Gastronomie

Seven Hours in Memphis

I know I sometimes have a warped view of my world... For example, for the past several years, I've flown over 100K miles per year on United, which has bestowed upon me the status of "Premier Executive 1K". Which basically means I'm that schmuck you hate as you're boarding, who's usually seated in Business Class with a glazed look in her eyes, trying to remember which city she's heading to next.

There are, of course, some nice perks to this program -- the aforementioned upgrades usually clear, I get treated pretty well if there are irregular operations (e.g., weather, equipment problems, etc), and... and... OK, maybe that's mostly it.

But the thing is, once you get used to the perks, it's really hard to think about going back to a lower level of status. Like I said, a warped view.

What does this all have to do with Memphis? Well, United was running a double-miles promotion, and I've always wanted to eat at C's favorite barbeque joint, the Bar-B-Que Shop, so on a total whim, we booked a ticket that would put us on the ground in Memphis for almost exactly seven hours.

It was an exhausting journey (we were in the same clothes for exactly 28 hours), totally indulgent (three meals in 5 hours), and totally invigorating. It was one of those days that leaves you marveling at how amazing the world we live in is, and was a reminder to throw caution to the wind and take life by the balls sometimes.

 

Tags: Food, Food & Drink, BBQ, Beer,Photography,United,Travel,Memphis,Oakland,San Francisco

MoNo, My Little Monkey

You know that cute little place around the corner? That neighborhood bistro where everyone knows your face, if not your name, and you have a favorite server, and a favorite table? Where the food might not be life-changing, but is consistently executed and delicious and never gets boring?

Until a couple of weeks ago, my neighborhood didn't have that place. But then, two lovely people with long histories in the San Francisco restaurant world decided to start their own dream place -- close to home. And so, MoNo (say "moe-no") was born.

Having now had three meals here, I can honestly say that MoNo is going to make it that much easier for me to stay in Oakland for dinner.

Standouts from the menu have included the Dayboat Scallop Crudo ($13), Asparagus with Prosciutto, Parmigiano, and a fried egg ($9), and the Meyer Lemon Risotto ($18). The risotto, while not overtly lemony, bears a sublimely floral fragrance, and is beautifully cooked -- just this side of al dente -- with several plump, juicy, caramelized prawns.

The Red Miso Grilled Lamb Chops ($21) had stellar flavor, though I wished there were two thicker chops rather than the four thinner chops on my plate; they were cooked a bit more than the medium rare I'd specified, and that's not uncommon with thin chops. Served with amazingly prepared baby bok choy, and tender spears of garnet yams, this is an already-great dish that will only benefit from a bit of fine-tuning in the kitchen.

Lunch portions are generous and reasonably priced: my Seared Tuna sandwich ($10) was big enough to share, and accompanied by a small green salad. (Admittedly, I thought the vinaigrette on the salad too acidic and under-salted. But I wasn't there for salad, so I just ignored it.)

Ms. Eggbeater herself has been consulting on the pastry menu, though I understanding she's just about winding down her gig there. Hopefully, the kitchen will be able to reproduce her Spicy Gingerbread ($6), because my GOD, it's incredible.

The wine list at MoNo is outrageous, giving them lots of credibility as a wine bar. From a section dedicated to artisanal sakes (including a sparkling sake!) to a selection of 15 wines available by the half-bottle, they make it very easy to try something new at each visit. The staff, as green as they are, do a nice job talking about the list, and rumor has it that there will be a sommelier on the floor on weekend nights.

MoNo is a wee little place (maybe 30 seats plus bar seating) and I can see it going the route of Wood Tavern pretty quickly -- packed to the gills every night with locals and regulars. Here's hoping!

MoNo Restaurant and Wine Bar
247 4th Street, Oakland
510.834.0260

Tags: Food, Food & Drink, Wine, Sake, Restaurant Review, Mono, Oakland, San Francisco

Interesting Food -- Are You Ready For It?

Last week, Sam and I went to Orson on their first publicly-open night. She wrote an outstanding post about it here, including some excellent tips for getting the most out of a meal at Orson.

I thought I'd toss my two-cents into the ring, as so many of you today are heading over from her post, and decided to take the opportunity to ask an interesting question, as well.

To begin though, I have to laud Jacqueline Patterson's cocktail list. I fell so promptly in love with the Celery Gimlet that I actually ordered two of them instead of trying a second cocktail. Interestingly, I tried Alembic's celery & gin concoction on Friday night, and have to say that Orson's version is a far more balanced drink. Sam's Catch-22, while not my personal cup of tea, is a masterful libation loaded with flavor.

