Feast Blog

A business trip in February to Beaverton, Washington brought me to the local eatery, Artisanal Bistro. Apparently it has since closed which saddens me, but I am still going to offer what was a lovely evening. Stylistically, it is reminiscent of a Parisian bistro with its bentwood, rattan-backed chairs, 1930s Art Deco styling, and giant murals. The space is large and while far from intimate, the waiters work hard to provide comfort and a very pleasant experience. The menu is seemingly staid and a throwback to the 1970s with its “classic” French offerings; Bouillaisse, French Onion Soup, and Escargots. There is no nouveau, California cuisine to be found here, but there is a perfectly enticing cheese counter near the bar area which beckons upon entry.

Dining with an old friend, we ordered to share and reveled in the nostalgia of a style of food I rarely encounter. To start, we shared a Beet Salad served with Endive and Spinach, Walnuts, and Humboldt Fog Cheese. Of all we tasted, this very well could have been the most “nouveau” of the entire meal. Generous slabs of cheese accompanied the well-dressed combination of greens and freshly roasted, ample beets. Here was a delightful opening which provided an excellent precursor to the Soup du Jour, a combination roasted chestnut and fennel, creamed together with single fried sage leaf and a small brunoise of foie gras to elevate the already unctuously creamy offering.

Our main entrées were ordered to complement one another; the Plats du Jour of Dover Sole Meunière and Duck a l’Orange. Although Dover Sole is traditionally fileted tableside by a server, here is was brought out pre-flailed and topped with fresh haricot verts, almond silvers, and capers. Fortunately the tail and fish head were left intact to allow for consumption of those delicacies. The fish was tender and moist, with the capers providing a necessary piquant contrast to the rich butter. The duck was equally as rich and tasted exactly like those I experienced when first my parents began taking me to “fancy French restaurants” in the early 1970s.

The true joy of the evening — and the biggest sadness about the restaurant’s closing — was the cheese. We had saved room specifically for the cheese and somewhat laughed when I asked our waiter for suggestions. It seemed he current favorites were all California cheeses. I wanted to experience locally-created cheeses and the in-house cheese monger came over and chatted with us for a bit to find out what our tastes were inclined towards. I advised that I ordered both a glass of Sauternes and Late Harvest Riesling to accompany and our cheese monger did more than accommodate. Hillis Peak is goat cheese made from Nigerian dwarf goats and is made from Pholia Farm, Oregon. A raw-milk cheese, it was tangy from a rubbing with oil and paprika. Red Darla, from Washington, was washed with red wine and produced a pungent, soft, and well-balanced offering. The killer cheese of the evening was Rogue River Blue, also from Oregon. Wrapped in grape leaves and macerated in pear brandy, this was one of the creamiest and intensely fruity blue cheeses I have ever experienced.

I regret I did not write this up in a more timely fashion – perhaps to have encouraged more patronage. It was a very memorable evening.

Six weeks ago, I got a text message from Lisa stating simply, “Just found us a new restaurant!!!!!!” That means a lot because both Lisa and I have become bored dining around San Francisco. She was excited at having found an establishment that is like those she discovered while traveling around Japan; authentic, intimate, and unlike anything else we have here in the Bay Area. There is a sign in the front window that warns the philistines: No Sushi. No Combination Plates. This is not your standard, Westernized Japanese restaurant. With an expansive ten-page menu, this is a restaurant based on the concept of lots of small plates. Not like an izakaya with a bar setting, the dark wood room is effectively serviced by attentive waiters and waitresses who are quick to offer suggestions.

The reason behind the lengthy menu is its layout; each ingredient with the descriptions of how that ingredient is prepared. For example, Gindara (black cod) has eight preparations: sakamushi (steamed with sake), oroshi-ni (simmered with grated daikon), teriyaki, yuan-grilled (soy sauce and sake marinade), sakekasu-grilled (sake less marinade), butter grilled, and panko-fried. With ingredients like eel, pork, duck, beef, chicken, shrimp, eggplant, tofu, krab, flounder, etc., it is easy to see why the menu is so extensive. And that does not include the fact that there is also shabu-shabu and sukiyaki offerings (with Wagyu beef for $80!). That’s okay, we’ll be back for those because there is so much to try…

With the help of our waitress, we managed to pick a selection of tastes, starting with a special that evening, toro sashimi served with fresh wasabi. More than just exceptional fish, the plating and offering was a cut above with shredded daikon and an interesting micro green served alongside the wasabi. Some of the best, melt-in-the-mouth tuna I have tasted. Being an uni fanatic, the preparation that Lisa wanted was served in a bowl with crab, an agar sheet, shredded vegetables, sliced chestnuts, and more than we could determine. It was clean and engaging with more gelatinous goo added for texture.

Another texturally-challenging dish (for those who have problems with gooey things — which Lisa and I don’t), was Mekabu-Su, vinegared sticky wakame (seaweed) topped with a raw quail egg. Served in a small, celadon green lotus bowl, here was a mouthful of viscous goodness. A dish we probably would not have considered had our waitress not been so passionate about suggesting was the butter-grilled scallops; four large, tender scallops in nothing other than simple brown butter. But the preparation was enhanced by its offering on top of a selection of grilled vegetables; sprouts and greens which were a delightful juxtaposition to the intensely rich scallops.

