United States Archives - Page 4 of 10

Rouge Tomate Chelsea: sustainable fine dining setting precedent in New York

Rouge Tomate, the first vegetable-focused Michelin stared restaurant in New York switched coats for more casual, holistic, locavore and sustainable dining. Like the soon to be opened hyper locally seasonal Noma 2.0. in Copenhagen (cold-ocean, spring & summer – vegetables, forest produce and game takes over in the fall) Rouge Tomate 2.0. version was highly anticipated by many of its Manhattan fans. Wine streamed to the forefront at the healthy-minded contemporary bistro, and it is the rustic long bar that now welcomes the entrants to Rouge Tomate in Chelsea.

Primal, rustic and convivial scene

As you swish through the narrow corridor leading upstairs along a quirky mirrored artwork to the private dining room or turing sharply right behind the glass wall to the open bar scene and further back the restaurant itself, you realise that the bar in a hotel lobby like arrangement is the centre piece of the action. Rouge Tomate was set to be hip while keeping the relaxed conversation flowing with the juice of the Gods. Its primal theme resonates from the brick and recycled wood plank wall panels and the wooden bar, while the Asian feel casting retro chairs and living plant accessories tune to the established nature’s order louder. An english, earthy-hued tableware meets the current naturalistic dining trends.

Food at Rouge Tomate

Under the skilled chef’s hand of Andy Bennett, who headed the previous kitchen at Rouge Tomate, local, seasonal fruits and vegetables pop generously to the menu. “Responsibly-raised” seafood, fish, poultry and meat in smaller proportions than the usual protein-dominated plates join in. These are not just you regular tuna, salmon and chicken shipped from elsewhere, but sustainably line-caught and farmed animals. Rouge Tomato states that: “Our mission is to provide an extraordinary dining experience that supports the total well-being of the individual and the environment.” And, they fulfil this ethos to some degree. The menu is nutritionally balanced, the food is very good, in some plates excellent, but not extraordinary for the highly gourmandised Manhattan.

To start the snacking, the Anchovy with broccoli, sesame seed and white rice cracker is outstanding. The anchovies are not as salty in the smooth, creamy dip. Perfect with dry bubbles. The Red beet dip with flax crackers on the menu early on was not bad, a bit lighter.

Some starters are as big as the main courses or to be more precise as small to the grand America’s portion standards. I enjoyed the vegetarian Mushroom Tartare with fingerling potato, roasted garlic and watercress. Yet even better was the Fluke Crudo with uni (sea urchin), basil, kohlrabi, spiced up gently with some Thai chili. The Hawaiian Walu fish, also known as white tuna, escolar or butterfish is fatty enough to absorb good acidity so pineapple, lime and cucumber added freshness while avocado even more of the brain and heart healthful fat. The Venison Carpaccio with parsnip, wild mushrooms and huckleberries was the most disappointing plate because the meat was too chewy. It is so much better to air-dry the venison as they do in Switzerland. (check my Instagram).

If you went for fish or meat to start with, then choose from the vegetarian plates that grace the main options. In early spring you can find Roasted Carrot, quinoa with radicchio, coconut and spicy jalapeño, but I tried the generous Broccoli with walnuts, maitake mushrooms, sunchoke, Sarvecchio (American version of parmesan), and the lower in gluten spelt corzetti pasta (Ligurian coin-shaped pasta with embossed design on the face side).

As if I were at an American steakhouse looking for more veggies. These two sides were my dinner favourites: Kohlrabi seasoned with Chinese spice, fennel and sesame & Roasted Potatoes, garlic, capers and a drizzle of lemon. The Beets with sweet potatoes, peanuts and chiodini mushrooms were a bit too much to mix with any main course, unless you ordered them as a starter.

My husband was seduced by the Wild Boar served with cabbage, avocado and paprika spaetzle and by sampling it I can approve of it, although the boars from Tuscany tend to be even better, more tender. A friend ordered Chicken cut in small medallions with lentils, endive, harissa and hazelnut tzatziki, and by finishing her plate and nodding satisfyingly, you could say, well done!

The weekend brunch is also casually vibrant. The day light brings a different perspective to your meal. Brighter colours of the vegetables lure the fork in. The Roasted Carrots with shaved radishes, yogurt and orange sauces sprinkled over with poppy seeds were as refreshing as they were generous. Also the Cauliflower Salad blended with the creamy white and purply speckled sister of radicchio – Castelfranco, served with tart tamarind, fennel, emmer (ancient grain) and almonds was nice. Our brunch favourite at Rouge Tomate was the black Forbidden Rice spiced up with kimchi, sweet orange, bok choy and a sunny side up egg. Wholesome!

The American food icon, the burger, could not be left out, but the Bison Burger at Rouge Tomate is a healthier choice than the carbon demanding beef patty. For a hefty $17, the protein stuffed bun is joined by caramelized onion aioli and gem lettuce for a more green experience. I have not tried it yet, but let me know if you do!

To sweeten your day or night, the homemade sorbets and desserts based on nutritionally dense ingredients such as cocoa, ginger, fruit and vegetables will off-set at least some of the guilt. My summer dessert had pomegranate, hazelnuts and pear with a scoop of Earl grey Frozen Yogurt.

Environmentally speaking, an artisanal cheese can keep the carbon points quite low since it is locally (NW US) made by traditional methods. All the award-winning cheeses at Rouge Tomate are high in saturated fat and salt so enjoy with caution. The goat and cow’s milk blend of slightly aged Cremont “Cream of Vermont” made by Vermont Creamery, aged Prairie Breeze cheddar by Milton Creamery in Iowa and blue raw milk Bayley Hazen by Jasper Hill Creamery, all prove that America today makes as great cheese as France and the UK.

Sipping wine with Master Sommelier

The aperitif hours are hip, and there is much more to be sipped than some two dozen changing wines by the glass, since the house cocktails and exotic teas were well snug in.

Pascaline Lepertier, the French Master Sommelier and a partner in the business is the beverage director at the Rouge Tomate in Chelsea. Bringing her Loire-bred passion for natural, often biodynamic or organic, and by terroir driven wines, she vigorously gesticulates the process of opening and pouring the wine. There are other sommeliers with stellar resumes and the wine experience is indeed the centre piece of dining here, so make it your indulgent night out. We sipped on the 1998 Pinot Noir from Eyrie Vineyards. Another night the Calera’s Mills Vineyard of 2001 vintage showed the powerful grace of Mt Harlan California Pinot. Still, the young Burgundian bottles by Mugnier and Simon Beze & Fils stole the show. The 2008 Nuits Saint Georges and the daintier Savigny Les Beaune were poured during the previous night at one of the thematic wine events at Rouge Tomate. I advise subscribing to their newsletter for more info on these.

Tea has captured the beverage director at Rouge Tomate. The natural spirit of the leafy brew next to organic Korean herbal tisanes by Brooklyn-based Tea Dealers, is attractive. Some, like the White lotus or Mulberry leaf are sublime and easily likeable, while others taste rather medicinal. Its tuber is used in South American cooking, but having the intense Yacon leaves infusion with brunch, my curiosity was sated, yet I would not want this tart perennial plant brewed again. My liver and digestion were stimulated. One of my favourite herbal brews, the Wild Persimmon leaf, is more pleasant and smooth on the palate, is also offered. Unlike at most restaurants serving tea in America, multiple steeps are offered voluntarily.

Certified by the Green Restaurant Association with strict ecological standards as a three star establishment, Rouge Tomate also fully applies SPE standards (without being rated, because of the policy of affiliation), therefore rest assured that your wellbeing and the environmental impact are both taken seriously at this Chelsea hub of conviviality.

126 W 18th St, New York, NY 10011
+1 646 395 3978
Tue-Sun DINNER: 5:30 – 10:30PM; BAR: 5PM – midnight

Sat & Sun BRUNCH: 12noon – 3PM; BAR till 5PM

Sushi Yasuda: purity and quality of edomae sushi wins over the demanding New Yorkers

After almost two decades serving traditional simple edo sushi to a gourmet tribe of purists, the bamboo-clad minimalist keeps ratings amongst the best sushi restaurants in New York. Sushi Yasuda has proven itself. In the city, where the new radiates trends while the long established becomes touristy or boring like another workout class, Sushi Yasuda has defeated the city’s stereotypes.

Sushi Yasuda: tradition celebrated in the urban maze of frantic change

Here more than elsewhere, also the Zagat Guide wields a muscular arm over the sharp shoulders of the city’s diners. Yet, what’s great today, can wither tomorrow. The main cause of failure or decrease in a consistency at most New York restaurants is the manpower. The hungry employees and the cooks strive for as many big name restaurants on their resumes. After over a few years being impressed by the superb meals at Shuko, one of such sushi bars where the cooks follow the most favourable wind blowing into their backs, I was once again put down by not having had delivered the spotless rice and innovative flavour-bursting omakase sushi and rolls I was used to. The same happened a couple years before at Neta, the West Village sushi restaurant also headed by the same chef and owner Nick Kim, formerly of the ultra upscale Masa, where some of the chefs from Shuko came from.
Thanks god, Yasuda delivers. And, Zagat as well as the local top critics reward it with the higest scores. The bonus is that you do not need to keep the monastic solitude that used to be demanded by its founding chef Naomichi Yasuda. He went back to Tokyo to tend to his dream eight-seat sushi bar there in 2011. Most of the long-serving team including its current head chef Mitsuru Tamura continues the Michelin starred legacy of Sushi Yasuda in New York.

