Travel – Page 34 – Yogurtsoda

Japan, Day One

January 11, 2010March 5, 2013

I’m warning you now: this is going to be an epically long post. It hasn’t even been a month since I’ve returned from Japan but I’m already missing it. I spent a week between Tokyo and Kyoto with my sister Melody in December and only wish that I had a few extra weeks to spare. The food, the style, the ridiculously efficient transportation system – I loved it all.

We arrived at Narita International Airport on a Friday evening and after getting our bearings straight, hopped on the Narita Express train, which took us to Shinjuku Station in Tokyo in under two hours. In Shinjuku, we checked into Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku, which would be our home for the next three nights. I loved this hotel. Sure, the rooms are tiny, (what do you expect, it’s Tokyo!) but the service was impeccable and the details were perfect, right down to the freshly-starched pajamas and the high-tech toilets (more on Japanese toilets later). After getting settled in, we had a light dinner of onigiri and seaweed salad and called it a night.

The next morning, we had breakfast at Blegrace, one of Tokyo’s ubiquitous French-style bakeries. Melody had the green bean bread, while I had a hot dog bun covered with cheese and seaweed.

It doesn’t look very French, I know. And it’s not very breakfasty. But who cares, it was delicious.

Afterwards, we took the train to Harajuku to explore Meiji Jingu, a Shinto shrine dedicated to the spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shoken. Built in 1920, the shrine is expansive and made up primarily of Japanese cypress and copper. The original building was destroyed during the Tokyo air raids of World War II and was rebuilt in the 1950s.

We left the quiet sanctuary of Meiji Jingu and next explored the neighborhood streets, people-watched and checked out the craziness that is Harajuku.

We soon got back on the train and took the Yamanote line to Shibuya, where we found Hachiko!

What’s the story behind Hachiko? Read this. (Be forewarned, it’s a tear-jerker.)

We crossed the infamous Shibuya Crossing and took in the music-blaring, super-busy, advertisement-heavy neighborhood. Shibuya is full of huge advertisements, often featuring American celebrities, like this one:

Why yes, that is Tommy Lee Jones for Suntory “Boss” Coffee.

After Shibuya, we got on the metro and took the subway to Ginza Station. Do you like shopping? Do you like fashion? Go to Ginza then, it will blow you away. Chock-full of department stores and boutiques that put their American counterparts to shame, Ginza was like walking into an alternate universe: droves and droves of perfectly-dressed people taking a weekend stroll. And I mean perfectly dressed. Ginza is, after all, arguably the most luxurious shopping district in the world.

But enough about the clothes, let’s talk about the food! American department stores, please take note: Japanese department stores have food courts. And I’m not talking about some paltry excuse for a sandwich shop or McDonald’s. Japanese department stores typically have one or two of the basement floors dedicated entirely to gourmet food, from bento, to sushi, to pickles, to pastries, to tea, and the list goes on. I felt like I was in heaven wandering the food halls of Matsuya, Daimaru, Takashimaya and Mitsukoshi.

After a quick snack of gyoza at Mitsukoshi’s food court, and a walk around Ginza, we headed back to Shinjuku for dinner.

In Shinjuku, we had dinner at Santouku, a busy ramen joint just a few blocks from our hotel. I opted for the shoyu ramen.

The ramen broth was super rich and the noodles had a fresh, firm texture to them that I’ve never had in California. Dinner was hearty, and Melody and I decided to walk it off by exploring the side streets of Shinjuku.

We covered a lot of ground for our first day in Japan (and a jet lagged one at that). Exhausted, we headed back to our hotel for a good night’s rest so that we could be ready for an early start the next morning.

Flavor Bistro

December 17, 2009

I’m probably going to get a lot of flack for saying this, but Flavor Bistro is overrated. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good, but too many people in Sonoma County talk about Flavor Bistro as if it is the only restaurant serving good-quality, local fare. When it opened in Santa Rosa a few years ago, it was an instant hit and has stayed consistently busy ever since.

I should start by saying the food is usually good. On my last visit, I ordered the butternut squash ravioli.

These ravioli were fresh-tasting and the pasta was cooked well, albeit a little too sweet for my taste.

The serving sizes at Flavor Bistro tend to be small. (Why yes, those three ravioli are considered an “entree.”) And sometimes, what you order can be a complete miss, like the duck ravioli I ordered several months ago. There was little duck to speak of.

