the petite pig

conquering michael bauer's top 100

though we're only two months into 2007, it has already been a great year of eating for me. sometime last fall, i had dinner with carolyn jung food critic of the san jose mercury news at the counter. while chomping down on our gourmet burgers, we chatted about (not surprisingly) food and the great collection of restaurants the bay area has to offer. sharing her love for eating, her husband has made a goal of conquering michael bauer's top 100. as far as goals go, that ain't a bad one. whether you make it or not, i don't doubt it'll be one delicious journey. when you think about, you never really reach the goal. every year there will be a new crop of restaurants that make it onto this coveted list and the journey just continues . . . and you're more than happy to continue eating.

so, inspired by carolyn's husband, i embark on the same mission. while the chronicle food staff have had their stomaches full with the enviable job of bestowing 2007's honors, i've kept my mouth just as full trying to knock a few off the list before the new 100 gets published in april. anyone who has ever had a taste of nancy oakes' most-perfectly hearty and flavorful dishes at boulevard knows that you can't just have one helping of her food. so with my family visiting (after two years away from the bay area!) for a week in january, i decided to start this quest with a trip to boulevard sharing this bay area favorite with them. two trips to a16 followed shortly. the pizza which has been raved to be reminiscent of the flavors and textures of italy. it was not. but the wine made up for it. though it may have been offset again by the horrors of trying to find a parking space in the marina and battling the hoardes of yuppies (hmmm . . . though i may be one of those yuppies). alas, the latest stop on my journey has more than made up for any disappointment caused by a16. yes, i loved the moist-and-tender-just-order-an-appetizer-because-it's-worth-the -hour-wait roast chicken at zuni cafe. so, it's taken me almost thirty years after chef judy rodgers opened the place in 1979 to get there (give me a break, i wasn't even born when the place opened so there must be some sort of grace period) but i got there and i will be back for more of that goood frikin' chicken (which also happens to be a name of a chicken joint in the mission!).

next stop: a table for two at quince on march 24th. if it's one of thomas keller's favorites, i'm sure it'll soon be one of mine too.

gung hei fat choy

chinese all over the world celebrated another new years over this past weekend. we welcomed the year of the boar with all the traditional fanfare that comes with the holiday: wishes for success and good health for the upcoming year are exchanged between friends and family; little children enjoy newfound wealth with each red envelope they receive; sacrifices are paid to the ancestors and the gods; but most importantly,there is so much food unique to the holiday. on new years eve, chinese families gather for the traditional reunion dinner tuan nian fan. being a superstitious bunch, there are certain dishes that have to be eaten on new years eve  to ensure a great year. fish will be part of any new years menu as the chinese word for fish sounds similar to the chinese word for luck. a large vegetarian spread is also prepared usually featuring a moss that is pronounced fat choy which is also the same sound as the phrase for fortune. whole chickens and whole roast pigs are often used to pay respect to the ancestors and gods in a ceremony involving incense and prayer before making their way to the table.

tuan nian fan, as many of you can guess, is my favorite part of celebrating the new year guo nian. growing up in an immigrant family in america, chinese new years was the one holiday i knew we always got right and always celebrated with complete devotion to all the traditions. it was the equivalent of what most american families have to christmas or thanksgiving but with the tradition and celebration factor multiplied by a factor of ten. my mom who is the cleanest person i know indulged in the tradition of new year spring cleaning, sweeping away all the bad from the previous year preparing the family for all the good luck of the coming year. my grandmother sewed me a new dress so i would have a new outfit to start the year in. red signs with auspicious chinese phrases painted on them in calligraphy hung in our apartment. i wouldn't wash my hair on new years day so that i wouldn't wash the future year's luck away. my dad and his brothers would close down the chinese restaurant they jointly owned in bethesda for the evening, and all our family and friends would gather for a night of festive celebration and eating. i pranced from relative to relative in my newly sewn dress , collecting my stack of red envelopes filled with five, ten, sometimes even twenty dollar bills. as a young child, i definitely thought chinese new years was the party of the year, and some of the most memorable moments of my childhood are from those parties.

my family resigned from the restaurant business long ago, so the celebration has moved into the home and out west. every other year, all six of the dang children (my dad and his five siblings) with their spouses travel from as far as singapore to california for a larger gathering to celebrate both my grandma's lunar birthday and the new years which happen to coincide. unfortunately, this was an off year, but i still made it down to the OC to spend the holiday with my grandma, aunt & uncle and cousins. we feasted on a number of my favorite chinese dishes (shark's fin soup with crab meat & peking duck) for grandma's 84th birthday this year at at sam woo restaurant, a cantonese institution in irvine. my aunt made a huge traditional spread for our tuan nian fan with lots leftover to ensure that there's surplus for the rest of the year. i left the prancing for red envelopes to my nine and eleven year old cousins, aaron and ben but otherwise, the holiday remains much the same to me - full of family, food and traditions and still the best party of the year.

