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Fuji’s Bento Box is a Mixed Bag
Jun. 21st, 2011 07:59 amDowntown Redding used to be a fair-to-middling food wasteland with little but fast food offerings, while chain restaurants sprouted like weeds in Enterprise and induced Westside residents to venture across the river in search of dinner. But a few brave folks have taken the bull by the teeth (to mix several metaphors) and forged ahead in Old Redding with independently-owned restaurants. Fuji Japanese Restaurant occupies a spot on Placer Street that was a garage when Femme de Joie was a child but which morphed into a wide range of businesses over the years, including the late lamented Redding Bookstore and previously another restaurant.
Service is very fast and friendly; you’re seated immediately and staff is attentive. Specials are on a board facing the door when you walk in. Each table has a little card that explains the World of Sushi for neophytes.
Sake maka (mackerel), $4.25 and spicy tuna roll, $5.95
Spicy tuna roll was not at all spicy. It was tuna with avocado and tobiko (flying fish roe), nothing spicy about those. The sushi rice had been rolled in the tobiko quite a white back because all shine and "pop" was gone from the eggs, and they adhered firmly and glutinously to the rice. The only real taste was from the avocado. Mackerel is an oily fish that can be overwhelmingly fishy in taste, depending on how it was cured with salt, but this was mushy and had no taste, fishy or otherwise. Both rolls appeared to have been made in advance because they were served very, very quickly.
Beef sukiyaki, $11.95
Beef sukiyaki was a warming treat on a snowy day (though awkward to eat while working around the bail on the cooking pan). Included were tender-crisp carrots, zucchini, cabbage, scallions, asparagus, daikon with noodles, and strips of beef in slightly sweet broth. If you ever have to take someone to a Japanese restaurant who professes to not like Japanese food (fear of raw fish), this is what they should order, to break them in gently.
Bento box #5 - beef teriyaki, tempura, California roll with salad, soup, rice, $7.95.
Bento boxes come with a choice of miso soup, corn chowder, or hot & sour soup. Hot and sour was hot but not very sour, with a pleasing earthy mushroom taste. The miso soup at Fuji is packed with lots of seaweed and makes a nice light starter.
Beef teriyaki was luscious bites of tender beef in a not-too-sweet sauce with onion shards. Iceberg lettuce in creamy miso dressing occupied one corner of the tray; the miso dressing would be delicious on decent lettuce. California roll -- made ahead -- had avocado taste at the front but not much seafood taste. Freshly-made and crispy tempura had one large shrimp, one Brussels sprout (odd but really very good done this way), a slice of onion, a slice of yam, a whole mushroom, one asparagus spear, a slice of carrot, and one item that may or may not have been a log of sweet red bean paste. A slice of orange with a sweet-tart fruity powder sprinkled across the flesh and served afterwards was a nice touch.
Spicy calamari, $7.95 as a lunch special.
There was plenty of tender calamari, nicely done tempura-style, but no spice to speak of -- poking around, M. de Joie eventually located the shards of one smallish dried hot chili amongst the calamari. While not everyone is as fond of hot and spicy dishes as M. de Joie, if you’re not going to prepare a dish as hot and spicy, why advertise it so?
Bunny roll, $15.95 lunch special.
M. de Joie had to laugh at this wildly Rococo and architecturally improbable creation served up before Easter. On the inside: spicy tuna, avocado, cream cheese, and crab meat. On the outside: tempura avocado, crab meat, and special spicy sauce. This was impossible to eat with chopsticks and difficult to eat with fingers or fork: it simply would not hold together and in any case was much too big to eat in one bite. It was entertaining, to be sure, and freshly made and tasty, but the multiple and contra-distinctive ingredients meant some of the subtler tastes (like crab) got lost.
After several visits, M. de Joie is a bit torn about Fuji. It has many fine qualities but some of the food is hit-or-miss, and it appears some shortcuts are taken that affect the quality. On the one hand, Femme de Joie likes the speedy service and fair prices (lunch specials are a good value) at Fuji Japanese Restaurant. Dishes that are prepared to order like tempura, sukiyaki, teriyaki, and special rolls are very good and worth a return trip for. On the other hand, dishes like sushi rolls (particularly the most commonly ordered ones like California rolls, tuna, etc.) that depend on immediacy and fresh preparation seem to be made ahead, which does them no favor. And there’s no tea in the teapot! When you order tea ($1.95), it comes almost instantly (good) with no tea or teabag (not so good). It’s pre-made and kept hot. Tea really doesn’t improve upon standing and M. de Joie wonders why Fuji can’t just pour boiling water into a pot and add a teabag.
Fuji can be worth a visit for its good value, friendliness, and for some of the made-to-order dishes, but M. de Joie advises diners to inquire about when the fish was delivered before ordering sashimi and to ask when sushi rolls were made. With a bit more care and time devoted to each dish that comes out of the kitchen, everything on the menu could be terrific.
EDIT: Fuji is now closed.
Fuji Japanese Restaurant, 1545 Placer Street, Redding, CA 96001. 530-243-8366. Open Monday-Saturday 11 a.m.- 9 p.m, Sunday 4 p.m.- 9 p.m. Beer and wine. Street parking or park in the mall parking lot. Vegetarian and vegan options. Credit and debit cards; no checks.
Service is very fast and friendly; you’re seated immediately and staff is attentive. Specials are on a board facing the door when you walk in. Each table has a little card that explains the World of Sushi for neophytes.
Spicy tuna roll was not at all spicy. It was tuna with avocado and tobiko (flying fish roe), nothing spicy about those. The sushi rice had been rolled in the tobiko quite a white back because all shine and "pop" was gone from the eggs, and they adhered firmly and glutinously to the rice. The only real taste was from the avocado. Mackerel is an oily fish that can be overwhelmingly fishy in taste, depending on how it was cured with salt, but this was mushy and had no taste, fishy or otherwise. Both rolls appeared to have been made in advance because they were served very, very quickly.
Beef sukiyaki was a warming treat on a snowy day (though awkward to eat while working around the bail on the cooking pan). Included were tender-crisp carrots, zucchini, cabbage, scallions, asparagus, daikon with noodles, and strips of beef in slightly sweet broth. If you ever have to take someone to a Japanese restaurant who professes to not like Japanese food (fear of raw fish), this is what they should order, to break them in gently.
Bento boxes come with a choice of miso soup, corn chowder, or hot & sour soup. Hot and sour was hot but not very sour, with a pleasing earthy mushroom taste. The miso soup at Fuji is packed with lots of seaweed and makes a nice light starter.
Beef teriyaki was luscious bites of tender beef in a not-too-sweet sauce with onion shards. Iceberg lettuce in creamy miso dressing occupied one corner of the tray; the miso dressing would be delicious on decent lettuce. California roll -- made ahead -- had avocado taste at the front but not much seafood taste. Freshly-made and crispy tempura had one large shrimp, one Brussels sprout (odd but really very good done this way), a slice of onion, a slice of yam, a whole mushroom, one asparagus spear, a slice of carrot, and one item that may or may not have been a log of sweet red bean paste. A slice of orange with a sweet-tart fruity powder sprinkled across the flesh and served afterwards was a nice touch.
There was plenty of tender calamari, nicely done tempura-style, but no spice to speak of -- poking around, M. de Joie eventually located the shards of one smallish dried hot chili amongst the calamari. While not everyone is as fond of hot and spicy dishes as M. de Joie, if you’re not going to prepare a dish as hot and spicy, why advertise it so?
M. de Joie had to laugh at this wildly Rococo and architecturally improbable creation served up before Easter. On the inside: spicy tuna, avocado, cream cheese, and crab meat. On the outside: tempura avocado, crab meat, and special spicy sauce. This was impossible to eat with chopsticks and difficult to eat with fingers or fork: it simply would not hold together and in any case was much too big to eat in one bite. It was entertaining, to be sure, and freshly made and tasty, but the multiple and contra-distinctive ingredients meant some of the subtler tastes (like crab) got lost.
After several visits, M. de Joie is a bit torn about Fuji. It has many fine qualities but some of the food is hit-or-miss, and it appears some shortcuts are taken that affect the quality. On the one hand, Femme de Joie likes the speedy service and fair prices (lunch specials are a good value) at Fuji Japanese Restaurant. Dishes that are prepared to order like tempura, sukiyaki, teriyaki, and special rolls are very good and worth a return trip for. On the other hand, dishes like sushi rolls (particularly the most commonly ordered ones like California rolls, tuna, etc.) that depend on immediacy and fresh preparation seem to be made ahead, which does them no favor. And there’s no tea in the teapot! When you order tea ($1.95), it comes almost instantly (good) with no tea or teabag (not so good). It’s pre-made and kept hot. Tea really doesn’t improve upon standing and M. de Joie wonders why Fuji can’t just pour boiling water into a pot and add a teabag.
Fuji can be worth a visit for its good value, friendliness, and for some of the made-to-order dishes, but M. de Joie advises diners to inquire about when the fish was delivered before ordering sashimi and to ask when sushi rolls were made. With a bit more care and time devoted to each dish that comes out of the kitchen, everything on the menu could be terrific.
EDIT: Fuji is now closed.
Fuji Japanese Restaurant, 1545 Placer Street, Redding, CA 96001. 530-243-8366. Open Monday-Saturday 11 a.m.- 9 p.m, Sunday 4 p.m.- 9 p.m. Beer and wine. Street parking or park in the mall parking lot. Vegetarian and vegan options. Credit and debit cards; no checks.
Village Deli is a Little Bit of New York
Jun. 20th, 2011 08:18 pmSherven Square, that block of Market Street between Tehama and Shasta, boasts a surprising number of restaurants within a short walking distance: Sandwichery, Grilla Bites, Fasolini’s Pizza, Los Gordos, La Cabana, Kobe’s, Maxwell’s, Fatboy’s BBQ. Last fall, Village Deli opened its doors too, right across the street from Old City Hall. It’s easy to drive right by and miss, but this pleasant little café downtown might be worth a stop.
The freshly painted interior, decorated with black-and-white posters of New York City, boasts a few tables with a counter and seats along one wall. Order at the deli to take away or be served at the tables. Service is friendly, though not especially fast, and that’s due to the clumsy set-up of the prep area. Employees have to continually walk back and forth past each other to reach the cold case, pull out the mortadella or roast beef, slice to order, then lug the meat back and replace it in the display case. The upside of this is that every sandwich is made fresh; no dried-out cold cuts are waiting around all day. The downside, of course, is that you might wait a bit for your sandwich.
Regular deli sandwiches (roast beef, ham, corned beef, etc.) are priced according to size -- small: 4 ounces meat, 2 ounces cheese; large: 8 oz/4 oz; New Yorker: 12 oz/6 oz.
The Mediterranean Salad ($3.99/$6.49) was terrific: crisp mixed greens with Romaine, cucumbers, tomatoes, feta, kalamata olives and balsamic vinegar dressing was sharp and flavorful. Unfortunately the soup of the day, chicken with wild rice, wasn’t as successful. Cubes of white meat chicken became stringy and dry while simmering all day; the wild rice was tough and sank helplessly to the bottom of the cup.
The Long Island ($6.49/$10.49) is a triple-decker of turkey, corned beef, Russian dressing and cole slaw piled on toasted rye. The sweet-tart crunchy slaw was a great foil for salty corned beef. Beef-barley soup was also hearty, warming, and full of vegetables.
The Italian ($6.49/$10.49) was a bit of a disappointment. The meats and cheeses -- dry salami, cotto salami, mortadella, hot coppa, and provolone with pepperoncinis, red onion, oil and vinegar -- were lost inside that super-thick roll. It was quite a bit on the dry side and needed more juicy-ness and less bread. But the fillings had great flavor, so M. de Joie may give that Italian sandwich another try -- on different bread with more spreads.
Chef salad ($4.49/$6.99) is a good value and satisfying. You know the drill on a chef’s salad: there’s nothing unusual here, but all ingredients were fresh and flavorful and the serving size was generous.
While Femme de Joie wasn’t crazy about everything she tried at Village Deli, the salads were winners and overall she feels it has potential to serve up some really fine sandwiches with a bit of feedback from customers about what’s good and not-so-good. Prices are reasonable and everything is made to order. When you’re downtown thinking about a tattoo or recording your debut CD, stop in and give them a try.
Village Deli, 1300 Market Street, Redding, CA. 530-241-8800, fax 530-245-0350. Open Monday-Friday 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Saturday 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Closed Sunday. No alcohol. No checks. Cash, cards. Street parking and a small parking lot behind (access from Shasta Street). Visit them on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/thevillagedeliredding?v=info
The freshly painted interior, decorated with black-and-white posters of New York City, boasts a few tables with a counter and seats along one wall. Order at the deli to take away or be served at the tables. Service is friendly, though not especially fast, and that’s due to the clumsy set-up of the prep area. Employees have to continually walk back and forth past each other to reach the cold case, pull out the mortadella or roast beef, slice to order, then lug the meat back and replace it in the display case. The upside of this is that every sandwich is made fresh; no dried-out cold cuts are waiting around all day. The downside, of course, is that you might wait a bit for your sandwich.
Regular deli sandwiches (roast beef, ham, corned beef, etc.) are priced according to size -- small: 4 ounces meat, 2 ounces cheese; large: 8 oz/4 oz; New Yorker: 12 oz/6 oz.
The Mediterranean Salad ($3.99/$6.49) was terrific: crisp mixed greens with Romaine, cucumbers, tomatoes, feta, kalamata olives and balsamic vinegar dressing was sharp and flavorful. Unfortunately the soup of the day, chicken with wild rice, wasn’t as successful. Cubes of white meat chicken became stringy and dry while simmering all day; the wild rice was tough and sank helplessly to the bottom of the cup.
The Long Island ($6.49/$10.49) is a triple-decker of turkey, corned beef, Russian dressing and cole slaw piled on toasted rye. The sweet-tart crunchy slaw was a great foil for salty corned beef. Beef-barley soup was also hearty, warming, and full of vegetables.
The Italian ($6.49/$10.49) was a bit of a disappointment. The meats and cheeses -- dry salami, cotto salami, mortadella, hot coppa, and provolone with pepperoncinis, red onion, oil and vinegar -- were lost inside that super-thick roll. It was quite a bit on the dry side and needed more juicy-ness and less bread. But the fillings had great flavor, so M. de Joie may give that Italian sandwich another try -- on different bread with more spreads.
Chef salad ($4.49/$6.99) is a good value and satisfying. You know the drill on a chef’s salad: there’s nothing unusual here, but all ingredients were fresh and flavorful and the serving size was generous.
While Femme de Joie wasn’t crazy about everything she tried at Village Deli, the salads were winners and overall she feels it has potential to serve up some really fine sandwiches with a bit of feedback from customers about what’s good and not-so-good. Prices are reasonable and everything is made to order. When you’re downtown thinking about a tattoo or recording your debut CD, stop in and give them a try.
Village Deli, 1300 Market Street, Redding, CA. 530-241-8800, fax 530-245-0350. Open Monday-Friday 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Saturday 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Closed Sunday. No alcohol. No checks. Cash, cards. Street parking and a small parking lot behind (access from Shasta Street). Visit them on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/thevillagedeliredding?v=info
Three Great Condiments to Try
Jun. 20th, 2011 08:07 pmSingaporean chef/cooking teacher Vanessa Frida speaks warmly of Thai sweet chili sauce and its all-around usefulness. M. de Joie had heard of it but wasn't really sure what it was -- there are many products labeled chili sauce or chili paste that don't taste at all like what a Californian might think. But Vanessa Frida knows whereof she speaks.
So the next time M. de Joie stopped in at Lao Market (2660 South Market Street, near Racha Noodle) to pick up some sesame oil and nuoc mam, she grabbed a bottle of Thai sweet chili sauce and took it home ... where it sat for several months. Finally she opened it up to make a Thai-style cucumber salad, and discovered how incredibly delicious it is served on - well, just about anything. It's gooey, sweet, and spicy-hot, and makes a wonderful dip/spread to use with wild abandon.
