MARIANI’SVirtual
Gourmet
February 24,
2013
NEWSLETTER
❖❖❖
SAVORING SAN
FRANCISCO
by John Mariani
NEW YORK CORNER
LOURO
by John Mariani
Notes from the
Wine Cellar
Bordeaux Bargains
by
John Mariani
❖❖❖
SAVORING
SAN FRANCISCO
by John Mariani
Kim Novak in Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo" (1958)
Okay, so the 49ers lost the Superbowl on a really bad call. San Franciscans can always drown their sorrows at any of a thousand good restaurants and watering holes, and you and I don't need a good reason other than to seek out what's new and exciting in dining in the Bay City.
State Bird
Provisions
1529 Fillmore Street
415-795-1272
First,
the weird name:
As owners Stuart Brioza (below) 
and his wife and pastry
chef Nicole Krasinski, formerly at Rubicon, tell
it, their place is proudly named after
California’s state bird. . . the mighty. . . quail!,
which shows up fried in a buttermilk-and-cayenne
batter, with a sweet-and-sour jam, one of dozens
of items that constitute a wholly new, global
approach to dim sum-style eating.
Although they apparently had a designer, the
couple seems to have spared every expense in the
décor, which is basically a big brown wall
of pegboard on concrete. No matter. The place is
friendly, full of vitality--and loud!--and
everyone sits and waits to see what the next
rolling dim sum cart will carry. 
It is very hard
to go very wrong with anything from those carts.
Dishes change all the time here, and
there will always be surprises, always beautifully
plated. You’ll just have to go with your
friends, spot a cart and hope they come by soon
before they run out of what looks so good.
Unlike
at San Francisco’s Chinatown, where they just
wheel past you and toss the plates on your table,
amiable waiters at State Bird describe everything
and you may feel free to pass up what doesn't
appeal to you, which, I guarantee, will not be
much--especially since most items run $5-$8. Burrata mozzarella
tops garlic bread; pancakes form a little section
all their own; pork ribs are glazed with togarishi
chilies; and chocolate pudding is enriched with
sesame crisps. This is out of the ordinary food,
served with dispatch and a good-natured approach
to eating out casually but very well.
The restaurant
is open for dinner only, Mon.-Sat.
1085 Mission Street
415-341-9000
http://aq-sf.com
cliché
goes, “the excitement is all on our plates.” At AQ
the excitement is all over the place.
AQ is located smack in a
section of the Mission District that has forever
been promised gentrification, but it's going
achingly slow. In fact, when I arrived early for
my reservation, I told the hostess I'd just take a
15-minute walk and she winced. "OK, but be
careful." I thereupon restricted my stroll
one block this way and one block that, accosted
twice by panhandlers. So. . . take a taxi.
AQ stands for “As
Quoted,” once used on old menus to describe seasonal or market
specialties that drove the cooking of the day. When I
dined there in summer, radiant presentations were
buoyed by both delicate and bold flavors in dishes
like wild salmon with corn, lime, romano beans,
and roasted lobster juices; a surprisingly hearty
stew of green tomatoes, onions, okra, French
lentils and yogurt; and meltingly tender honeycomb
tripe with plums, charred lemon, and wild ginger. The soft
gnocchi (left)
with cherry tomatoes, broccoli di rabe, curds
and whey is a simple delight.
Desserts are quite beautiful
and luscious, based on the season, which is the
long legacy of Chez Panisse. So, the
peaches with lemon, verbena, brioche and frozen
yogurt will burst with essential flavors, while
the parfait of raspberries with a little soy milk,
coconut and aloe, shows off those berries at their
best.
The wine list has about 225
selections and most are under $100, with plenty to
choose from way below that figure.
Every one of the food
combinations is dazzlingly new, yet each makes
perfect gustatory sense in flavor and texture, of
a kind that will cause another chef to ask
himself, “Why the hell didn’t I think
of that?”
Prices range from $10-$32 for plates.