Perhaps it’s just me, after all, Flavor Bistro’s business is testament to its popularity. And the ambiance is pleasant – a quintessential Wine Country restaurant in the heart of downtown Santa Rosa. I know I’ll be back soon enough and next time, maybe I’ll order a sandwich instead.

Jai Yun

November 3, 2009

Be forewarned, this is about to be a long post (and deservedly so).

When my friend Ario first told me about Jai Yun several weeks ago, I was intrigued. I’d recently finished reading Fuschia Dunlop’s Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China and was eager to learn more about Sichuanese cuisine. Luckily for me, it turns out that San Francisco’s Chinatown is home to one of the finest Sichuanese banquet restaurants this side of the Pacific, and I jumped at the chance to dine there.

There is no menu at Jai Yun. Each dining group (in our case, a party of ten), selects a per-person price level (ranging from $55 to to $150) and Chef Nei, who is an incredible one-man show, cooks the most unforgettable Chinese meal you will ever have.

The meal began with a round of twelve appetizers:

These included thinly sliced lotus root, cured pork tongue, sliced intestines, enoki mushroom salad, pressed tofu with parsley, smoked duck, gong tsai with tiger lily flower buds, smoked tofu skin, pickled cucumber with sesame oil, spiced beef shank slices (sliced so thinly they were translucent), jellyfish, and pickled radish. Each dish allowed for a bite or two for each guest, and the quality and care put into each appetizer was easily apparent. My favorites were the gong tsai and spiced beef shank slices.

Next, we were served an ethereal platter of abalone with egg whites. This was my first taste of abalone, and in my excitement, I forgot to take a photo. But rest assured it was absolutely delicious, light and velvety.

After the abalone came a plate of wheat gluten with vegetables:

I’m a meat eater, but I love gluten’s unique texture. I don’t think of it as a substitute for meat, but rather an ingredient strong enough to hold its own. Served with vegetables and a savory sauce, this dish was a perfect example.

Next we were served braised ribs with and taro root balls:

I cannot stop thinking about these taro root balls. I was expecting something heavy and dense, but I was surprised to find them delicately crispy on the outside and almost spongy on the inside. They collapsed in my mouth as soon as I bit down on them. The ribs were a hearty accompaniment too – this was easily one of my favorite dishes of the evening.

Chef Nei made sure to balance the types of flavors that were presented in each dish that arrived at our table, one by one. If we received a heavy or spicy dish, our next one would be lighter and easier on the palate. That was the case with the crystal shrimp that came next:

These shrimp were succulent and fresh-tasting, just the way they should be. It’s so easy to overcook shrimp and end up with a gummy plate of seafood. Not with these – they were cooked just right.

Next we tried the Sichuan-style eggplant in spicy garlic sauce:

I absolutely love eggplant (show me an Iranian who doesn’t), so I was head over heels for this dish. The julienned slices of eggplant were incredibly tender yet retained their shape and the Sichuan peppercorns lent just the right hit of tongue-numbing tingliness. (Is tingliness a word? Whatever, this was delicious.)

Next we tried the rock cod fish fillet sauteed with sweet corn and peas:

If I had to choose, I usually prefer shellfish over fish. Not in this case. Chef Nei is a master with achieving the right texture with fish and it won me over with this dish. The light sauce was refreshing too after having just eaten the spicy eggplant.

Our server then brought out a plate of winter melon, ginko and coconut jelly:

I love coconut jelly and this was my first taste of winter melon so I was excited. This was the sweetest dish of the night, and my favorite thing about it was the uniform cut, shape and color of the coconut jelly and winter melon, making them almost indistinguishable until you bit into a piece.

Next we were served strange flavor chicken:

Fuschia Dunlop writes about this dish in Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper, and I’d long imagined what it would actually taste like. Surprisingly, it wasn’t strange at all, but it certainly was deliciously spicy, so I can’t complain at all.

At this point I didn’t know how much more I could eat, but the dishes kept coming. A plate of tofu skin with edamame and fava beans was brought to our table:

I love tofu skin. I love fava beans. I love edamame. Therefore, I loved this dish.

Next we were brought a very special dish: silky tofu with crab roe:

You know the slimy green stuff in fresh crab that rarely makes it to your dinner table because fishmongers clean it out for you? That’s the roe, and it’s the equivalent of crab caviar. Our server told us that it’s very difficult to cook properly and must be eaten while it’s still hot in order to taste good. It was creamy, super-briny and melded really well with the soft tofu.

One of the heaviest dishes of the meal was served next, five-spice braised pork leg:

I don’t really eat pork, but I gave in and tried this out. This meat needed no coaxing; it fell right off the bone at the slightest touch and was incredibly tender. And oh, that sauce. So rich and flavorful.