I am coming to Sushi Yasuda, a stalwart on the Manhattan Japanese dining scene, and I had to go twice within a week. Once for lunch, and later for a dinner. On either occasion I was able to snap a last minute seating. Both right at the dawn of the opening hour for the restaurant. Coming early is like waiting in a line with great food obsessed Tokyotes. A long string of foodies wanting it so badly that no matter if it snows, rains or the sun shines prudently, they stick to being organised, as if trying not to show their excitement over eating at Sushi Yasuda. And, it is exciting in spite of being simple!
If you have eaten at a good and proper sushi bar in Tokyo, you will understand and return when craving a slice of the Japanese perfectionism. You are personally ushered into one of the two bamboo-clad rooms, one private with its own entrance, and the other defined by a long sushi bar. There are a couple of small and larger family-style light wood tables in the main room too, and the Japanese families cover them well, at least during the earlier seating.
Dining at Sushi Yasuda is not about being hip and fashionable, like going to Nobu, Soto, 15West or Bar Masa, but it wields an authentic enchantment with tis food. With the spring crawling into the year, the cherry blossoms were blooming with their flamingo hued petals, ah beautiful! The manager and partner in the business Shige Akimoto spoke with a wide smile of a maître d’ as if we were his most regular customers, which we were not, yet. He was so welcoming that Yasuda has climbed on to my always-to-go-to list when visiting New York. Only Milos and Taim, an upscale Greek restaurant and a top scoring take-away vegetarian Mediterranean eatery, are so far on that list.

California and Hokkaido sea urchin at Sushi Yasuda

Next to the welcoming entree, some of the staff can be little confused if you haphazardly keep placing orders while eating. They try so hard to accommodate each desired morsel though so you cannot be upset about tgeir struggle. For me, the best is eating at the sushi bar, particularly if you are here for the sushi and sashimi or the chef’s choice, the omakase. Your chef will memorise the entire order, paying respect to the Japanese tradition. You get a list, tick the pieces you want, the starred items are daily recommendations by the chef that also generally appear in the omakase tasting. The printout is more for the table orders though. At the sushi bar you will get usually a plate of four, the sashimi first, then follows sushi for as long as you fancy, and finally an oder of egg custard or omelette, the tamago.
Beyond the edomaezushi nigiri and sashimi you can order from the kitchen some excellent starters, mostly warm dishes, daily special appetisers, and tempting desserts.

Nibbling on pan-roasted ginkgo nuts while sipping sake is a good start. The choice of cold and warm sake is good, there are also some wines, spirits, and the house sencha or houjicha tea. If you like abalone and can afford it, get it. The Awabi No Sakamushi of sliced and in sake steamed sea creature is served on a slice if lemon and with a side of its richness delivering liver, impeccable. Like marinated porcini mushrooms, just with a bit more crunch. The umami rich miso soups are extremely satisfying. I enjoyed the red miso with mushrooms on a cold day wholeheartedly. The biodiverse and colourful seaweed salad was served with my favourite creamy sesame dressing.

Seasonal sushi offer and pickled vegetables at Yasuda

Now, comes the sushi. The rice is sweet, moist, but not too much, and it can fell apart if you soak it in the soy sauce for too long. The chef has warned you! No dipping too much. Besides, you really do not need the sauce at all for most pieces. The ginger is pungent, fresh, probably pickled in-house. Adding the freshly grated wasabi into your soy sauce is not that important for the chef Yasuda also discourages from it. A great fish can stand alone, supported only by the soft sushi rice. Lighter white fish like fluke, amberjack (yellow tail), the young hamachi, clams, the superb oyster, or the sweet sublime shrimp (ebi) are ideal start. The heads of the shrimps are being served deep fried later on a separate plate. I love them, please, dare! My other favourites that were served recently as sushi are: Arctic char, New Zealand King Salmon, Icelandic Ocean Trout, Rainbow Trout, the silver skinned Sayori (Halfbeak), and the eel, oh that simmered fresh white sea eel (sawani) – I will have it twice, please. The anago or dark sea eel is also nice. The only piece I was slightly disappointed by was the toro tuna hand-roll with scallion. The nori wrap was perfectly crisp, but there was not much tuna inside the temaki. There are also vegetarian rolls. Kaiware, the young daikon shoots, kanpyo or dried gourd, kappa, the lightly pickled cucumber, ume, which is a savoury Japanese apricot not plum as is often mistaken, takuwan, which is pickled daikon, yamagobo, the grated gobo, and for the very adventurous foodies the fermented and stinky natto tofu.
Stripped of the common nori wrap around the uni, the wobbly and unctuously satisfying contents of a sea urchin which is one of the most sustainable seafoods still inhabiting our oceans in great numbers, it is all about the natural falvor. It can get quite messy, but if you softly lift the rice bun with your chopsticks or grab it gently straight with your cleaned fingers (the wet napkin on the table is refreshed as often as you ask for) you will lick your fingers with delight. The more subtle Japanese uni from Hokkaido can cost double the lush Califonia uni, and they are interesting to compare.

On a recent evening, there were prawns crusted in quinoa with matcha powder. The tempura style was so well done that you could eat the heads of the prawns. I did, since I know from experience how delicious the crunchy heads are! Seasoned sushi eaters like myself, who pay a regular pilgrimage to Japan, are more open than most occasional sushi eating Westerners. My German friend grimaced her face with disgust when I teased her to eat her prawn head, while my Romanian friend was not as keen on the abalone. Perhaps if I told her that these were porcini mushrooms, she would have another piece? I wonder. Well, my husband ate it all as usually with a great sushi.

The desserts are quite small. At lunch a trio of businessmen sitting next to us savoured the ice cream, but for us it was too cold on that day. Yet, next time I tried the house-made mochi, the frozen but soft rice dough based dumplings filled with an ice-cream [we had a choice from matcha, bean, or vanilla flavours]. They were nice, not the best I have had, but delightful with the cup of roasted houjicha tea that we received with compliments from the restaurant. You will pay a full price for the authentic experience at Sushi Yasuda, but top quality fish and seafood fetch record prices, and here you will get the best possible cuts in New York. Perhaps only Le Bernardin, for years Manhattan’s favourite restaurant can boost with a comparable fish quality.
US: 204 East 43rd Street, Manhattan, New York;
Japan: 4 chome 2-6 Minamiaoyama Bldg 426, B1, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Lunch: Monday – Friday: noon – 2:15 p.m.
• Dinner: Monday – Saturday, 6:00 – 10:00 p.m.
• Closed on Sundays and US national holidays
+1 212.972.1001 ; Tokyo, Japan: +81 3 6447 0232

Tartine Manufactory: baking slow bread trendy in San Francisco

Tartine Manufactory was long overdue in San Francisco. California’s most famous bread baker Chad Robertson should have expanded his rustic temple of slow bread years ago. After 15 years in business, the enviably equipped Tartine Manufactory was born. The space is like a foodcourt run by geeky bakers. A counter café, soft serve and gelato parlour, bakery, seductive bar, and a coffee kiosk – everything glutonous well-done under one roof. Attracting their devote tribe of bread connoisseurs, but also finer palates enjoying honest food in pretty places. Tens of thousands of foodies endured the long, slow moving lines, standing in rain, scorching summer sun, gusts of wind, or freezing cold outside of the Tartine’s original tiny bakery in the hip Mission district. Most wondering if they could expand to cut the wait a bit. So, once the virtual news was out this year, I summoned my husband, trolled in and ordered half of the menu. Ending with clear plates, empty glasses and a loaf in my bag, the overindulgent orgy stamped “go back”, so Tartine Manufactory is now our favourite casual lunch spot in San Francisco.

Tartine: inverting the role of bread when eating out

Despite the popularity of the locally conceived Acme bread, Chad and Elisabeth of Tartine were more daring. The oven adorning duet opened up the California palates to new flavours in bread and pastry (the later a touch of Elizabeth’s female hand) and a respect for patience. The persevering lines of waiting customers honour the time spent by making any of the loaves baked inside.
Compared to most cafes and restaurants, the bread is the star here, not a side game. After all this is the expansion of the famous Tartine Bakery that could manage to bake bread only once per day, but now in its grandiose high-tech manufactory it is possible to make fresh loaves three times in the 24 hours span, guaranteeing a warm slice for most.

Clean, lean and trasnparent design

The San Franciscans have been keen on showing their handwork recently. Perhaps it is the anti-tech syndrome, but it seems to me more the locals’ desire to enjoy the process of making something splendid, like bread. The contemporary fresh design of the Manufactory is the logic left brain sharing the artsy right hemispehere with another warehouse space of the locally made and world famous Heath Ceramics. The high factory style windows let in plenty of sunshine on the fog’s days off and the nakedness of the design itself reveals transparency in what will be served to you. The sacks of milled flour bear their labels, the hands of bakers shape the loafs while the kitchen around the cashier corner assembles every plate together to your visual gustatory delight. The basics of the bread are still done behind the walls, yet the glass windows from the ceiling to the mid-height keep the connection with the raising bread tangible.

In a very San Francisco casual style, no reservations are taken for breakfast and lunch. Either is ordered (crossed like in a Chinese dim sum eatery on a handed out paper menu) and paid at the counter, then you get your order number scribbled on the menu and keep it visible on the table so your items keep streaming in. Still, the Tartine Manufactory offers more comfort than its midget old bakery cum kitchen. With the dinner tables available to book and waiters on call, the secure comfort of reservation draws new customers in. The curious new diner, dressed bohemian chic or cal-artsy, ventures into its brighter, comfortable and casually on the move space.
Before the day wears off though another line at the coffee counter inside, and during the warm months at the ice cream window pandering to the little ones forms regularly. Later in the afternoon the vibrant bakery turns into a wine bar. Nesting on wooden stools, sipping on the signature house ferments, cocktails made from Tartine’s mixologist original shrubs, a glass of wine or a bottle from the long beer menu, make a great company if you wait for your date here.
Although much of the food was prepared through the long process of fermentation, raising and setting, the pace of the service is fast food efficient. The difference between a Tartine Manufactory server and a Burger King employee though is that the later probably does not know much about the food and its provenance.