524 Van Ness Avenue
415-934-9800
o3restaurant.com
The
wide-open area around San Francisco's City Opera
and Symphony
has
needed an equally expansive, gregarious Asian
restaurant like 03, where Executive Chef
Joseph Villanueva, previously
at Le Colonial, is doing sophisticated food
without any pretense, and the restaurant is
built for a bar crowd pre- and
after-theater, when there are smaller menu
options available.
The restaurant's name came about when the partners, who already owning two Ozone Thai restaurants in town, wanted to change the style of their next restaurant but keep a signature link. Then they noticed that O3 is the molecular formula for ozone, so the name seemed a natural.
The main dining area (right) seats 45, with 35 more in the lounge, all within a space with huge windows on the plaza, and a striking design of black, silver, grey and purple, with wood accents, fabric-covered banquettes, chandeliers and recessed lighting, a polished concrete floor, and a large print of a Buddha’s head.
The prices are right here, and
you are encouraged to share dishes, which I did
quite extensively on my visit, noshing my way
through a miso Caesar salad with gem
lettuce, chicharrones,
and
toasted seaweed. Impeccable freshness marked the
subtle flavors of hamachi sashimi with cilantro
vinaigrette, Asian pear, pickled jalepeño,
avocado, and crispy shallots. At the
other
end of the
spectrum was a very rich, luxuriant piece of pork
belly with quail egg, hosui pear, caramel, and a
splash of truffle oil, while a step away from Asia
involved braised oxtail tacos filled with tomato,
cabbage, jicama, and miso aïoli (left).
Everyone will love the pork-shrimp spring rolls
with garlic, cilantro, and green onion, and even
if you (like me) don't care for Brussels sprouts,
try those at O3, with chili sauce, and you
may be amazed. One of the best among a fine
array was the plate of lobster garlic noodles in
butter, green onion, soy sauce, and sprinkled with
bacon dust. That's easy enough to love.
For dessert go for the Thai tea bread pudding with
white chocolate, almonds, sesame, feuilletine
tea crunch, and vanilla ice cream, or the
chocolate Vietnamese coffee and chocolate cake,
with coffee-chocolate mousse, coffee butter cream,
condensed milk, and coffee cocoa crumbs.
The wine
list is nothing to rave about, with only about
three dozen labels.
I’m sure O3 is wonderful before rushing off to the
opera, but I’d prefer to come by at 8 PM, sit down
with friends and take my time, exiting just about
the time the opera-goers pile in for a late night
supper.
03
is open for lunch Mon.-Fri. and for and dinner
nightly. Appetizers and small plates run $8-$11,
entrees $14-$27).
The
Mandarin Oriental Hotels have always put a great
deal of emphasis on their restaurants and cuisine,
and I've had several excellent meals at their San
Francisco hotel over the years, all in the Asian
fusion mode. Last year, however, they shifted to a
more global approach, re-locating the restaurant
downstairs and bringing in highly experienced chef
Adam Mali, formerly at Nick's Cove in Tomales
Bay. It is now called a brasserie, which is a
catch-all term these days, but the proof of Mali's
talent for a wide range of food styles 
is evident
from breakfast through lunch and dinner here.
The dining room itself is pleasant enough, situated as it is just off the lobby, with good sight lines, soft colorings, milled woodwork, and leather banquettes. Service is impeccably friendly and helpful, not least with the superlative wine list.
When I dined at Brasserie S&P, I just asked Mail to send out whatever he liked, and that meant starting off with a duck liver pâté on grilled levan bread, making me forget, briefly, about California's imbecilic ban on duck foe gras. Potato latkes, crisp and hot, came with duck confit and the delightful addition of sweet plums, while grilled and steamed pork buns with kimchee and coriander had some good bite to them. Poke sushi (left) was made from Albacore tuna with a macadamia nut, sesame oil and chilies, while clam chowder was perked up with bacon and thyme.
One of the too-rarely-seen classics of San Francisco gastronomy is Dungeness crab Louis. Here it is a splendid rendering with radishes, avocado, and butter lettuce. Of the main courses I tried I was particularly impressed with the duck breast, cracked peas, and lemon marmalata--a fine combination of pure flavors--while the roasted Moro Bay white bass with snap peas, mustard greens, cherry tomatoes, and preserved lemon vinaigrette summed up everything wonderful about California's bounty of fine ingredients.
