Working in an office, a mid-afternoon caffeine fix is often necessary. We “discovered” a new coffee shop that not only has delicious drinks, but also offers a unique New Zealand flare – right here in downtown Sac. Located on the corner of 3rd and Q Street, from the outside you might second guess if Chocolate Fish Coffee is even open, but it in fact opened its doors in April of this year; despite it’s under construction entrance, the shop is already gaining attention and a downtown following. We’ve taken the four-block trek from our office together on a number of occasions.
The owners, Andy and Edie Baker, are two of several friendly folks that will greet you from behind the counter. On our most recent coffee break, Edie explained that she lived in Auckland for eight years, and recently returned back to the states with a prize souvenir, her husband Andy (who is Kiwi). Together they have built Chocolate Fish Coffee to be a certified organic and free trade coffee shop.
So what’s with the name? A chocolate fish is a fish-shaped confection, it is indigenous to New Zealand and recognized as a “thank you” or “reward” for a good deed. Working diligently at a top PR firm is a daily good deed, right? We think so, and have rewarded ourselves with Chocolate Fish Coffee accordingly.
Lucques
Lucques not only made L.A. Magazine’s Top 75 Best Restaurants in 2008: it made number one. Yes, according to the publication, this Melrose Ave hot spot is THE best culinary destination in all of Los Angeles. This report came out just after we secured Lucques as our second location for a Sunsweet-inspired dinner (see my post on TRU for the first).
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not really L.A.-esque. I mean, I don’t have a teacup Chihauhau dressed in designer doggy-wear; I don’t know the latest B-list celebrity up-and-comers; and you probably won’t find me in line for the latest club openings, or any club opening for that matter. Nope, just not my cup of tea.
That said, Lucques is just the right amount of trendy and substance, centrally located on Melrose Ave. The space is comfortable and relaxed and the food is amazing. I think that anyone would find this restaurant welcoming and delicious.
Co-owners Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne have operated Lucques for more than 10 years. In 2006 Suzanne (whose resume includes a stint at Chez Panisse) received the James Beard Foundation’s Award of Excellence for Best Chef in California. Last month a group of us got to taste for ourselves. Here’s a sampling of some of the menu items that hit my palate that night:
Our first course started us off with a Blood Orange Salad with Arugula, Dates, Almonds and Parmesan. Unfortunately, my picture for this course didn’t turn out, but let’s just say that any salad with blood oranges is okay by me. Our second source was grilled Hawaiian tuna with farro, black rice and pickled raisins.
Next up we had liberty duck breast with turnip-parsnip gratin and sweet-and-sour prunes.
And for dessert we were treated to a walnut galette with candied orange zest and prune-armagnac ice cream. Yummmmmmmm.
An Incredible Dining Experience? TRU.
A few weeks ago I was in Chicago working with our Sunsweet client on a few localized events. One of events in particular, I must admit, ended up being more pleasure than work: dinner at TRU. We had a group of eight that included several of Chicago’s top nutritionists and foodies, so where else could we take them but the very best: Gale Gand and Rick Tramonto’s restaurant, TRU on North St. Clair Street in downtown Chicago.
We worked with the restaurant’s chefs a few weeks ahead to create a special menu that would showcase Sunsweet’s diverse line of dried fruit and juice products. Working in the food industry, “official recipe taster” has magically made its way onto my list of job duties; I guess sometimes fate works in our favor. Our four-course dinner was a true culinary experience and I can now join the unofficial, yet extremely loyal, TRU fan club.
We started off with poached chicken, red raisins, baby lettuce and pine nuts..
Second course was steamed fluke, mango sheet and jalapeno, with lemon-grass liquid gel.
For our entrée, I must admit that I had my doubts of how much I would enjoy pork belly. It’s a menu item that probably wouldn’t make it into my personal selection, but I’m glad it was on the group menu because it was fantastic. The presentation was fun as well: a group of servers surrounded the table and simultaneously poured a bright green sauce over each of our pork belly plates as the executive chef explained to our table that the pork had been cooking for three days. The results were a firm and very tasty plate of pork belly, prunes and watercress consommé.
To “prep” us for our dessert, the pastry chef surprised us with a small custard and dried blueberry plate topped with plum juice sauce and garnished with Pop Rocks. Yes, Pop Rocks from 1987, and yes they are still just as exciting, even at an ultra sheek restaurant.
For dessert we had a fresh plum juice gelatin topped with a ginger chamomile custard and PlumSweets (dark chocolate covered prunes).