What's it good on? Fried chicken, shrimp, raw vegetables, grilled cheese, onion rings, pork chops, French fries, toasted sesame bagels, grilled hot dogs, steamed rice, cabbage salad, a pastrami or corned beef sandwich, lamb kebabs, cream cheese on a cracker, a hot buttered English muffin, and probably a lot of other things yet to be discovered.
Another item to pick up in an Asian market is black rice vinegar. White rice vinegar is more familiar but there are also red and black varieties. The red is a bit salty; black vinegar is more assertive than the white and somewhat resembles balsamic vinegar. If you love experimenting with Asian foods, this should be on your shelf. Try mixing equal parts good-quality soy sauce and black vinegar and adding a bit of grated ginger and/or sesame oil to make a dipping sauce for pork roast, eggrolls, spring rolls, spareribs, pot stickers and dumplings, or as a dressing for a cucumber or cabbage salad.
Then there's Trader Joe's Wasabi Mayonnaise. M. de Joie found it above the frozen fish in Trader Joe's and hasn't given a single thought to ordinary tartar sauce since. It has a nice wasabi kick and goes great on fried fish, shrimp, and oysters, roast beef, or as a sandwich spread. Also try dipping crackers or crudités into wasabi mayo, then into the sweet chili sauce for an extra blast of heat and flavor.
Sweet chili sauce, about $3.20 for a 32.5-ounce bottle at Asian markets.
Black rice vinegar, about $2.39 for a 20.3-ounce bottle at Asian markets.
Trader Joe's Wasabi Mayonnaise, $3.29 for a 12-ounce bottle at Trader Joe's.
Follow Vanessa Frida at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Culinary-Ness/151908563699#!/pages/Culinary-Ness/151908563699?v=info
So the next time M. de Joie stopped in at Lao Market (2660 South Market Street, near Racha Noodle) to pick up some sesame oil and nuoc mam, she grabbed a bottle of Thai sweet chili sauce and took it home ... where it sat for several months. Finally she opened it up to make a Thai-style cucumber salad, and discovered how incredibly delicious it is served on - well, just about anything. It's gooey, sweet, and spicy-hot, and makes a wonderful dip/spread to use with wild abandon.
What's it good on? Fried chicken, shrimp, raw vegetables, grilled cheese, onion rings, pork chops, French fries, toasted sesame bagels, grilled hot dogs, steamed rice, cabbage salad, a pastrami or corned beef sandwich, lamb kebabs, cream cheese on a cracker, a hot buttered English muffin, and probably a lot of other things yet to be discovered.
Another item to pick up in an Asian market is black rice vinegar. White rice vinegar is more familiar but there are also red and black varieties. The red is a bit salty; black vinegar is more assertive than the white and somewhat resembles balsamic vinegar. If you love experimenting with Asian foods, this should be on your shelf. Try mixing equal parts good-quality soy sauce and black vinegar and adding a bit of grated ginger and/or sesame oil to make a dipping sauce for pork roast, eggrolls, spring rolls, spareribs, pot stickers and dumplings, or as a dressing for a cucumber or cabbage salad.
Then there's Trader Joe's Wasabi Mayonnaise. M. de Joie found it above the frozen fish in Trader Joe's and hasn't given a single thought to ordinary tartar sauce since. It has a nice wasabi kick and goes great on fried fish, shrimp, and oysters, roast beef, or as a sandwich spread. Also try dipping crackers or crudités into wasabi mayo, then into the sweet chili sauce for an extra blast of heat and flavor.
Sweet chili sauce, about $3.20 for a 32.5-ounce bottle at Asian markets.
Black rice vinegar, about $2.39 for a 20.3-ounce bottle at Asian markets.
Trader Joe's Wasabi Mayonnaise, $3.29 for a 12-ounce bottle at Trader Joe's.
Follow Vanessa Frida at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Culinary-Ness/151908563699#!/pages/Culinary-Ness/151908563699?v=info
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"Now, tequila may be the favored beverage of outlaws but that doesn't mean it gives them preferential treatment. In fact, tequila probably has betrayed as many outlaws as has the central nervous system and dissatisfied wives. Tequila, scorpion honey, harsh dew of the doglands, essence of Aztec, crema de cacti; tequila, oily and thermal like the sun in solution; tequila, liquid geometry of passion; Tequila, the buzzard god who copulates in midair with the ascending souls of dying virgins; tequila, firebug in the house of good taste; O tequila, savage water of sorcery, what confusion and mischief your sly, rebellious drops do generate!" — Tom Robbins (Still Life with Woodpecker)
La Conquista is one of those places just off the freeway where travelers pop in for a fast meal, then slide back onto I-5, never to return. Femme de Joie and Amico del Signore visited a couple of months after it opened. It was, not to put too fine a point on it, Godawful. All M. de Joie recalls of that evening is a vegetarian burrito filled with what were labeled "grilled vegetables." They weren't grilled, they were interrogated and tortured. Amnesty International and the Geneva Convention couldn't have saved them. We expected La Conquista to go out of business shortly.
Three years later and La Conquista is still in operation. Femme de Joie decided to be brave and give it another try. It's hard for her to believe that a restaurant could stay in business based on shots of 500 tequilas, but that may indeed be the case, as the food ranges from pretty average to pretty stuccolike.
Service was friendly and fast. Chips and salsa arrived at the table promptly, along with one food menu, one tequila menu, and one cocktail menu. This, in addition to the laminated tequila menu tacked on the wall of every booth, did not bode well for what the food might be like.
The menus are difficult to read, with bolded font on very intensely-colored paper in torn plastic page protectors. And they're badly organized: La Conquista has all the standard Mexican menu items, but you'll have to search for them. They're there somewhere in the midst of more tequila promotion. Combination platters are featured at La Conquista, most of them running $9.29 at lunch and $9.99 at dinner; they come with a choice of sides -- refried beans, corn, rice, or a green salad.
La famosa wet burrito with shredded beef, $8.99
Shredded beef filling was moist and tender but not especially flavorful. The refried beans inside were not nearly as hot as the meat so there were hot and cool spots within the burrito. Serving size was very generous.
Pork enchilada verde and chicken taco ($9.29 lunch, $9.99 dinner)
This combo of enchilada and taco were amply sized, filled with tender but bland shredded meat, but overwhelmed with too much melted cheese. It took a few spoonfuls of salsa to add any character other than cheese. A side salad was served separately (a good idea instead of lettuce wilting rapidly on a hot platter); nothing out of the ordinary but was adequate. The corn also was served separately -- plain buttered corn but unusually sweet, as though it had been heated in sugar water.
Shredded beef tamale and chile rellano, rice and beans ($9.29 lunch, $9.99 dinner).
This plate was heavy going and difficult to plow through. The tamale was shaped like a taco with nary a corn husk in sight, plasterlike masa reminiscent of canned Gebhardt's tamales and the same shredded beef used in the wet burrito. Gobs of melted Monterey Jack cheese engulfed the beef bursting from the masa casing. The chile rellano was a canned green chile filled with Monterey Jack cheese, coated in a heavy floury egg batter and deep-fried, then covered with more cheese. Refried beans were canned and the rice had a weird and unpleasant over-reheated taste. Everything was very salty.
Though M. de Joie visited La Conquista three times during prime dining hours, she never saw more than ten tables occupied. She has to assume those 500 tequilas are keeping it in business - though she didn't actually see anyone belly up to the bar and order a shot. If you're looking for a tequila sunrise, an aged anejo, or a shot with a lick of salt and a squeeze of lime, this is the place, but M. de Joie thinks you could do better elsewhere for dinner.
Note: Since this was published in A News Cafe, La Conquista has closed and is currently due to be replaced (as of August 2012) by Mazatlan Grill.
La Conquista, 1630 Hilltop Drive, Redding, CA 96002. 530-222-0450. Open Tuesday-Saturday, 11 AM - 9 PM, Sunday 11 AM - 8 PM. No checks. Cash, cards. Full bar. Vegetarian selections. Parking on-site. Outdoor seating.
La Conquista is one of those places just off the freeway where travelers pop in for a fast meal, then slide back onto I-5, never to return. Femme de Joie and Amico del Signore visited a couple of months after it opened. It was, not to put too fine a point on it, Godawful. All M. de Joie recalls of that evening is a vegetarian burrito filled with what were labeled "grilled vegetables." They weren't grilled, they were interrogated and tortured. Amnesty International and the Geneva Convention couldn't have saved them. We expected La Conquista to go out of business shortly.
Three years later and La Conquista is still in operation. Femme de Joie decided to be brave and give it another try. It's hard for her to believe that a restaurant could stay in business based on shots of 500 tequilas, but that may indeed be the case, as the food ranges from pretty average to pretty stuccolike.
Service was friendly and fast. Chips and salsa arrived at the table promptly, along with one food menu, one tequila menu, and one cocktail menu. This, in addition to the laminated tequila menu tacked on the wall of every booth, did not bode well for what the food might be like.
The menus are difficult to read, with bolded font on very intensely-colored paper in torn plastic page protectors. And they're badly organized: La Conquista has all the standard Mexican menu items, but you'll have to search for them. They're there somewhere in the midst of more tequila promotion. Combination platters are featured at La Conquista, most of them running $9.29 at lunch and $9.99 at dinner; they come with a choice of sides -- refried beans, corn, rice, or a green salad.
Shredded beef filling was moist and tender but not especially flavorful. The refried beans inside were not nearly as hot as the meat so there were hot and cool spots within the burrito. Serving size was very generous.
This combo of enchilada and taco were amply sized, filled with tender but bland shredded meat, but overwhelmed with too much melted cheese. It took a few spoonfuls of salsa to add any character other than cheese. A side salad was served separately (a good idea instead of lettuce wilting rapidly on a hot platter); nothing out of the ordinary but was adequate. The corn also was served separately -- plain buttered corn but unusually sweet, as though it had been heated in sugar water.
This plate was heavy going and difficult to plow through. The tamale was shaped like a taco with nary a corn husk in sight, plasterlike masa reminiscent of canned Gebhardt's tamales and the same shredded beef used in the wet burrito. Gobs of melted Monterey Jack cheese engulfed the beef bursting from the masa casing. The chile rellano was a canned green chile filled with Monterey Jack cheese, coated in a heavy floury egg batter and deep-fried, then covered with more cheese. Refried beans were canned and the rice had a weird and unpleasant over-reheated taste. Everything was very salty.
Though M. de Joie visited La Conquista three times during prime dining hours, she never saw more than ten tables occupied. She has to assume those 500 tequilas are keeping it in business - though she didn't actually see anyone belly up to the bar and order a shot. If you're looking for a tequila sunrise, an aged anejo, or a shot with a lick of salt and a squeeze of lime, this is the place, but M. de Joie thinks you could do better elsewhere for dinner.
Note: Since this was published in A News Cafe, La Conquista has closed and is currently due to be replaced (as of August 2012) by Mazatlan Grill.
La Conquista, 1630 Hilltop Drive, Redding, CA 96002. 530-222-0450. Open Tuesday-Saturday, 11 AM - 9 PM, Sunday 11 AM - 8 PM. No checks. Cash, cards. Full bar. Vegetarian selections. Parking on-site. Outdoor seating.
Tags:
- bar,
- chiles,
- cocktails,
- dinner,
- enterprise,
- ethnic foods,
- local,
- lunch,
- mexican,
- patio,
- redding,
- vegetarian
Elegant Asian Dishes at Yuet Bistro
Jun. 15th, 2011 07:05 pmIt's been noted before in this space that strip malls can be an unlikely place to find good food. The many vacancies and low rent in Redding make them ideal for small family-run restaurants. Yuet Bistro is one such place.
Yuet Bistro's interior is a bit more elegant and stylish than you'd expect given it's next to a tire shop and there's a parking lot just a few feet from the window. A long polished bar describes one wall; discreet hanging light fixtures cast a better glow on diners than ordinary florescent lighting. Lacquered chairs and tables are comfortably spaced apart so you don't feel like your neighbor could just reach over and take a bite off your plate. Service is prompt and ranges from friendly to perfunctory.
So the interior’s nice. But how’s the food? With a menu extended between dim sum, Thai, Cantonese, Mandarin and Szechuan, Femme de Joie was a bit concerned that the kitchen wouldn’t be able to successfully accomplish everything they advertise. But M. de Joie is pleased to recommend Yuet Bistro for lunch or dinner, or a dim sum extravaganza. Prices are right for a speedy bargain lunch, but this is no fast-food express joint: the cuisine is elegant enough to take a date or enjoy a special occasion with family.
Hot and sour soup - $3.50 cup, $6 bowl or available with lunch specials.
Though it could have packed more heat, this warming and filling soup was nicely sour and was brimming with lots of crunchy julienned vegetables. It was a pleasant surprise to find hot and sour soup is an option to go with lunch specials in place of the ubiquitous egg flower soup.
Singapore style noodles with pork and curry, $8.95
This was the weakest dish M. de Joie sampled at Yuet Bistro. Noodles, veggies, Chinese BBQ pork, and shrimp were all cooked beautifully. Unfortunately, the curry powder wasn't stirred in thoroughly. About half of the dish didn't have any curry and tasted very bland, and then suddenly there’d be a mouthful of pasty curry powder glommed onto the rice noodles. Too bad, because the other ingredients were perfect.
Ma po tofu -- lunch special, $6.95, including steamed or fried rice and a choice of egg flower or hot and sour soup.
This was a terrific deal -- a very large portion of cubed tofu, strips of tender pork, diced carrots and peas in a gingery, not-too-sweet spicy-hot sauce, along with a generous amount of freshly cooked fried rice. Even an unreconstructed carnivore would enjoy this hearty special vegetarian dish with meaty textures. Ma po tofu can be made sans pork for a vegetarian dish.
Salt-baked squid $8.95, enough to serve two or three as an appetizer to share.
Salt-baked squid is not, in fact, baked but rather deep-fried in a light, puffy coating, with lots of browned slivered garlic, salt, fresh jalapenos, and dried chilies thrown over the top and served with hoi sin, sweet and sour, and garlic-chili paste. Femme de Joie could hardly stop eating this delicious, intensely flavored dim sum. Amico del Signore is not a squid fan but he loved this.
Thai tom yum seafood soup, $8.95 for a very large serving.
M. de Joie loved this spicy and warming Thai soup, sour with limes in a strongly aromatic broth and filled with three green-lipped mussels and plenty of squid and shrimp. This is a soup for those who love assertive flavors and unexpected combinations of tastes.
Now that the Cypress Street Bridge is complete and there aren’t 20-minute delays crossing the river, Yuet Bistro is easily accessible from downtown for lunch, or make a special evening reservation and enjoy some sophisticated Asian food in an attractive dining room.
Yuet Bistro, 24 Hartnell Avenue, Redding, CA 96002. 530-222-8322. Open Sunday-Thursday 11 AM - 9 PM; Friday and Saturday 11 AM - 11 PM. Cash, cards; no checks. Ample onsite parking. Vegetarian and vegan options. Beer and wine. See menu at http://www.yuetbistro.com/
Yuet Bistro's interior is a bit more elegant and stylish than you'd expect given it's next to a tire shop and there's a parking lot just a few feet from the window. A long polished bar describes one wall; discreet hanging light fixtures cast a better glow on diners than ordinary florescent lighting. Lacquered chairs and tables are comfortably spaced apart so you don't feel like your neighbor could just reach over and take a bite off your plate. Service is prompt and ranges from friendly to perfunctory.
So the interior’s nice. But how’s the food? With a menu extended between dim sum, Thai, Cantonese, Mandarin and Szechuan, Femme de Joie was a bit concerned that the kitchen wouldn’t be able to successfully accomplish everything they advertise. But M. de Joie is pleased to recommend Yuet Bistro for lunch or dinner, or a dim sum extravaganza. Prices are right for a speedy bargain lunch, but this is no fast-food express joint: the cuisine is elegant enough to take a date or enjoy a special occasion with family.
Hot and sour soup - $3.50 cup, $6 bowl or available with lunch specials.
Though it could have packed more heat, this warming and filling soup was nicely sour and was brimming with lots of crunchy julienned vegetables. It was a pleasant surprise to find hot and sour soup is an option to go with lunch specials in place of the ubiquitous egg flower soup.