You may choose among several artisanal cheeses, but don't miss the strawberry rhubarb crisp if they have it or the cinnamon-rosemary beignets (right), hot and lavished with Meyer lemon crème anglaise. Sample the olive oil polenta cake too, with macerated cherries and pistachio brittle, a good combination of tastes and textures.
Mali gratefully lists all his suppliers next to each dish, which may be a tad precious at this point, but you will know that he has ferreted out the very best available, and that underpins all the fine flavors he brings to the civilized table here.
The restaurant is open daily for breakfast, lunch
and dinner. At lunch and dinner appetizers run
$5-$18, main courses $17-$31.
❖❖❖
LOURO No
NYC restaurant so far this year has made me happier
than Louro. It is such an
engaging place, fitted snugly into Greenwich Village in
a spot that used to be Bar Blanc; it's not too loud, and
the staff is complete with very amiable people from the
moment you arrive till you pay for a check that will be
a square deal for a fine meal.
You can readily tell when the food a
chef cooks is really what he is most proud of. Chef-owner David Santos
(below) is a
very gregarious guy and he’ll come out of the kitchen to
chat with you with great ebullience about what he’s
trying to do at Louro. A year or two ago, after stints
at Hotel Grifou and Five and Diamond, he was serving
theme dinners in his apartment but now he’s able to show
everyone everything he's got, and it is impressive.
The room itself, long and fairly narrow is cozy,
with a décor that does not exactly call attention
to itself. Lighting
is just low and warm enough not to require a flashlight
to read the menu by.
Right from the get-go the food raised eyebrows of
collective pleasure at our table, beginning with “Bites”
of duck rillette on
toast flavored with fennel. It was good, honest,
comforting on a cold night. Duck pâté with
black truffles and pickled red onion worked the same
charms. Piri piri shrimp
were pick-me-ups, spiced to set the palate roaring.
Then there are “Small Plates,” like lustrous hamachi with purple
carrots and tempura tops, scented with minty bergamot. His uni is mildly
flavored, set atop crispy pork belly with yuzu, shiso, and togarashi pickled
cabbage.
Santos is Portuguese-American but does some culinary
globe trotting on the menu. His heart is in cooking up
deeply flavored foods of all kinds with a common
thread—the mark of all good chefs—in his case, a robust
approach to everything, with never subtle but never
overpowering seasonings.
You taste it in his mushroom
with sea buckhorn (not an ingredient you see too often),
the crunch of hazelnuts and buttery puff pastry. You savor it
in gnocchi romana
with a generous dose of truffle cream, cipollini, and
crispy onions—four ingredients in perfect, gusty
equilibrium. The
Malayan rice in lobster risotto was a little overcooked but its
bouillabaisse foam was a lovely addition to lighten it
all up.
Among the “Large Plates” I enjoyed was monkfish with
rice, parsley, and a Portuguese tomato sauce, Duck with red
and white quinoa, sweet plantain, cilantro and black
bean jus was a fine idea.
And American snapper in a Thai ginger broth was
lackluster, however.
After food of this heft, it’s nice to have sweetly
poached pears with brown butter crumble, though pine
needle ice cream goes a bit astray. Much more
lovable on all counts is the lemon cake with lemon
confit and an olive oil sorbet.
One of the best ways t appreciate Santos’ talent is to
go for the chef’s tasting menu of five courses at a very
reasonable $65. The wine list is well selected to go
with this food and there are plenty of good bottlings,
and some admirable unfamiliar ones, under $50.
If I lived in Greenwich Village, Louro would be among my
five favorite standbys when I wanted to eat very well as
well as taste dishes that I won't find anywhere else. Santos is
cooking at the top of his form, and, given the packed
house on the night I visited, a whole lot of people know
it.
