Posts Tagged: dinner
Keeping the Flame Alive on Fourth St
We were so excited we started eating before I got the camera out!
Dinner tonight was at Zut! on Fourth St in Berkeley–to celebrate Rocky’s birthday. I’ve lost track of how many restaurants have been in this spot, and while it was, of course, remodeled yet again, Zut! really reminds me of the one that got it all started here: Fourth Street Grill. There appears to be some old wood around the banquette we sat in, and I wonder how much if any of the interior was there when it was the Grill.
Sarah and I were practically kids when we first started coming up from Fresno to visit my cousin Tommy in the Bay Area. Often, Tommy would insist on taking us out to dinner, and often it was Fourth Street Grill to which he would his maniacally maneuver 6 series BMW. It’s been over 20 years since those dinners, so I don’t remember all the food details. But I’m pretty sure that was the first time I had Caesar salad with whole leaves, always perfectly coated with tangy dressing and grated parmesan. Perhaps the I’ve ever had. And wonderful little french fries, and the best roasted chicken ever, and fabulous burgers, and…
Tommy loved, LOVED to share good food with his peeps. Nothing made him happier than to take friends and family somewhere and turn them on to his latest discovery of culinary excellence. There were many other wonderful places we went, but Fourth Street was always high on the list of places to go. Thinking about the satisfaction and excitement he felt whenever we ate together makes me miss him so much, all over again.
Tommy would have been content; tonight’s meal was outstanding. Even before our appetizers arrived, we were all loving the bread, and Theo declared it the best bread EVER. Then came the beet salad with feta and mandarin and mint. Fabulous! Next came a bowl of crispy fried smelt with mayo for dipping. They disappeared almost immediately. Although I have to say that to me they didn’t quite live up to what we often got on our last trip to Greece. But I’m not complaining. They were pretty darn good.
Then our entrees came. Theo had a giant cheeseburger off the kids menu ($10), and since he doesn’t really eat french fries, he had Caesar salad on the side instead. I had to QA it, and while it was not a rival to the old Fourth St Grill Caesar, it was very good. Rocky had seared Ahi with grilled sunchokes, young chickories, treviso, blood orange and dates ($23). It was beautiful, perfectly cooked and ample. Sarah had the halibut with roasted brussel sprouts in lemon, brown butter and capers ($24). Her only complaint was that there was no starch on the plate, but we got a second round of bread to take care of that. She ate every bite on her plate. I had the rotisserie chicken with horseradish mashed potatoes and escarole ($17). It was fabulous. The escarole was perfectly cooked and had just the right acid tang to be the perfect foil for the creamy potatoes. The chicken was very slightly smokey, wonderfully moist and delicious. But it was both whole halves of a poussin! I would have had to eat through the pain to eat it all. I might have, if I didn’t know we were committed to dessert. Instead, I brought half home for lunch tomorrow. Yum!
Finally, for dessert, we shared a couple of things. Chevre cheesecake with gingersnap crust and blood orange. Outrageous! And also mandarin sorbet with Greek frozen yogurt–like the best 50-50 bar you’ll ever experience. And they made a special little chocolate sundae for Theo.
And before I forget, a nice surprise of the evening was the wonderful Greek wine. The 2008 Santorini, Asirtiko/Athiri, Sigalas ($34) was bright with a hint of gravel, had nice fruit, and was perfect with all the food.
All in all, a wonderful evening sharing good food with the family.
Blog to Remember: A Recipe for Pasta
As a new means of annoying readers–ahem, remembering things I’ve cooked so I can do it again–I will start posting kitchen exploits. This one, involves last night’s dinner. As usual, dinner last evening was a last minute affair. Searching through the fridge I found a couple packages of grocery store ravioli, like maybe Buitoni, with cheese and chicken. There was not much with which to make a sauce, particularly one that Theo would eat, but I dug around the pantry and fridge to see what I could find. While hunting around the freezer, I saw some frozen peas. That caused me to flash on a dish I remember eating at an Italian place in Fresno about 2o years ago. Unfortunately, I can’t quite remember the name of the place. It was out on Shaw Ave near West. It was owned by one of the kids or something of the Fresno Italian Restaurant dynasty, the DiCicco’s. Wait! Lido’s is what it was called, I think. The place was pretty cuisine-y for Fresno in those days, different feel than the old school chain places the family ran, and apparently still runs. It was a pasta course with a creamy tomato sauce with peas. It was good, and the memory wouldn’t let me go. I thought, “What the hell, I’ll play with that idea and see what happens.”
I found a small onion, chopped it fine and threw it in a hot saute pan with a couple Tbls. olive oil. After the onions started to wilt, I turned the heat down and added a couple cloves minced garlic. I started adding some chicken broth, about 2/3 of a cup, but in about 3 or 4 increments, waiting for each to reduce down before adding the next. I learned this from Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s first book, “The Splendid Table”. I used to love to listen to her show on KUOW in Seattle, and still can’t really believe there is not a single freaking station in the SF Bay Area, self-annointed foodie capital of America, that carries the program. At least there’s a Website and podcasts.
I finely diced a couple smallish carrots, and threw those in with the last of the broth. While that was simmering, I measured up a cup of the frozen peas, and found a large can (24 oz?) of chopped tomatoes in the pantry. Chopped would not do, so I got out my aged Cuisinart food processor and zinged them up really well. I still have the first Cuisinart I ever bought, a DLC-10 plus, which was in about 1985 or so. The model was later renamed The Classic, or something like that. I can’t believe it still runs. Maybe it will outlast me. I wonder if the new ones are still built like this. I’d be happy to endorse their products. At least their food processors. At least the ones they sold in the mid-80’s.
Anyway, I threw the pureed tomatoes in to the pan and let that all simmer for awhile. I’m not sure how long. Perhaps long enough to boil 4 quarts of water for the pasta. Then I added the peas and salt and pepper. After a few minutes of cleaning up, I put the pasta on. Then I had to face facts. I had no cream. And I have NEVER had luck adding milk, or even half-and-half to a sauce. It always curdles. And I was not going to the store now. I stood there staring into the refrigerator and finally saw the Greek yogurt–you know that brand no one can really pronounce, FAH-yeh. Damn that shit is good. Anyway, I got brave and finished the sauce with a couple-three big spoons of that full-fat Fage. I added until it looked the right color.
There was almost enough vegetable matter in it to justify going with it as a one dish meal. So we did. And you know, it wasn’t half bad. Sorry I didn’t get picture. You’ll just have to make it yourself to see it.
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