chez pim

Nutrition for the soul

Something happened yesterday that reaffirmed my belief in humanity. It was food, not to assuage my hunger, but to nourish my soul.

I found an unusual comment on my blog when I logged in yesterday morning. Someone I didn't know from Michigan was looking for a mutual friend, a retired professor who splits his time between Paris and his home in Michigan. He apparently failed to return home from Paris as scheduled last Friday.

Some google sleuthing turned up a mention of his name on my blog, so I was contacted. I saw him last month in London and Paris, and knew that he had not been feeling well so I became extremely concerned.

Trio restaurant, an ephemeral magic

The only saving grace of last week harrowing journey through three cities in four days was my dinner at Trio with Louisa. I was particularly happy to be there, not only for the rendez-vous with Louisa, but also to catch a meal by Grant Achatz before he leaves Trio at the end of the month. And now that I've done it, I'm so very glad I had a chance to partake in the ephemeral magic that was Grant Achatz at Trio. And the meal turned out to be, by far, the most interesting one I had this year. Louisa made the reservation for 9pm, as I was coming in that night from Orlando. We both agreed that I really should try Trio, and that we would try to keep the number of courses low so I wouldn't be up so late. I had a flight scheduled at practically daybreak the next morning to Indiana, after all. By the time I got there and sat down at table, it was past nine, thanks to Hertz “Ever Lost” GPS system in my rental car. We looked at the menu, seriously considered the famed Tour de Force menu (27 courses!), but decided to do the sensible thing and went with the 8-course menu. The M.D. came back to the table after a few minutes in the kitchen to say the chef would like to cook for us if that was ok. If that was ok? Are you kidding, I thought, of course, please do. I think we must have mumbled something about my flight the next morning, as he came back barely a minute later to ask how much time we had. I thought about it for a second, and decided “to hell with it” I'd much rather eat than sleep anyhow. So I told him not to worry, I didn't need much sleep anyway. He looked at me a bit cross eyed, but realized I wasn't kidding, so off he went back to the kitchen to tell the chef.

Breakfast for dinner, a blissfully boring evening at home

I spend so much of my life traveling and simply being out. I enjoy it tremendously, but sometimes it takes a quiet time alone to remind me what bliss a boring evening at home could be.

I made myself a simple scrambled egg for dinner, just because. What's wrong with craving a breakfast dish for dinner? In my own quiet corner of this world, there is no one here to please but me.

I took two brown pullet eggs, beat them with a little milk and a spoonful of crème fraîche that I happened to have on hand. I also found some morels I bought at the farmer's market last Saturday, so I cut up a few and sautéed in a bit of butter and salt until nice and tender. The eggs got scrambled, then mixed with the mushroom, plated, and sprinkled with chives. Just because it's only for me doesn't mean it couldn't be pretty. There was also a thick slice of toasted pain campagne with plenty of salted butter. A tall glass of cold milk accompanied the meal.

Bliss.

How to survive yet another trip to Indiana

heh

Fly into Chicago, grab an 18-course meal until the wee hour in the morning, stay overnight near the airport, fly out to Indiana at daybreak on a mini-plane, get your meeting done, and fly home that same evening!

That's how.

Actually, this week has been even crazier than a simple day-trip to Indiana. It's more like Orlando, Chicago, and Indiana, exactly one day each, and now I am safely back home.

I can't complain though, the 18-course meal was taken at the fabulous Trio. As Louisa said, this was the end of an era. The chef, Grant Achatz, is leaving soon, and Trio will never be the same without him. I'll post in more details about it later, promise.

L'Entredgeu: my heart in Paris

There are still a few places I visited during my last couple trips to Paris that I haven't reviewed yet. One of those was, strangely, my very favorite bistro of the moment, L'Entredgeu. I first heard about this restaurant when the French Saveurs magazine did a little blip about it last August. I was actually in Paris at the time, but didn't make it there because they were still closed for the August holidays. My subsequent trips didn't give me a chance either, so it was not until my last one, just over a month ago, that I finally made it.

