presentation of hot pink mashed beetroot (plus fried onions and freshly grated horseradish). At this point, you are well equipped to throw back a lot of aquavit.

While some local chefs and savvier gourmands would scoff at things like shaved asparagus in November or the unsophisticated presentation of venison (the meat was cut into little pieces like it was destined for stew), there is a lot to enjoy about the flavor-packed food here. Many friends are raving about it; the creative food hits a lot of pleasure centers, like fat and salt. Oh yeah, and sauces. However, I’d like to see more creativity with the desserts beyond the standards of crème brûlée, apple pie, and chocolate torte.

A bonus is the full bar, and they’re playing around with the cocktails, like the watch-this-disappear-quickly Pläjer ($11) with bourbon, dried apricot cinnamon gastrique, strawberry, and a big fat ice cube. (Pro tip: the restaurant’s name is pronounced “play.” Don’t want you lookin’ like a fool.) I also really dug the homemade aquavit ($9) with juniper, lemon, and dill. There are a number of Scandinavian beers, plus some good food-friendly wines by the glass. Also friendly: the servers (I got a kick out of them on both visits).

There are some old-world and traditional elements to the intimate room—with lots of wood, chairs with arms, a carpeted floor, and space between the tableclothed tables—ditto the clientele that’s dining before an opera or symphony performance. The restaurant tried to hip-ify things with the electronica music and a big communal table in the back, but on one night, the packed table really compromised the nice atmosphere. If I came to the restaurant on a date, I’d be upset with such a boisterous party next to me. Easy there, Vikings!

Quibbles aside, I’m keeping this one in my dating arsenal. There’s a lot that I like about Pläj—it’s a unique addition to the city, and a score for Hayes Valley.

Pläj            - 333 Fulton St. San Francisco - 415-863-8400


707 scout

Wine Country Buzz (it’s what happens there)

Flavor Napa Valley and Artisano in Wine Country

1-flavor.jpeg
artisano-300x143.jpg

By 707 correspondent Heather Irwin. Sign up for the BiteClub Newsletter.

Top chefs, winemakers, and sommeliers gather at The Culinary Institute of America through Sunday for FLAVOR! NAPA VALLEY, a celebration of wine, food, and fun. The annual event features exclusive demonstrations, tastings, and meals with chefs Christopher Kostow, Cindy Pawlcyn, Thomas Keller, Michael Chiarello, and Masaharu Morimoto, and the Chronicle’s Wine Editor Jon Bonné. Events are à la carte, meaning you can attend one or more, with tickets ranging from $85 to $125 per session. Details online.

Just a reminder that this weekend is also the fourth annual ARTISANO celebration, on Saturday November 17th from noon to 4pm at Vintners Inn in Santa Rosa. Discover local ultra-premium wines, delicacies from the finest restaurants that source regional seasonal ingredients, and meet many of the region’s most talented artists. Hosted by Vintners Inn in the heart of Wine Country, Artisano will feature a raffle and silent auction of Sonoma County’s most creative lots with proceeds benefitting Ceres Community Project. Tickets for the Grand Tasting are $75; details online.


the wino

Guest Wine & Spirits Writers (in vino veritas)

Eugenio Jardim on Wine Tasting in Portugal (Part Two)

1-eugenio-vineyards2.JPG

Eugenio Jardim in the vineyards.

eugenio-houseandvineyards.JPG

Vineyards and a house; photo by Eugenio Jardim.

eugenio-parkbenchinsantarem.JPG

A park bench in Santarém; photo by Eugenio Jardim.

eugenio-quintadamurta-winebottles.JPG

Quinta da Murta wine bottles; photo by Eugenio Jardim.

eugenio-tejoriver-santarem.JPG

The Tejo River from Santarém; photo by Eugenio Jardim.

eugenio-vineyardsinportugal.JPG

More Portuguese vineyards; photo by Eugenio Jardim.

