Cyrus’ famous bartender has left the building

By biteclub

ArtisanalCocktails.jpgIf you’ve been to Cyrus, you’ve no doubt tried Scott Beattie’s amazing cocktails – painstakingly-made drinks that include everything from dried lotus root to jasmine blossoms and egg foam. They’ve got names like Hot Indian Date, Rhubarbarella and Huck Yu.

Now a celebrated author with a new book, Artisanal Cocktails: Drinks inspired by the seasons from the bar at Cyrus, you might think Beattie would be on top of the world. And he is. Just not at Cyrus.

Beattie actually left Cyrus’ official employ early last summer and is currently waiting tables at nearby Scopa restaurant. Wait. Whhhhhaaaaat?

“I just needed a break. I’m not an incredibly ambitious person,” says Beattie. The depature, he assure BiteClub, was totally amicable and Beattie still consults for his pals at Cyrus, runs a cocktail catering biz, teaches at Relish and the CIA and waits tables four nights a week for his pal, chef-owner Ari Rosen.

It’s a bit surprising for anyone who’s seen Beattie work the bar at Cyrus to hear that he’s no longer rockin’ the Les Mars. Hand-picked to craft Cyrus’ renowned cocktail program, the Healdsburger’s intense devotion to detail — BiteClub once watched him cook simple syrup behind the bar — is legendary. Drying lotus root and pickling fennel isn’t exactly the domain of unambitious folks.

In fact, when I asked Beattie about grabbing a recipe from the book, he stiffened a bit, saying that the recipes really needed to be transcribed exactly. In detail, with accompanying syrup, pickling and preparation recipes. This is Thomas Keller-level cocktail making.

But with all the national media attention showered on Beattie and the Cyrus staff over the last couple of years, who can blame a guy for wanting a little time off to hang with his friends, drink a little wine and hide from the limelight. Even if it is flavored with Rangpur and egg foam.

Artisanal Cocktails, $24.95 from Ten Speed Press.

Oh, and if you’re worried that the cocktails at Cyrus might not be the same, have no fear. Beattie personally trained all of them to his exacting standards. So sip your Pimm’s Cup or Pomiranian with confidence.

Lynn’s Thai Restaurant | Cotati

By biteclub

Lynn Athavimol, who opened Lynn’s Thai Restaurant in Cotati in November 2008 is the former owner and founder of the Thai House in Rohnert Park and Santa Rosa. She sold the business in 2004 and has spent the past four years in Thailand. You can taste it in her food.
Crab Rolls with lime sauce ($9.95), given a white-tablecloth presentation set the bar high, making everyday spring rolls seem downright dull. The sharp acid of the lime, along with lots of garlic and cilantro is well-executed but can slightly overwhelm the delicate crab. Minor stuff. She also does duck rolls with sweet black plum sauce.
Lynn’s Tom Kha — coconut milk soup with galangal, kaffir lime, lemon grass and mushrooms is ridiculously fragrant and delicate. It steers clear of the ham-handed tendency to add too much lime or fish sauce.
A rainbow of curries, from yellow to red, green, Panang, brown and pumpkin, kicks out the flavor with a larder-emptying mix of veggies and spices. The sauce stands up to a spoon rather than puddling in fear. Even the rice is light and fragrant. WIth a price tag of $8.95 for lunch (including soup) or $9.95 for dinner, it’s a hearty value as well.
Other entrees include familiar players like honey pork ($8.95/$9.25), cashew chicken ($8.95/$9.25), Pad Thai, and fried rice.  But there are also some surprises: Noodles with roasted duck and a marinated duck egg (?), grilled salmon with red curry and tilapia with sweet and sour lime sauce.
Lynn does a killer creme brulee infused with lemon grass. She’s still tinkering with the recipe (which could use a little more of the perfume-y herb), but it’s a solid effort.
With her delicate touch in the kitchen and constant-presence in the dining room, it’s a welcome relief to have another reasonably priced go-to Thai in town. Call it your appetite stimulus plan.
Lynn’s Thai Restaurant, 8492 Gravenstein Hwy, Suite M, Cotati, 707.793.9300

Worlds of Flavor Conference: Flavors of the Mediterranean

By biteclub

rice.jpgWhat happens when hundreds of chefs, culinary professionals and journalists descend on Napa’s Culinary Institute for three days of intense discussion, demonstrations, food-trend forecasting and eating? You’ve got the annual World’s of Flavor Conference.

This year focuses on the Mediterranean cooking — Italy, Spain, Greece and the fascinating flavors of the Middle East. I’ll be blogging throughout the day today (Friday) and Saturday. See what the food world is talking about here in Napa…

Admittedly we’re at Food Nerd Level 9 here. This is hard-core gourmet heaven. As usual I’ll break it down to just what you need to know.(Not your cup of tea? Stay tuned for a dispatch on Lynn’s Thai, a new restaurant in Cotati).

SATURDAY

wolfert.jpgSpent the morning with local cookbook author and legend Paula Wolfert whose decades-long affair with Middle Eastern cuisine, specifically that of Morocco, has helped to bring tangines (clay pot dishes) and preserved lemons to the American palate. Wolfert and SF chef Mourad Lahlou of Aziza created a Moroccan lamb tanjia cooked over hot coals for eight hours.