Singapore style noodles with pork and curry, $8.95
This was the weakest dish M. de Joie sampled at Yuet Bistro. Noodles, veggies, Chinese BBQ pork, and shrimp were all cooked beautifully. Unfortunately, the curry powder wasn't stirred in thoroughly. About half of the dish didn't have any curry and tasted very bland, and then suddenly there’d be a mouthful of pasty curry powder glommed onto the rice noodles. Too bad, because the other ingredients were perfect.
Ma po tofu -- lunch special, $6.95, including steamed or fried rice and a choice of egg flower or hot and sour soup.
This was a terrific deal -- a very large portion of cubed tofu, strips of tender pork, diced carrots and peas in a gingery, not-too-sweet spicy-hot sauce, along with a generous amount of freshly cooked fried rice. Even an unreconstructed carnivore would enjoy this hearty special vegetarian dish with meaty textures. Ma po tofu can be made sans pork for a vegetarian dish.
Salt-baked squid $8.95, enough to serve two or three as an appetizer to share.
Salt-baked squid is not, in fact, baked but rather deep-fried in a light, puffy coating, with lots of browned slivered garlic, salt, fresh jalapenos, and dried chilies thrown over the top and served with hoi sin, sweet and sour, and garlic-chili paste. Femme de Joie could hardly stop eating this delicious, intensely flavored dim sum. Amico del Signore is not a squid fan but he loved this.
Thai tom yum seafood soup, $8.95 for a very large serving.
M. de Joie loved this spicy and warming Thai soup, sour with limes in a strongly aromatic broth and filled with three green-lipped mussels and plenty of squid and shrimp. This is a soup for those who love assertive flavors and unexpected combinations of tastes.
Now that the Cypress Street Bridge is complete and there aren’t 20-minute delays crossing the river, Yuet Bistro is easily accessible from downtown for lunch, or make a special evening reservation and enjoy some sophisticated Asian food in an attractive dining room.
Yuet Bistro, 24 Hartnell Avenue, Redding, CA 96002. 530-222-8322. Open Sunday-Thursday 11 AM - 9 PM; Friday and Saturday 11 AM - 11 PM. Cash, cards; no checks. Ample onsite parking. Vegetarian and vegan options. Beer and wine. See menu at http://www.yuetbistro.com/
Tags:
- asian,
- beer and wine,
- cantonese,
- chinese,
- dinner,
- enterprise,
- ethnic foods,
- hunan,
- local,
- lunch,
- redding,
- soup,
- szechuan,
- thai,
- vegan,
- vegetarian
Soup of the Evening, Beautiful Soup
Jun. 15th, 2011 06:56 pmNote: this was originally written and posted last winter. Not so appropriate for June, but still, a bowl of soup might be just what the doctor ordered.
Before the sunny streak, this winter had been very much like the Shasta County winters Femme de Joie remembers from her childhood, when she had to walk five miles to school in a blizzard uphill both ways over hot burning coals -- whoops, sorry. That’s a different rant for a different time.
But it looks like this season's rainy and cold winter has resumed, and that makes M. de Joie think fondly of soup -- not just adding one can water to one can of Campbell's, but real soup, soup that comforts you when you are sick, warms you down to your popsicle toes when you’re frozen, rejuvenates you when things look bleak. While it’s quite easy to whip up wonderful, soothing, full-meal soups in one’s own kitchen with only a modicum of effort, there are certain soups most people don’t attempt at home, putting them instead on the lists of foods they only eat when at a restaurant. And there are times when you just don’t feel like cooking, or when you need lunch but don't want to eat so much you feel groggy the rest of the day.
If you’re out and about on a miserable winter day, or at home wishing you had a large steaming bowl of soupy comfort in front of you, here are a few of Femme de Joie’s favorites. Each is a meal by itself, reasonably priced, and most are just a bit more exotic than chicken noodle (though dear knows chicken noodle has its place on a list of favorite comfort foods).
ALBONDIGAS AT EL MARIACHI’S
Albondigas, $4.50/$7.50, served with tortillas. This savory broth is seasoned with oregano and includes generous chunks of zucchini, carrots, onions and tomatoes, plus large meatballs. It’s sophisticated enough for adults while also appealing to kids.
For the adventurous, Femme de Joie can't say enough good things about the ridiculously red giant bowl of menudo (not pictured) served daily at El Mariachi's. Hot tortillas and a side plate of lime wedges, dried chili flakes, minced onion and chopped cilantro allows the diner to enhance the soup to taste. Fat tender pillows of tripe -- without what a friend described as "that cow-stomach smell" -- bob in a rich chili base. $7.99 for an enormous serving; good whether you have a hangover or not.
VEGETARIAN CHILI AT GRILLA BITES
Every day, Grilla Bites offers a selection of soups -- mostly organic, always with a vegetarian selection, and some designated as gluten-free. The day M. de Joie visited, the offerings included vegetarian chili (pictured above), lentil, minestrone, and their signature Rockin’ Moroccan. $3.50 for a small bowl, $6.50 for a large serving; add $2.00 to be served in a bread bowl.
PHO AT PHO SAIGON
As the name indicates, pho is the specialty of this little cafe tucked away in a corner of a strip mall near Raley's. M. de Joie favors tai sach - variety beef cuts including tendon, tripe, meatballs, and flanken, along with rice noodles in a star anise-spiced roasted beef broth, side dish of bean sprouts, fresh cilantro, and hot chilis to add as desired.
For those who like fish and want to expand their horizons a bit, try pho hai san - shrimp, squid, fish cake, imitation crab meat with rice noodle. A small bowl is $7.99.
KHAO SOY AT 5 THAIS
Khao soy ($6.99) may look like square marshmallows floating in a bowl of chocolate milk, but one sniff, one taste, will reveal flavor combinations of coconut, red and yellow Thai curry, and onion that are simply out of this world. If tofu doesn't rock your socks, chicken and beef are alternatives. Also available at sister restaurant Racha Noodle.
If there’s a restaurant that makes a fine soup you crave, M. de Joie would love to hear about it. Meanwhile, give these places a try for a warming lunch or dinner that won’t break the bank. Call for opening days/hours and more information. Note: 5 Thais and Racha Noodle accept cash only.
Pho Saigon, 236 Hartnell Avenue, Redding; 530-223-9888
Grilla Bites, 1427 Market Street, Redding, 96001; 530-242-6656
El Mariachi's, 2914 Churn Creek Road, Redding, 96002; 530-224-1847
5 Thais, 1003 Dana Drive, Suite A, Redding; 530-221-8929
Racha Noodle, 2630 South Market Street, Redding, 96001; 530- 246-8730
Before the sunny streak, this winter had been very much like the Shasta County winters Femme de Joie remembers from her childhood, when she had to walk five miles to school in a blizzard uphill both ways over hot burning coals -- whoops, sorry. That’s a different rant for a different time.
But it looks like this season's rainy and cold winter has resumed, and that makes M. de Joie think fondly of soup -- not just adding one can water to one can of Campbell's, but real soup, soup that comforts you when you are sick, warms you down to your popsicle toes when you’re frozen, rejuvenates you when things look bleak. While it’s quite easy to whip up wonderful, soothing, full-meal soups in one’s own kitchen with only a modicum of effort, there are certain soups most people don’t attempt at home, putting them instead on the lists of foods they only eat when at a restaurant. And there are times when you just don’t feel like cooking, or when you need lunch but don't want to eat so much you feel groggy the rest of the day.
If you’re out and about on a miserable winter day, or at home wishing you had a large steaming bowl of soupy comfort in front of you, here are a few of Femme de Joie’s favorites. Each is a meal by itself, reasonably priced, and most are just a bit more exotic than chicken noodle (though dear knows chicken noodle has its place on a list of favorite comfort foods).
Albondigas, $4.50/$7.50, served with tortillas. This savory broth is seasoned with oregano and includes generous chunks of zucchini, carrots, onions and tomatoes, plus large meatballs. It’s sophisticated enough for adults while also appealing to kids.
For the adventurous, Femme de Joie can't say enough good things about the ridiculously red giant bowl of menudo (not pictured) served daily at El Mariachi's. Hot tortillas and a side plate of lime wedges, dried chili flakes, minced onion and chopped cilantro allows the diner to enhance the soup to taste. Fat tender pillows of tripe -- without what a friend described as "that cow-stomach smell" -- bob in a rich chili base. $7.99 for an enormous serving; good whether you have a hangover or not.
Every day, Grilla Bites offers a selection of soups -- mostly organic, always with a vegetarian selection, and some designated as gluten-free. The day M. de Joie visited, the offerings included vegetarian chili (pictured above), lentil, minestrone, and their signature Rockin’ Moroccan. $3.50 for a small bowl, $6.50 for a large serving; add $2.00 to be served in a bread bowl.
As the name indicates, pho is the specialty of this little cafe tucked away in a corner of a strip mall near Raley's. M. de Joie favors tai sach - variety beef cuts including tendon, tripe, meatballs, and flanken, along with rice noodles in a star anise-spiced roasted beef broth, side dish of bean sprouts, fresh cilantro, and hot chilis to add as desired.
For those who like fish and want to expand their horizons a bit, try pho hai san - shrimp, squid, fish cake, imitation crab meat with rice noodle. A small bowl is $7.99.
Khao soy ($6.99) may look like square marshmallows floating in a bowl of chocolate milk, but one sniff, one taste, will reveal flavor combinations of coconut, red and yellow Thai curry, and onion that are simply out of this world. If tofu doesn't rock your socks, chicken and beef are alternatives. Also available at sister restaurant Racha Noodle.
If there’s a restaurant that makes a fine soup you crave, M. de Joie would love to hear about it. Meanwhile, give these places a try for a warming lunch or dinner that won’t break the bank. Call for opening days/hours and more information. Note: 5 Thais and Racha Noodle accept cash only.
Pho Saigon, 236 Hartnell Avenue, Redding; 530-223-9888
Grilla Bites, 1427 Market Street, Redding, 96001; 530-242-6656
El Mariachi's, 2914 Churn Creek Road, Redding, 96002; 530-224-1847
5 Thais, 1003 Dana Drive, Suite A, Redding; 530-221-8929
Racha Noodle, 2630 South Market Street, Redding, 96001; 530- 246-8730
It's been five years since Femme de Joie set foot in International House of Pancakes, and that was only because she was in an unfamiliar city for an unpleasant reason and didn't feel up to looking for a decent place to eat. The only memory she carries with her of that breakfast was how horrifyingly, overwhelmingly sweet everything was.
Nutrition information is available on the IHOP website, and it was shocking to learn an order of Stuffed French Toast contains 39 grams of fat and a whopping 45 grams of sugar; add strawberry topping and that's another 16 grams of sugar. That comes out to 13 teaspoons of sugar and 350 calories' worth of fat.
Which brings us to From the Hearth, a local bakery turning out high-quality bread such as green onion-garlic-Cheddar, olive oil & rosemary, and 100% whole wheat. They also make wonderful cinnamon-raisin and pineapple-apricot, both of which are ideal for making your own stuffed French toast at home with more taste and texture and far less sugar than Worldwide Palace o' Flapjacks. And it's stupid easy. Here's how:
Spread cream cheese on one slice of bread. (We used Green Valley cream cheese, made by Rumiano Cheese of Willows - we found it at Grocery Outlet for $1.50 a pound. Luscious.) You don't need much.
Top with jam of your choice. Again, less is more.
Dip in egg-milk mixture and fry.
Voila. Your own very delicious stuffed French toast, for a fraction of the cost of what IHOP charges and far less sugar and fat.
From the Hearth Bakery. Available at Tops Sunset Marketplace, R&R Meats, Orchard Nutrition Center, and at From the Hearth Cafe, 1292 College View Drive Redding, CA 96003. (530) 245-0555, Open Mon 7am-3pm; Tue-Sat 7am-9pm; Sun 7am-6pm
See http://www.fromthehearthbakery.com/
Oscar Matson: Attention must be paid
Years ago a local winemaker told Femme de Joie about a call he made to UC Davis to ask what kinds of wine grapes would do well in Shasta County. He was told, "We don't know, but be sure to let us know what happens!"
Oscar Matson, as pictured on Matson Vineyards' web site.
At a time when the wine industry was rapidly picking up steam in Napa/Sonoma but no one knew if wine grapes could be successfully grown in our blisteringly hot summers, Oscar Matson took a giant step and established Shasta County's first bonded winery.
Femme de Joie only met him twice but was impressed with his kindness, gregarious nature, generosity, and knowledge of, it seemed, just about everything. He was a memorable personality who greeted us at Matson Vineyards with a shout and expansive wave from his balcony and gave us a tour of the vineyard. He quizzed us on our wine knowledge as we tasted, and bubbled over with information about growing grapes, making wines, and tasting.
Matson led the way for the burgeoning wine industry here in Shasta and surrounding counties. Yes, it would have come about anyway, but someone had to take that leap of faith and be the first to prove good wine could be made here, and that someone was Oscar Matson. Godspeed.
Oscar Matson died Jan. 17, 2011. He was 88.
Nutrition information is available on the IHOP website, and it was shocking to learn an order of Stuffed French Toast contains 39 grams of fat and a whopping 45 grams of sugar; add strawberry topping and that's another 16 grams of sugar. That comes out to 13 teaspoons of sugar and 350 calories' worth of fat.
Which brings us to From the Hearth, a local bakery turning out high-quality bread such as green onion-garlic-Cheddar, olive oil & rosemary, and 100% whole wheat. They also make wonderful cinnamon-raisin and pineapple-apricot, both of which are ideal for making your own stuffed French toast at home with more taste and texture and far less sugar than Worldwide Palace o' Flapjacks. And it's stupid easy. Here's how:
Spread cream cheese on one slice of bread. (We used Green Valley cream cheese, made by Rumiano Cheese of Willows - we found it at Grocery Outlet for $1.50 a pound. Luscious.) You don't need much.
Top with jam of your choice. Again, less is more.
Dip in egg-milk mixture and fry.
Voila. Your own very delicious stuffed French toast, for a fraction of the cost of what IHOP charges and far less sugar and fat.
From the Hearth Bakery. Available at Tops Sunset Marketplace, R&R Meats, Orchard Nutrition Center, and at From the Hearth Cafe, 1292 College View Drive Redding, CA 96003. (530) 245-0555, Open Mon 7am-3pm; Tue-Sat 7am-9pm; Sun 7am-6pm
See http://www.fromthehearthbakery.com/
Oscar Matson: Attention must be paid
Years ago a local winemaker told Femme de Joie about a call he made to UC Davis to ask what kinds of wine grapes would do well in Shasta County. He was told, "We don't know, but be sure to let us know what happens!"
Oscar Matson, as pictured on Matson Vineyards' web site.
At a time when the wine industry was rapidly picking up steam in Napa/Sonoma but no one knew if wine grapes could be successfully grown in our blisteringly hot summers, Oscar Matson took a giant step and established Shasta County's first bonded winery.
Femme de Joie only met him twice but was impressed with his kindness, gregarious nature, generosity, and knowledge of, it seemed, just about everything. He was a memorable personality who greeted us at Matson Vineyards with a shout and expansive wave from his balcony and gave us a tour of the vineyard. He quizzed us on our wine knowledge as we tasted, and bubbled over with information about growing grapes, making wines, and tasting.
Matson led the way for the burgeoning wine industry here in Shasta and surrounding counties. Yes, it would have come about anyway, but someone had to take that leap of faith and be the first to prove good wine could be made here, and that someone was Oscar Matson. Godspeed.
Oscar Matson died Jan. 17, 2011. He was 88.
It was 1968 that Buz’s Crab Stand opened for business in a slightly grotty location between a dry cleaner’s and Safeway. Back then, after placing an order, customers had to keep one ear peeled for staff yelling through the noisy restaurant that their order was ready. The menu was short and sweet: fish and chips, a few broiled fish dishes, clam chowder. Though they claim to be a “funky fish joint,” nowadays Buz’s is more genteel and calculatedly funky than in their early days. The amount of available seating has expanded and servers now bring food to your table. You still order at the counter -- usually standing for a few minutes reading the enormous menu board behind the cashier -- and get your own non-alcoholic drinks, but now diners are given a table marker saying Swordfish or Halibut to ensure food is delivered to the right table. Service has been friendly and prompt.