Also, as Sam mentioned, the Lightly Smoked Fish ($15) is a wonder of sous vide cookery -- the outside is texturally similar to hot-smoked salmon while the interior retains the texture of cold-smoking. Charred Octopus ($11) is a light dish, punctuated by paper-thin shavings of beef tendon and sprouted peanuts; an odd combination to be sure, but one which works beautifully.

When Chef Falkner came out to say hello, Sam and I both couldn't help gushing over everything, from the drinks and savory courses I espoused above, to the lovely space and service. We chatted for a bit about the never-ending "California Cuisine" debate, which leads me to ask you this question:

Is San Francisco ready to embrace technique-based cooking?

Ours has long been a culture of ingredient-driven food, and with good reason -- just stop in at any Farmer's Market and you can see why. But in that process, we've effectively denied our restaurant kitchens the opportunity to develop and cultivate the use of creative techniques, styles, and flavors.

I think back to the wonderful and memorable Smoked Yogurt that accompanied our chocolate cake at Coi, and how it disappeared not long after our meal there because it was "too different". And yes, while I know that Winterland's location was cursed, it's still unfortunate that they closed SO quickly (though, by all accounts, service never really got where it needed to be). How about the dishes that Daniel Humm was turning out at Campton Place? How could we have let a creative mind of his caliber run off to New York?

The question has been asked many times, many ways. But I can't help but ask it again. Are we willing to pay top-dollar for food because of the effort it takes? Is San Francisco ready to support a local favorite daughter in her attempt to push the boundaries of what we eat in this town?

Weigh in, please. I'm truly curious to know your thoughts.

Tags: Citizen Cake, Orson, Elizabeth Falkner, Molecular+Gastronomy, Cooking, Restaurants, San Francisco, Food & Drink

A Brooklyn Afternoon, Gastronomie-style

I have this friend. We'll call her "Angela".

I met Ang 10 years ago, when we were both too mature for the group of friends we were hanging out with, but we'd sadly lost touch for most of the last seven years.  Enter MySpace (yes, I succumbed), and a few exchanged emails, and a ridiculously fun weekend before New Years, when she was visiting her brother who lives here in San Francisco.

Angela lives in NYC, you see -- Williamsburg to be exact -- and on New Years Day, when we said goodbye, it was knowing that we'd rekindled a friendship that fizzled all too early many years ago.

Suffice it to say that when we hit up New York this last time, it was a given that we'd go to Ang's 'hood to get a taste of what's going on in Brooklyn. And a tasty sojourn it was, my friends. As we left her apartment, she told us that she was taking us for a brunch the likes of which she'd only otherwise had in San Francisco.

Roebling Tea Room is a wonderful space, light-filled and high-ceilinged, with an imposing tea bar in the center of the room. While service was a bit spacey, the food was all stellar, including The Eggs. I don't like eggy things, and yet, I was so enamored of Roebling's Baked Cheddar Eggs with Fennel-Raisin Toast & Grits ($9) that I've tried to recreate them at home no fewer than three times since I've been back. That dish might actually inspire me to start, you know, BAKING. Because the thing is, I can't find FENNEL-RAISIN BREAD anywhere. Acme? Arizmendi? Della Fattoria? Are you listening???

From Roebling's, we headed towards the waterfront as Angela shared the neighborhood's history, from the Greenpoint oil spill to the indie music and art scene flourishing there today. We stumbled upon a corner bar, what might be considered the epitome of a neighborhood dive, and popped in for pints of Stella Artois and Guinness. Ang decided we needed some coffee next, so we headed back towards her house, stopping at a tiny little coffee shop with a MacBook at every seat, where she and C were delivered a pair of bittersweet mochas by a stunning Nuyorican diva.

As we came to the corner where we were to turn right towards Ang's apartment, my nose picked up the smell of barbeque smoke. I turned to C and said, "Do you smell that"? The look on his face told me he did. Fearing for her life, Angela revealed that Brooklyn's best barbeque was ON THIS VERY BLOCK. And so, we found ourselves at...

...Fette Sau*, or Memphis Minnie's Long Distance Lover. Look, I don't got to 'que joints for vegetables, and neither should you. So do I care that the too frou-frou sides are too expensive? No. And does it bug me that their sauces are merely OK? Well, alright, this one bugs me a little bit, but keep reading and you'll see why it's forgiven.

