this 'n that

Like the woman I saw the other day wearing cowboy boots and a peasant skirt -- helloooo, that is so two years ago! -- I am seriously behind. Just too much eating and drinking and not enough writing. In an effort to play catch up with limited resources, today I offer you my first ever Top 5 List. I hope to expand on these things as the week goes by, but just in case I don't, well, you won't feel totally bereft.

Food Musings Top 5 List

1) Sipping on The Mariner while slurping oysters from America's oldest oyster bed in the Chesapeake Bay. The Mariner, a drink made of black peppercorn-infused Skyy vodka and dry sherry garnished with an English cucumber, is Farallon's genius concoction for their new raw bar and it's the bivalve's new best friend. It smells and tastes fresh, clean and a little herbacious with a bit of pepper coming in just at the very end. It complements mignonette perfectly.

2) Learning to make marmalade from June Taylor. As in, I got to go inside her still-room. As in, she taught me how to segment grapefruits, oranges, and lemons. As in, I said something that made her smile. Her! The Jam Goddess! The one who mails jam to Jamie Oliver back in her native England! As in, I walked away with two jars of three-fruit marmalade we made ourselves (plus oodles of other stuff, naturally. We could slather our toast for the next 40 days and 40 nights and still not finish it all.)

3) Munching a sea salt-flecked burnt caramel chocolate tile from Poco Dolce, my new favorite chocolatier. Their web site is awfully close-lipped so I'm going to make it my mission to learn more about them. I tried their chocolates after a recent food bloggers' volunteer event and was astounded by the clean, sumptuous flavors. I've given them as gifts and been told that they're the best chocolates people have ever tasted. Mr. Food Musings had his first one last night and sat on the sofa, stunned. "This is the best chocolate I've ever tasted!" he said. (See? I'm not making this stuff up!)

4) Eating the sushi at Sebo . Ever had young bluefun tuna, winter yellowtail, sea bream, wild mackerel or wild scallops? Me either, until Friday night. Sebo also serves the best sushi roll on Planet Earth: maguro tuna with lemon, avocado, sea salt and sesame oil. To die for. (And I'm not the only one willing to whore myself out for another meal there.) The menu is small and the beverage list even smaller -- just 8 sakes and one beer -- but it's well worth putting yourselves in their capable hands for dinner. Officially My Best Sushi Ever.

5) Anticipating an 8-course dinner prepared by uber-chefs David Kinch and Alain Passard. You read that right -- David Kinch and Alain Passard. Two legendary chefs are teaming up for a series of dinners at Manresa this coming weekend. Both are passionate about growing their own food -- Passard's Arpege is known for serving lunch from produce that was hand-picked that morning and trucked in on the TGV from the restaurant's dedicated garden just outside Paris, while Manresa is supplied more and more by its very own biodynamic garden. Chef Kinch even told me that they are growing some stuff from seeds Passard gave him that will be harvested specifically for dinner this weekend. (He also told me that one of Passard's desserts will include carrots, chocolate and langoustine. In the same dish.) Mr. Food Musings is dusting off his suit for the occasion and we are both licking our little lips.

(What didn't make the list? Chiaroscuro, the month-old Italian spot that occupies the space where Tartare once was. Despite a very cool interior -- all white with pillow-topped, poured concrete benches and an open kitchen -- the food was average at best and the service was amateur. Not slow, not overwhelmed, not rude -- they were actually incredibly sweet -- just clueless. I have to wonder if they've ever worked in a restaurant before.)

Comments

[little sister]

i can't WAIT to hear about the Kinch/Passard dinner. sigh. if i could only be a fly on the wall (not that there would ever be flies at Manresa)

[sam]

well - I am looking forward to number 5 too,

And number 4 I'll whore with you.

Number 3 - And as for poco dolce, the owner(?) Kathy even came to Yield when everyone was waiting outside before we let you in , and apparently spoke to Sean/shared his brolly a while. But the rest of us missed her. She inteneded to return later but never did I am sure if you contacted her she would be delighted.

I seriously want to find out about this:
http://www.theartoftastingchocolate.com/2007/02/poco_dolce_a_st.html
have you seen these anywhere yet. Tangerine Dream? Hell yeah this sounds like my PERFECT idea of a perfect chocolate.

You know, I am lucky, sometimes I nip a block to Yield under the pretension I need a night cap but really its because I need some Poco Dolce.

Number 2 - well I've spent the day making jam with June, so that almost counts

and #1 - well that's a new one on me, a new one that sounds quite delightful. I'll have to put it on my list...

[Catherine]

LS -- you'll be hearing about it in every gory detail.

Sam -- if I am in such good company, it must say something about my taste. But seriously, I know you would love the Mariner -- it is, hands down, the best cocktail I've had in ages, since I tried Hangar One Kaffir Lime vodka and soda. And I do plan to contact Poco Dolce to learn more.

[cv]

Mr. Food Musings owns a suit? :-)