Buz’s menu has expanded wildly since those early days, which may appeal to a broader demographic with more adventurous palates than was had forty-some years ago, but very often the execution is uneven and disappointing. There doesn’t seem to be one chef overseeing operations and ensuring consistency. Pastas, wraps, fish burgers, Southwestern, Cajun, cioppino, Mexican, fish kebabs, grilled/fried/broiled -- Femme de Joie feels that while trying to please every taste, the kitchen has spread itself too thin.
The signature dish at Buz’s, fish and chips, $7.75. The batter was crisp but bland; the fish was fine the first few bites while still warm from the fryers. After that it became apparent the fish inside was dry and overcooked. Chips -- which appear to have been pre-cooked en masse and kept warm; they certainly are not freshly fried -- are under the fish so any crispness they might once have had is steamed out by lying under the hot filets.
Crab chowder,$5.49. This rich and creamy soup was filled with new potatoes and loads of crab. Unfortunately, the delicate, sweet crab taste was lost due to a heavy hand with dried herbs.
Salmon bisque was much more successful than the crab bisque; the stronger flavor of meaty salmon chunks stood up nicely in a not-too-creamy base.
Two fish tacos supreme. Nuggets of deep-fried fish were crunchy but tasteless and covered with guacamole from a jar, cheese, olives, salsa from a jar, scallions, and a very runny creamy sauce that saturated the flour tortillas and eventually made the entire taco a soggy mess.
Open-faced crab sandwich on sourdough was one of the better offerings: lots of hot crab under a not-too-heavy coat of melted cheese on a thick slice of sourdough. The sweet crab -- mixed with bits of celery -- came through nicely and the sandwich was kept hot on a metal platter. There were plenty of those soft, pasty chips on the side.
The best thing Femme de Joie had at Buz’s: a fresh green salad.
Generally, M. de Joie doesn’t care much about presentation as long as the food is good. But when she pays a fairly hefty price for lunch and then finds the food isn’t all that wonderful, she starts to notice things. For instance: a $5.50 cup of soup served in a plastic bowl, runny and drippy tacos served in a plastic basket with a sheet or two of paper to keep the flood from spilling onto the table, cheap plastic forks. It wouldn’t be so noticeable if other restaurants did the same thing, but if you’re paying sit-down prices and getting takeaway plastic and paper, you start thinking about whether you’re getting the best value for money.
EDIT: Buz's has closed as of September 2012. R&R Meats has purchased the building and will turn it into a seafood market.
Buz’s Crab Seafood Restaurant and Market, 2159 East Street, Redding, CA 96001. 530-243-2120, fax 530-243-4310. Open Sunday-Wednesday, 11 AM - 8 PM, Thursday-Saturday 11 AM - 9 PM. Seafood market open Sunday-Wednesday 9 AM - 8 PM, Thursday-Sunday 9 AM - 9 PM. Beer and wine. On-site parking. Cash, local checks, cards. Overnight delivery of fish via FedEx; see website for details. Website at http://www.buzscrab.com/index.php
Buz’s menu has expanded wildly since those early days, which may appeal to a broader demographic with more adventurous palates than was had forty-some years ago, but very often the execution is uneven and disappointing. There doesn’t seem to be one chef overseeing operations and ensuring consistency. Pastas, wraps, fish burgers, Southwestern, Cajun, cioppino, Mexican, fish kebabs, grilled/fried/broiled -- Femme de Joie feels that while trying to please every taste, the kitchen has spread itself too thin.
The signature dish at Buz’s, fish and chips, $7.75. The batter was crisp but bland; the fish was fine the first few bites while still warm from the fryers. After that it became apparent the fish inside was dry and overcooked. Chips -- which appear to have been pre-cooked en masse and kept warm; they certainly are not freshly fried -- are under the fish so any crispness they might once have had is steamed out by lying under the hot filets.
Crab chowder,$5.49. This rich and creamy soup was filled with new potatoes and loads of crab. Unfortunately, the delicate, sweet crab taste was lost due to a heavy hand with dried herbs.
Salmon bisque was much more successful than the crab bisque; the stronger flavor of meaty salmon chunks stood up nicely in a not-too-creamy base.
Two fish tacos supreme. Nuggets of deep-fried fish were crunchy but tasteless and covered with guacamole from a jar, cheese, olives, salsa from a jar, scallions, and a very runny creamy sauce that saturated the flour tortillas and eventually made the entire taco a soggy mess.
Open-faced crab sandwich on sourdough was one of the better offerings: lots of hot crab under a not-too-heavy coat of melted cheese on a thick slice of sourdough. The sweet crab -- mixed with bits of celery -- came through nicely and the sandwich was kept hot on a metal platter. There were plenty of those soft, pasty chips on the side.
The best thing Femme de Joie had at Buz’s: a fresh green salad.
Generally, M. de Joie doesn’t care much about presentation as long as the food is good. But when she pays a fairly hefty price for lunch and then finds the food isn’t all that wonderful, she starts to notice things. For instance: a $5.50 cup of soup served in a plastic bowl, runny and drippy tacos served in a plastic basket with a sheet or two of paper to keep the flood from spilling onto the table, cheap plastic forks. It wouldn’t be so noticeable if other restaurants did the same thing, but if you’re paying sit-down prices and getting takeaway plastic and paper, you start thinking about whether you’re getting the best value for money.
EDIT: Buz's has closed as of September 2012. R&R Meats has purchased the building and will turn it into a seafood market.
Buz’s Crab Seafood Restaurant and Market, 2159 East Street, Redding, CA 96001. 530-243-2120, fax 530-243-4310. Open Sunday-Wednesday, 11 AM - 8 PM, Thursday-Saturday 11 AM - 9 PM. Seafood market open Sunday-Wednesday 9 AM - 8 PM, Thursday-Sunday 9 AM - 9 PM. Beer and wine. On-site parking. Cash, local checks, cards. Overnight delivery of fish via FedEx; see website for details. Website at http://www.buzscrab.com/index.php
Menuplease: Out of Town for New King Tin
Jun. 5th, 2011 06:44 pmLast June while wandering through San Francisco’s Chinatown, Femme de Joie and Amico del Signore stopped in at Vital Tea Shop (see here for details). We bought some tea and on our way out, asked Jason, the proprietor, for a recommendation on a good place to eat. When he asked us, “What do you feel like having? Malaysian, Vietnamese, Szechuan, Hunan, Korean, Cantonese, seafood?” we knew we had asked the right man. We said we wanted simple Cantonese food, and he directed us around the corner and up Washington half a block - “Look for the ducks in the window.”
We eagerly hiked up half a steep block and walked into New King Tin. There were Peking ducks hanging in the window; to the right of the cash register a man worked patiently turning out won tons, chopping ducks, making fish balls. Before us was a large nondescript dining room with worn linoleum and unadorned Formica-topped tables; fish tanks bubbled in the back with live lobsters, crab, catfish and cod; and tables full of Chinese families were noisily and eagerly tucking into dishes with aromas that made us weak in the knees.
Though we couldn’t read them, the presence of hand-lettered signs in Chinese told us we were in the right place.
Since that first visit a year ago, we’ve made three more stops at New King Tin. Yeah, it’s that good. We’ve sampled a variety of dishes from the menu and we might have to visit about fifty more times to try everything, but that is a challenge we’re willing to take on.
Won ton soup - the won ton filling is made fresh on the premises, unlike many restaurants that order bulk filling (along with pre-chopped egg roll filling). The mixed pork and chicken broth makes this an especially rich version.
Those ducks in the window aren’t just for display. A generous order of star-anise scented roast duck set us back just $7.95 - tender, juicy, and meaty, this was enough for two people as part of a Chinese dinner.
Hot and spicy braised eggplant ($6.95) and sweet and sour pork ($8.95). Asian eggplants sliced and braised with hot dried chilis and pork were filling and meaty in texture. The sweet and sour pork was luscious: cubes of deep-fried pork had a crunchy exterior and flavorful, tender interior with a tangy, light sauce, not sugary sweet but piquant.
Double meatball soup ($5.50 for enough for two people) had tofu, pork meatballs, and fish balls in a lovely gingery chicken broth with spinach; though it might sound like an odd combination, it worked well. The fish balls did not overwhelm the rest of the flavors but were instead delicately flavored and light.
New King Tin’s version of tomato-beef chow mein was light and crispy with deep-fried rice noodles, small bites of steak, and a scattering of fresh vegetables. Not at all salty with soy sauce or oily as so often happens, this was one of our favorite dishes.
Oysters with black bean sauce ($12.95) were the surprise hit for both Amico del Signore and Femme de Joie. Six oysters in the shell are topped with fermented black beans, garlic, and scallions, and steamed. Briny fresh oysters took on an exotic dimension neither of us dreamed existed - salty, spicy, amazingly plump and juicy. We loved this so much we ordered it two days in a row.
If you’re in Chinatown and looking for an authentic restaurant, we can’t recommend New King Tin enough. It’s not a place many tourists go. It isn’t pretty and the restrooms are frankly a little scary. But service was polite, helpful, and prompt, servings are generous, the menu is extensive and inexpensive, the fish could not be fresher, and you’ll roll out of there wondering when you can come back.
Edit: New King Tin has closed. The Washington Cafe has opened in its place.
New King Tin, 826 Washington Street (between Ross Alley and Grant Avenue), San Francisco, CA 94108. 415-368-8088/8188. Credit and debit cards; cash. Open daily 8 AM-12 AM. Beer and wine. Street parking only; good luck. Better to park elsewhere and hoof it, or take Muni; lines 41 Union, 30-Stockton, 45 Union-Stockton, 8 Express, 10 Townsend, 12 Folsom, 27 Bryant, 1 California, and the Powell Street cable car all come nearby. Sample menu at http://sanfrancisco.menupages.com/restaurants/new-king-tin-restaurant/menu
We eagerly hiked up half a steep block and walked into New King Tin. There were Peking ducks hanging in the window; to the right of the cash register a man worked patiently turning out won tons, chopping ducks, making fish balls. Before us was a large nondescript dining room with worn linoleum and unadorned Formica-topped tables; fish tanks bubbled in the back with live lobsters, crab, catfish and cod; and tables full of Chinese families were noisily and eagerly tucking into dishes with aromas that made us weak in the knees.
Though we couldn’t read them, the presence of hand-lettered signs in Chinese told us we were in the right place.
Since that first visit a year ago, we’ve made three more stops at New King Tin. Yeah, it’s that good. We’ve sampled a variety of dishes from the menu and we might have to visit about fifty more times to try everything, but that is a challenge we’re willing to take on.
Won ton soup - the won ton filling is made fresh on the premises, unlike many restaurants that order bulk filling (along with pre-chopped egg roll filling). The mixed pork and chicken broth makes this an especially rich version.
Those ducks in the window aren’t just for display. A generous order of star-anise scented roast duck set us back just $7.95 - tender, juicy, and meaty, this was enough for two people as part of a Chinese dinner.
Hot and spicy braised eggplant ($6.95) and sweet and sour pork ($8.95). Asian eggplants sliced and braised with hot dried chilis and pork were filling and meaty in texture. The sweet and sour pork was luscious: cubes of deep-fried pork had a crunchy exterior and flavorful, tender interior with a tangy, light sauce, not sugary sweet but piquant.
Double meatball soup ($5.50 for enough for two people) had tofu, pork meatballs, and fish balls in a lovely gingery chicken broth with spinach; though it might sound like an odd combination, it worked well. The fish balls did not overwhelm the rest of the flavors but were instead delicately flavored and light.
New King Tin’s version of tomato-beef chow mein was light and crispy with deep-fried rice noodles, small bites of steak, and a scattering of fresh vegetables. Not at all salty with soy sauce or oily as so often happens, this was one of our favorite dishes.
Oysters with black bean sauce ($12.95) were the surprise hit for both Amico del Signore and Femme de Joie. Six oysters in the shell are topped with fermented black beans, garlic, and scallions, and steamed. Briny fresh oysters took on an exotic dimension neither of us dreamed existed - salty, spicy, amazingly plump and juicy. We loved this so much we ordered it two days in a row.
If you’re in Chinatown and looking for an authentic restaurant, we can’t recommend New King Tin enough. It’s not a place many tourists go. It isn’t pretty and the restrooms are frankly a little scary. But service was polite, helpful, and prompt, servings are generous, the menu is extensive and inexpensive, the fish could not be fresher, and you’ll roll out of there wondering when you can come back.
Edit: New King Tin has closed. The Washington Cafe has opened in its place.
New King Tin, 826 Washington Street (between Ross Alley and Grant Avenue), San Francisco, CA 94108. 415-368-8088/8188. Credit and debit cards; cash. Open daily 8 AM-12 AM. Beer and wine. Street parking only; good luck. Better to park elsewhere and hoof it, or take Muni; lines 41 Union, 30-Stockton, 45 Union-Stockton, 8 Express, 10 Townsend, 12 Folsom, 27 Bryant, 1 California, and the Powell Street cable car all come nearby. Sample menu at http://sanfrancisco.menupages.com/restaurants/new-king-tin-restaurant/menu
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Whoever said, “Location, location, location” is the key to success obviously never set foot inside Racha Noodle. Housed in a forgettable mini strip mall where California Street careens into South Market, this first restaurant opening by five Thai sisters (who also operate 5 Thais on Dana Drive) defies modern business models and has been turning out their delightful dishes to a hungry budget-conscious and appreciative crowd for four years.
Racha’s interior is painted an odd but pleasing lilac color; simple décor includes Thai tourism posters and pictures of Thai food. There are about a dozen tables so it can fill up fast, especially during prime lunch and dinner hours. Go during off-peak hours if you want to avoid feeling crowded.
Amico del Signore adding bean sprouts to beef pho with shrimp, tripe, meatballs, and tendons. $7.50.
Racha is a great place to get your fix of pho, that warming meat-and-noodle dish that until the last few years was well-nigh impossible to find locally. Generous bowls of hot soup come with a small plate of bean sprouts and lime wedges to add to the soup as you prefer. There’s also a tray of typical Thai condiments available, such as pickled hot peppers, ground dried chilis, Sriracha, sugar, etc. See http://www.madammam.com/articles/tabletop.html for a clearer explanation of how to use them. Note: when adding hot condiments to a dish, be aware of the accumulative effect. More than once M. de Joie has gleefully piled on Jalapenos, Sriracha, and so on, only to find the resulting broth explosively hot.
Having eaten pho at several restaurants in Redding, it’s Femme de Joie’s opinion that the rich broth makes Racha’s version the best local version she’s tasted so far. In addition to beef and shrimp, versions with seafood only, beef only and chicken are available. When you’re coming down with a cold, feeling wet and chilled, or just need some comfort food, pho will get you set on the right track again.
The duck fried rice ($7.95) was a much less salty and more flavorful version than is found in Chinese restaurants. Packed with duck, bits of pineapple, fresh herbs and vegetables, this makes a great accompaniment to curry or a simple lunch by itself.
Green papaya salad with spicy lime dressing, $6.65.
Green papayas are quite a different animal from the soft musky-scented ripe sweet papaya. Here at Racha, it makes a tart and spicy slaw-like salad that cuts the richness of dishes like pumpkin curries and salmon dishes - or a light lunch.
Warning: papaya (along with several other fruits/vegetables) can trigger allergic reactions in people who are allergic to latex; see http://allergies.about.com/od/medicationallergies/a/latexfood.htm for more information.
5 spice chicken leg soup, $5.95 as daily special.
This unusual dish is a lighter kissing cousin to pho. Two tender and flavorful chicken legs poach in a 5-spice broth, along with large wedges of fried tofu, rice noodles, scallions, cilantro and mushrooms. Eating chicken legs in soup posed an interesting etiquette dilemma since no knife and fork were provided. M. de Joie finally decided to pick the legs up and eat them out of hand - a messy but satisfactory solution.