We ordered a sampling of three different cuts (~$15 for 1lb of meat) to share, since we had a dinner planned at Aquavit in two short hours. But I can tell you honestly that the meat here? It is so incredibly well-smoked, so moist and juicy and tinged with beautiful pinky goodness that I didn't WANT anything to interfere with my enjoyment of the bovine and porcine bits.  Except maybe one of those, oh, FIFTY OPTIONS for Bourbon. Because these people? They clearly know that nothing goes with barbeque like Bourbon.

Of course, you know the Gastro-crew, and you know that we didn't put on ten pounds between us by the end of  long weekend by stopping there.

One of Angela's neighbors owns a precious bakery called Cheeks, and she'd been raving about their Espresso & Fleur de Sel Cookie ($2) since we shared a fleur de sel caramel in San Francisco. It was incredible. Layers and layers of flavor, chewy, satisfying. Delicious. Of course, C's chocolate chip cookie was gone fast enough that I got only a tiny nibble. I'm totally enamored of this cutie-patootie little place, and C shouldn't be surprised if his birthday cake this year is a Red Velvet from Cheeks.

*Pay no attention to the tools who give this place fewer than four starts on Yelp. Seriously, one of these morons actually says that the "pork belly was a tad bit fatty". No shit, Sherlock. Please go back to your flavorless, fatless meat product dinner and leave the rest of us your portion of deliciously fatty bacon.

Tags: New York, Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Fette Sau, Roebling Tea Room, Brunch, Barbeque, San Francisco, Food & Drink

Momofuku Ssam Bar, New York

This trip to NYC has been filled with surprises both gastronomical and otherwise. I caught up with an old college friend who I hadn't seen in over a decade, took C to McSorley's where we got unexpectedly soused mid-afternoon to celebrate my thirty-something birthday and paid a visit to a friend in Williamsburg where we went on an eating and drinking tour of her neighborhood (that's its own post, to come soon).

We basically came to the city this time without a single reservation anywhere. We planned to eat fairly inexpensively, and without any pre-planning. Sometimes that meant a slice at Ray's pizza whenever we felt hungry, other times that meant grabbing a last-minute reservation at Destino.

On Saturday night, we showed up at Momofuku around 10pm. I'd heard plenty about this place from friends and fellow-bloggers alike, so I figured that even that late, we'd have a solid wait. You can only imagine the shock when we were seated immediately (I attribute it to Colin's tragically hip fedora, but that's another post).

The menu here is super-eclectic (I'd link to it, except the damn site is built in 100% Flash, which means no individual pages), and we didn't have any trouble finding things we wanted to try. In fact, the bigger problem was narrowing down our choices to a manageable number.

They were out of two items from the Raw Bar we'd hoped to try (Maine Sear Urchin and Empress Jonah Crab Claws), so we started with Cured Hamachi ($16), a delightful presentation of six slices buttery fish with a wasabi cream, a few edamame and a handful of pea shoots.

We also ordered the Steamed Buns ($9) to share -- we'd heard these were the house specialty and OH MY, I understand why! Pork belly, hoisin, chewy/fluffy bun... wow. I just have nothing else to say about these.

We moved from there to the Four Story Hill Farm Chicken Ballotine ($15), a boneless disk of chicken, stuffed with chicken, mushrooms and walnuts, topped with raisins and a sweet preserve. This was not my favorite dish, as it was a bit heavier than I expected, but tasty nonetheless.

Now, Ssam Bar has an odd section on the menu called "Country Hams", which is exactly what you think -- four different American country-style hams, sliced paper thin and served with bread and a bit of delicious sweet-hot mustard. I'm not sure how this fits in with the otherwise Korean-centric menu, and I was a little disappointed that a "sampling" wasn't available. Regardless, we ordered the Benton's Smoky Mountain,  Tennessee ($10). Very salty, delicate smoke, slightly gamey, we really enjoyed this ham.

We ordered one large dish to share -- Spicy Pork Sausage & Rice Cakes ($18) -- which was phenomenal. Bite-sized nuggets of caramelized rice, sausage, crispy shallots and Chinese broccoli were swimming in a rich, lip-numbingly spicy broth.  My Auslese riesling and Colin's unfiltered sake were both sweet enough to foil the heat of the stew.

I was stuffed, but C had to order the Amish Cheddar Shortcake ($9). The shortcake itself was amazing, unique. Paired with roasted Empire Apples and Ham Cream (yes, you read right), though, it became an updated, modern version of apple pie with cheddar cheese. That's never been my thing, but this dessert was an amalgamation of flavors that just got my tongue excited.