Making of an extraordinary sandwich

Tartine takes inspiration from the global food cultures, mostly European, but sources the ingredients locally and makes almost everything in-house. Eastern European pickles adorn many sandwiches, while the Trout Smørrebrød borrowed from Scandinavia (the dark rye bread versions from Denmark precisely). These tiny open bread tapas with toppings like cold cuts, seafood and pickles can be devoured day and night. Central Europe has also its version of the convenient smørrebrød. In Switzerland Sprüngli makes my favourites, while the Czech chlebíčky are made by my grandmother on festive days, but at most delis and pastry shops you will find plenty of these mayonnaise ladden and calories restoring savory white bread treats. Bite into it with a glass of wine as the Austrians do at Zum Zchwarzen Kameel in Vienna or as a starter at the Tartine Manufactory when waiting for the main plates. We had the exquisitely smoked trout bathing in mayonnaise spread on Danish Rye bread. To sooth our lunch hunger pangs, the vegetarian Eggplant sandwich was called in. Grilled eggplant on an oozing strachiatella cheese with greens and red calabrian chiles sauce, all squeezed between country big eyed white bread that was toasted to a charred crunch, did sattisfy. The sandwiches are all ultra generous, but do not come cheap. Correclty price quality canot be discounted.

What to pair with bread at Tartine Manufactory

To go with the bread entourage, the California meets Southern cuisine of chef Sam Goinsalvos is served in glazed Heath Ceramics bowls and flame plates designed by Travis McFlynn. Ideal for sharing, so dig in and get messy.
Make sure you get the LITTLE GEMS lettuce with buttermilk dressing, corn crumble, fresh herbs, grapes and bread crumbs. Although this refreshing bowl gets little twists witch changing seasons, so much is going on there – sour, sweet, crunchy and creamy, all in one bite. Superb! It reminds me the food at the now gone Bar Tartine on Valencia street.
The GREEN FARRO, SUNFLOWER SEEDS, ROASTED CARROTS, POMEGRANATE, FETA, VADOUVAN salad was a bit of a dark sheep next to all the food bombs, since it felt too boring. Middle-eastern spices, marinated olives and grilled string carrots, cheese, that all is now trendy from London to New York but not the strongest plate here.
With the food court diversity, more talent was called in to help. The most important role was given to Richard Hart, the Head of Bread, and he took on the gargantuan task bravely.
The Tartine Bread Service is a fun tapas style assortment of small snacks, pickles, ham, cheese and dips to accompany the daily bread selection. Country loaf is the only bread daily available, and the rest rotates: Ancient Grains, Grain Porridge, Danish Style Sprouted Rye, Sprouted Grains, Olive, Sesame, Walnut.

Roasting, fermenting, proving, baking, brewing all inhouse

The Coffee Manufactory, Tartine Bakery’s coffee company directly sources and roasts its beans, while the handmade Mavam espresso machine from Seattle, Oregon freshly brews espresso. You can also get your regular filter coffee, cappuccino, latte, the Aussie flat white, Italian macchiato, cortado, or Gibraltar. Directly sourced tea leafs from the London-based Rare Tea Company are also brewed hot. I was sipping on the Turmeric keffir that was outstanding!
To take home, get some of the unusual preserves like the Dapple jack Pluot & Elderberry jam. The cakes, scones and cookies call your naughty fingers in, so get one for office. More, you get a convenient freeze box for the ice cream to go. The gelato base is made with fresh water buffalo milk from the local Double 8 Dairy and swirled on the spot.

Artisans hive in and around the Mission these days, this is more real than Brooklyn though, at least for now, no scandal tarnished the “Mission made” brand yet. Social tensions between its latino population are vented out on the street walls, while the rest gets employed by many of the blooming businesses. As rents go up almost everywhere in the creatively affluent Bay Area, if one does not want to change the relative safety of North America to the wild South, has to adapt and ride on this creative rocket of quality that is now flooding like a tsunami the streets of the Mission. Be part of the boom, at least by savoring and witnessing it.
Tartine has opened a cafe in Los Angeles, so now the Angelenos can finally taste the real European-style bread with a touch of the wizard Chad.
595 Alabama St, San Francisco, CA 94110
MANUFACTORY: Mon-Tue: 7:30am-5pm & Wed-Sun: 8am-3:30pm
DINNER:
Wed-Sun: 5:30pm-10pm
COOKIES & CREAM: Mon-Thurs: 12noon-5pm & Fri-Sun: 12pm-8pm

Dandelion Chocolate manufacture and cafe in San Francisco

Dandelion Single Origin chocolates are made in San Francisco in small batches. Perhaps the highest quality chocolate in North America*, Dandelion Chocolate is a two ingredient real artisanal chocolate, no vanilla, soy lecithin, even cocoa butter and other conditioners of flavour potentially masking the cocoa’s own natural nuances are added. The only exception is using a pure organic cane sugar since it works best with chocolate as the world’s best chocolatiers endorse. The sugar is sustainably sourced from Brazil’s Native Green Cane Project. For the final tuning of the chocolate before tampering, the highly personal touch of the Dandelion’s roasters, whose name is imprinted on the packaging of each bar, offers all their chocolate lovers the utmost transparent information about their top notch, quality crafted natural product.

Immersed into the cocoa world at Dandelion Chocolate

Dandelion Chocolate is not selfishly guarding the chocolate making skills of its employees as hands-on classes and events take place regularly at the Mission boutique on Valencia street. If you don’t want to get your fingers too choco messy, then just sample the to-be-chocolates during one of the Factory Tours running from Wednesdays to Saturdays (6:10-6:50pm). More hands-on, is the two-hours lasting Chocolate 201 class, as well as plenty of special children’s classes are also in store. Sign up, and find more info here.
While sipping on a wholesome hot chocolate at the Cafe, you can watch the process as well since there is no backstage, you, the customer are part of the fragrant magic of the chocolate making. In a plain sight observe, smell, and above all savour the daily routine as the artisans “roast, crack, sort, winnow, grind, conch, and temper small batches of beans and then mold and package each bar by hand”. For a more intimate experience with chocolate go now, since expansion is in sight. A new Cafe has been already hatched in Japan!

Transparency in sourcing and production = fair trade

Each hand-printed India-made paper wrap of the Dandelion single origin dark chocolate provides the exact information about the entire process – which farm grew the beans, the harvest vintage, who roasted them, all accompanied by detailed tasting notes. After the farmer picks the beans, lets them naturally ferment and dries them in the origin’s location, the sacks of beans are send to San Francisco, where all of the skilled, and occasionally experimental crafting into the perfect chocolate bar happens. Light roasting is preferred, but some beans may require more pushing to achieve satisfying flavour. In a garage style crafting, a modified coffee roaster has been used for years now. Dandelion’s transparency policy goes as far as organising trips to the grower’s countries for anyone interested.
The beans have been sourced from Belize, Dominican Republic, Equador, Guatemala, Liberia, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania, Trinidad and Venezuela. You can read in detail about each of the farms on Dandelion’s website.
I love the dense chocolatey Ecuadorian Camino Verde 100% as well as the more user friendly 85% version with cane sugar. The heirloom variety Ariba Nacional cocoa, was skilfully fermented by the farmer Vicente Norero who expertly inoculates the fermenting beans with indigenous mix of bacteria and yeast, achieving a unique balanced flavour. Almond butter, bread yeasty quality, fudge brownie with roasted oak undertones and a clean, sweet finish in both the 2014 and 2015 vintages that I tried. It is tough to guess whether Cynthia (working for the 100% cocoa) or Becky (85%) roasted the beans better, since the added cane sugar in the later changes the taste. My ever curious palate would like to taste the same chocolate roasted by different people, that would make a fair comparison. My idea of the Dandelion roasting challenge, could intrigue many of their regular customers.

Growing success with smart design

The main, larger scale Dandelion chocolate manufactory will be ready to operate next year (pictured bellow). Located just a couple blocks (Harrison Street & 16th) from the trendy store on Valencia where all the chocolate has made so far, this is also an upcoming part of the gentrified Mission district, where new Tartine Cafe as well as the locally made Hearth ceramics design store are both located.
The handmade paper was commissioned specially in India and it has a dense almost textile like feel, and honestly it tears my heart to throw it away after eating the bar of chocolate. The attractive yet simple design with rose or bright yellow gold patterns, fulfils the role of an honest messenger of what is inside – hand-crafted and simple, containing two ingredients maximum (100% bar contains only cocoa beans), chocolate.
A feminine energy in the Mantuano 70% bar from Venezuela explodes with bright kick of cinnamon, honey, floral and in the background espresso aromas. Sourced by Minda from a women’s cooperative assembling beans from local family farms, a project worth supporting and the customers of Dandelion have appreciated the flavours to elevate the bar to a best seller. Not always the same person who directly sources the beans also gets to decide on their roasting profile, in the 2015 vintage Trevor was the roaster of these cocoa beans.

Tempting chocolate pastry, all made in-house, is the perfect treat with a cup of espresso at the cafe. During winter sipping on the dense hot chocolate and other cocoa beverages to indulge in or take away is a must while browsing in the eclectic Mission district. The freshly baked sweet offer changes with the mood swings of the pastry chefs, but you must try the insanely indulgent brownies, that you can purchase in a tasting set of three, each made with different cocoa and all oozing the dense lava of chocolate inside. So good.
Dandelion has the latest opening hours from all the chocolate bars that I know of. On weekends you can swirl in just before 10pm for a sweet fix of their top notch chocolates. Now, also with a small boutique in Tokyo, Japan, that Dandelion continues to seduce the fine palates far East, opening a branch in Europe would be welcome by serious chocolate connoisseurs like myself.
Café & Manufactory at 740 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA 94110

+1 415 349 0942

Mon-Thurs & Sun 10am-9pm; Fri & Sat: 10am-10pm

New boutique location at One Ferry Building, San Francisco

Mon-Fri: 7am – 6pm; Sat: 8am – 6pm; Sun: 10am – 5pm

NEW: Factory +Café in Japan:

4-14-6, Kuramae, Taito-ku, Tokyo, 111 0051 Japan

*Raaka, Rogue and Dick Taylor chocolates are on par with dandelion’s quality and knowhow.