Brazil native Eugenio Jardim has been the wine director at Jardinière since 2001, and has built a reputation for seeking out the new and exciting wines of the world. His approach to wine is fun but professional, educational and nonthreatening, creating an enjoyable experience rather than an intimidating one. Jardim’s philosophy is driven by his passion for finding little-known wines from small growers with flavors that are drawn from the vineyards rather than manipulated by chemistry.

Eugenio is also the Bay Area ambassador for the Vini Portugal campaign to promote the dry wines of the country. He is currently visiting the Tejo, Lisboa, and Alentejo regions of Portugal, and is sharing with us a few of his notes (and pictures) from the road!

Days 4 and 5 As our exploration of Portuguese wines continue, our group wonders why the country’s wines are not at the top of everyone’s shopping list? The winemakers and other people we spoke with all showed much concern about the imminent financial crisis in their country, with the wine industry now setting their sights on the mostly untapped American market.

We continued our trip and moved from the vast plains of the Alentejo region and headed north to the region formerly known as Ribatejo, now called Tejo, to visit the gorgeous old city of Santarém. Even though it’s only a 45-minute drive from Lisbon, the old “cultural capital” of Portugal seems very remote. Both the old and new buildings were adorned with beautiful tile facades while the narrow cobblestone streets inevitably led to one of the many Gothic churches that are all around town. We visited a church that houses the tomb of Pedro Álvares Cabral, who “discovered” Brazil in the year 1500. The history in this marvelous hilltop fortress is carried across all of the beautiful estates peppered throughout the region. In the olden days, the Portuguese royal family and their friends came to spend their weekends in this area, often arriving by boat after sailing up the Tejo River. While at their weekend retreat, they passed much of the time hunting.

The Tejo region is perceived throughout the country, and wine community at large, as an area of mass-produced wines without much character. We found this to be untrue! Here, more than in any other region, we felt the struggle of the producers trying to figure out what to do to make an impression on the American wine market. Some producers have gone to the extreme of translating their labels to help consumers make quick decisions in a supermarket or wine shop. This struggle has also opened the doors to international grape varieties like merlot and cabernet sauvignon. Our group’s opinion is that the Portuguese wines have enough appeal and complexity to stand on their own, but the difficulties with the pronunciation of wines such as trincadeira and castelão may keep consumers in America from ordering them.

We tried some outstanding examples of wine made exclusively from native varieties, yet the producers remain skeptical about their international acceptability. At an amazing luncheon with the extremely hospitable folks from Tejo, we tried sopa de pedra, the local specialty. Legend has it that a very poor monk who wandered the streets of Almeirim not wanting to be perceived as a beggar would tell the locals that he was feeding himself by making soup out of stones for supper, which prompted the locals to donate whatever they had extra in their pantries to his soup. Normally that meant the least desired pig parts, beans, tomatoes, and morcilla (blood sausage). Although they later found out they were being tricked, the sopa became famous. To this day the local restaurants still add one rock to every pot of soup served.

Only in Portugal!

The end of the journey approaches. Just a short drive north beyond the outskirts of Lisbon lays one of the brightest stars on the Portuguese white wine constellation, Bucelas. The humble surroundings and the relatively rough roads did not prepare us for the brilliance and finesse of the wines we were to find here. We would have guessed something special was coming had we noticed the twinkle in Martha’s eyes, our knowledgeable and extremely accommodating Portuguese educator and guide. Bucelas is a very small region with just over 200 hectares, but size does not tell the whole story, not by a long shot. Here the arinto grape finds its true nature and most glorious expression. Followed by two consorts of native varieties, rabo de ovelha and esgana de cão, this great trio of grapes call home the steep south-facing slopes, which take full advantage of the cool breezes coming from the Atlantic, which is only 20 kilometers away.