We loved the service, and we loved the openness of the restaurant. And maybe more than anything, we loved the fact that the following sentence was printed on the menu: "We do not serve vegetarian friendly items". While I'm sure that sentence pisses off a lot of patrons, we kind of love the fact that chef Chang is unapologetic about his menu and his choices.

Momofuku Ssam Bar
207 2nd Avenue, New York
212.254.3500

Tags: Food, Food & Drink, New York, San Francisco, Momofuku, David Chang, Restaurant Review

Fish & Farm, a New Local Gem

We're in the midst of a restaurant explosion of sorts in San Francisco, one which shows few signs of letting up. Part of what I love is how spread out these new restaurants are -- Serpentine in Dogpatch, Local on 1st Street (something of a culinary wasteland, to be sure), and my current favorite, Fish & Farm in the Tenderloin.

My first taste of Fish & Farm was a couple of months ago, as part of a media dinner. I didn't feel right writing about that meal since it was fully comped, but I was torn because I knew that I'd be back on my own dime, and soon. I've now been to F&F three times, and I may be a little bit enamored.

The focus here is on local and sustainable, and while those concepts are currently being abused to within an inch of their lives, Fish & Farm is trying to do them right. For example, they're growing herbs on their rooftop garden, and they've committed to supporting local purveyors by sourcing most of their fish, meat and produce from within 100 miles of the restaurant.

All this sounds great, but without delicious food to back it up, it doesn't go very far. So how 'bout that food?

So far, I have enjoyed everything I've eaten at Fish & Farm -- and that covers a LOT of ground. A few key highlights for your enjoyment:

• Oyster & Pumpkin Salad ($11) blew my socks off. The roasted pumpkin was tender and sweet, while the panko-battered oysters were briny and crisp. I can't remember the last time I had such an innovative salad that I enjoyed.
• Pan-Seared Corvina ($25) has been on the menu in a few iterations, and both versions I've tried have been great. The delicate fish is never overpowered by the preparation, but makes a great vehicle for subtle but rich flavors. (One of the accompaniments was a sweetbread raviolo. The pasta was perfect, even if I didn't adore the filling, so I can't wait to try a main pasta dish soon.)
• And then there's the grand-daddy of them all -- a Marin Sun Farms (if I recall correctly) Rib Eye Steak ($38). That may seem pricy, but it's very much in line considering the cost of MSF's beef at retail. Anyway, I have told anyone who wants to listen that this was the best steak I ate in 2007. It's a very generous cut, easily shareable (unless you are C, who can eat his weight in good beef).
• Smashed Potatoes (~$6)... Catherine has already written about these here, and they really are that good.

The wine list is superb and extremely interesting, with maybe my favorite policy in the city: if a wine from the bottle list appeals to you, but you want only a glass, you can have it for a third the price of the bottle. Considering that 90% of the list is under $50, this is an easy way to try a wine you're curious about.

Cocktails are strong and delicious -- none was overly sweet, and all the herby/fruity ingredients are local and/or organic. In fact, the rosemary in the San Francisco Martini ($8) comes from the aforementioned rooftop garden. Bartenders are funny and charming, and great at making cool drinks on the fly, or picking a wine from a bare bones description of what you like. (Even when you  insist you don't care for Chardonnay, you might eat crow when they make you taste a Chard they know you'll like. Hmph.)

As to desserts... I have admittedly not been wooed by any of them yet, though the Pug's Leap Goat's Milk Buche from the Cheese Course ($12 for 3), made me want to start rediscovering goat's milk cheeses again. The dessert menu doesn't seem to change as frequently as the savory menu, and frankly, I think that's a wise choice for a place this small and without a pastry chef.

Fish & Farm is a small place -- maybe 40 or so seats -- so you may find yourself waiting a little while, even with reservations. Because of how comfortable the room is, I've noticed that people linger long after dessert. Practice patience, enjoy a cocktail at the bar, and you'll be richly rewarded.

Fish & Farm
339 Taylor Street (inside the Mark Twain Hotel)
San Francisco, CA
415.474.3474

Tags: Food, Food & Drink, Wine, San Francisco, Local, Cocktails, Restaurant Review

Sitting Down at The Alembic

Earlier this week, an old friend came to town, and we planned to meet for a drink at Alembic; she's a bartender and I knew I wanted to take her somewhere with creative drinks and a spirits list to rival the best places in Manhattan. Plus, I mostly just love the vibe there, and the fact that you can generally hear the person you're sitting with.

