Cucina Testa Rossa

The Best Clam Chowder Period

Hod Island Clam Chowder before....

and after....

The Ferry Building has been written about ad nauseum but I feel obliged throw a few more words into the vat of accolades. After too many 30-second conversations over Fourme d'Ambert or Redhawk at Cowgirl Creamery, Stephanie and I finally were able to sit down for a real conversation uninterrupted by ringing registers and clammoring customers. The location of choice was Hog Island Oyster Company dining "al fresco" with a view of the bay. Their three cheese (Cowgirl of course) grilled cheese sandwich and clam chowder with *real* clams was psychotically better than I could have possibly imagined. The clam chowder was creamy, crunchy with veggies and actually tasted like clams. The unctulous, oozy grilled cheese sent my eyes rolling to the back of my head. Amen and pass the rosé.

Exhilaration and Relief!

Mon petit livre est arrivé!  My little book arrived!  I can't stop petting it ;-)

God Bless Our Lady of Weight Loss

My heavenly friend Janice, a weight loss artist, just launched her delicious book, Our Lady of Weight Loss ~ Miraculous and Motivational Musings from the Patron Saint of Permanent Fat Removal. It is full of delicious vignettes and amazing art. Janice "quit her job and combined her artistic leanings with a childhood fascination with nuns (she lived near a convent as a kid; the kindly nuns never commented on her chubbiness) in a creative homage to Our Lady of Weight Loss, an inner voice that provides inspiration and support to Taylor. The book offers a refreshing take on weight. Sure, there are recipes, and discussions of nutrition and self-image and exercise, but Taylor gets that most overweight folk already know they need to eat less and exercise more. In chatty, supportive prose, Taylor highlights her book with "weighty confessions" that offer absolution and cute "fat-oids" ("It takes twenty-two muscles to smile and sixty-two to frown"). And there are clear, witty instructions for art projects, including sewing, collage and lamp makeovers—most projects call for glitter glue, and lots of it. " Bon appetit et bon courage Janice!

Moulin de Mougins

the amuse-bouche de jour at Moulin de Mougins near Cannes

I first washed up on the shores of France almost two and a half years ago to cook at the Cannes Film Festival. It was the start of a six month tour cooking my way around the country. Six months turning into eight which turned into a year which has miraculously morphed into two and a half. Don't ask me how... The moral of this story - careful what you wish for! It might actually come true. Anyways, before we fired up our panini machines and hot plates (more on that another time), all the cooks in the group - about 24 of us - were treated to a whirlwind of excursions around Cannes and Nice. Our second day in Cannes began with a visit to Moulin de Mougins, a restaurant renowned throughout the continent. It was run for decades by the legendary chef Roger Vergé who maintained his 3-Michelin star rating the entire time. I believe he still owns it but has turned over his whisks to a French-trained and muy caliente Spaniard, Alain Llorca. Click here to feel the heat.

Tailgating

"Niners!" The all too familiar cry from the red and gold emblazoned fans rang through the stadium as the 49ers kicked off what is hopefully their come-back season with a win over the da' Bears. Beer and bratwurst we reserve for the baseball park. It was sushi and champagne for us tonight. How did we got the mini Veuve Cliquot bottles into the stadium? Same way we got them into the Journey concert in high school....

Greeted with a Sunset

Sunset over the hills from the SFO airtrain...

Fraises de Plougastel ~ Strawberries from Plougastel

strawberries from the Plougastel-Daoulas farmers market

With one week left in my stay in Brittany before moving to Paris, I hopped the town bus to Plougastel-Daoulas, the strawberry capital of Brittany, and France for that matter. We passed Ma Petite Folie (the lobster boat), La Plage du Moulin-Blanc (the beach of the white windmill - though no windmill to be found), and crossed the Pont d'Iroise (Iroise Bridge) to the Presqu'ile Plougastel (the Plougastel peninsula) which is known to be one of the most scenic in France with spectacular views.

This tiny peninsula is dotted with churches and... strawberry fields. I visited the Musee des Fraises (strawberry museum) and purchased a 4 euro (a little more than $5) box of strawberries, strawberry confiture, strawberry postcards and a strawberry t-shirt. I know, huge tourist. Everywhere you looked, strawberries abound. So when life hands you copious amounts of strawberries....make strawberry martinis, of course! Click here to shake, not stir, your way to this sweet strawberry spirit.

Hoffa Cupcakes

photo by Fabrizio Costantini for The New York Times

One of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. "Hoffa Cupcakes" courtesy of Vagablond. I don't know how I missed this in the New York Times as I read it fanatically every day. As it turns out, this past May the FBI was tipped off by an imprisoned informant that he saw Jimmy Hoffa buried in a barn in a little town in Michigan called Milford, population 6,300. Word quickly got out and the entire town was abuzz in the news and embraced it feverishly, especially the Milford Baking Company with their 95-cent "Hoffa cupcakes" featuring a green plastic hand reaching up through chocolate icing and candy sprinkles designed to resemble dirt. Bon appetit!

Click here to dig up the whole New York Times story.