❖❖❖
NOTES
FROM THE WINE CELLAR
by John Mariani
Bordeaux
Drops Its Prices and Shows Off Its Terroir
The most illustrious names in Bordeaux—the
First Growths like Lafite, Mouton, Margaux, and
others—show no signs of drop-off in sales, despite
prices that rise into the hundreds of dollars per
bottle. But
not far below the First Growths, even among the Third,
Fourth, and Fifth Growths, wineries in Bordeaux have had
a tough time selling their product at a time when the
global market is so flooded with cheaper quality wines
from so many other countries.
What’s worse, even the French have cut back
drinking their own wine. According to a demographic
report by AgriMer released last November at the Vinitech
wine and spirits trade show in Bordeaux, the annual per
capita wine consumption in France has dropped from 160
liters in 1965 to 46.6 liters as of 2010. The percentage
of French who drink wine “almost every day” fell from
51% in 1980 to 17% in 2010. Today, 24% said they drink
wine with dinner – less than half the percentage 32
years ago.
Yet for years Bordeaux regional estate-bottled
wines, cru bourgeois and bordeaux supérieur were
selling at prices wine drinkers worldwide balked at for
wines with no reputation. For the last decade it was
easy—and onerous—enough to pay $50 and more for Bordeaux
wines of no particular distinction.
In the last year or two, however, the Bordelais
have smartened up and begun selling and shipping wines
that show their terroir well and are priced to move.
These are, of course, the wines the French themselves
drink on an everyday basis, with First, Second and Third
Growths saved for special occasions or collecting.
“The range of Bordeaux emphasizing their terroir
is definitely becoming far
more approachable price wise,” says Lelanea Fulton, wine
director of one of New York’s hottest new restaurants,
Bill’s, where she carries about 350 international
labels. “I’m finding that the
winemakers for
some of the most prestigious châteaux have
branched off to make their own small estate wines, like
Château Cherubin, which is owned by Bertrand
Bourdil, and his daughters Carole and Marie-Line. He
used to be the winemaker at Mouton-Rothschild.”
I found an exceptional array of
Bordeaux for well under $30, some below $20. These were
not bland red commune wines or generic Bordeaux like
Mouton Cadet, the mass market wine made by Château
Mouton. These are distinctive blends and have the true
taste of Bordeaux, restrained fruit when young, solid
tannins, and plenty of minerals that provide layers of
flavor and texture. And, even though they may improve
with a little age, they are ready to drink right now.
Here are some that enchanted me.
Château
Lavagnac 2010 ($10)—This one was an amazement
at this price. A blend of 75% merlot, 20% cabernet
sauvignon and 5% cabernet franc, it is velvety smooth
and lush on the palate, a perfect wine for French
appetizers like terrines and pates. Its appellation is
merely “Bordeaux” but it shows its terroir, north of St.
Emilion, with dignity.
Château Penin Grande Sélection
Merlot 2009 ($13)—A Bordeaux Supérieur
from Graves, this 100 percent merlot has the gravelly
taste characteristic of the region’s terroir as well as
a remarkable fruit component that makes it very good to
go with grilled meats.
Château Haut-Mondain
Grande Reserve 2010 ($15)—If you’ve never
tasted Bordeaux and wish to know its character, this
happily priced example, which won a silver medal at the
2011 Los Angeles Wine & Spirits Competition, will
provide all you need to know how soil rich with clay,
gravel, and limestone minerality can impart flavor and
spice. The blend has equal parts smoothness and tannic
grip, with 69% merlot, 30% cabernet sauvignon and 10%
cabernet franc.
Château
Lamothe-Vincent Intense 2011—This simple, good
wine lives up to its name, with bold fruit and powerful
but supple tannins that make even this young vintage
impressive. I’d keep it around for another year two,
but, priced as low as $11, it’s worth buying a case and
sampling it every six months or so.
Château Bellevue
Bordeaux Supérieur 2010 ($15)—I was
surprised this young bottle had some sediment, but this
is a big Bordeaux, made by the family of Vicomte Bruno
de Ponton d’Amécourt from vineyards that date
back to the Hundred Years’ War. There’s some malbec in
with the dominant merlot and cabernet sauvignon, with
plenty of structure and depth. It would be just as good
with firm cheeses like cheddar as it would prime rib.