As it turned out, we were both hungry so decided to grab a table instead of waiting for seats at the (packed) bar. I'd had a few nibbles here before, and had been quite pleased, so I was looking forward to making  a meal of the simple and well-thought-out menu of high-brow bar food.

We ordered our first round of cocktails (a Glenrothes concoction called "Boutonniere" for me, a Balvenie 15-year  for Angela), and settled on two Deviled Duck Eggs ($1 each), Herb Frites ($5), Mac & Cheese ($9) and an order of Lamb Sliders ($10).

The sliders are the only thing I probably wouldn't order again, which is a shame, because they could be standout. The bread is a bit too porous, which makes a mess, and both times I've ordered them, the meat itself has been somewhat dry.

The mac & cheese, though seemingly ubiquitous these days, is a really beautiful version made with local cheeses (Mt. Tam and Serena, I believe), and a generous shaving of truffles. Comforting, creamy and decadent, this is an easily shareable dish for two.

The duck eggs are perfectly lovely, and a steal at $1 each -- these are large eggs, and very filling. Paired with an order of fries, you could have a nice, fatty, booze-soaking meal for well under $10. Those fries, by the way, are herb-dusted and addictive, especially when used as a delivery-mechanism for the aioli they are served with. On this recent visit, it was a tangy lemongrass-and-garlic version. Really standout.

It was somewhere between the sliders and eggs that something went awry, though. I'd finished my cocktail, and asked for a Lagavulin on the rocks. Our waitress came back to tell me, very apologetically, that they were out, so she'd ordered me a Talisker. No problem there. But when she reappeared a moment later, she said, "oh, we are also out of Talisker, so this is a Macallans."

Now, some of you who don't drink Scotch may say, "what? I've heard of Macallans -- it's supposed to be good, right?" But the problem is, Scotch has a myriad of flavor profiles, and the closest comparison I can draw would be if you'd ordered a big, tannic, cabernet and instead received a glass of Beaujolais Nouveau. I was looking for something peaty and salty, not a smooth, mellow, caramelly Scotch.

I asked if they had Caol Ila, another Islay scotch, and she said yes, but was I sure I didn't want the Macallans, because the Caol Ila was $16 compared to the Macallan's $10.

Seriously? SERIOUSLY?? (Let's not talk about the fact that the bill actually arrived with both the Macallan's AND the Caol Ila -- it was removed when we asked, of course, but just added to the "ick" factor of the experience).

Right around the same time, Angela ordered a Cynar and ginger. Waitress-lady says, "we don't have Cynar". So Angela orders an Averna instead. Waitress girl goes over, futzes with the POS system a bit, and comes back.

"We're out of Averna, but good news! We have Cynar after all!" Angela and I stared at each other gape-jawed, and burst out laughing.

Here's the thing: I don't necessarily expect a server at a small neighborhood eatery to remember the distinctions between and Islay and a Lowland Scotch, let alone which ones come from where. And I don't think it's unreasonable that they wouldn't be sure of the difference between Cynar and Averna, or really what the hell to do with them.

But when you're waiting tables at Alembic? A temple dedicated to the respect of some of the world's finest spirits, and one where the resident bartenders and owners use things like Glenrothes and Nocino in their cocktails? Then I do have an expectation that you will at the very least ASK A BARTENDER when you are out of the Scotch I want, and not just order the next thing you recognize that's the same price in the computer.

Boys of Alembic? Dave and Daniel and all my other favorite bartenders? PLEASE don't let this happen again. I come to you because you understand libations. You understand that using Sarticious instead of Hendrick's in a cocktail renders a totally different flavor. Please teach your floor staff to respect booze the way it is meant to be respected.

Alembic
1725 Haight Street (next door to Red Vic's)
San Francisco
415.666.0822

Tags: Food, Wine, Food & Drink, San Francisco, Bars, Cocktails, Alembic

I'm So Confused About Las Vegas

When I was a kid, Las Vegas was a place you took the family. There were shows, and animals and things for both the kids and the adults to do. Plus, it was pretty inexpensive to bring a family here for a weekend -- even the nicest hotels were reasonably priced, and because the casinos wanted you to stay on premises, they offered decent food for cheap (remember the $2.99 breakfast buffet??).

What happened here?

I've been in Vegas for a few days for a business conference, and I am absolutely floored at how expensive it has become. At Mandalay Bay, a small bowl of pasta salad with mozzarella and basil and an iced tea set me back $13. A cup of coffee and a pastry at Starbucks? $8.50.

