Anchor Oyster Bar, San Francisco

This is the Yellowtail Snapper over fingerling potatoes with sauteed veggies at one of my favorite San Francisco eateries, the Anchor Oyster Bar in the Castro.

I endured a frenzied rush on a rainy night to make it from SFO before closing, which gives you and idea of how significant this eatery is...

I agonized briefly over the snapper, an eco-heinous choice, but yellowtail is significantly better than red snapper, so I gave it a shot.

The food here is beautifully done, fresh, minimally fussed over and always subtly seasoned and delicious.

Plus you can sit on the barstool that Harvey Milk used to perch on, and feel at one with history.

- Will

Anchor Oyster Bar
579 Castro St
San Francisco, CA 94114

(415) 431-3990

Ocean Seafood Los Angeles

This is the shrimp and rice noodle at Ocean Seafood in Los Angeles.   It's my favorite dim-sun place in LA hands down.  (mostly because of the emphasis on fresh seafood - huge tanks with live critters line the entry hallway, and if you've a mind to you can choose your lunch from the tanks.) 

This seems to be something of a theme with this blog - I've noticed that the last ten posts or so are all seafood places.   Hmmm... 

I went by myself this time.  I had just gotten back to LA, and was craving dim-sun after a few months on the Cape. (Great seafood there, but not a lot of dim sun, if any.)   Going by myself was a bit overwhelming as the carts were circling like sharks and the little plates piled up pretty fast...

Very tasty though...

- Will

Ocean Seafood

750 N Hill St

Los Angeles, CA 90012

(213) 687-3088

Cap't Elmers -in Orleans, MA

Cap't Elmers, on Old Colony Way in Orleans, MA has been serving what I consider the best lobster roll on Cape Cod for 32 years. Elmer's consistently delivers a classic Cape Cod lobster roll. (I grew up eating this particular lobster roll, which may partially explain my fondness for it.) When I was a teenager they were $5.99 - imagine that!

A few worlds on the lobster roll -

It MUST be on a New England style hot dog roll, ideally split and buttered, and toasted to a golden brown on the grill. A hamburger bun is NOT ok, nor is (gasp) a bulkie roll, a grotesque perversion of the New England classic common to expat New Yorkers. (The Bulkie is way too chewy, and overpowers the lobster meat with its floury-ness.)

All that goes into the lobster roll is lobster meat and a leaf or two of lettuce, ideally Boston lettuce, but butter lettuce will do in a pinch. Romaine is icky in this context, and Mesclun way too gourmet, and thus liable to incite ridicule. A generous gob of Mayo is traditional (and yummy) but may be omitted by the phobic. It is usually served in a white cardboard sleeve, and may be accompanied by fries, onion rings or chips.

If the lobster has been too salad-ized with the addition of celery or God forbid scallions the proprietor should be spanked. When I make them at home I will veer from tradition just slightly by adding a bit of fresh tarragon.

Elmers meets all these criteria admirably. I am sure other things there are excellent, but I have to confess that other than the great clam chowder - in 32 years I've never had anything but a lobster roll at Elmers.

Cap't Elmers
18 Old Colony Way
Orleans, MA 02653

(508) 255-3350

Cooke's Seafood, Orleans, MA

Cooke's wins awards for their fried clams nearly every year. The place is the antithesis of the ramshackle beach seafood shack we all dream of, but the fried seafood here is excellent. (It's a vast fluorescent lit, air conditioned space more reminiscent of a chain fast food place than a local joint.) To be honest, it is a chain, with three or four locations around the Cape, one in Hyannis, One in Mashpee Commons, and the one in Orleans, which I think is the best.

That said, these folks have an amazing touch with the fryer, the clams are perfection, never greasy or heavy, more like clam tempura in their delicacy.

PS: Get the whole clams, that clam strips thing is strictly for rubes...

I've never understood clam strips, why would you have the best part of the meal removed?

Cooke's Seafood
1 S Orleans Rd
Orleans, MA 02653
(508) 255-5518

Provision Company - Holden Beach, NC

This is the crab-cake & boiled shrimp, with a side of conch fritters and slaw at the Provision Company, in Holden Beach, NC.