I showed up in Paris with a full work agenda, and only a few dinner reservations. Luckily, Olivier, the wonderful concierge at my hotel managed to wrestle a sought after table at 8 o'clock for me. There was a funny story about that reservation, Olivier first thought I was completely out of my mind when I told him the name of the restaurant. He asked me to write it down, but was still puzzled, claiming that I must've gotten the name wrong, as l'entredgeu was not a French word!

Something smells fishy around here: my blog is burning fish this time!

My blog is burning just in time to join in the fun, this time hosted by Wena of Mum-mum. I was invited to a barbeque party for my dear friend Anke's birthday, so I decided to grill a fish for the occasion.

This is a super simple way to grill a fish. I came up with this on many a summer vacation spent at my friends Pericles and Rena's summer house on an Island off the coast of Greece. We would get fresh fish from the local fishermen on the island, and cook the most simple but delicious grilled fish using the ingredients we have handy, like thyme and rosemary that grow like weeds all around the house, lemons, freshly pressed fruity olive oil.

Spare us a grain of rice: Chez Pim charity drive

While most of us are fortunate to be able to view food as a delight, an indulgence, or even an intellectual pursuit, many others who share this same world are forced to think of food as mere sustenance, something that will keep them and their children alive for another day.

I have been thinking about a way to turn my love of food, our love of food, into something worthwhile, even if it is but a small thing.

1550 Hyde Cafe and Wine Bar: a delightful new addition to my favorite San Francisco

I rarely write about casual restaurants I visited only once, especially in my own city. I prefer to give them a few tries so I could do a fair review. 1550 Hyde is an exception, however, as I was so taken with them. I might even go back every week!

I've heard a few things about this place since they opened last summer, but since I was away so much, I hadn't had a chance to try it yet. A mention of this place in the latest issue of Gourmet brought them back into my attention yesterday. A phone call later, I secured a table for 8 o'clock that same evening.

The restaurant is in a charmingly cozy space on Hyde Street, right on the cable car line, just a bit across the street from Hyde Street Bistro.

A look at the menu shows that this is unmistakably an ingredient-driven restaurant. The focus is on local producers who practice sustainable agriculture. The menu changes frequently, depending on whatever is in season or good that day.

Psaltis at TFL! Surely you jest, chef Keller?

The foodie world is abuzz with an intriguing development. Doug Psaltis, formerly of Alain Ducasse's Mix in NY, will soon take up the post of Chef de Cuisine at The French Laundry.

A Ducasse protégé in chef Keller's kitchen, how intriguing indeed! The two styles could not be more different. Ducasses cuisine is luxe ingredients on top of super luxe ingredient, while Keller's is, well, The French Laundry. (Need I say more?) I can see chef Keller allowing the most humble of ingredients to take a starring role, while chez Ducasse it must first be dipped in truffle juice or rolled in Osetra caviar.

And before my girl Lou jumps all over me for dissing her Ducasse, I must say that this is not by any means a criticism. I am merely pointing out the difference, as I see it, between the two styles. And for all its worth, this is not to put down Doug Psaltis either. I've never had his food, but I know Ducasses's cuisine from his place at the Plaza Athénee.

This is a curious development indeed. I can't wait to give his food a try.

Manresa Restaurant: a fascinating ride

I had a fascinating dinner at Manresa a couple of weeks ago. A series of somewhat odd circumstances made that happen, starting with a conversation about the restaurant on eG, which led the chef to my blog, and finally resulted in an invitation to visit Manresa and try his food. So I did, what can I say, I was easy.

I was accompanied by my usual gourmet gang, Dave, Allison and Malik, and a new acquaintance, Paul, a friend of Malik's. The gang all piled up in my car to drive down to Manresa in Los Gatos—to be kind to the environment, and so that our dear designated driver Allison could bring us drunken souls back home safely. Malik brought up that we could have been much kinder to the environment by simply eating somewhere in the City rather than trekking out to Los Gatos, I told him sweetly to shut up.

Los Gatos is a small town hidden in the Santa Cruz hills. David Kinch had a smaller restaurant in the area for a few years before he opened his current place. The area is very residential, but with plenty of Silicon Valley riches. I do, however, wonder if the local money can really sustain a restaurant of the caliber that Manresa aspire to be.