Says Wolfert, “Nothing is coddled more than a Moroccan dish made by men for men.”

What you need to know: Tajine are clay vessels that are often passed through generations that are used to cook stew-like dishes (often my the men) that simmer and cook overnight in hot coals. The food is packed in — often root veggies, lamb, exotic spices (cumin, saffron, a special blend called Rass el Hanout), aged butter (called Smen) and garlic. The result is a rich, thick, melt-in-your mouth dish that sticks to your ribs.

Want to try it: Mourad is one of America’s rising young chefs, bringing the flavors of his Moroccan heritage San Francisco. Check out the menus at Aziza.

+++
saturday.jpgBefore leaving (BiteClub can only take so much deliciousness, afterall), I checked out the Worlds of Flavor Marketplace. Designed to look like a Middle Eastern market, attendees got to wander around to dozens of stations serving up everything from cold blue seafood soup (from Spain, of course, and colored with cabbage) to couscous, a whole suckling pig, prosciutoo, tapas, lamb, lentils, pasta and more wine than should be legal. I’m in a food coma. Top Chef Cat Cora was the celeb of the moment, pimping American catfish. She’s a whole lot tinier than you’d think, but the girl can cook.

 Next year’s theme is Street and Comfort Food. I’ll be there.

Continue reading “Worlds of Flavor Conference: Flavors of the Mediterranean”

Wine Spectrum: No more nibbles

By biteclub

winespectrum.jpgRailroad Square’s Wine Spectrum Wine Bar has closed its kitchens. The revamped space will now focus only on wine tasting and sales. The wine bar closed for several days and re-opens Nov. 4, 2008. Hours are: Tuesday-Saturday 11am-7pm.

Closed for good is the bakery and candy shop at Mendocino and Fifth St. Blogger Jeremy Hay talked to the owner about why things went south — and most of the blame was on the sagging economy. And though tough economic times certainly didn’t help things, BiteClub had a couple of confusing visits to the shop which never seemed to quite gel. It was open. It was closed. It was open again. They sold candy. Then they sold a handful of baked goods and cakes. It was a much-needed concept (a tasty bakery downtown! ice cream!) with a nice-as-pie owner who faced a serious uphill battle with revamping the location, non-existent parking and really nailing the downtown demographic. Bummer.

Foodie News and Gossip: Sublime to Ridiculous

By biteclub

Coming up this week: Worlds of Flavor at the Culinary Institute

I’ll be spending Friday and Saturday at Greystone, checking out what’s
next on the world culinary stage during their annual Worlds of Flavor
conference. This year’s theme is Mediterranean Flavor, featuring Italy,
Spain, the South of France, Greece, Turkey, Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon,
ancient Persia, and the other food cultures of the Silk Road that
connected the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East with Asia.

Stay tuned for more details or check out what’s on the plate at the
CIA’s World’s of Flavor Website. The event is sold out, but you know
I’ll keep you up to speed.

Read on for a steal on the elBulli book at Costco, Peanuts Gone Wild and Meadowood’s 12 Days of Christmas extravaganza.
Continue reading “Foodie News and Gossip: Sublime to Ridiculous”

Proposition 2: Why eaters should care

By biteclub

chicken.jpgFirst off, BiteClub is about the least political person on the planet. Except when it comes to basic human decency toward others—and the food I eat.

I’ll keep my philosophies to myself on Prop 8, but I think that all Biteclubbers might want to weigh in on Proposition 2.

Though its received much less press than some other issues on the ballot, Proposition 2 has garnered some strong feelings here in egg country. The proposition, headed up by the Humane Society calls for the elimination of certain types of cages considered by many to be cruel and inhumane to pigs, calves and chickens.

Because California is a huge poultry and egg-producing state (less so for pigs and veal), the crux of the argument, is centered  primarily around penning up chickens in small cages where they have little room to move and can be subjected to some very unpleasant treatment. Very unpleasant.
Continue reading “Proposition 2: Why eaters should care”