Our first and perhaps most mind-bending stop was at Quinta da Murta, where we had a unique, and first for all of us, vertical tasting of arinto dating back to 2005. When the “oohs and aahs” came out with the first wine served—the very crisp and clean super reserva bruto espumante—it did cross my mind that the proverbial road would now “slope” downhill, but I was wrong! I’ve never been so happy to be so wrong! The arinto grape is used throughout Portugal to bring up acidity and freshness to many white wine blends, but in Bucelas it has more complexity than in any other area. As we moved back in vintages, the wine “leaped ahead” of us with the most intriguing and unexpected array of aromas, flavors, and textures. While their stainless-steel-fermented bottling went from refreshing citrus and minerals to chamomile with an aged riesling-like petrol aroma, their oak fermentation took a different, but equally exciting, turn toward narcissus flowers and beeswax. All of this merged with arinto’s trademark acidity and minerality.

After we sadly departed Murta. our next stop was at Quinta da Romeira, whose brilliant chief winemaker Nuno do Ó took us on a tour of their umbrella portfolio of Adegas, which includes not only Bucelas but also Lisbon, the Alentejo, the remote Beira Interior, and the famed Douro Valley. Although their arinto was not as profound as we had just experienced, we were elated to listen to such an intelligent and articulate professional give us a master class in grape growing, winemaking, wine chemistry, and much more.

It was very exciting to spend time with a winemaker who does not favor international grape varieties as a way to make Portuguese wines popular. He spoke of his red wines with the honesty that we hope to see in more winemakers all over the globe. He pointed out when his wines seemed out of balance or too alcoholic, and backed up his true preferences as a winemaker with wines of great elegance, structure, and complexity. I later learned that viticulture students at the University of Lisbon study his thesis on tannin management.

This was a day to remember indeed.

It’s a wrap. This stimulating week of exploration and learning about Portugal’s wine culture was an initiative of Master Sommelier Evan Goldstein, who, through his company Full Circle Wine Solutions, works diligently with Vini Portugal in promoting the wines of Portugal.

Vini Portugal is an organization representing the Portuguese wine industry. Their mission is to spread the word about the quality and character of Portuguese wine. Throughout this short week the very hospitable people of Portugal warmly received us.

After visiting so many beautiful quintas and tasting their excellent wines one cannot help but wonder what it will take for them to break through to the American market. It is puzzling to us wine professionals that it hasn’t happened yet, since they are consumer- and food-friendly wines, with admittedly hard-to-pronounce grape varieties. I guarantee you, though, that most non-French-speaking wine consumers can’t properly pronounce Gruaud Larose or Billecart-Salmon either. Strangely enough, that does not stop most people from ordering and consuming these wonderful wines. So why would Portuguese grape varieties with names such as alfrocheiro preto and viosinho deter people from trying them?

I strongly recommend to anyone interested in discovering something new and exciting to try Portuguese wines. When it comes to Portuguese wines, disregard the words on the bottle and enjoy what’s in the glass. Familiarize yourself with the regions and their basic styles and be prepared to be impressed. Just like with Bordeaux and Champagne, don’t worry about the blend of grapes, just enjoy the wines.

Below is my short list, in no particular order, of fantastic producers that, in my opinion, are making world-class wines that deserve a spot on dinner tables and in cellars. Some of these houses produce different types of wines under different names, all with outstanding quality.

*Cartuxa, Alentejo region; whites and reds. *Quinta da Leda, Cima Corgo, Douro Valley; reds. *Herdade da Malhadinha Nova, Alentejo; whites and reds. *Herdade da Mingorra, Alentejo; whites, rosés, and reds. *Casa Cadaval, Tejo; reds. *Pinhal da Torre, Tejo; whites and reds. *Vale de Lobos, Tejo; whites. *Quinta da Murta, Bucelas; sparkling and whites. *Quinta da Romeira, Bucelas; whites. *Quinta do Cardo, Beira Interior; reds. *Corte de Cima, Alentejo; reds.

As they say in Portugal, saude e ate logo.

Tablehopper_Skyscraper-tutti.jpg
Tablehopper_Skyscraper-tutti.jpg
Great! You’ve successfully signed up.
Welcome back! You've successfully signed in.
You've successfully subscribed to tablehopper.
Your link has expired.
Success! Check your email for magic link to sign-in.
Success! Your billing info has been updated.
Your billing was not updated.