❖❖❖
FOOD
WRITING 101: TRY TO KEEP AN OPEN MIND
BEFORE ENTERING THE
RESTAURANT UNDER REVIEW
"I already hated the Ten Room
at the once-grand Café Royal. Along one
side is a wall of square marble posts, backed by
glass. The wall looks like a design feature from a
self-consciously modernist men's loo. Frankly I
didn't know whether to rest upon it or pee against
it. By the end I was sorely tempted. . . Music
thumps. It continues its muffled thump throughout
dinner so that sitting at the table back in the
dining area you feel like you're listening to a
disco full of young people exchanging rare strains
of chlamydia."--Jay Rayner, "The Ten
Room at the Café Royal," The Observer.
BUT ISN'T THE HAPPY MEAL
AT MCDONALD'S?
In York, PA, the deceased David Kime funeral procession first stopped at his favorite Burger King, which prepared 40 burgers to go for the mourners. One last burger was also placed on top of the coffin before burial. His daughter said it was not intended as a joke but instead a happy way of honoring her father and the things that brought him joy.
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Any of John Mariani's
books below may be ordered from amazon.com.
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My latest book, which just won the prize for best book from International Gourmand, written with Jim Heimann and Steven Heller, Menu Design in America, 1850-1985 (Taschen Books), has just appeared, with nearly 1,000 beautiful, historic, hilarious, sometimes shocking menus dating back to before the Civil War and going through the Gilded Age, the Jazz Age, the Depression, the nightclub era of the 1930s and 1940s, the Space Age era, and the age when menus were a form of advertising in innovative explosions of color and modern design. The book is a chronicle of changing tastes and mores and says as much about America as about its food and drink.
“Luxuriating vicariously in the pleasures of this book. . . you can’t help but become hungry. . .for the food of course, but also for something more: the bygone days of our country’s splendidly rich and complex past. Epicureans of both good food and artful design will do well to make it their coffee table’s main course.”—Chip Kidd, Wall Street Journal.
“[The menus] reflect the amazing craftsmanship that many restaurants applied to their bills of fare, and suggest that today’s restaurateurs could learn a lot from their predecessors.”—Rebecca Marx, The Village Voice. |
"Italian
restaurants--some good, some glitzy--far
outnumber their French rivals. Many of
these establishments are zestfully described
in How Italian Food Conquered the World, an
entertaining and fact-filled chronicle by
food-and-wine correspondent John F.
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"Equal parts
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Gotham Bar & Grill, The Modern, and
Maialino.
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Everett Potter's Travel Report: 
Eating Las Vegas
is the new on-line site for Virtual Gourmet
contributor John A. Curtas., who since 1995
has been commenting on the Las Vegas food
scene and reviewing restaurants for Nevada
Public Radio. He is also the
restaurant critic for KLAS TV, Channel 8 in
Las Vegas, and his past reviews can be
accessed at KNPR.org.
Click on the logo below to go directly to
his site.
Tennis Resorts Online: A Critical Guide to the World's Best Tennis Resorts and Tennis Camps, published by ROGER COX, who has spent more than two decades writing about tennis travel, including a 17-year stretch for Tennis magazine. He has also written for Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, New York Magazine, Travel & Leisure, Esquire, Money, USTA Magazine, Men's Journal, and The Robb Report. He has authored two books-The World's Best Tennis Vacations (Stephen Greene Press/Viking Penguin, 1990) and The Best Places to Stay in the Rockies (Houghton Mifflin, 1992 & 1994), and the Melbourne (Australia) chapter to the Wall Street Journal Business Guide to Cities of the Pacific Rim (Fodor's Travel Guides, 1991).
MARIANI'S VIRTUAL GOURMET
NEWSLETTER is published weekly. Editor/Publisher: John
Mariani.
Contributing Writers: Christopher Mariani, Robert Mariani,
John A. Curtas, Edward Brivio, Mort Hochstein,
Suzanne Wright, and Brian Freedman. Contributing
Photographers: Galina Stepanoff-Dargery,
Bobby Pirillo. Technical Advisor: Gerry McLoughlin.
© copyright John Mariani 2013