eating my way through tokyo, a photo journal

while my trip to tokyo ended two months ago, i never got a chance to share my full photo journal of all the sites and scenes i witnessed and all the food i digested.  tokyo was a vibrant city full of intrigue and life.  i've never experienced such great meals and such care and respect for every aspect of eating and food.  needless to say, i cannot wait to get back.  for more on my trips, check out these two entries: to tokyo: part ichi and live from tokyo: i smell like a charcoal grill and there's nothing wrong with that.  for full photo descriptions, check out my "eating in tokyo" photo album or just click on the photo link button that pops up as you scroll through the photos.

many of you have started seeing these photo slideshows pop up in many food blogs.  looks fancy, but it's an incredibly simple feature brought to us by flickr called pictobrowser.  to get started, just click on the "info" button on the bottom right of the photo slideshow above.

food specials of the week, february 11th

besides being a cookbook junkie, i have also started amassing a library of culinary magazines.  while the right cookbook will remain a standard classic in any kitchen, food magazines keep every chef and/or foodie abreast on the latest food happenings from the who's who in the current legion of avant-garde chefs to the new "it" ingredient (can we say pomegranate?).  like all magazines, if you're going to be a loyal reader (more than 3 magazines a year), it's worth a subscription.  here are some of the best deals i've found on the web.

saveur at $5.95 for 9 issues vs. $19.95 on amazon or the saveur website. gourmet at $8.75 for a one year subscription vs. $15.00 on amazon. cook's illustrated at $24.95 for 6 issues vs. a $5.95 cover price. food & wine at $12.50 for a 1 year subscription vs. $19.99 on amazon.

food specials of the week, february 4th

i will confess i am a bit of a shopaholic, and i get an instant high when i find a good deal.  i don't even know how many hours i've logged on the internet looking for cookware deals and restaurant specials (for most restaurants, i find it to be a good enough deal when i can get a table on the weekend).  so i'm introducing a new weekly feature on the site - a posting of all my "good deal" and "special" finds in the eating and cooking world every sunday.

i missed this last sunday, but here are some good finds:

le creuset at the home depot. 

who knew home depot sold le creuset?  well, it does and right now they happen to be having some great deals, like the 6.75 quart oval french oven on the left for just $129.00.  i haven't seen anything below $189 on the net for awhile, so get yours while they're around.  click on the dutch oven above to be directed to the home depot website and then search for le creuset.

your best buy dutch oven. 

cook's illustrated tested and rated several lines of dutch ovens in its recent january/february issue.  while we expected the prized (and expensive) le creuset to show up on its recommended list, a less known chefmate available only at target for $39.95 also passed america's test kitchen standards.  i was lucky enough to snag the shiny red one online for 20% off last week but unfortunately they have all sold out.  however, you can still find out what stores still have them in stock.  hurry as every religious braiser that hasn't been able to afford a le creuset is probably trying to get their hands on this one!

 

famous restaurant and famous dinner guests

besides being a shopaholic, i am also a starwood points whore.  all of you who travel a lot for business should understand where i'm coming from.  the starwood preferred guest program (starwood hotels: sheraton, westin, st. regis, the w, le meridien) offers "starwood moments," a program that allows members to use their starwood points to bid on once-in-a-lifetime experiences.  their latest offerings includes a private dinner party with the founders of the zagat survey at thomas keller's much talked about restaurant per se in new york city. if you're looking to cash in your points for something way cooler than just a free night at a hotel, this is your chance for a truly awesome dining experience.  hurry because it ends in 2 days!

let others eat your opinion

cyber communities have definitely changed the way i eat.  on any given weekend when deciding where i should dine, i definitely consult multiple online sources, but there are two that have become my eating guides: menupages and yelp - food for the people as reviewed by the people, not michelin, not a famous food critic, not even zagat's (though i greatly respect all those sources and always keep them handy as well).

i first discovered menupages when i was in new york filming "the next food network star."  i relied on it just about every night to figure out where i would find my next meal.  would it be dining at a dive in the village or should it be the tasting menu at grammercy tavern?  menupages offers a comprehensive listing of every possible restaurant you'd want to eat at in the city from your hole-in-the-wall takeout joint to the most upscale of dining venues, sorted by neighborhood or cuisine.  but best of all, rather than visiting each individual restaurant's website to see what they're serving up, it offers the menus of all these places, all in one place.  but the restaurant reviews are up to you, your duty as part of the online foodie community.  best of all menupages is expanding beyond the big apple and now offers restaurant searches in san francisco, los angeles, philadelphia, boston, chicago and washington, d.c.  however, none of the new regions have nearly as many people reviewing as new york does.  therefore i am calling all diners from the recently added areas to get online and contribute so all of us can eat better based on your opinion.   soon, you won't know how you survived so long without it . . .

the second site yelp extends beyond the food world.  you can find just about anything in your area on yelp based on the reviews of others.  need a dentist?  a new hair stylist?  a brazilian wax?   if you live in a metropolitan area, then most likely yelp can help.  although i've primarily freeloaded on the reviews of others, i've recently decided to start contributing.  after all i have my fair share to say about food.  click below to see what i thought about the much raved about a16 in the marina neighborhood of san francisco (unfortunately, i was not part of the raving crowd) . . .

so bookmark these two places: menupages and yelp.  get eating and make use of all those opinions you know you have.