It is slightly sad for me that my time in London was so rushed; there are always so many more places I would like to visit than I had time for, but I applaud myself that I got to the three major art museums: The Victoria and Albert, the Tate Modern, and The National Gallery (oh yeah, and the County Hall Gallery for the Dalí exhibit, but I already mentioned that).
The Victoria and Albert Museum was my first serious expedition as it was terribly close to my hotel. It was exciting to see renovation and expansion, but damnably annoying that its jewelry collection was put away while a stunning new display is being prepared (and will be open in May, just a few weeks away!). It was not hard then to suffice through the stunning hall of silversmithing; rows and rows of tankards and teapots, samovars and spoons, or plates to pomanders. It made me wistful for my days of calloused hands and the methodical percussion of the hammers striking that softened, matte lunar metal.
I hadn’t been in London in almost a decade and it has long been one of my favorite places in the world (okay, I haven’t traveled that much, but I read an awful lot!) Regardless, I am a died-in-the-Shetland-wool Anglophile and coming to the United Kingdom always feels like I am coming home. This was going to be a short trip, only a few days in London before heading off to Barcelona and Geneva. My first visit to London was as a young adolescent, on a musical excursion with my French Horn instructor and his wife, the late Rudy Tate. That trip has since been categorized in my memory as having visited Elizabethan England with jaunts to Stratford-Upon-Avon, Hanford Court, and similar Renaissance points. My second visit, ten years ago, was a promise I made to myself; that if I ever got a Master’s degree, I would reward myself with a return to my beloved England. That trip was my journey through Roman England; a week in York, a week in Bath and neighboring Wells, and a week in London where much time was spent in the British Museum. Now I get to return to my artistic roots and explore the multiple fabulous museums and eat through the many noted restaurants…
I ate here first over two years ago with Jschyun and don’t know why I
hadn’t been back. Recently, my trainer, Lisa, and I started dining out
a lot together and she wanted some Japanese fusion so I suggested Amé.
It was Easter night and relatively empty (maybe four or five other
tables full). Wanting to taste as many flavors as possible, I cajoled
our waiter into mixing up the five-course tasting menu with a few
additional items but also by not serving both of us the exact same
five-course tasting. So, with the first course of crudo, we got two
platters; subsequently eight tastes!
1.
(Top left, clockwise) Uni on scallop, cuttlefish, potato croquette with
salmon and caviar, tuna tartare with self mix-in quail egg. Of the
four, the scallop was the winning combination.
I would like to introduce you to James. He is by far one of the most Mercurial beings I have ever had the pleasure of meeting and his passion is mushrooms. I met James through some mutual friends when I stumbled upon his mycological secret and several weeks ago, I convinced him to take me along on a foraging adventure.
Via e-mail, we debated for some time when to go and where to go. The when was moreso to coincide our busy schedules while the where was dependent upon the mushrooms we were to go a-hunting for.
“Salt Point State Park is one of the very few State Parks that allows harvesting of wild native fungi. They give you a five-pound limit, though it is easy to pick eight times this in a single day. The habitat there varies as do the kinds of mushrooms that grow in them. It’s best known for it’s Porcini (Boletus edulis). The season right now is ripe with Hedgehogs (Hydnum repandum with its many variants), Black Trumpets (Craterellus cornucopioides), and Yellow Foot (Cantharellus infundibuliformis ]) which is quite plentiful compared to the other two. All of these mushrooms are used by most of the white table restaurants in the Bay Area.
There is also the East Bay ecosystems which are muddier and have less variety of edible fungi in greater quantities, though Golden Chantrelles are probably the most abundant. The problem is the park rangers here will issue tickets if they catch you with native fungi or collecting it. Who would miss 46 pounds of chantrelles collected off the hiking trails?”
I have long been a fan of chef Laurent Manrique and San Francisco has been abuzz with anticipation when it was announced that he would be taking over the helm at The Fifth Floor (thus named for being on the fifth floor of the Palomar Hotel). With being open just two days, I am my friend, Lisa, headed for their first Friday night dinner. The interior décor had not changed much; still redolent with warm brown walls, floors, and tables. There is a nice punctuation of color with elegant red lights in the ceiling.
Perusing the menu, we were saddened to learn from our jovial waiter, Christian, that a tasting menu was not yet available but would be in the future. Lisa and debated what to get and how to order as much as we could without breaking the bank and tasting as much as possible. I readily admit to invoking the name of a mutual friend of mine and the chef’s to see if a tasting menu was remotely possible. "We can always ask," Christian said, as he headed back to the kitchen to inquire. God bless Laurent as he agreed to put something together for us. I did feel a bit of an imposition asking, but was thrilled he will willing to accommodate us.
Drinking some Perrier Jouet Champagne, a trio of amuse arrived; smoked shrimp, potato croquettes, and a cold, creamy yogurt carrot soup. A very promising beginning! There was some debate on wines. As there was no tasting menu as yet established, there was also no set wine pairings. The restaurant’s aptly named sommelier, Emily Wines, was very insightful and helpful. I am a huge fan of Rhône wines, especially in whites — much preferring them to overly oaked and buttery California Chardonnay. Even though the chef wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to put together for a tasting menu, Emily worked in concert with what the chef was preparing to design a fabulous pairing experience for us.
Amuse – smoked shrimp, potato croquette, chilled carrot yogurt – Perrier Jouet Champagne. We were already having a lovely time. Besides the amuse, a comment needs to be made of the bread cart. Yes, I said bread cart… While perusing the menu, a cart is wheeled up with a variety of breads to choose from; several from Laurent’s home town, rolls, breads, etc. Served with your breads of choice are two butters, one from cow’s milk and a goat’s milk cheese. The goat’s milk cheese was definitely different; white and creamy with the piquant goaty flavor that many hate and I adore.