WHAT AM I EATING?
French--I'm on a Rhone white wine kick these days and have been seeking out home recipes to pair with these wonderful wines. Most recently, I made roast chicken with thyme and garlic basted with a stick of butter (in true French fashion) and soy sauce, classic French Onion soup and roasted fennel with cream, nutmeg and Parmesan. This was a stunning pairing all around with a Louis Barroul 2013 Hermitage Les Pierelles. The body of the Marsanne and Roussane held up to the richness of the flavors in the dishes and the texture of the wine was very nice with the melted cheeses in the fennel and the onion soup.
More French-I had received a bunch of Meyer Lemons from a friend and was pondering what to do with them when I happened upon a recipe for roast chicken with Meyer Lemon Shallot sauce. Simply, this was delicious. The Meyer Lemons contributed acidity to the savory chicken and the roasted shallot sauce pulled it all together. Paired with a Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Chardonnay, this was perfect. I served it with a side of green beans graced with orange and lemon zest.
Italian-Is that cuisine that I learned to cook. I was blessed with the cutest tiny little Italian Grandmother. My brother, cousins and I called her Nani, an English speaking child's version of Nonna. The adults actually called her "tiny". She was 4'9" and shrunk probably a good three inches by the end of her life. Her cooking was what many might consider to be standard Americanized Southern Italian food. As a child, I would prepare the meatballs, help to bread and fry the eggplant for the Parmesan, layer the lasagna and deep fry the Christmas doughnuts that we called spingi. I continued to cook many of these dishes into my late 20's. When I moved to Austin in 2001, I learned that Austinites tend to eat a bit healthier than your average Pittsburgh native. So, for a good while, Italian fell off my cooking radar as I became vegetarian for a spell and moved more towards fish and poultry in my culinary repertoire. Pasta was largely gone due to it's tendency to be unkind to my weight. Lately, however, I have been discovering healthier Italian recipes and creating new dishes with some of Nani's standbys while eliminating a good bit of the calories. Panzanella salads, chicken piccata, braised greens with garlic and lemon and the occasional pasta dish have largely replaced the heavy meat, pasta, cheese and red sauce based dishes that I grew up with. I tend to drink more white wine and find that these dishes pair beautifully with some of my favorite varietals such as Arneis, Vermentino, Pinot Grigio, Malvasia, and Falanghina.
WHERE AM I EATING?
Austin
Elizabeth St. Cafe--a French Vietnamese Café on South First street. I have never been disappointed from breakfast to dinner. Their pastries are divine and the Vietnamese twist to breakfast is fun and delicious. I recently started my day there with spiced fig tea and an entrée of crispy vermicelli cakes topped with an over easy egg and herb salad, all sidled up to two delectable pieces of pork belly. Their lunch and dinner menus feature more classic Vietnamese fare such as Pho, Bun and Bahn Mi. I loved their green mango and cucumber salad as a side to the Pork and Shrimp Crepe.
Juniper--another newcomer to the East Side, this has been a gem every time I have visited. It is a lovely modern space with an open kitchen surrounded by a dining bar. The dinner menu consists of mostly small plates. These are perfectly composed and presented little delights that will stick in your memory for weeks to come. They rotate their menu quite frequently to highlight local and seasonal ingredients. Their wine list spans the world and includes oddities such as a Moroccan Syrah. Their staff has always been helpful in choosing appropriate pairings.
Elsewhere
Numu, Playa Potrero Costa Rica--so nice, we visited twice (in three days). This was an easy walk from the beach and was easily the best food I had during our short time in Playa Portrero. It is a lovely, open air restaurant with a palapa and a romantically lit bar. The menu is Asian-influenced and extensive, offering salads, curry bowls, pad thai, and fish. Everything we had over two visits was excellent, and the service was wonderful. Compared to most of the other restaurants we had visited in Guanacaste, the wine list was a bit more adequate, with Argentinian, Chilean and California offerings of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Grigio, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere and Pinot Noir. Their Riesling paired nicely with the red curry and the pad thai.
Smokin' Pig BBQ, Playa Potrero, Costa Rica--legit Memphis BBQ on the gold coast of Costa Rica. They recently changed hands from the original North American owner to another expat family. Julie, the new matriarch of the operation was lovely, and Michael, the Costa Rican pitmaster who was trained by the former owner was equally as nice. And, he clearly learned well. The ribs fell off the bone and the sauce was as authentic as I have tasted. The classic BBQ sides of cole slaw and baked beans were also solid. Add in the groovy reggae/blues band who also knew what they were doing, and we had a perfect tropical evening.
Green Papaya, Tamarindo, Costa Rica--just off the main road in Tamarindo, you can sit on swings and have some of the best fish tacos I have found anywhere. We sampled the mahi-mahi and the Ahi tuna tacos.
Shrimp Hole, Tamarindo, Costa Rica--a tiny 15 seat restaurant hidden just off the main road in Tamarindo, we had a great meal here. We began with tuna poke which was solid, but not identical to the Hawaiian pokes I have come to love. The fish was tender and flavorful, but I found it lacking in a bit of the soy flavor that I am used to. It was served along with fresh vegetable, sesame seeds and rice. The shrimp bowls, as one would expect based on the name were the standouts. I had the Tico Shrimp which featured perfectly cooked, plump shrimp in a chili mango sauce served atop fluffy white rice and my husband had the Green Curry Shrimp with green beans, red peppers and a very subtle, but superbly flavorful green curry sauce. Best of all, they allowed for FREE corkage. I was able to enjoy the meal with a bottle of Tuscan white that I had picked up at Tamarindo's Italian wine market, Le Botti. We close out the evening with a Passionfruit cheesecake which was served in a little plastic ramekin with cheesecake crust on the bottom topped with an almost translucent passion fruit gelée. All was garnished with passion fruit seeds and a mint sprig.
Bouchon, Santa Barbara, California--this was the best meal of our trip to Santa Barbara County by far. I initially thought it was a Thomas Keller restaurant when booking as his Bouchon in Las Vegas is one of my go-to spots for breakfast when there. I discovered that the two are not affiliated, but received many recommendations to visit the Santa Barbara location from those in the know. Our waiter was an expert on both the food menu and the wine list and paired everything absolutely perfectly. He also was hysterically funny which made our meal even more enjoyable. Shannon and I split all courses including the Salad Lyonnaise, the Trio of Seared Sea Scallops and the Pan Seared Fresh Local Sea Bass. The Lyonnaise added Pt. Reyes Blue Cheese and baby spinach to the classic recipe. The trio of sea scallops was the most memorable and photogenic dish with three fat, juicy scallops, cooked to perfection, each with different accompaniments. The fish entree was also perfectly prepared and we paired all courses with their recommended wines.
Eat Gallery
