fishing for words

(and tossing out random thoughts)

Category Archives: Food & Wine


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catching up

I’ve been remiss in posting. But I’ll claim the excuse that it’s easier to get into the swing of a quick vacation than it is to get back into the swing of everyday life.

The previous post hints at the end of my visit last week to the Evergreen State. It was a good visit that began on the previous Friday. The wife and I dropped the last kid off at school and barreled down the highway to Oakland International…expecting traffic but instead arriving with plenty o’ time to read the newspaper.

Maybe it’s a sign of the times: our flight was at 70-80% occupancy. The two of us shared three seats. A little turbulence was followed by the always surprising decent to Sea-Tac. This flight was an experiment of sorts for me. It was the first time I hauled my fishing gear through the air.

Voula's Offshore Cafe

Voula’s Offshore Cafe

Mom & Dad’s Taxi Service picked us up. Next stop: Voula’s Offshore Café.

After seeing it on Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” we volunteered a late lunch at Voula’s on the way home. Nothing like breakfast for lunch. My dad went for one of the hobo scrambles, mom for the salmon scramble and the wife a plate of biscuits and gravy. I opted for the amazing and very savory Eggs Benedict, made with pork smoked on the premises and chipotle hollandaise.

Once in Duvall we met my cousin Bill and his wife Laura, for the first time, then tried to walk off some of Voula’s excellent chow with some dog walking. The weather was good, but before I left we’d experience everything from sunshine to hail and downpours.

Saturday was the manufactured excuse reason for our visit. Though I lived there for a short nine months I missed out on the Issaquah Salmon Days Festival and during the summer decided it was about time I got up there to see what it’s all about. The day was full of drizzle as well as fun in the sights and sounds. Just your normal festival with craft booths and monstrous salmon plowing up the nearby creek. The Issaquah State Salmon Hatchery is a great facility that speaks to the success of a grass-roots effort. That evening my brother and his family invited all of us over for dinner and entertainment (provided by my two nephews, Levi and Kaden).

Sunday started with mass at my parents’ parish, followed by a breakfast spread that apparently only comes out when visitors descend on the house. I swear my dad was missing the usual morning meal composed of twigs and pebbles. After another visit with the nephews and their mom, it was off for an early dinner with mom, dad, the nephews, my sister-in-law and my cousin and his wife, before delivering the wife to the airport.

Monday saw me on the forks of the Snoqualmie River with fly rod in hand. Unfortunately, the upper reaches of the South Fork of the Snoqualmie were a little bigger than I envisioned. I flogged the water best I could…may have had only one take…but not a fish to hand. Spending a day on the water is always good, and I was treated to sporadic sunshine near Snoqualmie Pass and drizzle further down the hill on the North Fork. After stumbling upon a couple of camouflaged gentled carrying rifles, it was time to call it day.

Tuesday and Wednesday were typical of the best types of vacation days…days without any plan and composed of reading the newspaper, running into town for a turn signal bulb, visiting with a gentlemen who repairs microscopes and refractometers and hanging with the bro’. And as you know, getting a rather unique ride to the airport.

P.S. I haven’t processed the pictures yet…I’ll put ’em up soon…probably in a separate post.


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salmon, salmon everywhere but no fly to cast

Finally following through with a self-made promise of many moons ago. This Saturday the wife and I will be surrounded by Chinook, Sockeye and Coho salmon swimming upstream to soon be relieved of their milt and eggs…and salmon and beef barbecue, Cajun blackened salmon, smoked salmon as well as salmon-logoed clothing and salmon-themed crafts.  Issaquah Salmon Days here we come. 

Almost like leaving Northern California’s salmon desert for the land of milk and honey and plenty o’ salmon.

And the debate still rages within whether to haul the fly fishing gear through the airport of a single day of whipping local waters.


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catching up

Summer.

A time of day dreaming punctuated at irregular intervals of reaching for those dreams. Tends to keep me away from the keyboard.

The weather here in Northern California has alternated between the glorious “summer pattern” and hellish heat. Mix in a gloomy shroud of wildfire smoke and you’ve got some downright ugly stay-in-the-house days. That and better-than $4/gallon gasoline.

