We ironically found ourselves in a wine store that sold only French wine within an hour of arriving in Berkeley, a stone’s throw from Napa. Rather than splurging on local a bottle we had to celebrate our arrival with champagne, which neither of us has had much experience tasting. We usually enjoy the sweeter, and less expensive, Italian prosseco. I would say the champagne was refreshingly crisp, instead of dry. I was once again reminded that spending a few extra dollars can make a bottle of wine into an experience.
After driving for 24 hrs, we grabbed food at our nearest source, a gourmet takeout restaurant named Gregoire’s. They managed to squeeze our order in between the 30 other boxed meals that the one cook was creating at a frenzied pace. I had a chipotle flank steak with creamy gremolata and roasted sunburst squash and zucchini. Janet, in a continuation of her endless streak of selection the best dish, ordered a Puffed Pastry with Potato and Eel. I couldn’t imagine what how my experiences with barbeque eel sushi, one of my favorites, might be reflected in this french style dish until I tasted it. The textures of smooth oily eel, crispy pastry and starchy firm potato slices struck me immediately. There was sauce inside the pastry, possibly the same sauce used in eel sushi, which added a familiar flavour for me. This was her second choice, so I can only imagine how great her first choice would have been. For sides we ordered a potato gratin with olives, which was a little pasty and cold. Fresh from the oven, it may have been better, though more butter and cheese would also have helped. The spinach salad was fine, but nothing to blog about.
I’ve been searching for an excuse to go back to Gregoire’s. Perhaps, “because it’s Gregoire’s” will suffice.
In Calgary, I would be looking at a morning spent visiting at least a few different store in order to find those two ingredients but here in Berkeley, people are spoiled with the choice of fresh or frozen sea bass and no less than seven different kinds of miso paste. But, oh, that was just the beginning!
Facebook. Innocently, I accepted an invitation to become a member of Facebook, a phenomenon that I still don’t completely understand. People who would normally communicate with friends and family via phone, cell phone, email, text messaging, internet phone or even snail mail now have one more medium through which to connect. Facebook represents a new password to remember and another database where information quickly becomes stale and useless; it also seems to be the low-risk, photo-curious contact method of choice of high school friends and ex-es. It is undeniably silly and arguably quite pointless, and yet, I am drawn to it. Each day I witness the excitement of someone becoming friends with someone else and then updating their ‘status’. Riveting. If nothing else, I have some official proof of my friendships other than years of contact, support and shared interests.
Nigella Lawson. This TV food woman, rarely seen without a coy look on her face and a half-moon chopper in her hand (how does she use that unweildy thing?) has become a strange fixation for me. Despite her shameless use of creme fraiche and cheese, her cooking has a sneaky kind of appeal that hasn’t yet failed to inspire. It irks me that I like her; she is uncomfortably sweet and coquettish, like the cliche that is chocolate souffle. Last night I watched her make spaghetti carbonera, without apologizing for its richness and the addition of a half-pound of bacon, and then found myself making the same thing for dinner. I don’t even like spaghetti carbonera! How does she do that?
Grand Marnier. I’m not really a fan of orange-flavoured anything but it seems that Grand Marnier slipped through my net. Actually, I seem to recall it being the culprit behind one very un-memorable Christmas…. Upon our return to Canada, I found a bottle amongst our few remaining possessions and decided to give it a try when we ran out of port. It turns out that I sort of like GM and now, I can’t resist a wee, luxurious glass as a nightcap. When every day is a Saturday, this habit is of little consequence.
I am a huge fan of the set lunch menu. If ever we come across one on our travels, especially if it is of the French variety, I insist on making an effort to give it a go. Nine times out of ten, it is a delicious lunch for a great value, usually three courses with a drink and maybe even a coffee thrown in at the end. If we´re lucky, two of us can get a big meal for under $20. Plus, I have a theory that these lunches are even more delicious if there is a crowd of people in the restaurant and a queue at the door.
Yesterday, it was a crepe filled with bechemel and cheese to start, then roasted chicken with this fantastic mushroom reduction sauce and then profiteroles with ice cream and chocolate sauce. It´s making my mouth water just to remember it. With wine, it was $22 dollars and there was a queue of people at the door waiting for our table. Hurrah! The meal today was a tarte of tomato, eggplant and camembert, slow-cooked beef in wine sauce with a gratin of potatoes and then Ile Flottant for dessert. No wine this time (thanks to a pisco-induced hangover today) but still, the best-value lunch menu I can remember having had. If we were staying here longer, I can almost guarantee that we´d be going back at least every other day. As it is, we´ll be going back tonight to Alegretto for – arguably – the best pizza I´ve ever had. We may not be eating classic comida Chilena, but I´m digging the food here.
It’s no secret that the people of Argentina and Chile adore their meat. It is available everywhere, on every menu, in several different forms, served day and night, and almost always grilled to well done. I wouldn’t want to be an animal in South America as it’s only a matter of time before you end up on a menu.
Andeluna, the second vineyard, was a little bigger. The suburban-country tasting room was warm, though a little contrived. We tried five wines with the 2005 Malbec and the 2003 Pasionado Blends being our favorites.
The special tasting room (!!) was prepared with three different, non-blended local wines: a Torrontes, a Bonarda and a Malbec. However, in addition to the wines, there were tasting glasses filled with the flavours that one is meant to experience in each wine. For example, the glass of Bonarda was accompanied by a glass each of earth, dried leaves, quince jam, and pepper. So, after one swirls and takes notes on the wines appearance, one is meant to sniff the aroma and compare it to the raw elements. How much fun is THAT!
Two random couples we met raved about La Cabrera, a barbeque restaurant in Buenos Aries, one fellow saying he would return to BA just to go there. We showed up at 9pm, an early arrival by Argentinian standards, just to ensure we could get a seat without waiting, which we barely managed.
According to the menus, those were just appetizers but even in our alcohol infused state, we could not justify spending $80 for a rib eye steak or – perish the thought – $190 for the Kobe beef steak. We did have one more glass of wine, though. In total, for two people, two drinks each, two appetizers: $200CAD. Obscene, opulent, delicious, exquisite. Unrepeatable.