I know that food, and celebrichefs, have become a part of the Vegas experience, and I certainly understand the prices at restaurants like Aureole (phenomenally amazing, and absolutely worth it!) and Mix. But come on, a simple pasta salad? Even the "cafes" and buffets are incredibly expensive.

How does a family of four come here for a "weekend getaway"?

Tags: Food, Wine, Food & Drink, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Restaurants, NCDM

An update on Sketch!

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that a fierce ice-cream battle rages here in the Bay Area. East of the bridge, we have Ici and Sketch, while the city's Bi-Rite Creamery seems to be beating Mitchell's by a fine hair.

Having now eaten at all four on numerous occasions, I feel wholly equipped to say that Bi-Rite's salted caramel ice cream kicks some serious ass, but is (for me anyway) only consumable very rarely. It's just too rich. Mitchell's Macapuno ice cream, on the other hand, is one I could eat once a week and be happy.

On the East side, I still think Ici's ice creams are tooooo sweet, though I understand there are people who like that kind of thing. To be honest, I have rarely finished a whole cup of their confections, and I'm now more likely to get a single bon-bon if I don't take a pass altogether.

Then there's Sketch. My happy place. They recently closed their doors for a couple of months to redo the interior of the shop, and bring in new equipment. Gone are the Italian-style gelati bins; instead there are shiny new soft-serve machines -- three of them -- each serving two flavors.

Now, Ruthie told me that the machines do wonders for maintaining and consistent texture to the flavors, and that makes sense -- they produce a wide assortment of textures from granitas to gelati to heavier ice creams. And the flavors I tasted did have an even better mouthfeel than before.

BUT. The one major flaw in the system is that the only flavors that can be combined are the two flavors in each machine. I'm not sure why they can't do a pull from two different machines -- I understand that it won't be as aesthetically pleasing, but that essentially meant that I couldn't have my old favorite Strauss Yogurt with the Coconut I was so craving.

Instead, I went for the Coconut with Cocoa Nib combination. And don't get me wrong - it was superb. The Cocoa Nib was almost like a lightly chocolatey marshmallow, and the Coconut was so light it (and I freaking hate writing things like this) "danced" on the tongue, leaving behind a strong, rich flavor without a heavy butterfat coating. Pretty perfect, really. Still, I was sad to pass up my tangy favorite.

Next on my list to try at Sketch is the olive oil sundae -- basically the ice cream flavor of your choice (Ruthie or Eric will steer you to a complimentary flavor) drizzled with olive oil and sea salt. I have it on good authority that it's phenomenal.

Sketch Ice Cream
1809 4th Street
Berkeley, CA
510.665.5650

A view from Cortona, Italy

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be posting photos and reminiscences of my trip to Italy. While I was definitely ready to be back home, and sleeping in my own bed, I had an incredible time -- I met some amazing people, saw things that awed me like nothing I've seen before, and ate food that I suspect I'll be able to "taste" for years.

The first set of photos I wanted to share are of Cortona, a beautiful little hillside town in Tuscany that we called "home base" for five of our days in Italy. Cortona may be most well-known as the setting for that gagalicious chick-flick "Under the Tuscan Sun", but it's so much more than that. It's the seat of Etruscan civilization in Italy, and the place St. Francis of Assisi chose to spend his final days.

It's vineyards and olive groves, umber-colored buildings set against verdant hillsides and slate gray roads -- all leading to Rome. I'll post some photos of the villa we stayed at soon, but to start, I wanted you to see the town as we saw it when we drove around with our friend Coky, a native of Cortona.

Food here is simple... and wonderful. Wild boar (cinghiale) dominates, from ragu to salumi. And beef here -- it's Chianina as it is in most parts of Tuscany -- is the most amazing beef I've ever eaten. Kobe is for pussies -- real men eat beef that's so rich it tastes like organ meat. (I'm salivating as I write this).

Most often, we paired our meals with local wines. As you might expect, they do a lovely job with Sangiovese, but we discovered that Cortona also grows a mean Syrah. Gamy and spicy and a little bit barny, these Syrahs were perfect with the traditional dishes of Cortona.

My two greatest culinary discoveries in Cortona, though, have to be Amaro di Miele, a liqueur made from wildflower/orange blossom honey, and the perfect simplicity of crostini al olio. More on each of these on Wednesday!

Tags: Food, Wine, Food & Drink, San Francisco, Italy, Tuscany, Cortona, Photos