Sandwiched in between my solitary fly fishing quests and the mandatory job, sleep and nourishment the Wife and I headed to the coast for an abbreviated weekend after the Fourth of July. Surprisingly, thought one might blame arm-and-a-leg gas prices, we were able to secure a room in Capitola, one of those coastal California towns whose name is often preceded by “quaint.”

The location of our destination virtually ensured cooler weather and fog-cleansed skies. It was a leisurely and short-than-expected drive to the sea. Lunch at Café Limelight — where the dog was able to join us at the outdoor seating — was great, particularly Farouk’s homemade Hummus, served with fresh organic veggies, olives and warm pita bread. A walk on the Santa Cruz mall completed the pleasant afternoon. A quick check in at the hotel and a short walk into Capitola and it was time for mass at Holy Cross Catholic Church, which is part of Misión la Exaltacion de la Santa Cruz, the 12th mission built in California. It’s a pretty incredible “old world” church with striking stained glass windows.

Back in Capitola we sat down for dinner at Michaels on Main, enjoying the outdoor patio in back of the restaurant. Entertainment was a local high school’s 10th anniversary reunion. As one approaching a 30th anniversary since high school graduation, it was quite amusing interesting. I also enjoyed my mushroom encrusted halibut.

Sunday morning found us slowing making our way toward Aldo’s Harbor Restaurant, again putting us in Santa Cruz. Good solid food with the harbor entrance as a backdrop. A beautiful drive through the redwoods and along the UC Santa Cruz campus brought us to the Bonny Doon Vineyard winery tasting room. Bonny Doon was a pleasant surprise — it offers some of the more unique wines among those I’ve tasted, particularly the 2007 Vin Gris de Cigare (a rosé) and the 2007 Angel Paille (a dessert wine).

We lingered just long enough, then it was north on Highway 1. I don’t think I get out to this stretch of the coast often enough as I’m always struck with how close it actually is to home. After passing the one-of-a-kind Taco Bell on the Linda Mar Beach — yes, right on the beach with a walk-up window for surfers — we headed inland to Pescadero for a visit at Harley Farms Goat Dairy. I packed some of Harley’s excellent goat cheese in the trunk and pointed the car back to the coast, where the fog and overcast keep the temperatures cool and colors muted.

We procured lunch at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Co. restaurant in, yes, Half Moon Bay. Thankfully, time had not distorted my memory of their excellent fish and chips, which Karen and I shared with a flight of various beers. A good lunch stop not to be missed if you drive this stretch of the Golden State coastline.

A few more hours found us home, where the searing temperatures made me all the more happy to have hidden in California’s coastal hills for the last couple of days.


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speaking from the stomach: rita’s

A recent visit to Eureka and chance landed me on a little slice of Mexico in the form of the excellent Rita’s Café & Taqueria. There are two Rita’s and I can vouch for the Harris Street location as well worth veering from Hwy 101 and into one of Eureka’s older neighborhoods.

During my meal I imagined the diners around me include a girlfriend and boyfriend from one of the local colleges, a mother and father and their children joined by grandma and grandpa, older couples enjoying dinner out and a mother treating her college-aged daughter and her friends. A handful of customers must be regulars as customers greet them by name; always a good sign. Another good sign: smiles a every table.

This smallish restaurant greets diners with happy colors while the friendly staff swiftly brings chips and salsa to the table and take drink orders. Music reminiscent of the streets of Mexico reinforces the feeling without bring obtrusive. Margaritas in nearly gallon-size glasses, apparently a big draw for Rita’s, grace many of the tables. Others call to mind Corona commercials, with galvanized buckets filled with ice and half a dozen Coronitas. Tortilla more delicate than expected arrive with a novel treatment: mild and warmer salsa in small dispensers with bowls that allow you to sample, choose, then use only the salsa you want.

Without calling myself a connoisseur, I have an idea of what makes good Mexican food. And Rita’s makes good Mexican food. The huge menu will satisfy the cravings of nearly anyone, with the only blatant American influence being the inclusion of the omnipresent chimichanga. I chose Burrito Especial, encouraged to find a place offering two smaller all-meat burritos — one chili colorado and the second chili verdé — instead of one giant version of tortilla-wrapped goodness. By virtue of these burritos being home to only meat, they are accompanied by beans and rice.

I finished it all. It was that good. The burrito chili verdé is the spicier of the two, but just enough to wake the taste buds. The burrito chili colorado presents a more mellow flavor that sneaks up with a bit of heat. However, this dish is one probably better — an easily — shared.