Though not pictured, M. de Joie strongly recommends the garlic chicken, which will tempt you to pick your plate up and lick it, and the mango with sticky rice dessert, which will cause you to squabble with your dining partner. It’s that good.
About that business model: in addition to its off-the-beaten-path location, Racha Noodle only accepts cash. No checks, no debit cards, no credit cards. But Racha Noodle is worth making a stop at the ATM for, and you won’t have to withdraw very much money. This is a great local place.
Racha Noodle, 2630 South Market Street at California Street, Redding, CA 96001. 530-246-8730. Open Monday-Saturday 11 AM-3 PM and 5 PM-8PM. Closed Sunday. On-site parking. Vegetarian and vegan options. No alcohol. Cash only. No cards, no checks.
Racha’s interior is painted an odd but pleasing lilac color; simple décor includes Thai tourism posters and pictures of Thai food. There are about a dozen tables so it can fill up fast, especially during prime lunch and dinner hours. Go during off-peak hours if you want to avoid feeling crowded.
Amico del Signore adding bean sprouts to beef pho with shrimp, tripe, meatballs, and tendons. $7.50.
Racha is a great place to get your fix of pho, that warming meat-and-noodle dish that until the last few years was well-nigh impossible to find locally. Generous bowls of hot soup come with a small plate of bean sprouts and lime wedges to add to the soup as you prefer. There’s also a tray of typical Thai condiments available, such as pickled hot peppers, ground dried chilis, Sriracha, sugar, etc. See http://www.madammam.com/articles/tabletop.html for a clearer explanation of how to use them. Note: when adding hot condiments to a dish, be aware of the accumulative effect. More than once M. de Joie has gleefully piled on Jalapenos, Sriracha, and so on, only to find the resulting broth explosively hot.
Having eaten pho at several restaurants in Redding, it’s Femme de Joie’s opinion that the rich broth makes Racha’s version the best local version she’s tasted so far. In addition to beef and shrimp, versions with seafood only, beef only and chicken are available. When you’re coming down with a cold, feeling wet and chilled, or just need some comfort food, pho will get you set on the right track again.
The duck fried rice ($7.95) was a much less salty and more flavorful version than is found in Chinese restaurants. Packed with duck, bits of pineapple, fresh herbs and vegetables, this makes a great accompaniment to curry or a simple lunch by itself.
Green papaya salad with spicy lime dressing, $6.65.
Green papayas are quite a different animal from the soft musky-scented ripe sweet papaya. Here at Racha, it makes a tart and spicy slaw-like salad that cuts the richness of dishes like pumpkin curries and salmon dishes - or a light lunch.
Warning: papaya (along with several other fruits/vegetables) can trigger allergic reactions in people who are allergic to latex; see http://allergies.about.com/od/medicationallergies/a/latexfood.htm for more information.
5 spice chicken leg soup, $5.95 as daily special.
This unusual dish is a lighter kissing cousin to pho. Two tender and flavorful chicken legs poach in a 5-spice broth, along with large wedges of fried tofu, rice noodles, scallions, cilantro and mushrooms. Eating chicken legs in soup posed an interesting etiquette dilemma since no knife and fork were provided. M. de Joie finally decided to pick the legs up and eat them out of hand - a messy but satisfactory solution.
Though not pictured, M. de Joie strongly recommends the garlic chicken, which will tempt you to pick your plate up and lick it, and the mango with sticky rice dessert, which will cause you to squabble with your dining partner. It’s that good.
About that business model: in addition to its off-the-beaten-path location, Racha Noodle only accepts cash. No checks, no debit cards, no credit cards. But Racha Noodle is worth making a stop at the ATM for, and you won’t have to withdraw very much money. This is a great local place.
Racha Noodle, 2630 South Market Street at California Street, Redding, CA 96001. 530-246-8730. Open Monday-Saturday 11 AM-3 PM and 5 PM-8PM. Closed Sunday. On-site parking. Vegetarian and vegan options. No alcohol. Cash only. No cards, no checks.
Menuplease: New China Serves Fine Cuisine
Jun. 1st, 2011 06:05 pmStrip malls are not usually the first place you look when choosing a restaurant. There's just something about those impersonal, interchangeable squares of real estate with high-gloss walls, big glass storefronts and acres of asphalt just a few steps from your table that scream Styrofoam taste at high prices! But in a city with strip mall space that goes begging, rents can be attractively low and ideal for small, family-run restaurants. Places like Pho Sai Gon, Priya, 5 Thais, and New China are turning out high-quality food at modest-to-moderate prices.
Several Asian restaurants have come and gone in the corner of Sunset Plaza (corner of Eureka Way and Buenaventura Boulevard) that now is home to New China. Some of them were quite good, but New China has developed a devoted following that ensures its continued success. At any time of day you'll see a string of customers coming in for to-go orders, as well as dine-in.
When it first opened, New China had a functional but cold tile floor and plain café tables, but has since had elegant upgrades made to the interior. Though it's a neighborhood place, it's also dressy enough to take a date. Service is prompt but not rushed.
The wonton soup ($5.50 to serve two) is by far the best in Redding. Made with a rich mixed broth (not just chicken stock), the wonton wrappers are stuffed with a snappy ginger-pork pate that is much more distinguished than the usual bland filling.
BBQ spare ribs, $6.50 as an appetizer. The ribs were not especially meaty or tender but had excellent flavor with a sticky star-anise flavored sauce.
Pan-fried noodles with chicken and vegetables, $8.95. To M. de Joie's mind, this is a much tastier alternative to the usual chow mein. Chinese noodles are fried until brown and crisp on one side, then tossed with crunchy vegetables and bites of chicken in a slightly sweet sauce. On another visit, we ordered a combination of shrimp, beef, and chicken; more than enough as a main course for two people.
Broccoli in ginger sauce, $6.75, bears no resemblance to frozen broccoli or that abomination served in school cafeterias. The spicy-hot sweet garlic sauce coats flowerets of broccoli, plus carrots, celery, mushrooms and onions. It might not make converts of broccoli-haters but does make a wonderful vegetarian main course.
Femme de Joie recalls eating some truly weird and awful versions of sweet and sour pork in now-forgotten and hopefully now-closed East Coast suburban Chinese restaurants, which included crinkle-cut frozen French fries and gherkins, along with greasy pork in a vivid red sugar sauce. It may not be authentically Chinese, but S&S pork continues to be a mainstay at Asian restaurants. New China's version ($7.50) is one of the better ones out there - the sauce is not overly sugary and the sweet is balanced with sour. There is plenty of pork in a light, crunchy batter, with a few cubes of pineapple and bits of onion and sweet red bell pepper.
One of the nice touches from New China: post-meal, beautifully presented orange halves are brought to your table - a perfect dessert after an elegant dinner.
New China is located on Redding's western edge but is worth a drive from Enterprise, even if you're going to pick up an order to take home. Highly recommended.
New China, 3669 Eureka Way at Buenaventura Boulevard in the Sunset Plaza, Redding. 530-246-9522/0788. Open Monday-Friday, 11:00 AM - 9:30 PM, Friday and Saturday, 11:00 AM-10:00 PM, Sunday 12:00 noon - 9:00 PM. Vegetarian/vegan options. Wine and beer. No checks. Cash, cards. Ample on-site parking.
Several Asian restaurants have come and gone in the corner of Sunset Plaza (corner of Eureka Way and Buenaventura Boulevard) that now is home to New China. Some of them were quite good, but New China has developed a devoted following that ensures its continued success. At any time of day you'll see a string of customers coming in for to-go orders, as well as dine-in.
When it first opened, New China had a functional but cold tile floor and plain café tables, but has since had elegant upgrades made to the interior. Though it's a neighborhood place, it's also dressy enough to take a date. Service is prompt but not rushed.
The wonton soup ($5.50 to serve two) is by far the best in Redding. Made with a rich mixed broth (not just chicken stock), the wonton wrappers are stuffed with a snappy ginger-pork pate that is much more distinguished than the usual bland filling.
BBQ spare ribs, $6.50 as an appetizer. The ribs were not especially meaty or tender but had excellent flavor with a sticky star-anise flavored sauce.
Pan-fried noodles with chicken and vegetables, $8.95. To M. de Joie's mind, this is a much tastier alternative to the usual chow mein. Chinese noodles are fried until brown and crisp on one side, then tossed with crunchy vegetables and bites of chicken in a slightly sweet sauce. On another visit, we ordered a combination of shrimp, beef, and chicken; more than enough as a main course for two people.
Broccoli in ginger sauce, $6.75, bears no resemblance to frozen broccoli or that abomination served in school cafeterias. The spicy-hot sweet garlic sauce coats flowerets of broccoli, plus carrots, celery, mushrooms and onions. It might not make converts of broccoli-haters but does make a wonderful vegetarian main course.
Femme de Joie recalls eating some truly weird and awful versions of sweet and sour pork in now-forgotten and hopefully now-closed East Coast suburban Chinese restaurants, which included crinkle-cut frozen French fries and gherkins, along with greasy pork in a vivid red sugar sauce. It may not be authentically Chinese, but S&S pork continues to be a mainstay at Asian restaurants. New China's version ($7.50) is one of the better ones out there - the sauce is not overly sugary and the sweet is balanced with sour. There is plenty of pork in a light, crunchy batter, with a few cubes of pineapple and bits of onion and sweet red bell pepper.
One of the nice touches from New China: post-meal, beautifully presented orange halves are brought to your table - a perfect dessert after an elegant dinner.
New China is located on Redding's western edge but is worth a drive from Enterprise, even if you're going to pick up an order to take home. Highly recommended.
New China, 3669 Eureka Way at Buenaventura Boulevard in the Sunset Plaza, Redding. 530-246-9522/0788. Open Monday-Friday, 11:00 AM - 9:30 PM, Friday and Saturday, 11:00 AM-10:00 PM, Sunday 12:00 noon - 9:00 PM. Vegetarian/vegan options. Wine and beer. No checks. Cash, cards. Ample on-site parking.
A few months ago Femme de Joie was searching the shelves at Winco for a decent loaf of whole-wheat sandwich bread without high-fructose corn syrup, when she chanced upon Dave's Killer Blues Bread. Attracted by the catchy graphics and healthy ingredients, she bought a loaf on impulse. After Amico del Signore had a taste, he went back to Winco for more. A clerk told him that it had been sent to the Redding store by accident but that they were getting customer requests for more. Apparently customer demand paid off, because three kinds of Dave's Bread is now available regularly. Good Seed, 21 Grain, and Killer Blues are all hearty, substantial loaves with nutty taste and firm texture. We love them.
For those who enjoy an improbable success story, check out Dave's methhead-to-baker life at http://www.daveskillerbread.com/ or follow him on Facebook.
For those who like a sweeter bread product, M. de Joie recommends Trader Joe's Jumbo Cinnamon Rolls.
These come in one of those refrigerated cans you whack against the kitchen counter. We like them because the dough is crunchy on the outside, tender inside, and much less sweet than doughnut-shop cinnamon rolls - you add the icing to taste. They make a great treat on a weekend morning. $3.99 for a 17.5-ounce can (contains 5 rolls).
**************
M. de Joie is sorry to see Pio Loco close, especially after the recent huge turnaround in the quality of food and service. She fervently hopes someone will snap up that beautiful space and open up another restaurant.EDIT: Chef Jeff is working on opening a new restaurant in the space vacated by Fiesta Azteca on Park Marina Drive. Good luck to him.
The closing leaves a liquor license for sale, reportedly at $50,000.
In happier news, The Village Delicatessen has opened in downtown Redding at 1300 Market Street, across from the Old City Hall Arts Center. They are open Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Menu is available on their Facebook page.
For those who enjoy an improbable success story, check out Dave's methhead-to-baker life at http://www.daveskillerbread.com/ or follow him on Facebook.
For those who like a sweeter bread product, M. de Joie recommends Trader Joe's Jumbo Cinnamon Rolls.
These come in one of those refrigerated cans you whack against the kitchen counter. We like them because the dough is crunchy on the outside, tender inside, and much less sweet than doughnut-shop cinnamon rolls - you add the icing to taste. They make a great treat on a weekend morning. $3.99 for a 17.5-ounce can (contains 5 rolls).
**************
M. de Joie is sorry to see Pio Loco close, especially after the recent huge turnaround in the quality of food and service. She fervently hopes someone will snap up that beautiful space and open up another restaurant.EDIT: Chef Jeff is working on opening a new restaurant in the space vacated by Fiesta Azteca on Park Marina Drive. Good luck to him.
The closing leaves a liquor license for sale, reportedly at $50,000.
In happier news, The Village Delicatessen has opened in downtown Redding at 1300 Market Street, across from the Old City Hall Arts Center. They are open Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Menu is available on their Facebook page.
A recent update of this sadly-neglected blog brought a rebuke from an anonymous reader in the thriving metropolis of Hayfork, California. Their response to the review of Sailing Boat:
Subject: edit out the crudities
I don't like to see women writing like this. The "big girl panties" "thongs and stiletos" detract from the review.
It was then that Femme de Joie realized the tawdry shape she has allowed herself to slip into. Yes, all those influences – wireless radio, television, moving pictures, the automobile – have made her a wreck of her former self, but she cannot blame those alone. It was she herself who was tempted and gave in to the notion of using uncouth language, as well as referencing clothing of a personal nature. So here in this public forum, she would like to extend her heartfelt apologies to the offended party:
Gentle Reader:
As one woman to another, please accept Femme de Joie’s apologies. She realizes now she overstepped her bounds by being a woman, writing, and using provocative terms. Her downfall began when the bustle went out of style and ankles started flashing, and then next thing you knew, “ladies” (ladies! HA! tramps is more like it) started talking IN PUBLIC about undergarments and shoes. After that World War I started, and then came birth control and Elvis Presley, and then all bets were off and the barn door left wide open. Before good moral women like yourself knew what had hit them, ladies went to Frederick’s of Hollywood for crotchless panties and bras with nipple holes, as well as mechanical "tension reliever" devices.
Oh my goodness, Femme is getting so overheated talking about all this. She must go lie down with a nice gin and tonic. (Between us ladies, please be cautious of the dangerous nature of the gin and tonic. Panties drop and before you know it you'll be voting and owning property. It can be very disgraceful.)
Thank you so very much for taking an interest because ladies need to look out for each other and whip us back into line when we stray. And Femme vows to be careful not to offend those who think "Big Girl Panties" and "thongs and stilettos" are naughty and thus secretly exciting.
With all sincerity,
Femme de Joie
And please, take a moment to read the Ladies Against WomenMani Ladyfesto:
We Truly Tasteful Ladies Do Hereby Demand:
Repeal the Ladies' vote. It is suffering and not suffrage that keeps us up on our pedestals. And if God hadn't wanted us up on pedestals, He wouldn't have make us shorter than our husbands.
Abolish the environment. It takes up too much space, and is almost impossible to keep clean.
Free Ladies from wage slavery. The 60-odd cents we earn for every manly dollar is entirely too much. It is unladylike to accept money for work.
Maintain illiteracy as a high school graduation requirement. An uninformed populace is an obedient populace, and a self-censoring one, too. After all, ignorance is a virtue: what you can't read, can't hurt you.
Insist on universal free childcare. No one should be paid to do what a real Lady does in her home for free.
Weed out uppity women through the establishment of HULA Committee: the House Committee on Un-Ladylike Activities.
Procreation, not recreation. Where did so many gals get the idea that s_x is supposed to be f_n? It's time to close your eyes and do your duty!
Subject: edit out the crudities
I don't like to see women writing like this. The "big girl panties" "thongs and stiletos" detract from the review.