It's rare that I eat out when I'm there, as we're usually cooking a LOT of food at the rental house, but on this trip we w nt here for lunch. 

This place is excellent, and like so many other southern coastal seafood joints is tucked away under the bridge, and nearly impossible to find on a casual inspection.   (Rule of thumb - NEVER eat at the place at the mainland side of the base of the bridge on these coastal islands, but instead look for a smaller place tucked away under the bridge.) 

The Provision Company is well worth the search though.   The food is great, and it has a great open deck where you can watch the fishing boats landing your lunch.  

The Provision Company 

1343 Cedar Landing Rd SW
Holden Beach, NC 28462
(910) 842-7205

Heaven on Seven Chicago

Visiting Chicago this weekend, some friends took me to Heaven on Seven.  Great gumbo,  but the shrimp and cheese grits weren't particularly to my liking.  The grits seemed like instant, a tad flavorless, made with plain water rather than the more interesting stock.  The shrimp were lightly floured and fried, which I found a bit odd. 

(This may be a NOLA thing, but not the low-country type deal I was expecting.) 

- Will

Best Fish Taco in Ensenada Restaurant

This place just opened down the street from me.  They have an incredibly simple menu -  Fish Taco ($1.50), Shrimp Taco ($2.00) and Beverages. ($1.00)  This place is proof of the old truism about doing one thing and doing it well.  (Well, two things.) 

The fish and shrimp are perfect, delicate and soft inside, lightly floured and fried to order in immaculately clean oil.  They taste like an ocean breeze.  

The tacos come simply as fish or shrimp in the grilled tortilla; you spiff them up yourselves at a salsa / guac / relish bar.  The hot guacamole is great, as is the mango salsa.   Make sure you try the radish relish - it's very cool, and a beautiful color atop the tacos. 

Somewhat confusingly, the "Best Fish Taco in Ensenada" is in Los Angeles. 

- Will

Best Fish Taco in Ensenada - 1650 N. Hillhurst, Los Angeles, CA.

PS: They have a "Latinos for Obama" placard in the window, so not only is the food great, but their heart is in the right place too.  

Little Dom's, Los Feliz

This is the roasted peppers and goat cheese at Little Dom's in Los Feliz. Little Dom's recently opened on Hillhurst where much loved Belle Epoche used to be.

Everything I have had there has been excellent. It can be a bit spendy, but you can also do pizza an salad and get out around $20.

The food is well prepared, mostly Northern Italian specialties. This is well worth a visit. Try anything with sausage, or anything with papardelle. The house made pastas are all excellent as are the arrancini (rice balls). The crab salad with shaved fennel is one of the most delicious uses of crabmeat I've ever encountered, and is a vast pile of crab.

Reservations are highly recommended, as it gets very busy.

Little Dom's (323) 661-0055

2128 Hillhurst Ave,

Los Angeles, CA 90027

- Will

Trattoria Volare in North Beach, San Francisco

Ahhh, is there anything on earth better than the Spaghetti Carbonara at Trattoria Volare in North Beach, San Francisco?

I think not!

- Will

Trattoria Volare
561 Columbus Ave
San Francisco, CA 94133-2801

Phone: (415) 362-2774

March 29th - "Meat Day" at the Japanese Market

Was at the local Japanese market a few days back. I was thrilled to discover that it was "Meat Day"

Hmmm....

- Will

The Gumbo Pot @ LA Farmer's Market

This is the Drunken Shrimp and Jambalaya at the
Gumbo Pot at the LA Farmer's Market.

I stopped in on my way to Cedars Sinai to visit a good friend in he hospital. It seemed fitting, since this is one of his favorite places.

It ain't Nawlins, but it's damm close.