Littorai: expressing Sonoma through biodynamic viticulture

Driving to the Littorai winery feels like you trespassed into someone’s apple orchard, while getting lost on the dirt roads winding up the endless hill from Sebastopol. There are not many signs around, but when question marks start to arise in your mind, just ring up the winery to navigate you to the correct gate. Inconspicuous and hardly advertising its presence, Littorai is the ultimate expression of the understated pioneers of Sonoma winemaking.

Finicky climate and the Sonoma fog

The drive can be especially daunting when the hazy summer mornings cast a shroud of the Pacific fog sneaking into the surrounding valleys. Despite our visiting day late in October being as clear as the Calistoga water springs, we passed it and still had to call to confirm ringing on the right place. Here we were! Yet, as you get out from the car the temperatures send shivers on your Napa Valley warmed up skin. Therefore, a good GPS and a warm coat, add scarf, will make the best companions to any tasting at the Littorai wine cellar. Now, all just gets better as the welcome greeting is performed by the happy resident dog, who at first whiffs his tail around you and then assumes his favourite spot by the front door. Before you step in though, walk around the estate and allow to be shown the biodynamic know-how, because here you will get the clearest display of this biodiversity, ecology and sustainability following land management and winemaking philosophy coined by the Austrian scientist Rudolf Steiner over a century ago.

Embracing biodynamics: sustainable care of the land

It was in Sonoma, where sustainable winemaking became without a preposterous halo integrative into the vineyard management practices. The winery, like many other great local growers, has been practicing biodynamic vineyard management and winemaking ever since 2001 vintage when it upgraded from the original organic viticulture. Biodynamics does so much more for the soil and the environment than organic viticulture. Giving back to the Earth is the underlying philosophy of being in harmony with the nature’s cycle, which will in turn yield vines and grapes of an utmost complexity and it is believed by its proponents that it best expresses the site. Many of the world’s most iconic vintners, Romanée Conti (DRC) included, manage their vineyards biodynamically. Read more about biodynamic viticulture in my interview with Lenka Sedlackova, MW, this week.

Complicated Coastal puzzle of AVAs

Littorai means literally “the coasts” and the name illustrates the ruffled diversity of this breezy coastal region North of San Francisco, in fact the coolest vineyard land in California. The seemingly haphazard topography of its vineyards, scattered throughout the Sonoma and Mendocino Counties may confuse lay wine drinkers but also the experts. The winery itself rises on the crossroads of Sonoma Coast, Green Valley, a small AVA inside the Russian River Valley, which was also partially tagged into the sprawling Sonoma Coast AVA. The Sonoma Coast American Viticultural Area, aka the more bureaucratic than terroir driven unit of the US appellation system, is being revised under the pressure of many of the reputed local wine producers. Ted Lemon of Littorai is one of the members of the West Sonoma Coast Vintners association (Failla is also part of it). In their enlightened effort they try to bring more clarity and balance into the regional distinctiveness, where one feels as much as twenty degrees (Fahrenheit) difference within just a few minutes drive.
Sonoma is “where fine wine started in California, early in the 19th century” notes Jancis Robinson and Hugh Johnson, the highly distinguished British vinous duet of Masters of Wine and the authors of The World Atlas of Wine, the wine bible. A notable gap during the Prohibition and some decades after it, apple orchards took the spotlight off the original vineyards in the Russian River Valley. Yet, even most of the Napa big shots realised the cool climate potential of the diverse pockets of Sonoma. Despite the Chardonnay grapes during the legendary Judgement of Paris tasting, when local wines won the palates of the French critics over the Old World classics in a blind wine tasting, came from Sonoma, Napa stole all media attention. The flip side being that thanks to the marketers diversion of praise, the area now feels much less commercial, beautifully rugged, attracting a more authentic farming lifestyle than any of the limousine wine bashes of the Napa – St Helena – Calistoga crawl. The young and savvy San Franciscans have recently grasped the authentic weekendering in the small township of Healdsburg, so hurry on before the cool becomes just too much of it. Joseph Phelps was one of the pioneering big Napa names realising the potential of the vinous land in Sonoma and his Firestone Vineyard is just slightly more south and closer to the Pacific Ocean than the Sebastopol edging estate of the Littorai winery, where the Pivot Vineyard envelops the wooden edifice. The husband (Ted) and wife (Heidi) winery has been since 1993 run with patience and an impeccable sense for harmony with nature.

Littorai Wines

Starting easy and crisp with the Chenin Blanc from the 2014 vintage of the Haven Vineyard, we enjoyed the stone-fruit and mineral quality, but seeking more for the price, we concluded that the Loire varietal offers more for the bucks in its native France.
Then came Charles Heintz Chardonnay 2014 fitting under the Sonoma Coast AVA, where the Goldridge loam defines its characteristic honey richness. Littorai makes also Chardonnay (as well as Pinots) from the elevated B.A. Thieriot vineyard, the north-facing Mays Canyon of Porter-Bass vineyard, and Tributary from the Haven vineyard site. Lemon’s low-intervention, very little sulphur addition, delicate stirring of lees, and natural malolactic fermentation allow for the site expression despite one fourth of the new oak barrel ageing during the 12-16 months in-house maturation period.
The Pinots display the sensitive, site specific, Burgundian skills of the chief winemaker Ted Lemon. Sharpening his winemaking grip at Burgundy’s Domaine Roulot, Lemon is “obsessed with detail, but he rarely makes two wines the same way”, as writes Jon Bonné, the editor of San Francisco Chronicle in his book The New California Wine. For a wine geek like myself, risking but letting letting the vintage express itself, still with alcohol below 14% is wonderful. Back at home from our cellar I tasted the Anderson Valley Cerise vineyard Pinot 2010. One day before the supper moon of the 14th November, 2015, and right after after the opening I savoured cured meat with just a hint of bright strawberry in the background on the nose, and gamey, sweet round fruit on the palate. As the wine opened the second day, when, according to biodynamics it was the perfect day to drink it, its bright acidity and succulent fruit came to the the forefront. Was it the breathing period or the magic of the moon? Personally, I am not sure what was the cause of my joy from the wine, but it was great.
Once the northernmost AVA in California, Anderson Valley is next to its more inland neighbour Mendocino and to its North two new but comparably tiny AVAs of Dos Rios and Covello. The cherry scent typical for his Savoy vineyard Pinot is also grown in the Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley, as are the Roman and One Acre Pinot Noirs.
Perhaps the most iconic for Littorai is Ted Lemon’s expression of the Hirsch vineyard Pinot Noir. Now part of the coastal Fort Ross Seaview AVA, where the first vines in Northern California were planted by the Russian immigrants in 1812, this pioneering estate was founded by David Hirsch. He took upon the challenges of the remote ghastly land just strokes away from the San Andreas Fault Line. The soil diversity is the magic of the meeting between the two earthly plates – the Northern American and the Farallon Plate beneath the Pacific ocean. It is said that Littorai makes the best Pinot from the Hirsch treasure throve spoiled by the occasional rusty coins in its vast acreage. Its complex, age worthy herbal, graphite, and deep berry taste can swing into more deep floral and tannic in cool years when Lemon typically patiently waits for full maturation and picks later than most of his neighbours. Each vintage is different.

Closer to its headquarters just outside Sebastopol, The Haven vineyard Pinot from nearby estate where gravel and loam define the grapes’ character is being bottled and directly from the winery’s plantings is the young Pivot vineyard exudes attractive chamomile scent.
The partial use of whole grape clusters, open steel tank fermentation is also typical of Burgundian approach and it gives the wines more brightness. The single estate wines are not cheap even by California elevated standards, but his blended wines are very good deal for the quality they hide in the bottle. Even the label design is true to its sense of place, an old pencil drawing of the local area has been glued on the bottle, and when you judge purely with your eyes it evokes nostalgia of carefree Sonoma. Now is time for you to judge with a glass full. In Littorai you will taste the genuine purity of the coasts of Northern California.
788 Gold Ridge Rd, Sebastopol, CA 95472
+1 707-823-9586

Chez Panisse: Berkeley farm to table movement mothered by chef Alice Waters

The renaissance of farm to table dining in the 20th century America hailed from the opening of Chez Panisse in 1971 in the university town of Berkeley. Less than half an hour drive from San Francisco “environmental harmony and delicious flavour” were unified in the restaurant co-founded by a young, francophile chef Alice Waters. More than that, she put the names of her ingredients’ purveyors on the daily changing menus!
The legendary food activist cum chef does not need much introduction. The author of eight publications and frequently awarded Waters is now the Vice President of Slow Food International, founder of Sustainable Food Program at the American Academy in Rome and Yale Sustainable Food Project, as well as the mind behind The Edible Schoolyard and the School Lunch Initiative in the US.

New England meets Japanese architecture at Chez Panisse

The café bistro (upstairs) cum restaurant was inspired by Honoré Panisse, a character in Marcel Pagnol’s 1930s movie trilogy about life in Marseille (Panisse was sailmaker frequenting a bohemian local café). Waters sees this gesture “as an homage to the sentiment, comedy, and informality of these classic films”, and you will spot plenty of posters from Pagnol’s movies on the enveloping walls.
Renovated right after recent fire about three years ago, the wooden building’s original architect Kip Mesirow added a Japanese pagoda-style facade, and reshuffled the dining rooms. The salvaged red wood was cut by the eco-minded wood artisan Paul Discoe (he also designed San Francisco’s Perennial), renowned in the Bay area hands-on design sphere. Inside it feels very cozy, and the competent and friendly staff is quite fairly divided between the two genders. The head chefs at both parts are yin & yang, a male and female, but the pastry hands were assigned to two women Mary and Carrie. You will feel like eating at home, and fed very well, no cheating and tiny portions. The slowly raised sourdough bread is succulent and the butter so intense, that it recalls the Brittany cows grazing richness. A white and whole-wheat slices are served, with their crust bending like the elastic, honest bread of my Czech grandmother’s.