Another surprise was an offering of grilled oysters with egg yolk. It was actually a fresh grilled oyster encased in an omelet-like preparation, topped with toasted pine nuts and a sliced, crisp lotus root. We had debated ordering the chawan-mushi and was glad we didn’t; this was more than enough rich egg flavor which was definitely enhanced by the pine nuts. Best of all, they were very careful to not lose any of the oyster liquor in the preparation.

We finished our meal with their preparation of Japanese sweets, wagashi, three small offerings of delight; two red-bean based. The square wagashi was topped with lightly toasted rice bits and stuffed with a chestnut. The round, azuki-based wagashi was topped with a square of gold leaf and stronger than the square version. The last, round delight was an anmitsu, a chilled gelatin with fruit; large, golden raisins, orange peel, and a surprisingly different hint of celery which provided that surprise flavor.

Much of the joy of this type of dining is a sensation that many Westerners seem to miss: TEXTURE. There are complaints about some dishes not having enough TASTE when the cultural bias in Japanese food is often about the feel versus a strong flavor. That is not to say that there is no flavor to the courses, but that many times the dish is not about presenting a strong component of tastes, but a strong component of texture. And if you are willing to experiment and enjoy all that is offered, I can guarantee a stupendous experience. Personally, with a menu as expansive as Kappou Gomi is offering, I am anxious to go back and work my way through all of it.

Anchor & Hope had been high on my must-try list and being a predominantly seafood-based establishment, it makes perfect sense that I had to arrange the trip with my buddy, Gabe, a professional fish-monger. I made reservations early and as I arrived first, saw the restaurant was filling up quickly. I was offered a table but the bar looked far more inviting and it was only the two of us. Wanting to taste as many courses as possible, we ordered mostly Appetizers and advised our server to send out anything he though we couldn’t leave with out tasting. Gabe is sweet in letting me order the wine and I took a chance on an unknown Viognier from France, Domaine de Triennes, 2007. It ended up being the perfect wine for our multiple fish courses (as Rhone whites usually are); rich, complex, layered, with hints of lemon zest, dark integrated stone fruit, and an oily texture on the tongue.

First Course: “Fries With Eyes” – Smelts with Remoulade Sauce. Light and crispy, the remoulade was a perfect combination of creamy and slightly spicy to accompany the fresh smelts.

Second Course: Oysters on the Half Shell. I’m sorry I don’t recall the exact varieties. We simply instructed them to bring us two of each that they had that day. Served with the standard Mignonette and cocktail sauce, I was happy with just a splash of lemon juice.

Third Course: “Angels on Horseback” – Smoked Bacon-Wrapped Oysters with Remoulade Sauce. Of all our dishes, this was my least favorite. And not because it was bad by any means; I’m just realizing that 90% of the time, I prefer my oysters raw versus cooked, I had already tasted the remoulade, and — not too surprisingly — the fresh, applewood-smoked bacon’s distinct and strong flavors overwhelms the oysters. Gabe loved these and I could see others who greatly enjoyed the dish, it is just too many strong, disparate flavors for me.

Fourth Course: Warm Endive and Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Candied Walnuts. Okay, my bad… I had the delusion that we needed some form of a vegetable to counter all the fish we were about to eat. And it was not even that it was a bad salad or anything. It was a perfectly lovely beet and goat cheese salad and the twist of warming the greens and the lovely vinaigrette was a nice palate cleanser and all that, but the bottom line is that it took up valuable stomach space which is better suited to the great fish we were experiencing.

Fifth Course: Lobster “Pot Pie”. There was some debate on whether or not we were going to order anything off the entrée list but our server insisted that going through a self-made tasting menu would not be complete without trying this over-the-top dish. Presented like a soufflé, the server breaks open the top of the beautifully browned puff pastry to pour in a decadently rich brandy-lobster roe reduction. Once we broke through the crust, the interior was chock full of giant chunks of lobster, buttercup squash, and celery root. At $32, this is not an inexpensive dish, but is worth every damned penny.

Sixth Course: Braised Fresh Bacon and Seared Prawn with Creamy Grits and Red Wine Sauce. If you glance through the pictures, you will have seen a LOT of fish courses with dark, rich sauces. This tends to be a dichotomy as many fishes can’t hold up to the dark sauces. In this particular case, it is not an overstatement to say that the hunk of giant bacon could have easily been its very own course, sans prawn. But the sweetness of the GIANT prawn, coupled with the subtle, creamy grits and perfectly sautéed greens, brought the whole dish together in a very surprising fashion for me. Like the Angels on Horseback, I tend to think that the flavor of bacon is just plain too strong a flavor to pair with fish. In this case, I was way wrong.

Seventh Course: Warm Sea Urchin in the Shell. Well, we were so overwhelmed with the complex and redolently rich pot pie that we were going to quit. But our server wasn’t finished and the jewel of the crown arrived; a giant, whole, hollowed-out sea urchin. The interior provided one of the most amazing and memorable dishes I have ever tasted; the sea urchin coupled with potato purée, Dungeness crab, and a lemon beurre blanc. Truly astounding.

Overall, the restaurant is a little on the crowded side with bright lights and close tables. Acoustically, it can get on the loud side but we had no problem, being at the bar. There are so many other dishes I would love to order and hope to be able to make it back soon.

My visit to Charleston, South Carolina was a very quick one – barely two days. But there were two very specific things I wanted to experience whilst in Charleston; true southern barbecue, and McCrady’s. I’m not sure where I first heard about McCrady’s, but when I suggested to my friend that this is where we were going on my last night in town, she quickly assented and confirmed it was well-regarded in town.

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