Are you still with me? Good, because next we were served a cleansing dish of Chinese celery, yellow leeks and pressed tofu:

This is another Sichuanese classic that I was excited to try and despite how simple it may look, it had been tossed in a light sauce that I can’t quite put my finger on but it brought everything together really well.

Next we were served the fried ginger beef:

We couldn’t tell exactly what was in the marinade, but the beef had a mildly sweet, almost tamarind or tangerine flavor to it underneath the crispy exterior. This dish was a crowd pleaser, and with good reason.

We were nearing the end of our meal, but it wasn’t over yet. Our server brought us a big plate of loofah with mushrooms in a chicken broth glaze:

Not to be confused with the loofah more commonly associated with shower time, Chinese loofah is a gourd vegetable that I hadn’t tasted until this dish. I’d always been curious and I was pleased that the simple broth glaze didn’t overpower the vegetables.

Internet, if the photo enough doesn’t do this dish enough justice, I’m happy to report that this fish was incredible. The spicy sauce, the vegetables, the whole thing was so good. It was only a shame that I was too full to have more than a couple of bites at this point.

If you live in the Bay Area or if you find yourself visiting San Francisco, make sure to visit the restaurant. I cannot believe that I’ve lived here my whole life and have only recently learned of Jai Yun. I feel like I’ve unearthed an epic secret, and can’t wait to go back for more.

California Academy of Sciences

September 12, 2009September 12, 2009

Last year’s reopening of the California Academy of Sciences opened up with much fanfare, and for a while all San Francisco could talk about was the new space’s environmental design. I had visited the museum in 2006 at its temporary location on Howard Street during the primary building’s renovation, and had been a little disappointed. It wasn’t until recently that I found the time to visit the primary location’s new facility, and while I’m incredibly impressed, I do miss the old California Academy of Sciences of my childhood.

As a native Bay Arean (is that a word?) – I remember the earthquake simulation exhibit of my youth, the beautiful structural columns of the old building, the mediocre cafeteria food before haute cuisine became de rigeur.

But that’s not to say these things haven’t been replaced with equally engrossing (and educational) components. The academy now boasts a gorgeous 2.5 acre “Living Roof,” a four-story rainforest encased in a giant clear sphere, a trendy cafe menu and word is that the planetarium is a must-see, though when I visited at ten on a weekend morning, tickets had already sold out for the day.

Some exhibits from my childhood remain intact – the Steinhart Aquarium is as magical as ever and the natural history museum still hosts life-size replicas of endangered species.

The architecture alone is reason enough to visit, but the crowds are reason enough to stay away. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll absolutely revisit the California Academy of Sciences time and time again, but it can be difficult to fully see the exhibits because the number of people makes it difficult.

If you can, visit on a weekday. Make sure to visit the planetarium – and tell me all about it!

Boccalone Salumeria

August 13, 2009

I’m a huge Chris Cosentino fan. Incanto is one of my favorite restaurants, and ever since Boccalone Salumeria opened up in the Ferry Plaza, I’ve been a regular visitor. Cosentino was pushing offal before offal was cool, and thanks to his efforts, more and more people these days are willing to try things like tuna heart and beef kidney.

For the squeamish, Boccalone Salumeria offers more traditional salumis, but in a myriad of flavors. During my last visit, I bought a brown sugar and fennel salame sandwich to snack on.

The slow-aged salame was perfectly spiced and the sandwich had bits of sweet fig to balance things out. My only wish is that the sandwich had more actual salame; the bread to meat ratio was a little higher than I prefer. But Boccalone makes a great product, and I’m due to return and try another one of their cured meats.

Boccalone carries soppressata, prosciutto, guanciale, pancetta, patÃ© and all the usual suspects, but what I’m really interested in is their nduja, which they began carrying earlier this year. Nduja is a soft, spreadable, spicy, salame that originated in Calabria and I’ve never heard of anything like it. Intrigued? So am I.

Oh, and they carry mortadella with black truffles. As an Iranian-American, mortadella holds a special place in my heart (the pistachio-flecked, garlicy variety is the preferred deli meat of Iranians around the world), so I know I’ll be picking up a pound or two of Boccalone’s version when I visit next.

Chris, if you’re reading this, God bless your offal-loving soul. Offal is no longer something that elicits cries of disgust when I mention it to fellow eaters. On the contrary, now they welcome it with open arms.