Around my office a few of us recently agreed that the better Mexican restaurants are in Southern California and that it’s hard to find a solid Mexican meal in or around San Francisco. Rita’s offers the irony that I found one of the better Mexican places almost at the northern edge of the state.

Mexican food lovers…there’s hope! Unfortunately it’s roughly 275 north of my house.


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burger in a can and batter in a bottle

Batter BlasterCan’t help but wonder if we aren’t living at the peak of canned culinary delights… Just as Mr. Chandler over at The Trout Underground unwrapped the delicious details of The German-Built Canned Cheeseburger, the local press shines the front page spotlight on The Amazing Organic Batter Blaster (found at sfgate.com). Consider it the next evolutionary step of a good ol’ camping standby: Bisquick Shake ‘n’ Pour.  What could be more convincing that an online video?

Canned HamburgerQuick vittles is one holy grail of those fisherpeople who stretch the legal limits of fishing to that hour before the sun officials shines on this Golden State. And what could be better and more ‘Merican than a quick batch of stick-to-your-ribs flapjacks?

Pass the syrup!


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where on the road is AB?

Guess that all this time shifting with our mondo-cool Series 3 HD TiVo ain’t always a good thing. With the capacity to store up to 300 hours of television shows, easily allows me to let hours and hours — more like half hours and half hours — of “Good Eats” to pile up on the hard drive. (I tend to save them for the off season.)

In doing so, it seems that I missed the boat on “Feasting on Asphalt 2.” Apparently, AB (that’s Mr. Alton Brown to non-foodies) hit the road last month and will still be riding along this month to finish filming six episodes of “Feasting on Asphalt2,” a self-apparent follow up to the first “Feasting on Asphalt.” (There’s also a mysterious title “A Taste of Tarmac” floating around on AB’s Web site…a possible subtitle?)

According to his blog, AB last was in Mississippi…but that was back on April 25. Digging around AltonBrown.com, perhaps I found the reason for the sudden stop to his blogging about his escapades…

Like the country song says, “I got a long way to go and a short time to get there.” Turns out it’s not too safe to write while riding my bike, so the whole Feasting on Asphalt 2 adventures will post once we finish shooting. Remind me to tell you about the wasp that got inside my helmet…
—AB

A wise decision I would say, and I am sure he doens’t want a repeat of last year’s nasty turn of events.  In the meantime, mark your calendar or set the alarm in Outlook or on your Palm for August 4, when “Feasting on Asphalt 2” will premiere.  (This means you Tom, Luci, Nicholas and Nathan!)


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culinary craze or just plain crazy?

Let’s just hope that at least one food fad doesn’t leave the South. The Kool-Aid Soaked Pickle.

Kool-Aid Pickle

Take one pickle, soak it in Kool-Aid and put it in gallon jars on the counters of the local food market. And apparently folks buy them.  Then they eat them.  It boggles the mind. At least my mind.


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wine country wandering

Karen and I had a chance — or more accurately created a chance — to have an aimless day of sorts. Adam had to be in San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall at 9:00 a.m. Sunday for a concert, and after leaving him with the group, wandered off in search of breakfast. Which we promptly found one block down and to the left at The Crepe House. It’s a nice little place, offering crepes, eggs, omelets and your basic breakfast foods. I opted for a cheese, ham and mushroom omelet, which came with pan fried potatoes and thick sourdough toast. Karen splurged on eggs Benedict, accompanied by two “plain” crepes (with lemon, butter and powdered sugar). It was nice to enjoy a hearty breakfast without rushing off.

After a quick stop at the office so I could set up the artificial Christmas tree, we leisurely found our way to Sears Point with the thought of stopping at wineries we typically pass by on our way to others in the more northern Napa or Sonoma valleys. And we were pleasantly surprised at each of the three wineries we visited. (I believe that all three only sell on premises or to restaurants.)

At Roche Carneros, our first stop, we sampled the standard range of wines from the area. The 2005 Carneros Estate Chardonnay is a very good, balanced white. We found the other wines to also be generally good, but I was very impressed with two dessert wines: the 2005 Taramix and the 2005 Late Harvest Merlot. Both are more subtle than most dessert wines, but the late harvest merlot was unlike any wine I have ever tasted. As a blush, a slight presence of tannins works a bit against the sweetness to leave a fresh taste on the tongue. Definitely a great wine for a hot summer day!