Local provenance rules the entire restaurant. The dinnerware is sourced from Heath Ceramics based in the nearby Sausalito, and the rustic, countryside evoking cotton clothes of the staff are made by Dosa.
Perhaps to reflect on the Berkley University intelligentsia frequenting their locale, a sophisticated jazz music sleekly taps in the background in the dimly lit and by wood warmed interior. The bar in the centre of the corridor long restaurant separates the café’s two main dining areas.

Setting a culinary precedent in America: Chez Panisse authentic cooking style

Waters’ revolutionary approach to California cuisine has a humble foundation. It is based on the freshest ingredients from personally selected purveyors. The sustainable, organic, and seasonal produce from local farms, orchards, and fisheries is turned into original but still earthy Mediterranean plating at both dining rooms. There are two separated kitchens. Downstairs is the smart multi-course set dinner restaurant, that still after four decades in operation has to be booked weeks in advance. Yet, my first encounter with the Chez Panisse cuisine was at the more casual café, where dining à la carte from the daily changing offering is available. Opened in 1980, the more casual Chez Panisse Café also has an affordable three course daily menu (“Menu du Jour“) for $32 and you will rarely dine on the same dish at Chez Panisse. The staples include an hors d’oeuvre pasta with seasonal variations, a daily version of pizza and pizzetta. Our second meal the pizza was vegetarian: preserved red peppers with a scant handful of cheese, very crispy yet dry to my taste, but my husband loved it. The thin crust 00 flour pizza baked in a wood-burning oven in the open counter kitchen, and there is also a charcoal grill where late evening popular offer of Steak-frites sizzles.

After entertaining my palate with the exquisite bread, that was too similar to my grandmother’s homemade loaf, I chose to start with the Golden tomato and beet salad with tonnato sauce & fried capers for my early fall dinner dinner. The Italian tonnato sauce of mayonnaise and tuna spread thick under the veggies was very rich, yet balanced with the acidic tomato slices and sweet cooked golden beet. The simple white plate was sprinkled with tiny leafed basil and decorated by halved baby ball orange tomatoes. Nice with white wine like an oaky Chardonnay from Macon, France. Always on the menu is the Baked Andante Dairy goat cheese with garden lettuces sourced from their own farm. I tried it on my next visit to Chez Panisse, and must nod to its balanced European lightness over the usual California, put more to make it shout. Most veggies except some special seasonal findings and herbs like basil are now sourced from the Chez Panisse farm.
The main course is only slightly larger than the already substantial starter, so do not spoil your appetite with too much of the superb sourdough bread as I did. Too good to leave alone! I was recommended the Monterey Bay Squid roasted in the wood oven with heirloom tomatoes, shaved fennel salad fried herbs and aioli. So came the large plate of three stretching, tender and delicate squids with separately cut tentacles. Topped by fried herbs including sage and rosemary, on the bottom large slices of succulent red tomatoes, roasted baby orange tomatoes, and a perfectly crisp shaved fennel mixed with yellow frisée salad on the side, this was a wholesome dish. The aioli rich and lemon rind yellow sauce was just too oily and heavy for me though. I actually needed another bite of that bread!

You can go light with the dessert. Seasonal fruits are served in a a brass bowl with fork and knife, so you still eat it in style. I had Bob’s Black Mission figs and Frog Hollow Farm Warren pear. Yes! Even the humble pear and fig have their farmer’s names attached. The fruit plate at a restaurant reminded me of the French seaside restaurants that I frequent. Just the French skip the names. The shrivelled, almost dry and ultra-sweet dark figs with a whole yellow pear were served on lotus leafs. I loved them.

The wine list changes daily, but majority of the offerings are the old world staples, some of older vintages. Interesting California wines are also featured. The Wine List’s Reserve pages might please the serious connoisseurs with some interesting North American bottles. Most wines are served also by the glass – California, Oregon, Italy, France, Manzanilla sherry, and Madeira from Savannah Rare Wine Co. They even have an exclusivelly made Chez Panisse Zinfandel by Green & Red Vineyards in Napa.

Sightglass coffee from San Francisco that is also served at the Museum of Modern Art, is brewed at Chez Panisse. Organic teas and tisanes for the zen minded or as a perfect after dinner pacifier. My favourite rare Silver needle white tea was served in cast iron Japanese pot, steeped properly. Water is poured sustainably from a glass jar, and important gesture in the drought stricken California where water should not be wasted.

1517 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709
+1 510 548 5525
Mon-Thurs: 11:30am–3pm; Dinner: 5–10:15pm
Fri & Sat: 11:30am–3:30pm, Dinner: 5–11:15pm; Sunday: closed

Samovar Tea & lounge: grounding through connection with tea in San Francisco

Samovar Tea & lounge in San Francisco facilitates your connection with the present moment. The “unvirtual” reality of your mind connected to yourself is a different lifestyle from the perpetually distracting online world. Samovar has been serving the city for over a decade with mindfulness at the centre of its business since its beginning. A frequent traveler scouting for tea rooms to ground m everywhere I visit, whether it is Hong Kong, New York, Prague or Tokyo, I found Samovar Tea being a unique confluence of breadth centered around experiencing tea in its distinct faces, culturally, philosophically, physically, and indeed wholesomely. Especially at its main Yerba Buena location.

Being present, mindful of the moment with tea

Founder and owner Jesse Jacobs envisions tea drinking as the connection between the past and contemporary tastes. You can often see him serving tea in person. His growing up was spiritually cross-bread with meditation, yoga, and tai chi. Still his Mission district branch of a pick up, sip on and hang on just for a quick bite caters to the modern customer, stopped in the moment of waiting for his cup being brewed. Its no wi-fi policy went against the tide of technifying in the metropolis, and you will not find on laptops glued folks there. Rather, people seem engaged in meaningful conversations. Here, a social chatter sparks up wondering at the chemistry of brewing the tea, that is stripping itself in front of you, if you sit just behind the bar.

The social connecting power of tea

When the townhall invited the founder to open Downtown in an abandoned Starbucks in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, something was brewing in the local air. The need to slow down resurfaces when you sip on tea, and in a magic flick of the brew, balance the flickering mind.

The San Francisco coffee culture inspired some of the at Samovar ‘teaventions’. For example the glass VIVID BREWPOT looks like a French press and works exactly the same. Contemporary tea brewing meets tradition. The lab-like glass crucibles [photo on top left with Jesse Jacobs at work] developed with brewing-tech company Alpha Dominche are controlled by a tablet calibrating the water temperature for each type of tea – from white, green, oolongs, black and their blends with herbs and spices as well as the house-blended tisanes. A reusable and resealable glass jar serves for the iced teas. I admit, I kept it.
Being inspired by global tea preparing traditions connects the world tea puzzle into one space. Samovar has been traditionally used in the Eastern Europe, Russia and the Middle East to keep a large amount of water constantly warm so you could draw some each time you wanted to warm with a nice cup of black tea placed on the top. It can be translated as self-boil. The Masala Chai tea blend has slowly become the signature beverage at Samovar Tea in San Francisco. Catching on the global craze of the spicy chai, the copper pots with lids on are brewing the sweet and wholesome milky concoction. For these of you who have never wandered to India, Georgia, Mongolia or Russia, it is a unique sighting. Looks more like being in the kitchen, doesn’t it?

Food and tea at Samovar Tea

Delicious sweet cakes and simple sandwiches are served at the compact Mission branch. When I munched on the Matcha “Canale” (in France known as canelé) blending the Bordeaux pastry with Japanese powdered green tea or vanilla, it was perfectly caramelised on the top with a moist and chewy centre. Crunchy scones and gluten-free options for pastries are available. Eggs in a jar or toast for a quick breakfast or lunch are offered for the savory tooth. Some are made in-house, while others are sourced from local pastry shops and bakeries.

Have a bite at the Valencia street tea bar, but you get a more nutritionally balanced meal at the larger lounge at Yerba Buena. There, tea is served in proper, locally made ceramic pots or a glass brewpot, not mugs or take-away cups like at its Mission tea bar. Set atop the waterfall at the contemporary Art Centre in Yerba Buena, the views from its terrace feel rejuvenating. Nevertheless, the large glass windows of the tea lounge keep you connected with the outdoors, just noise-free, which is welcomed in this busy part of town. Here, tea is being paired with your a la carte meal or you can order their culturally inspired set service. I enjoyed the JAPANESE SERVICE of steamed organic brown rice, seaweed salad with seasonal veggies paired with Ryokucha Green Tea. To divert itself from the global craze for matcha, although also served here, the Ryokucha is a green tea powder blended with toasted rice grains. On another lunch occasion, I went for the MOORISH SERVICE, a bowl of grilled halloumi and veggie kebabs over large Lacinato kale salad, paired with Moorish Mint Green Tea. So refreshing.
My sino-centric husband savored the CHINESE SERVICE where seasonal veggie stir-fry, organic brown rice, and squash dumplings (also served separately as an appetiser) with Blood Orange Pu-erh Tea were set on the wooden tray. The ENGLISH SERVICE, RUSSIAN SERVICE and even the trendy PALEOLITHIC SERVICE (protein with kale salad) can stir your curiosity about these countries cuisines as much as the teas served with them.

Selling organic hand-picked tea with integrity

Each pure white paper packaging contains a plastic bag protecting the herbs and tea from humidity. My favorite blends are the Turmeric Spice Herbal with a kick of ginger warmth, lemongrass, aromas of orange and lemon and a pleasant sweetness of licorice in your mouth. I also like the velvety hued Ocean of Wisdom, a blend of rooibos, ginger, cinnamon, licorice root, clove and black pepper which was originally prepared to serve the Dalai Lama when he visited San Francisco. The Spearmint Sage offers more depth than your usual fresh spearmint tisane. Here, Yakima Valley spearmint and peppermint, sage, lemongrass, lavender and orange peel congregate on your palate. The Pu-erh Maiden’s Ecstasy of 2004 vintage was “wild-crafted, pile-fermented, with notes of espresso, peat moss, bridle leather” and is more purely evoking nature than the delicious Velvet Cacao Pu-erh, tastefully blended with roasted dandelion, yerba mate, and a scent of coconut and vanilla bean. The speciality Chai was boxed into a milk-like, take home and heat up conveniency. If not sold pure than the teas and tisanes are blended from mostly organically farmed herbs, plants, spices and fruit peels. Also a very rare and expensive tea from Hawaii is sold by them in limited amounts.