It was then that Femme de Joie realized the tawdry shape she has allowed herself to slip into. Yes, all those influences – wireless radio, television, moving pictures, the automobile – have made her a wreck of her former self, but she cannot blame those alone. It was she herself who was tempted and gave in to the notion of using uncouth language, as well as referencing clothing of a personal nature. So here in this public forum, she would like to extend her heartfelt apologies to the offended party:
Gentle Reader:
As one woman to another, please accept Femme de Joie’s apologies. She realizes now she overstepped her bounds by being a woman, writing, and using provocative terms. Her downfall began when the bustle went out of style and ankles started flashing, and then next thing you knew, “ladies” (ladies! HA! tramps is more like it) started talking IN PUBLIC about undergarments and shoes. After that World War I started, and then came birth control and Elvis Presley, and then all bets were off and the barn door left wide open. Before good moral women like yourself knew what had hit them, ladies went to Frederick’s of Hollywood for crotchless panties and bras with nipple holes, as well as mechanical "tension reliever" devices.
Oh my goodness, Femme is getting so overheated talking about all this. She must go lie down with a nice gin and tonic. (Between us ladies, please be cautious of the dangerous nature of the gin and tonic. Panties drop and before you know it you'll be voting and owning property. It can be very disgraceful.)
Thank you so very much for taking an interest because ladies need to look out for each other and whip us back into line when we stray. And Femme vows to be careful not to offend those who think "Big Girl Panties" and "thongs and stilettos" are naughty and thus secretly exciting.
With all sincerity,
Femme de Joie
And please, take a moment to read the Ladies Against Women
Repeal the Ladies' vote. It is suffering and not suffrage that keeps us up on our pedestals. And if God hadn't wanted us up on pedestals, He wouldn't have make us shorter than our husbands.
Abolish the environment. It takes up too much space, and is almost impossible to keep clean.
Free Ladies from wage slavery. The 60-odd cents we earn for every manly dollar is entirely too much. It is unladylike to accept money for work.
Maintain illiteracy as a high school graduation requirement. An uninformed populace is an obedient populace, and a self-censoring one, too. After all, ignorance is a virtue: what you can't read, can't hurt you.
Insist on universal free childcare. No one should be paid to do what a real Lady does in her home for free.
Weed out uppity women through the establishment of HULA Committee: the House Committee on Un-Ladylike Activities.
Procreation, not recreation. Where did so many gals get the idea that s_x is supposed to be f_n? It's time to close your eyes and do your duty!
You eat meat, Fleischman. Well, say hello to meat. - Maggie O'Connell to Joel Fleischman, showing him the buck she shot, in "Northern Exposure."
Meat is murder. - Morrissey
Femme de Joie has noticed a few comments directed squarely at her for mentioning that she ate horsemeat in France. One person seemed astonished and disgusted that M. de Joie would pass up locally available rattlesnake but dine on cheval. Fact: horsemeat is a common food in much of Europe and Central Asia (though there are recent attempts to end the sale in France, see http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1950375,00.html).
Femme de Joie is a former horse owner, loves them, admires their beauty, personality, and grace. While understanding the anger about eating horse, Femme de Joie poses the question: how do we choose which animals to eat? (Side note: While M. de Joie has great admiration for people who can follow a strict vegetarian or vegan diet; she is an omnivore by choice.) Is it based on the adorable factor? The companionship factor? Or shibboleths and blind habit we're not even fully aware of? No matter what it is, somebody somewhere thinks it's disgusting or just plain wrong to eat.
People less blessed with abundance than Americans are accustomed to making do with what is available, and use the entire animal. We eat steaks and chops but retch at kidneys, tripe, testicles, and the other parts, to say nothing of animals not normally included in the "normal" American diet - like horse.
Having said that, someone is going to bring up the cat and dog factor. Femme de Joie has no plans to eat Fluffy or Rover; that is too far outside her personal comfort zone and cultural upbringing. But consider this: It's easy to criticize India for not slaughtering sacred cows while people starve and beg, but is it really any different when Americans go hungry every day while thousands of unwanted cats and dogs are euthanized?
About the rattlesnake: Femme de Joie has written before that she finds rattlesnakes loathsome, disgusting, and completely abhorrent. She is not going to eat any. But if someone else wants to snarf up chicken fried rattler, have at it.
Femme de Joie is not suggesting anyone go out and slaughter their pet horse for a barbeque. She is, however, suggesting we consider our eating habits and ponder if that's all there is.
Authentic or Pandering?
When a reviewer starts explaining how the preparation of a quiche Lorraine at the restaurant he has visited differs from the way one prepared a true quiche Lorraine, I always want to interrupt. "But did you like it?" I want to shout. "Did it make you happy? Did you clean your plate?" ... I was eating some homemade gazpacho and talking about how it differed from the more authentic gazpacho one got in Seville. The more I talked about the difference the faster I wolfed down the gazpacho - until I realized that one way what I was eating differed from authentic gazpacho was that it tasted better. - Calvin Trillin, "American Fried"
When people in the North Valley talk local Chinese restaurants, the highest compliment paid is that a place is "as good as San Francisco." For Mexican, the geographic reference is Southern California or "that place in Mazatlan." Not to disparage anyone's happy memories, but chances are what you ate was still designed for tourists.
Walk into a hole-in-the-wall Chinatown café and you'll likely see handwritten wall signs in Chinese characters: those are the authentic Chinese dishes. Black-bean steamed fish stomach, salted mustard greens with goose intestines, fish-brain soup. Away from the tourist districts in SoCal or Mexico City, find a taqueria serving brain or cow's eye tacos or huitlacoche corn fungus stew.
Yes, the local restaurants tend toward the tame and the expected: they need to stay in business. There simply isn't a lot of call for goat tacos around here; even lamb is a tough sell for most restaurants, ethnic or otherwise (though buche, tripitas, and birria are available at places like Ortega's, El Mariachi's, and Los Gordos; check with each restaurant).
M. de Joie doesn't expect every local ethnic restaurant to serve "authentic" food, so she reviews them on their own merits. Was it good? Was it worth the money? Was a good time had by all? If they do happen to offer a fabulous vuelvealavida (shrimp, oyster, and octopus cocktail), well, that's just icing on the cake. They're making their money through Combination Plate #3.
Do we really want to travel in hermetically sealed popemobiles through the rural provinces of France, Mexico and the Far East, eating only in Hard Rock Cafes and McDonalds? Or do we want to eat without fear, tearing into the local stew, the humble taqueria's mystery meat, the sincerely offered gift of a lightly grilled fish head? I know what I want. I want it all. I want to try everything once. - Anthony Bourdain
Meat is murder. - Morrissey
Femme de Joie has noticed a few comments directed squarely at her for mentioning that she ate horsemeat in France. One person seemed astonished and disgusted that M. de Joie would pass up locally available rattlesnake but dine on cheval. Fact: horsemeat is a common food in much of Europe and Central Asia (though there are recent attempts to end the sale in France, see http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1950375,00.html).
Femme de Joie is a former horse owner, loves them, admires their beauty, personality, and grace. While understanding the anger about eating horse, Femme de Joie poses the question: how do we choose which animals to eat? (Side note: While M. de Joie has great admiration for people who can follow a strict vegetarian or vegan diet; she is an omnivore by choice.) Is it based on the adorable factor? The companionship factor? Or shibboleths and blind habit we're not even fully aware of? No matter what it is, somebody somewhere thinks it's disgusting or just plain wrong to eat.
People less blessed with abundance than Americans are accustomed to making do with what is available, and use the entire animal. We eat steaks and chops but retch at kidneys, tripe, testicles, and the other parts, to say nothing of animals not normally included in the "normal" American diet - like horse.
Having said that, someone is going to bring up the cat and dog factor. Femme de Joie has no plans to eat Fluffy or Rover; that is too far outside her personal comfort zone and cultural upbringing. But consider this: It's easy to criticize India for not slaughtering sacred cows while people starve and beg, but is it really any different when Americans go hungry every day while thousands of unwanted cats and dogs are euthanized?
About the rattlesnake: Femme de Joie has written before that she finds rattlesnakes loathsome, disgusting, and completely abhorrent. She is not going to eat any. But if someone else wants to snarf up chicken fried rattler, have at it.
Femme de Joie is not suggesting anyone go out and slaughter their pet horse for a barbeque. She is, however, suggesting we consider our eating habits and ponder if that's all there is.
Authentic or Pandering?
When a reviewer starts explaining how the preparation of a quiche Lorraine at the restaurant he has visited differs from the way one prepared a true quiche Lorraine, I always want to interrupt. "But did you like it?" I want to shout. "Did it make you happy? Did you clean your plate?" ... I was eating some homemade gazpacho and talking about how it differed from the more authentic gazpacho one got in Seville. The more I talked about the difference the faster I wolfed down the gazpacho - until I realized that one way what I was eating differed from authentic gazpacho was that it tasted better. - Calvin Trillin, "American Fried"
When people in the North Valley talk local Chinese restaurants, the highest compliment paid is that a place is "as good as San Francisco." For Mexican, the geographic reference is Southern California or "that place in Mazatlan." Not to disparage anyone's happy memories, but chances are what you ate was still designed for tourists.
Walk into a hole-in-the-wall Chinatown café and you'll likely see handwritten wall signs in Chinese characters: those are the authentic Chinese dishes. Black-bean steamed fish stomach, salted mustard greens with goose intestines, fish-brain soup. Away from the tourist districts in SoCal or Mexico City, find a taqueria serving brain or cow's eye tacos or huitlacoche corn fungus stew.
Yes, the local restaurants tend toward the tame and the expected: they need to stay in business. There simply isn't a lot of call for goat tacos around here; even lamb is a tough sell for most restaurants, ethnic or otherwise (though buche, tripitas, and birria are available at places like Ortega's, El Mariachi's, and Los Gordos; check with each restaurant).
M. de Joie doesn't expect every local ethnic restaurant to serve "authentic" food, so she reviews them on their own merits. Was it good? Was it worth the money? Was a good time had by all? If they do happen to offer a fabulous vuelvealavida (shrimp, oyster, and octopus cocktail), well, that's just icing on the cake. They're making their money through Combination Plate #3.
Do we really want to travel in hermetically sealed popemobiles through the rural provinces of France, Mexico and the Far East, eating only in Hard Rock Cafes and McDonalds? Or do we want to eat without fear, tearing into the local stew, the humble taqueria's mystery meat, the sincerely offered gift of a lightly grilled fish head? I know what I want. I want it all. I want to try everything once. - Anthony Bourdain
Sailing Boat is still very popular after 14 years and consistently gets voted Best Chinese Restaurant in those polls certain publications run. The prices are low, servings are generous, the interior is clean and attractive, staff is friendly and service is quick. It's very popular for banquets, parties, and meetings. George Yu is well-known and liked in the Redding area for sponsoring fundraisers and being an all-around nice guy who remembers customers' names and hands out boxes of tea and cookies to regulars.
So if the owner was rude or had questionable personal hygiene or was known to frequent those kinky strip joints where the pandas and weasels run around in thongs and stilettos, it would be a lot easier to say the food at Sailing Boat is not very good. But the owner being a really nice guy doesn't make up for tasteless and disappointing meals.
Kung Pao Calamari, $7.95 at lunch, $11.95 at dinner.
All meals come with an egg roll - which is your standard egg roll with a saucer of sweet & sour sauce, hot mustard on the side - and chicken & corn soup. The corn soup was weirdly yellow and didn't taste much like either chicken or corn. It needed some pepping up from a bit of soy sauce - which M. de Joie dislikes adding to prepared Chinese dishes except as a last resort - and chili paste.
There was no pow to the Kung Pao. For a dish that is supposed to be spicy, it was very mild and didn't have much taste at all. Calamari doesn't have a lot of flavor by itself and depends on the preparation to liven it up. This was a disappointingly bland mixture of frozen peas, carrots, and overcooked zucchini in an indifferent sauce.
You also get your choice of steamed rice or fried rice with each main. The best thing that can be said about the fried rice was that it was freshly made; it simply had no taste whatsoever. The steamed rice had been sitting for a while and was starting to get a not-quite crunchy surface.
Pork with Hot Ginger-Garlic Sauce, $6.95 at lunch, $8.95 at dinner.
Usually a Szechuan- or Hunan-styled dish is prepared with whole dried chilis stir-fried in the wok with the other ingredients. Hot and Spicy pork was in a bland brownish sauce that gradually became a watery puddle on the plate, with no evidence whatsoever of chiles, ginger, or garlic. There was a sprinkling of pizza-parlor type pepper flakes mixed in. The pork bits seemed more steamed than stir-fried and tasted more like white-meat chicken than pork.
After these two meals, Femme de Joie complained to Amico del Signore and friend Coquille Moule that she was really not looking forward to her third meal.
"I don't understand why it's so popular. Why do people keep going there?"
"Habit," said Coquille.
Amico de Signore asked, "Why are you going back there? You had two bad meals. Do you think the next one is going to be better?" It was a reasonable question.
"Because I am trying to be fair."
Coquille Moule asked, "And what if the next meal is good? What will you say?"
"That it's inconsistent."
So Femme de Joie pulled up her Big Girl Panties and put on her Sunny Attitude and headed out to Sailing Boat once more.
Hot and Sour Soup, $4.95.
The hot and sour soup had everything going for it: freshly made, loads of substantial vegetables, perfect consistency. Unfortunately the sour element was chokingly overwhelming - so much vinegar had been poured in at the last minute that after coughing and gasping through the first few spoonfuls, M. de Joie added all the sweet & sour sauce that had been brought with the egg roll in an attempt to neutralize the vinegar smell and taste. This was only partly successful. Pungent vinegar fumes continued to rise and block any savory smell and taste hot and sour soup ought to have.
Almond chicken, $6.95 at lunch, $8.95 at dinner.
Almond chicken is M. de Joie's favorite Cantonese dish, but again, this was simply tasteless. More frozen peas and carrots, overcooked zucchini, far too much celery, weird twists of tough, flavorless chicken. M. de Joie scooped up some of the rapidly-thinning sauce by itself: thin chicken broth only, no garlic, ginger, or soy sauce to flavor it.
After years of hearing how good Sailing Boat is, Femme de Joie is very disappointed in the food. While attractively presented and priced, preparation and execution is indifferent and even sloppy. Obviously Sailing Boat has legions of fans, but they must be seeing something M. de Joie doesn't.
Sailing Boat, 2772 Churn Creek Road, Redding 96002. 530-222-6868. Open Monday-Friday, 11 AM - 9 PM, Saturday and Sunday noon - 9 PM. Beer and wine. Vegetarian and vegan options. Banquet facilities. Credit and debit cards; no checks. On-site parking.
So if the owner was rude or had questionable personal hygiene or was known to frequent those kinky strip joints where the pandas and weasels run around in thongs and stilettos, it would be a lot easier to say the food at Sailing Boat is not very good. But the owner being a really nice guy doesn't make up for tasteless and disappointing meals.
Kung Pao Calamari, $7.95 at lunch, $11.95 at dinner.
All meals come with an egg roll - which is your standard egg roll with a saucer of sweet & sour sauce, hot mustard on the side - and chicken & corn soup. The corn soup was weirdly yellow and didn't taste much like either chicken or corn. It needed some pepping up from a bit of soy sauce - which M. de Joie dislikes adding to prepared Chinese dishes except as a last resort - and chili paste.
There was no pow to the Kung Pao. For a dish that is supposed to be spicy, it was very mild and didn't have much taste at all. Calamari doesn't have a lot of flavor by itself and depends on the preparation to liven it up. This was a disappointingly bland mixture of frozen peas, carrots, and overcooked zucchini in an indifferent sauce.
You also get your choice of steamed rice or fried rice with each main. The best thing that can be said about the fried rice was that it was freshly made; it simply had no taste whatsoever. The steamed rice had been sitting for a while and was starting to get a not-quite crunchy surface.
Pork with Hot Ginger-Garlic Sauce, $6.95 at lunch, $8.95 at dinner.
Usually a Szechuan- or Hunan-styled dish is prepared with whole dried chilis stir-fried in the wok with the other ingredients. Hot and Spicy pork was in a bland brownish sauce that gradually became a watery puddle on the plate, with no evidence whatsoever of chiles, ginger, or garlic. There was a sprinkling of pizza-parlor type pepper flakes mixed in. The pork bits seemed more steamed than stir-fried and tasted more like white-meat chicken than pork.
After these two meals, Femme de Joie complained to Amico del Signore and friend Coquille Moule that she was really not looking forward to her third meal.