- Will

Lunch with Gail & Rudy

Lunch with long time family friends Gail & Rudy at their home in Patagonia, AZ. Gail made this velvety egg salad paired with tomatoes, olives and roasted asparagus. It was spare, beautifully  composed and delicious.    
- Will

feast restaurant - Tucson AZ

Visiting my step-dad in Tucson, AZ. He wanted to try something new, so I did some online research and found feast, a small place on Speedway blvd. This is the bacon, lettuce, tomato and fried oyster sammich on ciabatta bread. I really wanted to love it. Unfortunately, the oysters were very large, so the proportion to floury coating to oyster innard was not entirely to my liking.

The haloumi and roasted eggplant grilled cheese was a very good take on the comfort food favorite. The haloumi's chewyness made a great foil for the soft grilled eggplant.

The menu was very innovative. (There were four or five things I wanted to try, which is always a good sign.) The ginger cake we shared for desert was really, really good. I'll definitely give this another try when I'm in Tucson again.

www.eatatfeast.com

4122 E Speedway Blvd
Tucson, AZ 85712
(520) 326-9363

Square One Dining - a GREAT restaurant in Los Angeles.

Square One has become my favorite breakfast in LA*, bar none.

This is the lemon thyme chicken sausage omelette, stone ground grits with applewood smoked bacon and cheddar and a side of whole grain toast. it is simple, fresh and absolutely delicious. The omlette is flecked inside with roasted tomatoes, bringing an earthy counterpoint to the lemony thyme sausage.

This place is based on the premise that "natural is always best and basic is not a trend." Square One proves one of the the central premises of organic; that minimal interference produces the best tasting and most exciting food. Their whole food, organic, locally sourced, hormone free aesthetic makes my friend David cringe, (his diet is deliberately and willfully the opposite of all of that.)

It is nestled behind the Scientology Center - on Fountain Ave near the corner of L Ron Hubbard Way. (No, I'm not kidding - that is the name of the street.) The location also makes for great "only in LA" people watching.

If you like real food respectfully prepared - pay this place several visits.

Square One Dining www.squareonedining.com
4854 Fountain Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90029

(323) 661-1109

__________________
* I've been going a LOT since the demise of the beloved Belle Epoque.

White Turkey Drive in - Connaught, OH

It's cold in LA right now - a brisk 48 degrees - so I'm daydreaming of summer. On July 1st of last year I had lunch at the The White Turkey Drive In, in Conneaut, Ohio. This place was founded in 1952, and hasn't changed one bit since. It was by far the most charming and atmospheric of the joints I visited on that trip, and had shady picnic tables out back surrounded by a beautiful perennial garden.

I had the the turkey sandwich called the "Large Marge." (No, it's not named for the lesbian ghost trucker in Pee Wee's Big Adventure, but for the restaurant's original proprietress.)

I can only describe the sandwich as a "pulled turkey" sandwich. It is startlingly like North Carolina BBQ, but made with white meat turkey instead of pork. It was topped with bacon and American cheese. It was delicious, and very vintage-y in character as you'd expect from the looks of this place. It was accompanied by a delicious real milkshake, freshly made and with globs of vanilla ice cream still slightly unblended. The onion rings were good, but of the crumb breading type, which is not my favorite. (My mother's onion rings were arguably the gold standard, closely followed by those at Liam's on Nauset Beach in Orleans Mass on Cape Cod.)

This place was so sweetly retro-Americana that I was nearly moved to tears while waiting for my sandwich. (I'm funny that way.)

I suddenly understood the much vaunted charm of the Midwest. I confess this has previously largely escaped me.

Chef aims high with new Eiffel Tower restaurant - CNN.com

Chef aims high with new Eiffel Tower restaurant - CNN.com

Multi-Michelin starred demi-God Alain Ducasse has opened a new Paris restaurant called "Jules Verne", 410 feet up in the Eiffel Tower.

(Ducasse has an impressive 16 Michelin stars in 20 restaurants worldwide.)

I'd love to give it a whirl, but if you want to go you'd better book soon, as there is a three month waiting list.


He says:

"the menu price is "accessible to everyone": about $108 for lunch and $216 for dinner, without wine."

Hmmm...
That does sound accessible....

Yow!