To conclude the flattery, I must share some of the wisdom of its founder: “As technology pervades every aspect of our society, the perspective has flipped and the machine we created to serve US starts to make decisions FOR us. From the innocuous Netflix or Amazon recommendation, to the more insidious things like Facebook and Twitter that while powerful, also demand us to change our expression, and even our thinking patterns in order to conform to the machine’s demands.” Being an online working person, I cannot more agree, and share Jesse’s philosophy of being grounded and reminded by my cup of tea – of what I like and who I really am. While working long hours, tea gives me the much needed sense of focus so I can penetrate deeper into the theme I am writing about.

Samovar Tea Bar 411 Valencia Street (at 15th): Daily 7am-7pm
Samovar Tea Bar & lounge San Francisco: Downtown in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 730 Howard Street: Sun-Wed: 9am – 8pm; Thur-Sat: 9am – 9pm
All teas can be bought at their online store. (I get no profit from this, just sharing the greatest things I found on my wholesome journeys)

Perennial San Francisco: America's model for sustainable dining

The Perennial restaurant in San Francisco has been opened for a couple of months now and it has already stirred the US media as the America’s model for sustainable dining. A daring project, that could become an inspiration for the already established and to be restaurateurs globally. Climate change is a real threat, and ecology is about improving our lives, so we must include the food system into our lifestyle considerations. Start with seeking restaurants, where sustainability is as important as creating a comfortable atmosphere (I wrote about Chefs and restaurants leading the sustainable change globally in my recent musing).

America’s model for sustainable dining

Sustainability rings from the menu, radiates from the design, while on the Perennial’s website each practice is zoomed in detail. The title of the restaurant itself preconditions your mind for behind the scenes of your meal. Perennial was named after crops yielding during many consecutive harvests, while their increasingly deep roots suck in nutrients and water thus preventing soil erosion. Food Tank, environmentally minded global food group further explains that “this reduces the need for soil tillage, a practice that can lead to soil erosion and chemical run-off, makes them more drought-resistant, plus they pull more carbon out of the atmosphere and hold onto it longer in their biomass, helping to mitigate the aforementioned meteorological unpleasantness.” Forget corn, rice, potatoes and soy beans, the sprawling monocultures that are literally suffocating us! Kernza is a perennial and the bread made from this grain has become one of the successful projects of the Perennial team. Since kernza’s roots capture carbon from the environment, the plant is not merely carbon neutral, but it deletes carbon footprint from the air. With the help of an in-house pastry chef the flour was turned into a delectable sourdough bread with a moist center and a typical hard crust. Served upon request with butter made from cows milk that involved another sustainable project – a carbon cattle farming, the kernza bread became an inseparable identity of many of the chef’s creations. From toasts to cracking particles in salads and bowls, the sourdough is being used wisely, no waste.
Although the plates are small by the American standards, any leftovers and kitchen scraps are recycled in the aquaponic facility just outside San Francisco. The worms, that will become fish food, compost the food waste. As the fish swim in the water reservoir, they fertilize the greens growing on the surface. These vegetables consume much less water than when grown in the dry California soil and are sent back to the restaurant. Next to cute cartoon cards available at the restaurant, an illustrative aquaponic fish tank was installed by the entrance so anyone can understand how it works. Just look at my image bellow.

Sustainable zen design for eco-dining

Designed and also partly supplied by a Zen Buddhist author and architect Paul Discoe, the metal-meets-wood interior is pleasant to the eye, yet can lack comfort in its austere nature. As our bottoms noted, the chairs at the restaurant are quite hard to sit on for hours, but the bar stools seem more accommodating. Discomfort goes on, since sharing space and toilets with an independent yet adjoining cafe makes the “waste not” attitude less practical, but it serves its purpose. The “industrial-chic“ look made from furniture with reclaimed wood reminds me of the contemporary Japanese interiors in Tokyo’s coolest neighborhoods. The designer cum zen Buddhist also co-founded and grows plants for the almost four decades old vegetarian restaurant Greens in San Francisco. Discoe’s garden and aquaponic greenhouse in Oakland grows some of the Perennial’s produce. Overseen by Nathan Kaufman, the restaurant’s Director of Living Systems and the aquaponics expert at the Urban Adamah in Berkeley, the kitchen scraps are being “recycled” while new food is being created. If used wisely, nature can provide bounty in magic transformations.
It is not easy to open a new restaurant in San Francisco these days. Rents go up, the competition is rife, since most global cuisines are already represented, and finding an experienced kitchen staff is challenging, confessed Karen Leibowitz, the female brain powering the project. Enter her partner Anthony Myint, who together with Leibowitz co-masterminded the once successful San Francisco eatery, Mission Chinese Food, and their newborn is highly expected. With respect to their real child, born a couple years before this new culinary venture, Perennial was inspired by caring about others. When the couple was approached by the management of a new building across from the Twitter’s headquarters to open a restaurant, their condition was to move it to the future, their child’s as well as our Planet’s. As parents, they wanted to make dining sustainable.

Sustainability on the contemporary plate

The chef Chris Kiyuna, after a long stint at Mission Chinese Food, was sent to sharpen his culinary daredevil at Noma in Copenhagen. The result is food that is clearly off-the-beaten path, unique and for those looking for simple plates perhaps too complicated. But this is California and combing locally farmed and raised ingredients in internationally and multiculturally inspired combinations is the norm done tremendously well.

For dinner, the four-courses pre fixe menu at $59 per person is sadly quite inflexible as you can only substitute the dessert for a savory dish from the first group. You may need to pay extra for some plates such as the Eggplant that we ordered in place of the sweet course. From the start, some customers have been ranting against the high prices at the Perennial, yet, the magnifying reality of San Francisco with rents climbing annually to the new heights, the ladder has to be set high to meet their costs. Sustainability is not cheap, when despite saving through the lower energy bills, the new technology and locally sourced ingredients from low carbon farming inflate the budget.

I had to start with the Hydroponic lettuces. A large plate of wonderful quality greens arrived dolloped by creme fraiche and toasted sunflower seeds. The lettuces do not taste fishy or aquarium-like, do not worry. Next came Tomatoes with a nut-free creamy pesto on kernza toast. A juicy and basil fresh topping decorated with warm-hued flower petals accompanied the toasted and deeply satisfying kernza bread perfectly. Pecking on my husband’s Avocado puree with grilled avocado moons, geranium fragrance, crispy pork bacon strips & pepper crisps, that was rich but balanced, but not as impressive as the other plates. Much better was the substitute of the Eggplant puree with broiled eggplant & caper beans in green tomato oil sauce. Complex and rich serving that replaced the dessert without a remorse. Next came Summer Squash with marinated sunflower seeds, nice. Yet, my favorite was the tender, perfectly cooked Trout. We ordered the bread and butter of course, and we could not have had enough of such a wholesome womb of perennial sustenance. Overall, the often changing menu stood up to our Califonia standards.

Whole grain kernza bread made from perennial grain

Perennial sustainable restaurant design in San Francisco

sustainable restaurant Perennial in San Francisco

Drinking smart, while remaining indulgent

Beverages are integral to indulgence as is our biological need for clean water. The most sustainable solution to the later is filtering the local tap water and serving it in reusable glass bottles or pouring at the guest request from pitchers. Increasingly, restaurants have been eschewing bottled imported water, while pushing for the hydration on tap. At Perennial, the beverage program goes beyond serving tap water since the bar, munching a shark’s bite into the restaurant’s interior, became equally important. The happy hours from 3-6pm replaced the lunch service, and the cocktail bar is slowly becoming an after-work scene. To the disappointment of the Perennial’s founders, the tech employees at the surrounding offices have free lunches so they tend to eat in, so drinks and dinner next door make more sense. There is so much on tap to sip on, but the wines puzzle the most many of the eco-conscious diners. The beverage director had decided, based on her direct experience with the wineries around the world, that many wines shipped by boat from Europe are more sustainably grown and made than the overwhelming majority of the local, drought-stricken California offerings. Still, California features on the sustainable wine list. The by the glass selection is not cheap as most exceed $10. A Sauvignon Blanc by Lieu Dit from Santa Barbara was too ripe growing in the warm climate, but a Riesling from Guimaro was crisp, while Wei Chi dry Semillon was more woody with a pleasant aromatic sweetness. Moving to reds with a bright Spanish Mencia and later a Pinot Noir by Johan in the Oregon’s Wilamette Valley, that was more on the new world fruity side, we were far from impressed by the selections. I must note, that being a highly demanding wine connoisseur makes by-the-glass offerings usually at least slightly disappointing. Next time BYO or order a nice bottle.

With a deserved applause to Perennial, dining out sustainably is now easier for the residents and visitors of San Francisco. Similar projects await their permanent opening in London (Tiny Leaf), while others like Poco, the best sustainable restaurant in the UK for 2016, are already humbly serving superb local food driven by sustainability. Generally, in my opinion, if the food business wants to maintain its integrity through its pleasure-providing mission while delivering nutritionally dense plates, in the new millennium it must consider its carbon footprint, food waste and educate its customers on a responsible joy from the food they serve. The team behind Perennial deserves to be respected for progressing the future of dining highlighting cause in a country which is the second biggest polluter in the World. I will definitely go back, when in town.

Read more about the Perennial’s sustainable practices in the post by Andrew Dalton for San Francisco Eater.