Bruno’s on Fourth | Santa Rosa

By biteclub


Bruno’s on Fourth is what Applebee’s can only aspire to: Good eating in the neighborhood.
The tiny 38-seat restaurant is a blip on the local food radar…unless you’re in Bruno’s inner circle.  But start asking around and you’re bound to find a devotee. Ask where to get the best biscuits and gravy in the North Bay and there’s little argument that this brunch-time hotspot is THE place to go.
It may come as little surprise that a restaurant with such a low-profile has a former Bohemian Club chef at its helm. Rick Bruno, who is a constant quiet presence in the small kitchen and dining room has also worked with Gary Danko at Chateau Souverain. His style: New
American comfort food. That translates to a melting pot of culinary genres — from burgers and pulled pork to hoisin ribs, ravioli and crab cakes — that find commonality in their universal homeyness.
The basic menu has remained pretty constant since opening in 2007, giving Bruno’s a comfortable ease with the standards while offering up daily bruschetta, soup and entree specials.
Best bet: Flat Iron steak with blue cheese butter ($16.75) that will have you mopping up the rich pan sauce with anything in sight — including leftover bread, fingers and possibly your neighbor’s tie. It’s that good. BiteClub also gives a thumbs up to the pulled pork and cabbage slaw with jalapeno aioli
($11.95) with a nice squishy bun and the perfect amount of kick. A generous amount of fries make for a hearty lunch.
Also on the menu: Ricky’s hoisin ribs, the wedge BLT salad, crab and shrimp cakes, and a half-pound cheeseburger ($10.95). Dinner includes has many of the same items as lunch, but kicks things up with a daily fish special, goat cheese ravioli, fish and chips, braised lamb shanks and ahi tuna tartare.
Bruno’s really shines for brunch, served only on Sunday from 9am to 2pm, with what BiteClub Jr. says are the best biscuits and gravy he’s ever had. This, from a child who spent the summer in Tennessee eating biscuits and gravy.  The dish is rich beyond words, studded with big chunks of sausage and creamy gravy. Dungeness Crab Benedict ($15.95) is a special splurge with tasty bits of crab swimming in a nicely acidic Hollandaise and perfectly cooked eggs. Homefries are carefully crafted to be crispy outside and soft inside without all the grease.
Insiders know the best table in the house is in the right corner with the window-seat. It’s also fun to sit at the bar and watch what’s happening in the kitchen. With just a handful of tables, however, things can get tight on busy evenings and Sunday mornings
You’ll find that most of the folks inside seem to know their way around the menu and the repeat business speaks volumes to Bruno’s consistency and comfort-appeal as a friendly neighborhood eatery. The kind you actually want to eat at.
Bruno’s on Fourth, 1226 Fourth Street, Santa Rosa, 707.569.8222. Open
for lunch Tues-Friday, 11am to 3pm; dinner Tues-Thurs 5-9pm, Fri-Sat
5-9:30pm, Sunday brunch 9am to 2pm.
Brunos on Urbanspoon

Thai Issan | Sebastopol

By biteclub

CLOSED
Despite a menu that runs for several pages, Thai Issan needs to go back to basics. The recently-opened Sebastopol restaurant may have bitten off a little more than it was ready to chew when it comes to flavorful Thai cooking.
For BiteClub, good Southeast Asian cuisine means fresh flavors punctuated by sweet, salty, sour and spicy — each bite different. Fragrance is key, with whiffs of lemon grass, lime, fish sauce, chili, coconut milk or peanuts.
With so many exotic spices and flavors inherent in the Thai kitchen, it ends up being fairly disappointing when a restaurant like Issan can’t seem to meld them into something harmonious. Or even meet the lowered expectations of two really hungry writers.
Here’s the rundown…
1. Thome Yum: Officially, Tom Yum is more of a broth (rather than Tom Khaa, which includes coconut milk). I’ve gotten both versions as Tom Yum, but Issan’s version is more in the clear, brothy camp. The bad news is that its so overwhelmed by salty fish sauce that it’s almost inedible. Skip it.
2.  Fresh rolls: A chokingly expensive $6 for two skinny rolls filled with lettuce. What appears to be bagged lettuce at that. I’m all for
vegetarian rolls (though I much prefer them with shrimp), but the few sad strings of rice noodles and a leaf or two of mint were all that saved these rolls from being a house salad.
3. Pad Thai, ($8): Nothing particularly bad about it, but nothing particularly memorable. Salty is the one note that Issan hits again and again. No spark of lime or citrus. Absolutely no heat. Anywhere. A big puddle of grease at the bottom.
4. Pumpkin Curry, ($11): Lots of bell pepper, not much pumpkin. Or chicken. Though it was the best of the lot, this red curry-based entree could have fit into Cinderella’s slipper — with a little wiggle room. The portion was surprisingly small and bland. No happy endings here.
Overall: Thai Issan is still waiting for its fairy godmother of flavor to arrive.
Thai Issan: 7503 Healdsburg Ave., Sebastopol, 707.829.8422. Open
Mon-Sat for lunch (11:30-3pm), dinner 5-9:30pm. Sunday dinner from
5-9:30pm.

Backyard Tourist: Napa Valley Wine Train

By biteclub

Meals on wheels, a secret kitchen

railcar.jpgWhen the Napa Valley Wine Train rolled out of the station in the late 1980’s, it wasn’t exactly to a rousing welcome. In its early years pockets of tourist-averse townies railed against the idea of a train bringing hordes of tourists to the valley. A disgruntled Sonoma winemaker held it up and demanded equal pourage for Sonoma wines in a memorable moment. And there was the occasional one-fingered wave at crossings.

Living in a tourist mecca isn’t always easy and the happy little locomotive was a 250-ton target for our ambivalence.

But over its almost 20-year ride through the Napa Valley most of us have come to appreciate it as part of our home–the elegant Pullman cars quietly rumbling along the tracks between Napa and St. Helena, feeding and entertaining hundreds at a time. What few people know, however, is that inside the historic cars are two restaurant kitchens preparing up to four-courses onsite during the three-hour train ride. Meals on wheels, so to speak.

Continue reading “Backyard Tourist: Napa Valley Wine Train”