They must know that this is the type of restaurant where you just don’t want dinner to end. Insert Mignardises, from the old French word mignard, meaning pretty or delicate, and is essentially an after-dessert dessert. Yes, that’s right, dessert part two. And when you’re at a restaurant like this, you find room.
From the food to the incredible wine pairings and extremely knowledgeable and engaged staff, this place is first class. Some places are all hype. TRU is truly not one of them.
Sacramento & Co Dining Deals
News10’s Sacramento & Company has been partnering with local restaurants to offer 50% off gift certificates for some time, and I finally gave it a shot. Actually, being inherently skeptical of deals that don’t present the “catch” upfront, I must admit it was my boyfriend who decided to give it a try. Needless to say, we received our $50 gift certificate and besides a $3.50 shipping fee there were no catches involved: the total came to $28.50 for a $50 certificate! I’m a bargain shopper through and through so will definitely be using this deal again to try local restaurants.
The current featured restaurant is Sushi Unlimited (despite its name it’s not one of those all-you-can-eat joints) and according to the News 10 Web site there are only 26 certificates left. There’re locations in Davis, Folsom and Roseville, and if you go I highly recommend the Reggae Man roll.
For more information on Dining Deals visit the News10 Web site.
Taste of COPIA
Last week I had the pleasure of finally experiencing a piece of wine country that I’ve been meaning to visit for years: COPIA, the American Center for Wine Food & the Arts, a nonprofit organization located in downtown Napa.
Fellow SacFoodie, Amy Kull, along with a small group from our San Francisco office (COPIA is a new and very exciting client for FH), came together for a day of meetings. We got to mix business with pleasure when we broke for lunch and joined the public for that day’s Taste of COPIA event.
COPIA describes these weekly lunches as “part cooking demonstration, part feast” and I would add that it contains equal part wine education with a pinch of comedy – it was a blast! Taste of COPIA is a lunch that is held every Friday and an occasional Saturday/Sunday, with a culinary theme that changes monthly. For the month of January the theme was From Here to the Next County: Sonoma.
We walked into the theatre-style room that features a beautifully staged demo kitchen. Each seat was set for a three course meal with three full wine glasses at each setting. The interactive cooking demo began with Jacquelyn Buchanan, director of culinary programs, who introduced the theme and various local ingredients that she would be using in that day’s meal. The full menu included:
- Dungeness Crab Bisque
- Cheese Tortellini with Roasted Butternut Squash, Goat-Cheese Walnut Sauce and Arugula
- Blood Orange and Campari Granita
While Jacquelyn began cooking we watched her via overhead flat panel TV screens that showed the view from cameras focused above the range. Lily Peterson, wine educator, introduced the wines and explained several different pairings that she would like us to explore during the meal. Like most of the ingredients, the wine also came from Sonoma Country: a sparkling J Cuvee 20 Brut, Landmark 2005 Overlook Chardonnay and Emeritus 2005 Pinot Noir. I was excited about the Emeritus because it was an inaugural vintage from the founder of Sonoma Cutrer: it was subtle and fruity and a fantastic complement to the walnut sauce in the main dish.
Jacquelyn prepared each dish as we were eating it; she answered questions regarding ingredient substitutions, cooking techniques, and where to find certain ingredients locally. At the same time Lily explained the wines in an approachable manner – why she chose the three varietals, how to pair wine with food, and how to identify certain characteristics in each – she also shared fun facts about the wineries themselves. Lastly, Nick Landino, the kitchen manager for Julia’s Kitchen, came on stage and prepared the Blood Orange and Campari Granita and accompanying Hazelnut Campari Biscotti while it was being served. Each attendee is given copies of the recipes to make at home. Our group loved it all: the food, wine, personalities, presentation – bravo!
Taste of COPIA is a great way to get to know wine and food and the relationship they have with each other. I can’t wait to take my next out-of-town guest, adding COPIA to the “Moravec special wine country tour.” Check here for the current month’s theme and menu; cost is $50 general/$40 member and well worth it. The theme for February is “A Mardi Gras Feast: Let the Bon Temps Roll!”
On a side note, COPIA grows ingredients in its on-site organic garden for use in the lunches, as well as in the menu at Julia’s Kitchen. It was raining the day we went, but here are a few fruit/garden shots:
This crazy-looking fruit is part of the citrus family. It smells fabulous and is called Buddha’s Hand.
Winter Citrus Fruit Bowl
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