Photos by: Radka Beach & Alanna Hale (where not watermarked).

59 Nith Street, San Francisco

+1 415 500 7788

Dinner 6-9pm (10pm Fri & Sat) and happy hours 3-6pm Mon-Sat. Closed on Sunday.

The Slanted Door: Vietnamese cuisine stirred into sustainable multi-cultural San Francisco

Enter the waterfront of the San Francisco’s iconic Ferry Building and open The Slanted Door, literally. As the woks sizzle in the background, the trendy, yet casual modern Vietnamese eatery hums with a dense foodie chatter. Originally set on the now hip-centric Valencia Street, since 1995 The Slanted Door has been stirring the California palates on its hot, but not spicy Asian fare. Now expanding its Mission district success, and ready to go, lined on the counter fronting the semi-open kitchen, the freshly prepared plates do not hang out for long, the restaurant is always full. Young couples, American-Asian girlfriends on a night out, entire families and even merry groups of elderly diners, all mingle in the large, U-shaped room.

Sustainability is at the core of the business of its founder and the Executive Chef, Charles Phan, whose inspiration came from the Bay Area pioneer of ultra-local fare – Chez Panisse. Locally sourced, and often organic ingredients are being applied to the chef’s contemporary Vietnamese culinary vision. With the seasonal plant produce, wholesome carbs like brown rice, handmade yuba (tofu skin), glass (cellophane) and rice noodles, chef Phan proudly claims to be also offering “ecologically and humanely raised meats, game and poultry found at farms around the San Francisco Bay Area”. Dairy in the deserts and coffee arrives from the nearby family-owned and organic Straus Family Creamery.

From the crêpe to a balance of veggies with sustainable meat at The Slanted Door

The chef’s journey into the cooking world was rather unusual. Studying architecture, moving to garment design in a family business, and being swirled by the Silicon Valley behemoth software business did not stop Charles Phan to turn back to his Vietnamese roots. Opening a small crêperie was just a start to get the San Franciscans’ saliva talking. And, business is growing as The Slanted Door reaches a new exciting destination this fall (more later).
Most plates are designed to be shared, the eastern way, so bring friends or come really hungry to eat it all. Perhaps, just next time I wouldn’t want to share that crisp and with steaming veggie-stuffed, OMG the best Vietnamese crêpe I have ever had! This thin stuffed this Franco-Vietnamese delicacy was such a perfection, that he mastered with honours. Served only at lunch, the Vegetarian Vietnamese Crêpe stuffed with tofu, cabbage and tree ear mushrooms, was my absolute favourite from about the ten dishes (between two!) we grazed through. A side of crunchy iceberg lettuce and a bundle of fresh mint balanced the delicate, but inherently oily nature of the ultra-thin pancake. Pour or dip in the soy and chilli side sauce …crack, chew and savour! A meat version filled with gulf shrimp, pork shoulder, bean sprout and yellow onions is also popular.
Integral with its sustainable mindset, vegetarian plates such as the superb Green Papaya Salad, encourage a balanced grazing. More white than green hued the raw papaya was tossed with shaved pickled carrots and slivers of raw ray ram, known as vietnamese coriander, and sprinkled with fried shallots and cracked roasted cashews. Mixed in was an egg-coated fried tofu for a wholesome and deliciously refreshing plate. The Vegetarian Spring Roll appeals to more mellow palates and could be boring unless you dip it into the generously dense peanut sauce on the side. Tofu, white rice, hairy spikes of glass noodles, mushrooms and lettuces though called for a different accompaniment than the nutty dip. Perhaps a refreshing sweet and sour cilantro vinaigrette would make a better combo.

The vegetables are sourced from Full Belly Farm, Catalan Farm, Dirty Girl farm, All Star Organics farm, and other local purveyors of delicious goodness supply their diverse plant produce, and in the Alice Waters contagion their names are always included in the menu. One of them being the Star Route Farms, the oldest continuously certified organic grower in California. The side of crisp pan-seared Joyful farm baby bok choy with baby shiitake mushrooms is a clean accompaniment to any of the tofu main courses such as the stir fried Hodo soy beanery organic tofu. The organic seal assured that the soy came from a non-GMO source, chopped in cubes and with slices of smoked pressed tofu, lemongrass, mushrooms, scallions and succulent yellow onions in sweet roasted chilli sauce. Topped with the anti-inflammatory dose of cilantro proved that a healthful meal at The Slanted Door is possible. NO sauce here comes from the bottle, except for the non-GMO soy staple. Everything else is made from scratch, no msg or artificial additives or colourings. Even the bacon is house-made.
Going for meat, we tried two animal plates, but were rather unimpressed. The Emmer & Co.® heritage chicken staged in the Claypot or Stir Fry is always organic, pastured and rich tasting, In our diner order, the Organic Chicken Stir Fry was the most disappointing dish. Next to the high ladder of appetisers that we enjoyed before, the blend was just too much. With the slightly overcooked chicken were soy-marinated cashews, fresh gingko nuts, walnuts, sweet raisins and Chinese dates. A handful of cilantro with its stems covers most of the mains, but did not add moisture to the dry meat. A side of Massa organics’ brown rice will supplement your meal with more fibre, minerals and vitamins.
Pork is a Vietnamese staple and the chef proudly serves it in a number of diverse plates, from the rolls through nourishing soups and the succulent Grilled Prather Ranch 14 oz. Pork Chop. We tried the Pork Spring Roll but since we both do not like the fragrance of pork, we were not able to appreciate this typical Vietnamese snack.

Picking seafood to maintain diversity in the Pacific ocean

The chef works very well with local seafood. Wild Gulf shrimps and Monterrey squids as well as sustainable fish like catfish. With our aperitif, the very American-sized wild uni from Mendocino nesting in its raw nakedness on avocado and cucumber was slurped in its entirety from ceramic spoon. A decorative touch of squid ink coloured tiny flying fish roe (tobiko) added flavour and valuable nutrients to this delicate uni. Contrasting with its ultra-rich Southern sister from Santa Barbara, this was a revelation of how a little distance in the ocean can create a very different flavour of a sea urchin. The golden baked Gau choy gow or six wild gulf shrimp & green garlic chive dumplings dipped in a savoury soy sauce this made for a perfect sharing experience. Hmm, vibrated from one side of the table to the other. Bound to the chef’s mixed Chinese-Vietnamese origin are the Cellophane noodles also known as Chinese vermicelli, or glass noodles. They are made from starch and water. In Vietnamese cuisine, there are two varieties of these noodles: bún tàu or bún tào introduced by Chinese immigrants and made from mung bean starch; and Vietnamese, called miến or miến dong, are made from canna (dong riềng). In our order the transparent noodles were tossed with green onion, fresh chunks of Dungeness crab and sesame. Superb!

The carnivorous Cobia fish on the menu would happily feed on the luxurious crab meat as well, but luckily for the local ocean wildlife it was caught by California fishermen and grilled by the sustainable-minded Slated Door chefs. Cobia, also known as black salmon, is non-native to the California waters but has recently appeared to mess with the local biodiversity after a large numbers of this fast growing and hungry fish escaped from its farmed warm water environment in Equador. The summer waters around California tend to be warm so some of it migrated, and according to Milton Love, a research biologist with UC Santa Barbara’s Marine Science Institute (disclosing in an interview earlier this year) “this is the first time that Southern California waters have a large and voracious non-native species invade, these non-natives may have brought diseases with them that are not endemic to the Pacific Coast”. A worrying example of how risky is fish farming. With the rules more loose in some countries than others, threat do biodiversity is potentially rampant.

What to sip on with Vietnamese food

We enjoyed the savouries so were too full for the desserts and tea, but the Afternoon Tea offering assures a wide selection of sweet treats as well as a diverse tea selection from the fragrant jasmine to the earthy vintage black Pu-erh.
While cocktails rule the order tills during lunch time, and tea is sipped with the Afternoon Tea service, the wine list begins to be flipped over dinner. German Rieslings, orange wines, Champagne but also American finds. The wines on the list are organised by their character so the customer can select by momentous cravings. In the mood for “mineral driven, lighter bodied reds”? We were so during the buzzing dinner service we sipped on the Estate Grown Patton Valley Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010 from Willamette Valley in Oregon. Sustainable farming practiced on this vineyard reminds of Burgundy, where the world’s best Pinots are still being made. Bright, clean fruit but a savoury earthy character flattered our taste buds. By the glass or even the welcome by half-glass wines the well selected breadth covers the right picks for the fiery and often sweet Asian cuisine. Reds such as the bright Beaujolais or a funky blend from Jura surprise you next to the food friendly array of sherries, that drink well with Vietnamese food.
Angelenos can anticipate the James Beard award-winning outlet opening this fall. If the chef’s sustainable, locally sourced ethos translates well into this Southern California megapolis, it will fare well with the LA farmers market frequenting crowds. I wish, it was located more West and not in the Downtown’s newly opened City Market South, but this is good for the local workforce. I will rather stroll to the San Francisco convenient spot.
One Ferry Building #3, SF, CA 94111
+1 415 861 8032
Open daily LUNCH: Mon-Sat: 11:00AM—2:30PM & Sun: 11:30AM—3:00PM
AFTERNOON TEA: 2:30PM—4:30PM & DINNER: 5:30PM—10PM

Blue Hill at Stone Barns Farm: inspiring sustainable food system in Hudson Valley

Dan Barber’s sustainable food mission has now entered the common consciousness of even these who ignored eco-friendly lifestyle thus far. His best-selling books and two restaurants – one in Manhattan and its younger sister on the farm at Stone Barns herald a respectful relationship between the man and the natural bounty of the fertile Hudson Valley in a tasteful show of field and pasture.
The New York-bred chef employs his wealth of experience from the most sustainable, forward thinking, mindful mavericks, whom he met during his curiosity-driven trips. The boundaryless journeys are described colorfully in his eye-opening book The Third Plate. Enriched with the on-the-farm research of the relative Stone Barns Centre for Food and Agriculture, the chef and his team nurture their mission “to create healthy and sustainable food system”.