Just down the road we entered the long, sweeping driveway to Viansa Winery & Italian Marketplace, which focuses on Italian and was established by Sam and Vicki Sebastiani, with Sam part of the well-known family behind the Sebastiani Vineyard & Winery. It’s quite a view from this winery’s hilltop location. The last half of Viansa’s name truly reflects what we found inside, with Italian foodstuffs and merchandise, as well as a small deli. Generally, the wines were good, but I think we were both very impressed with the 2004 Prindelo, which is a blend of Primitivo, Teroldego and Zinfandel. We also both enjoyed the crsip and clean 2005 Arneis. (Arneis is a reputedly difficult to grow Italian grape, while Primitivo is considered by some to be the ancestor of California’s Zinfandel. Teroldego is a rich red similar to Zinfandel.)

We continued northeast on Hwy 112, intent on heading up Hwy 12 to Sonoma, but before the turnoff spotted a smallish sign touting the funny little Larson Family Winery. I say funny because the first sign along the semi-private and rather rundown road states something like “Winery: .4173485 miles.” Further down the road another old wooden signs warns one to “Beware of Kamikaze squirrels.” This is another small, family-owned place with some surprising wines and hosted by a golden retriever named Buddy. Here you can find the 2004 Wingo White Carneros jug wine sitting alongside to a very nice 2005 Carneros Cuvée Rosé and what I would call an incredible 2003 Meritage. Speaking of rosés — it must have been inevitable that they make a return. But don’t turn your nose up at a rosé without first tasting it…I have very surprised at how good varietal rosés can be. (It’s not your father’s Lancers anymore!)

The rest of our day was fairly relaxed, dropping by Sonoma Jack’s for some cheese and food, visiting a few stores such as Pier 1 Imports for some Christmas goodies, before winding our way home.

P.S. I’m figuring that since we didn’t buy some of the wines that we enjoyed, a return trip will be in order soon!


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at the other end of the state

It has been a fast two days down here in San Diego. Most of the time has been filled by the airport wait, the flight, the shuttle ride and the conference. It’s been a learning experience, that’s for sure. I do have to say it’s nice to take my walks along the edge of the San Diego Bay (I’m on Shelter Island.) during sunrise or sunset. And I did have a great dinner last night at the Bali Hai. I had meant to visit this restaurant during my last visit, but never got there. Last night, Dan, a co-worker, and I took the 30-minute (leisurely) walk to the other end of the “island,” and the Bali Hai. The restaurant is centered around a Hawaiian island theme, with windows overlooking the bay. My teriyaki scallops were cooked to perfection and Dan’s salmon Wellington looked great.  Well worth the walk. 

Two more meetings this morning and it’s back to the airport for me…


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apples and spinach

Autumn officially began for me Saturday…a week earlier than specified on the calendar. I mark the start of autumn with a visit to Apple Hill. It came a bit early this year as we plan to make two trips. I guess purchasing 10 gallons of apple cider gets a bit ridiculous considering my favorite apple farm is only a couple hours away. We picked up only two gallons this time, and I — and anyone else who wants to join me — will head back up “the hill” again during the next few months to lay in my year’s supply of cider.

It was a beautiful day to visit Apple Hill and we definitely missed the crowds. In fact, it was so quiet that not all of the crafts people had opened shop. Even the ol’ Mexican guy who creates “paintings” using only spray paint was missing. But it was a good visit. Even tasted an apple variety I haven’t seen before, called “Elstar.” Tastes like a combination between Fuji and Pippin. Pretty darn tasty. Of course, we visited Bolster’s Hilltop for the cider and Mill View Farm for turnovers, a dumpling and cider doughnuts (and delivering half a dozen doughntus to Sean on the way home). Before we knew it, it was time to head home.

Now, “Where’s the spinach?” you might ask. During the drive home we stopped at CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) for some great hummus and dinner. I initially ordered the “White Pizza,” which the menu described as being made with mozzarella, fontina, ricotta, parmesan and pecorino romano cheeses with garlic and — oops! — fresh sautéed spinach. Alas, no spinach!  …sigh…  I chose something else (Goat Cheese with Roasted Peppers) and was quite happy with it!