"I don't understand why it's so popular. Why do people keep going there?"
"Habit," said Coquille.
Amico de Signore asked, "Why are you going back there? You had two bad meals. Do you think the next one is going to be better?" It was a reasonable question.
"Because I am trying to be fair."
Coquille Moule asked, "And what if the next meal is good? What will you say?"
"That it's inconsistent."
So Femme de Joie pulled up her Big Girl Panties and put on her Sunny Attitude and headed out to Sailing Boat once more.
Hot and Sour Soup, $4.95.
The hot and sour soup had everything going for it: freshly made, loads of substantial vegetables, perfect consistency. Unfortunately the sour element was chokingly overwhelming - so much vinegar had been poured in at the last minute that after coughing and gasping through the first few spoonfuls, M. de Joie added all the sweet & sour sauce that had been brought with the egg roll in an attempt to neutralize the vinegar smell and taste. This was only partly successful. Pungent vinegar fumes continued to rise and block any savory smell and taste hot and sour soup ought to have.
Almond chicken, $6.95 at lunch, $8.95 at dinner.
Almond chicken is M. de Joie's favorite Cantonese dish, but again, this was simply tasteless. More frozen peas and carrots, overcooked zucchini, far too much celery, weird twists of tough, flavorless chicken. M. de Joie scooped up some of the rapidly-thinning sauce by itself: thin chicken broth only, no garlic, ginger, or soy sauce to flavor it.
After years of hearing how good Sailing Boat is, Femme de Joie is very disappointed in the food. While attractively presented and priced, preparation and execution is indifferent and even sloppy. Obviously Sailing Boat has legions of fans, but they must be seeing something M. de Joie doesn't.
Sailing Boat, 2772 Churn Creek Road, Redding 96002. 530-222-6868. Open Monday-Friday, 11 AM - 9 PM, Saturday and Sunday noon - 9 PM. Beer and wine. Vegetarian and vegan options. Banquet facilities. Credit and debit cards; no checks. On-site parking.
Tags:
- asian,
- beer and wine,
- budget,
- cantonese,
- chinese,
- dinner,
- enterprise,
- ethnic foods,
- family,
- hunan,
- local,
- lunch,
- redding,
- szechuan,
- vegan,
- vegetarian
The spot occupied by El Mariachi's has seen a host of restaurants come and go over the years. If Femme de Joie's memory serves her, El Mariachi's was previously owned by the fine folks at La Cabana and has been under the current ownership for about two years. M. de Joie ate there once shortly after the new management took over and wasn't too impressed, but thought it was time to give it another try.
El Mariachi's has a spacious interior with tables and booths, plus a sort of enclosed verandah separate from the inside, where booths have a window view of Churn Creek Road. There's a salsa bar where diners can choose from an assortment of house-made salsas (pay heed to the signs: what looks like guacamole is actually pureed jalapenos) and accompaniments like hot carrots, lime wedges, and a mixture of chopped onion and cilantro.
A flyer on the table advertised specialty tacos, including lengue (tongue), buche (pig's stomach) and shrimp ceviche. The buche had a nice chewy texture and a mild taste, while the tongue was delicately flavored and wonderfully tender. These tacos were about half the size of Taco Bell-type tacos, each wrapped in two steamed corn tortillas, with mild salsa and chopped cilantro. Two or three of these make a lovely light lunch - or a nice appetizer for a hungrier person.
The shrimp ceviche taco was outstanding. Rock shrimp marinated in lime juice and chiles with slices of avocado atop, more lime on the side - this was one of the lightest and freshest ceviches M. de Joie has ever found.
A word here about presentation: Femme de Joie isn't usually very concerned about how a dish looks when it comes out of the kitchen. Back in the opulent 1980s, more than enough was not enough and minimalism was shunned: gilt on lacquer on cloisonné, while food was secondary to the dishes. Then came the 1990s when "stack it high" was tres chic - from stacked Caesar salad to stacked duck-legs-on-potatoes to stacked cake/berries/cake/sauce/berries, all on gigantic stark white plates. After all that, M. de Joie does appreciate a simple-but-arresting visual. El Mariachi's uses faux-Fiestaware, brightly-glazed dishes that give an exciting dimension and make the food really pop with color.
Taco salad is anything but Mexican - it's strictly an American idea, and is often piled together with a surplus of bland fatty dressings like sour cream and creamy guacamole that mask the crisp salad. Taco salad served up at El Mariachi's ($8.99) avoided the too-much-goop and was a nice balance of fresh salad, chips, shredded beef and a sprinkling of cheese atop a modest amount of sour cream. It still wasn't what anyone could claim to be diet food, but offered a lighter option to some of the heavy dishes on the menu. Skip the dressings and go easy on the chips, and this could almost be healthy.
At Femme de Joie's request, a tangy salsa verde was substituted on chicken enchiladas ($8.99) in place of the usual red sauce (which to her taste seems more appropriate on strongly-flavored fillings like beef or pork). The chicken enchilada plate (with rice and beans) might be thought of as an old reliable - maybe not the most exciting version you ever tried, but no-fail and dependable - comfort food. As noted above, El Mariachi's goes easy on the sour cream toppings, which lets you taste delicate ingredients and textures.
Chicken mole, $7.99. The menu did say the mole sauce was "sweetish" - a bit too sweet for M. de Joie's taste. But the smooth textured mole with hints of chocolate and chiles was too intriguing to ignore. Solution: a sprinkling of the chopped onion-cilantro relish from the salsa bar added a nice crunchy element and tamed the sweetness.
El Mariachi's isn't far from a chain Mexican restaurant but here you won't be asked to slam a tequila shooter and yell, "Yee-ha!" This isn't that kind of place. Service is quick, friendly, efficient, and accommodating. M. de Joie recommends El Mariachi's as a casual neighborhood restaurant to enjoy a low-key meal and not break the bank. Family-friendly.
El Mariachi's, 2914 Churn Creek Road, Redding, 96002. 530-224-1847, fax 530-221-8116. Open Monday-Thursday and Sunday, 10:00 AM-9:00 PM, Friday and Saturday, 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Beer and wine; wine cocktails. Vegetarian options. On-site parking. Cash, cards.
El Mariachi's has a spacious interior with tables and booths, plus a sort of enclosed verandah separate from the inside, where booths have a window view of Churn Creek Road. There's a salsa bar where diners can choose from an assortment of house-made salsas (pay heed to the signs: what looks like guacamole is actually pureed jalapenos) and accompaniments like hot carrots, lime wedges, and a mixture of chopped onion and cilantro.
A flyer on the table advertised specialty tacos, including lengue (tongue), buche (pig's stomach) and shrimp ceviche. The buche had a nice chewy texture and a mild taste, while the tongue was delicately flavored and wonderfully tender. These tacos were about half the size of Taco Bell-type tacos, each wrapped in two steamed corn tortillas, with mild salsa and chopped cilantro. Two or three of these make a lovely light lunch - or a nice appetizer for a hungrier person.
The shrimp ceviche taco was outstanding. Rock shrimp marinated in lime juice and chiles with slices of avocado atop, more lime on the side - this was one of the lightest and freshest ceviches M. de Joie has ever found.
A word here about presentation: Femme de Joie isn't usually very concerned about how a dish looks when it comes out of the kitchen. Back in the opulent 1980s, more than enough was not enough and minimalism was shunned: gilt on lacquer on cloisonné, while food was secondary to the dishes. Then came the 1990s when "stack it high" was tres chic - from stacked Caesar salad to stacked duck-legs-on-potatoes to stacked cake/berries/cake/sauce/berries, all on gigantic stark white plates. After all that, M. de Joie does appreciate a simple-but-arresting visual. El Mariachi's uses faux-Fiestaware, brightly-glazed dishes that give an exciting dimension and make the food really pop with color.
Taco salad is anything but Mexican - it's strictly an American idea, and is often piled together with a surplus of bland fatty dressings like sour cream and creamy guacamole that mask the crisp salad. Taco salad served up at El Mariachi's ($8.99) avoided the too-much-goop and was a nice balance of fresh salad, chips, shredded beef and a sprinkling of cheese atop a modest amount of sour cream. It still wasn't what anyone could claim to be diet food, but offered a lighter option to some of the heavy dishes on the menu. Skip the dressings and go easy on the chips, and this could almost be healthy.
At Femme de Joie's request, a tangy salsa verde was substituted on chicken enchiladas ($8.99) in place of the usual red sauce (which to her taste seems more appropriate on strongly-flavored fillings like beef or pork). The chicken enchilada plate (with rice and beans) might be thought of as an old reliable - maybe not the most exciting version you ever tried, but no-fail and dependable - comfort food. As noted above, El Mariachi's goes easy on the sour cream toppings, which lets you taste delicate ingredients and textures.
Chicken mole, $7.99. The menu did say the mole sauce was "sweetish" - a bit too sweet for M. de Joie's taste. But the smooth textured mole with hints of chocolate and chiles was too intriguing to ignore. Solution: a sprinkling of the chopped onion-cilantro relish from the salsa bar added a nice crunchy element and tamed the sweetness.
El Mariachi's isn't far from a chain Mexican restaurant but here you won't be asked to slam a tequila shooter and yell, "Yee-ha!" This isn't that kind of place. Service is quick, friendly, efficient, and accommodating. M. de Joie recommends El Mariachi's as a casual neighborhood restaurant to enjoy a low-key meal and not break the bank. Family-friendly.
El Mariachi's, 2914 Churn Creek Road, Redding, 96002. 530-224-1847, fax 530-221-8116. Open Monday-Thursday and Sunday, 10:00 AM-9:00 PM, Friday and Saturday, 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Beer and wine; wine cocktails. Vegetarian options. On-site parking. Cash, cards.
To look at the impressive faux-Italianate façade on the new restaurant at the corner of Shasta and Market Streets - the Sherven Square complex - you'd think that, well, a Tuscan restaurant was housed there. There's nothing Asian about the terra-cotta colored exterior and the false shutters on second-story windows. The cheesecake portrait of a - what? Teppanyaki warrior? - on the southwest wall that might be at home on a black velvet canvas. Walk inside and it's, "Toto, we're not in Roma any more."
Clearly a lot of money was poured into the ultra-modern design, though it can't seem to make up its mind as to whether it's industrial chic or ersatz Vegas glitz.
The cocktail bar-cum-sushi bar is sleek with burnished metal counters and minimalist décor and subtle lighting. Femme de Joie recently perched herself at Kobe‘s bar, waiting for an old friend who wanted to go there for her birthday. A glass of Folie a Deux 2004 Zinfandel (Amador County) was a luscious rich treat; too bad that for $7 the pour was rather skimpy.
Seating is available at the sushi bar, at the communal teppanyaki tables, or at smaller tables for ordering items from the kitchen. Birthday Girl wanted teppanyaki, so that is where we sat, along with about six other diners. The idea is to watch the show: the setup is not geared toward conversation, which became evident when M. de Joie - seated next to Birthday Girl - could see B.G.'s lips moving but could only catch about every fourth word she said. It was that noisy.
The procedure for teppanyaki goes thusly: You order your choice of meat or fish - New York steak, chicken, salmon, etc. Soup and salad are brought by waitresses, as you watch the chef go through his schtick to prepare the rest of the meal. Onion soup (miso is also available) was a bit oily and had a few rings of onion in a thin broth accented with soy. In a Tom Waitsian moment, the wasabi-ginger dressing beat up the bowl of iceberg lettuce ... the lettuce just wasn't strong enough to defend itself.
Meanwhile, back at the teppanyaki table: the chef had done a baton routine with spatulas, tossed a raw egg around, and emptied large bowls of cold cooked rice and prepped vegetables onto the grill. He piled up onion rings, poured cooking oil inside the tower, and set it on fire. He flipped bite-sized pieces of vegetable at each diner, none of whom actually caught it in their mouths (it is to be hoped someone versed in the Heimlich maneuver is on staff at all times).
First cooked is the fried rice, which then is scooped up and placed on each diner's plate, followed by grilled assorted vegetables and two shrimp. Then the meat and fish are added to the grill, cooked, seasoned, cut up, and distributed to the diners who ordered them. Two small bowls of sauce are available for dipping, including an addictive lemon-pepper Yum Yum sauce.
Teppanyaki Scallops
The scallops were perfectly cooked, tender, and moist, possibly the best scallops M. de Joie has ever had. The fried rice, when freshly cooked, was delicious, but as it cooled M. de Joie became acutely aware of how salty it was. M. de Joie adores salty foods like Parmesan cheese, anchovies, potato chips, and smoked fish, but the salt added by the chef on top of soy sauce made the rice mega-sodium-heavy. Mixed vegetables were adequate but seemed to be just filling up space on the plate. There was nothing special about them.
We were seated at 5:30 p.m. By 6:30 the show was over, the other diners at our table had departed, and there was a line out Kobe's door. Waitresses were looking pointedly in B.G. and M. de Joie‘s direction. The menu had listed several interesting desserts, such as panna cotta and blackberry sorbet ($6 each) but no one offered us a dessert menu or suggested we move elsewhere to continue dining. The bill - salmon, scallops, two glasses of wine - came to $55, not including tip. And frankly, M. de Joie was not exactly stuffed.
The lines out the door indicated that Kobe is doing something right to bring the crowds in, but whether it will endure once the novelty factor wears off is yet to be seen. For Femme de Joie, dinner at Kobe is the culinary equivalent of a Tom Jones concert. There's lots of shaking and stirring, a whole lotta showboating, renditions of the greatest hits, and then it's all over and we need to clear the theater for the next show. Move along, please. To be sure, it's entertaining, but you're paying for all that showmanship. The food is secondary.
Kobe Steak and Seafood, 1300 Market Street, Redding, 530-244-1440. Open daily. Sushi bar. Lunch and dinner. Reservations recommended. Sake, wine, and beer. Vegetarian and vegan options. Street parking. Cash and credit/debit cards.
Clearly a lot of money was poured into the ultra-modern design, though it can't seem to make up its mind as to whether it's industrial chic or ersatz Vegas glitz.
The cocktail bar-cum-sushi bar is sleek with burnished metal counters and minimalist décor and subtle lighting. Femme de Joie recently perched herself at Kobe‘s bar, waiting for an old friend who wanted to go there for her birthday. A glass of Folie a Deux 2004 Zinfandel (Amador County) was a luscious rich treat; too bad that for $7 the pour was rather skimpy.
Seating is available at the sushi bar, at the communal teppanyaki tables, or at smaller tables for ordering items from the kitchen. Birthday Girl wanted teppanyaki, so that is where we sat, along with about six other diners. The idea is to watch the show: the setup is not geared toward conversation, which became evident when M. de Joie - seated next to Birthday Girl - could see B.G.'s lips moving but could only catch about every fourth word she said. It was that noisy.
The procedure for teppanyaki goes thusly: You order your choice of meat or fish - New York steak, chicken, salmon, etc. Soup and salad are brought by waitresses, as you watch the chef go through his schtick to prepare the rest of the meal. Onion soup (miso is also available) was a bit oily and had a few rings of onion in a thin broth accented with soy. In a Tom Waitsian moment, the wasabi-ginger dressing beat up the bowl of iceberg lettuce ... the lettuce just wasn't strong enough to defend itself.
Meanwhile, back at the teppanyaki table: the chef had done a baton routine with spatulas, tossed a raw egg around, and emptied large bowls of cold cooked rice and prepped vegetables onto the grill. He piled up onion rings, poured cooking oil inside the tower, and set it on fire. He flipped bite-sized pieces of vegetable at each diner, none of whom actually caught it in their mouths (it is to be hoped someone versed in the Heimlich maneuver is on staff at all times).
First cooked is the fried rice, which then is scooped up and placed on each diner's plate, followed by grilled assorted vegetables and two shrimp. Then the meat and fish are added to the grill, cooked, seasoned, cut up, and distributed to the diners who ordered them. Two small bowls of sauce are available for dipping, including an addictive lemon-pepper Yum Yum sauce.