Blue Hill at Stone Barns: engaged dining

Just 30 miles north of New York City, training, education, and visionary conventions engage all workers and visitors about agroecological practices. Yet, the most indulgent experience is the farm produce served in the elegant dining room. Staffed with passionate bakers, cooks and servers from around the world, some working there for over a decade, while others whizz through as a part of their hospitality apprenticeship, you penetrate into the “Grazing, Pecking and Rooting” daily changing tasting menu ($238) through their full engagement with you and the produce. Any questions are encouraged, particularly anything touching the themes around the farm.
You feel like being part of nature even inside the restaurant. A birch bark fences seasonal flower arrangement above the fireplace at the welcoming bar. Reeds with blushing daisies and wild grass were the motif of our summer visit. Sip on your aperitif at the classically elegant grey stone bar counter or head on the outside patio overseeing the vegetable gardens. There, during warm days, smoky fragrances escaping from the wood firing grill whet your appetite.
As you take your seat back in the converted barn, wood-beams-laced main dining room, wildflowers nonchalantly bloom in the rustic paint white vases set on the pure clothes dressed tables. For a great break from the packed restaurant, mid-dinner we were taken out into a separate barn for a romantic course of a thin-crust POTATO PIZZA topped with SMOKED CORN, TOMATO and MOZZARELLA. Sitting between the burning candles and listening to the crickets, we realised how different their songs are from those of our home’s Mediterranean species. On our way back to the restaurant were introduced to the bakery.

Art of baking from freshly milled grains

Here, Barber wheat, naturally lower in gluten, as well as other new breeds such as “skagit 1109” and other grains bred by the University of Washington agricultural team are being freshly milled and baked daily on the premises. The fragrant oils from the grains spoil easily, but they reward with more complex and fragrant bread that is moist in the centre with a chalky brown crust from the needed prolonged baking. We got a loaf to take home after our hours-lasting meal was over. While I heated the wheaten loaf in the oven at the culinary school next day, the aroma teased the entire kitchen, and these foodies loved the freshly milled bread as we did. The nose-tantalising aromas make the bread delicious on its own. The university trials plenty of resistant and flavourful plants such as the creamy textured potatoes “ny-150”, the ever expanding breeds of tomatoes (“cornell 79”, “iron lady”, …) and winter squashes (“amber delight”, “robin’s koginut”, “trombocino”, …).

Celebration of the field and pasture

Before you dig into the tasting, a small notebook organised according to a typical monthly harvest suggests which crops may appear on your plate. There is a space left for your observations to note down anything captivating. Additionally, the chefs and cooks are encouraged to forage daily for seasonal berries, wild herbs, and mushrooms. One of our plates was covered with foliage and branches under which we discovered a berry filled pastry cup, one bite for each of us. Leftovers are well looked after as the refreshing CORN COB LEMONADE served later during our meal attested.
The locally bred and grown ingredients are impressive pursuits deserving more involved attention given to them at the farm and the Blue Hill. Right at the beginning of our August tasting, an edible display of pea and yellow stripped flowering courgettes, Jamaican spiky cucumber, mini balls of radishes, baby peppers, cherry tomatoes and crispy lettuce hearts – all showing off – spiked on the pins for us to pick and devour. Minutes later, a giant kohlrabi decorated our tables just before it was taken back to the kitchen and wrapped into KOHLRABI BURRITO with CHARCOAL MAYONNAISE. The delectable fate was also destined for the freshly picked vegetable basket presented to us. Creative plates of ZUCCHINI STEM BOLOGNESE cut into a rigatoni pasta shape and HUBBARD SQUASH, TOMATO ROMESCO with PORK SNOUT superbly underlined the veggies. The produce show was just heating up as a snake-like tromboncino squash winded around a waiter’s arm came to our attention. The harmless plant-flesh cobra was served originally as TROMBONCINO SQUASH, YEASTED POTATOES AND BONE MARROW. We could see most of these perfected crops inside the farm’s greenhouse where new varieties are bred for “flavor and resilience”.
The GREEN GARDEN GAZPACHO is a staple on the menu and appeared on the same night on the a la carte menu at the Manhattan Blue Hill restaurant. A friend of mine was dining there on the same evening so we were able to compare our meals. For example, there was no fish in our multiple-course dinner, but a sweet and sour flavoured striped bass featured at the Blue Hill in New York. The main difference of the farm restaurant though is that the meal is much longer, involves way more courses and overall is more complex and filling. The city Blue Hill allows you pick your dishes, so diners preferring the security of their own choice should rather eat there. Those, who indulge in the surprise tasting, open the gate of your palate, and indulge!
The off-the-beaten-path culinary wizardry continued in the plating of the pasture produce. A PIG POPCORN, then FREEDOM RANGER CHICKEN IN LEVAIN with MALABAR SPINACH as well as the BERKSHIRE PORK, BERRIES AND LOVAGE satisfied our animal protein cravings. Chickens, geese, pigs, turkeys, and sheep freely graze and peck on what the farmland offers. When we were checking out the barns before our dinner, a group of turkeys angrily ran after us so escaping their voracious and sharp beaks turned into desire with question marks: when are the turkeys served? As the farm’s Vice President Irene Hamburger expertly clapped them away, she said that they will be ready for the fall tables and thus delayed our masochist revenge perhaps to our next meal at the Blue Hill. You, turkeys, I cannot wait to bite into your stuffed yummy flesh this Thanksgiving!

greenhouse plants at Stone Barns farm in Hudson Valley

Freshly milled bread flour at Blue Hill restaurant

Nose to tail dining is chef Barber’s specialty, even the pig bones, and oyster shells are carbonised. From the cellar came HOUSE-CURED CHARCUTERIE, PORK LIVER AND CHOCOLATE, BONE CHAR CHEESE with GRILLED CANTALOUPE, and GRILLED CUCUMBER, WATERMELON with BONE MARROW. I am not a fan of marrow and pork, so this were perhaps the only servings I did not enjoy. Prior to our dinner informing about my pork phobia, saved me from being “over-porked” as my husband was.
Such focus on the pork meat brings about the main criticism we had of the Blue Hill dining experience. To be even more sustainable, even less meat should appear on Dan Barber’s daily changing tasting menu. The delicious cauliflower “steak” served at his NYC restaurant is one starry example. Eschewing the carbon-guilty beef was the first step, adding leftover bone marrow from involved butchers another, while tip (frond) to root cooking is what he does best, all efforts to improve the restaurant’s ecological credentials.

Milk production is in the farm’s DNA and the BLUE HILL FARM MILK AND STONE BARNS HONEY were integrated into the dessert with foraged berries. The milk gelato, lush créme brûlée, and dehydrated milk crisps were one of my favourite dishes served on the evening. The butter salted or unsalted that was served with the bread is also house-made. Another, and last, sweet treat came in the grilled PEACHES AND POPPY SEEDS.
DRINKS: An aperitif at Blue Hill does not need to involve alcohol. The maple sweet chufa nut milk, beet yoghurt-based lassi, single grape varietal juices from California, locally made flavoured soda, and various flavours of kombucha (fermented tea beverage that is very low in alcohol) are all great and seductive options.
The more potent by the glass selections such as a sparkling French cider, New York draught beer, sherry, and other global aperitif staples can be ordered on the terrace outside. I tasted the rather unusual white Pinot Noir from California but went for a glass of Burgundy that was more intriguing for my palate. The sommelier gave me a taste.
The broad wine list stands to the merits of the restaurant. Our pick of Calera Selleck Pinot Noir 1989 from Mount Harlan in Napa Valley, was a savoury red wine with a bright acidity despite its old age and deep, earthy aromas. A corkage of $90 is charged per bottle (only one is allowed per two guests), so if you come often bring your own.
If you still have a room for a digestif then the vintage Madeiras spanning back a century may conclude an indulgent outing with a perfect night cap.
For a non-alcoholic farewell, the tea menu is extensive – a bounty of white, green, oolong, black and pu’erh teas, next to caffeine-free herbal infusions from the garden and seasonal brew coffee. I ventured in for the Almond blossom tisane, rather unusual but a fragrant dot after the decadent meal.

Sustainable farming practices

No pesticides are needed as selective animals introduced to the farm eat the pests. Natural compost takes care of the soil fertility. The Stone Barns Centre for food and agriculture sparks innovation while sustainably nourishes good soil by employing a seven-year crop rotation plan, raises “happy” animals grazing on the rotating pastures and is devoted to plant diversity (500 varieties to date and growing) and mindful food choices. Bees are welcomed on the farm so a little apiary was built for them to rest and make honey as well as pollinate freely as much as they like.
At the Stone Barns, the varietal diversity is being re-injected back into the impoverished American soil. The country that diminished its biodiversity so alarmingly, that plant species die as fast as the rural languages, needs farms like the Stone Barns to align itself with the natural clock. With a hindsight, we know a reductionist system will not feed us. Particularly in the world where every day welcomes more people than ever, we must encourage and nurture our soil as our land-minded ancestors did.
Read more about the FUTURE OF FOOD.
Blue Hill at Stone Barns 630 Bedford Rd, Pocantico Hills, NY 10591.
+1 914 366 9600
Wed-Sat for dinner 5-10pm; Sunday lunch & supper 1-9pm
Cafe & bakery opened Wed-Sun: 10am – 4:30pm. Blue Hill’s savory vegetable flavored yogurts from grass-fed cow’s milk, honey, jam, pastries, and other deli items are sold there.
NOTE: Saturday and Sunday visitors to the Café require admission tickets to Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture. The tasting menu is available at the more casual bar counter for $188 and can be reserved up to 2 days in advance.
PHOTOS BY: Radka Beach, Susie Cushner, Jonathan Young.

‹ Prev 1 2 345 6 7 Next ›Last »