Teppanyaki Scallops
The scallops were perfectly cooked, tender, and moist, possibly the best scallops M. de Joie has ever had. The fried rice, when freshly cooked, was delicious, but as it cooled M. de Joie became acutely aware of how salty it was. M. de Joie adores salty foods like Parmesan cheese, anchovies, potato chips, and smoked fish, but the salt added by the chef on top of soy sauce made the rice mega-sodium-heavy. Mixed vegetables were adequate but seemed to be just filling up space on the plate. There was nothing special about them.
We were seated at 5:30 p.m. By 6:30 the show was over, the other diners at our table had departed, and there was a line out Kobe's door. Waitresses were looking pointedly in B.G. and M. de Joie‘s direction. The menu had listed several interesting desserts, such as panna cotta and blackberry sorbet ($6 each) but no one offered us a dessert menu or suggested we move elsewhere to continue dining. The bill - salmon, scallops, two glasses of wine - came to $55, not including tip. And frankly, M. de Joie was not exactly stuffed.
The lines out the door indicated that Kobe is doing something right to bring the crowds in, but whether it will endure once the novelty factor wears off is yet to be seen. For Femme de Joie, dinner at Kobe is the culinary equivalent of a Tom Jones concert. There's lots of shaking and stirring, a whole lotta showboating, renditions of the greatest hits, and then it's all over and we need to clear the theater for the next show. Move along, please. To be sure, it's entertaining, but you're paying for all that showmanship. The food is secondary.
Kobe Steak and Seafood, 1300 Market Street, Redding, 530-244-1440. Open daily. Sushi bar. Lunch and dinner. Reservations recommended. Sake, wine, and beer. Vegetarian and vegan options. Street parking. Cash and credit/debit cards.
Celestino’s is Real New York Pizza
May. 30th, 2011 05:34 pmIt had been a bad summer for Ronny Cammareri Jr. 2010 had started out good: he was living at home rent-free. There was a fine looking chick he'd met at the candy store that was a definite prospect. He was going to classes at Kingsborough when he felt like it or whenever his old man, Ronny Sr., got on his case. "You're gonna wind up like your Uncle Johnny! Twenty-two years old and still livin' at home!" He'd wave that gloved hand at him like an augury of doom. Mostly Ronny Jr. just shone it on. Loretta, his mom, was still, in the words of his friend Richie, babelicious. She wasn't harsh like his old man. She seemed to understand his need to have a little fun - maybe because she had always been a serious girl with a tragic end to her first marriage.
But then things turned upside down. Loretta came home one day in the spring with big news: her Uncle Raymond and Aunt Rita had franchised Cappomaggi's Deli and wanted Loretta and Ronny to oversee the California operations from the west coast headquarters in Chico, California. It was a new opportunity - get out of that crumbling house on Cranberry Street, move to California, get a tan, maybe have a swimming pool. It would be good for Ronny Sr. to move out of the basement of that bakery. And since Ronny Jr. wasn't exactly overwhelmed with prospects for living on his own, he moved with them.
If it had been L.A., he could have dug it, speeding down Sunset Boulevard in an open-top convertible, a gorgeous blonde beside him, waving to Brad and Charlize. He could have gotten a job as a trainer to the stars - after all, he worked for a while cleaning the Gold's Gym in Brooklyn Heights, so he knew a thing or two about lifting weights. But no: here he was stuck in this place no one ever heard of - at least, no one he knew ever heard of Chico.
It depressed him to walk around. People here were so cheerful. "Have a nice day!" they'd chirp, and they seemed to mean it. They were all into yoga, or jogging, or Pilates - whatever that was. They rode bikes and wore bright clothes. Nobody sat on the stoop in the evening. And nobody here spoke his language: on the second day in Chico he asked a hot babe where the candy store was and she directed him to Shubert's Ice Cream and Candy.
God, did he miss New York.
One hot night, Ronny Jr. was stumbling downtown after two too many at the Town Lounge: a date with the babe who sent him to Shubert's turned ugly when she wanted to go to Monk's Wine Bar, then got pissy with him for making fun of the ambiance and the crowd. He was just having a goof but she took it all wrong. He headed up Salem toward the campus, then stopped abruptly. Something in the air.... smelled like home.
There was a line out the door of Celestino's. Ronny's nose drew him closer to the crowd. As soon as he got inside the door he could see the pizzas in the display case. If he had been drunk before, he was now intoxicated with the pizza aroma. "Gimme a schlish oof scheese," he garbled to the Amy Winehouse wannabe at the counter. She rolled her eyes but took his money, dispensing a little ‘tude too. For the first time in two months, Ronny felt comfortable.
In a few minutes Ronny was outside on the sidewalk clutching what looked like the real thing: thin-crust pizza on a cheap paper plate, scattering of melted cheese, patina of olive oil glowing on top. He folded the slice in half and took a bite. He staggered against the wall. Tears came to his eyes. A miracle had occurred. In this yuppie enclave, in this stinkin' hot valley town full of smiley Californians all having a nice day, God had set down real New York pizza. It wasn't that overstuffed pillow with gobs of cheese and broccoli and artichokes that passed for pizza out here. This was the real deal.
He shoved the last bites into his mouth and wiped his oily fingers on his jeans. Amy Winehouse was out on the sidewalk taking a smoke break. "How youse like the pizza?" Youse! He'd already been called Joe Pesci for saying youse. And this chick said youse too!
"Yeah, it's real good." Ronny furtively felt his face to brush away strings of cheese and pizza crumbs. "It's just like home."
"Try the Godfather," Amy said, pronouncing it Gawdfodda. "It's real popular."
"Eh... where you from?" She looked suspicious. "I mean... you're not from here." Her face lit up, as much as Amy Winehouse could.
"Fresh Meadows," She exhaled a fug of smoke. "I was going to St. John's but I got sick of my family raggin' on me so I came out here to go to school." She extended her hand. "Hey... I'm Tina."
Oh thank you Saint George Steinbrenner, Ronny thought.
Celestino's Pizza, 101 Salem Street, Suite 1, Chico, California 95926, 530-896-1234,, also 1354 East Street, Chico, and locations in Oroville and Rocklin. Open seven days a week. Vegetarian and vegan options. Website and menu at http://www.celestinospizza.com/ (click on Rocklin location for menu listing).
But then things turned upside down. Loretta came home one day in the spring with big news: her Uncle Raymond and Aunt Rita had franchised Cappomaggi's Deli and wanted Loretta and Ronny to oversee the California operations from the west coast headquarters in Chico, California. It was a new opportunity - get out of that crumbling house on Cranberry Street, move to California, get a tan, maybe have a swimming pool. It would be good for Ronny Sr. to move out of the basement of that bakery. And since Ronny Jr. wasn't exactly overwhelmed with prospects for living on his own, he moved with them.
If it had been L.A., he could have dug it, speeding down Sunset Boulevard in an open-top convertible, a gorgeous blonde beside him, waving to Brad and Charlize. He could have gotten a job as a trainer to the stars - after all, he worked for a while cleaning the Gold's Gym in Brooklyn Heights, so he knew a thing or two about lifting weights. But no: here he was stuck in this place no one ever heard of - at least, no one he knew ever heard of Chico.
It depressed him to walk around. People here were so cheerful. "Have a nice day!" they'd chirp, and they seemed to mean it. They were all into yoga, or jogging, or Pilates - whatever that was. They rode bikes and wore bright clothes. Nobody sat on the stoop in the evening. And nobody here spoke his language: on the second day in Chico he asked a hot babe where the candy store was and she directed him to Shubert's Ice Cream and Candy.
God, did he miss New York.
One hot night, Ronny Jr. was stumbling downtown after two too many at the Town Lounge: a date with the babe who sent him to Shubert's turned ugly when she wanted to go to Monk's Wine Bar, then got pissy with him for making fun of the ambiance and the crowd. He was just having a goof but she took it all wrong. He headed up Salem toward the campus, then stopped abruptly. Something in the air.... smelled like home.
There was a line out the door of Celestino's. Ronny's nose drew him closer to the crowd. As soon as he got inside the door he could see the pizzas in the display case. If he had been drunk before, he was now intoxicated with the pizza aroma. "Gimme a schlish oof scheese," he garbled to the Amy Winehouse wannabe at the counter. She rolled her eyes but took his money, dispensing a little ‘tude too. For the first time in two months, Ronny felt comfortable.
In a few minutes Ronny was outside on the sidewalk clutching what looked like the real thing: thin-crust pizza on a cheap paper plate, scattering of melted cheese, patina of olive oil glowing on top. He folded the slice in half and took a bite. He staggered against the wall. Tears came to his eyes. A miracle had occurred. In this yuppie enclave, in this stinkin' hot valley town full of smiley Californians all having a nice day, God had set down real New York pizza. It wasn't that overstuffed pillow with gobs of cheese and broccoli and artichokes that passed for pizza out here. This was the real deal.
He shoved the last bites into his mouth and wiped his oily fingers on his jeans. Amy Winehouse was out on the sidewalk taking a smoke break. "How youse like the pizza?" Youse! He'd already been called Joe Pesci for saying youse. And this chick said youse too!
"Yeah, it's real good." Ronny furtively felt his face to brush away strings of cheese and pizza crumbs. "It's just like home."
"Try the Godfather," Amy said, pronouncing it Gawdfodda. "It's real popular."
"Eh... where you from?" She looked suspicious. "I mean... you're not from here." Her face lit up, as much as Amy Winehouse could.
"Fresh Meadows," She exhaled a fug of smoke. "I was going to St. John's but I got sick of my family raggin' on me so I came out here to go to school." She extended her hand. "Hey... I'm Tina."
Oh thank you Saint George Steinbrenner, Ronny thought.
Celestino's Pizza, 101 Salem Street, Suite 1, Chico, California 95926, 530-896-1234,, also 1354 East Street, Chico, and locations in Oroville and Rocklin. Open seven days a week. Vegetarian and vegan options. Website and menu at http://www.celestinospizza.com/ (click on Rocklin location for menu listing).
San Francisco’s Vital Tea Shop
May. 30th, 2011 05:20 pmIn June 2010 Femme de Joie and Amico del Signore were wandering the streets of San Francisco's Chinatown on an early summer evening. We browsed the identical shops with identical brocade jackets and other gewgaws destined to be garage sale items in a few years, and stepped over the hoses from the nearly-closed greengrocers washing the sidewalks for the night. After a stop at a bakery for some bow ties (deep-fried pastry heavily coated in honey) and a bag of those addictive almond cookies, we stepped into a small, modern storefront with a long counter and seats on one side and shelves of tea canisters on the other. A gaggle of Canadian tourists were seated at the counter, listening closely as a young man served up free samples and described the health benefits of the various teas. At the invitation of co-proprietor Carina, we slipped into seats and were soon entranced by the experience served up.
We were both accustomed to the standard British method of making tea: preheat teapot, bring water to full boil, add one teaspoon tea per cup (or one teabag), and let steep five minutes. As the tea served at Vital was unlike anything we'd ever tasted before, so was the preparation. First you rinse the tea. Yes. Rinse it: put the leaves in the brewing container, add a small amount of water and rinse, then drain off and discard the water. After that add very hot water - just below the boil - and let steep 20 to 40 seconds, then serve the tea. What was even more surprising was that most of the teas at Vital could be used four to six more times with no loss of flavor.
And the flavors: these were a completely different animal from Lipton's or Red Rose. The jasmine pearl was by far the most fragrant and flavorful jasmine tea we'd ever had. Mango was like drinking a ripe mango. Others reminded us, variously, of grass, spinach, or toasted wheat. We particularly liked sticky rice (a taste and smell exactly like its namesake), bamboo, and lychee black.
Jason (the proprietor behind the counter) explained about the different types of tea and what health benefits each holds. Green tea is an anti-oxidant, calming, and relaxing, as is white tea. We were unfamiliar with pu-erh, which comes in small, tightly compressed cakes. It's unique because of its underground fermentation method and it becomes smoother with age. According to Jason, it treats digestion, upset stomach, acid reflex, constipation, and cuts grease and fat.
We sampled over a dozen different teas, each served in the tiniest cups you've ever seen. What fascinated us was that Jason drank each cup of tea right along with us. He does this all day long and never gets tired of it.
The topic of cost came up. How could it not, when a few of the canisters were clearly marked as selling at $400 or $800 per pound? Jason pointed out that yes, some teas are quite dear; even $40 a pound might sound like a lot. But a pound of tea leaves is a lot of tea; prepared according to his method with multiple reuses, it will last far longer than you would ever dream. You need a very small amount tea to make multiple servings - enough to serve all day long. And not to beat that familiar comparison to death, but if you buy a Starbucks coffee every day, you're spending a LOT more on one cup of coffee than you would on enough tea to provide you with six cups a day.
Some tea comes in hard-compressed spheres, to be broken apart and rinsed, then brewed. Other types are dried flowers that open up in hot water like an anemone.
There is never any pressure whatsoever to buy; when the Canadian tourists simply got up and left after a good hour drinking free tea, Jason and Carina were serene and unperturbed. They see this as an education and experience. Whether or not you believe in the purported benefits of drinking tea, Vital opened our eyes to new flavors we had never experienced. It's worth a visit, both for the tasting and for the friendliness and kindness of Jason and Carina.
Vital Tea Leaf, 905 Grant Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94133, 415-981-9322, also at 1044 Grant Avenue and 1199 Pacific Avenue. Branches in Seattle. Website
http://www.vitaltealeaf.net/index.php?main_page=index
We were both accustomed to the standard British method of making tea: preheat teapot, bring water to full boil, add one teaspoon tea per cup (or one teabag), and let steep five minutes. As the tea served at Vital was unlike anything we'd ever tasted before, so was the preparation. First you rinse the tea. Yes. Rinse it: put the leaves in the brewing container, add a small amount of water and rinse, then drain off and discard the water. After that add very hot water - just below the boil - and let steep 20 to 40 seconds, then serve the tea. What was even more surprising was that most of the teas at Vital could be used four to six more times with no loss of flavor.
And the flavors: these were a completely different animal from Lipton's or Red Rose. The jasmine pearl was by far the most fragrant and flavorful jasmine tea we'd ever had. Mango was like drinking a ripe mango. Others reminded us, variously, of grass, spinach, or toasted wheat. We particularly liked sticky rice (a taste and smell exactly like its namesake), bamboo, and lychee black.
Jason (the proprietor behind the counter) explained about the different types of tea and what health benefits each holds. Green tea is an anti-oxidant, calming, and relaxing, as is white tea. We were unfamiliar with pu-erh, which comes in small, tightly compressed cakes. It's unique because of its underground fermentation method and it becomes smoother with age. According to Jason, it treats digestion, upset stomach, acid reflex, constipation, and cuts grease and fat.
We sampled over a dozen different teas, each served in the tiniest cups you've ever seen. What fascinated us was that Jason drank each cup of tea right along with us. He does this all day long and never gets tired of it.
The topic of cost came up. How could it not, when a few of the canisters were clearly marked as selling at $400 or $800 per pound? Jason pointed out that yes, some teas are quite dear; even $40 a pound might sound like a lot. But a pound of tea leaves is a lot of tea; prepared according to his method with multiple reuses, it will last far longer than you would ever dream. You need a very small amount tea to make multiple servings - enough to serve all day long. And not to beat that familiar comparison to death, but if you buy a Starbucks coffee every day, you're spending a LOT more on one cup of coffee than you would on enough tea to provide you with six cups a day.
Some tea comes in hard-compressed spheres, to be broken apart and rinsed, then brewed. Other types are dried flowers that open up in hot water like an anemone.
There is never any pressure whatsoever to buy; when the Canadian tourists simply got up and left after a good hour drinking free tea, Jason and Carina were serene and unperturbed. They see this as an education and experience. Whether or not you believe in the purported benefits of drinking tea, Vital opened our eyes to new flavors we had never experienced. It's worth a visit, both for the tasting and for the friendliness and kindness of Jason and Carina.
Vital Tea Leaf, 905 Grant Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94133, 415-981-9322, also at 1044 Grant Avenue and 1199 Pacific Avenue. Branches in Seattle. Website
http://www.vitaltealeaf.net/index.php?main_page=index
