Passionfish

40 Days of Writing Project—Day 8

2012-02-29T08:47:00.002-08:00

With a full week under our belt of writing about wine every day, I think I can safely say we are finally comfortable and enjoying the process. Or, to put it another way, after a week of shifting up through our wine-writing gears, we are on cruise control. Weʼve made it over the hurdle of nervous laughs and “I canʼt write a poem” comments to what Iʼm currently hearing—“Did you read my poem?!”

Our parameters for the 40 Day Writing Project are different than most of those participating. We have a group of nine different people—mothers, nursing students, artists, musicians, yogis and mathematicians—and I asked them to write about wine for, at the most, 15 minutes a day before their other job of restaurant server absorbed all their concentration for the next 4-5 hours of their night. I thought the fruit of our labor would be just words on a page; but, from what Iʼve seen over the past week, our reward has been building an even stronger team than we had before. The creative process has brought out a supportiveness in those comfortable expressing themselves with the written word; and that enthusiasm has spread to those of us normally less eager to put pen to paper. Iʼve enjoyed watching acrostics shared and written in multiple languages, seeing the contagious proud smiles, hearing the laughter from the written collaborations, and watching the creativity spread, even engaging our guests and wine representatives, inspiring them to get involved in the process too.

I received a phone call from the restaurant late one night last week, and my usual panic when I see my work number on caller ID that late at night was quickly subsided when I realized it was just my staff who wanted to share what they had written that night.They were too eager to wait for me to read their rap about a favorite Burgundy producer the
next day.

Did I ever think going into this process that I would be serenaded to a Snoop Dog song on my night off? That was certainly the furthest thought on my mind. Will I always remember that night and laugh out loud when doing so? It would be hard not to! At only eight days into this project Iʼm starting to realize although this process probably wonʼt garner us writing prizes, and the majority of what we have written wonʼt see the light of day, our memories of this process are priceless and will remain with us much longer than what we wrote on those pieces of paper. This process was simply meant to break the monotony of studying wine and in one weekʼs time itʼs given us so much more. I think the fond memories of what we create in the next 32 days will far exceed the value of what we will have learned and above all I think we are all truly looking forward to the experience.

Salute!

Jannae

40 Days of Wine Writing

2012-02-22T12:25:00.000-08:00

We were inspired by a recent Dirty South blog post to accept a writing challenge, “to write each day for 40 days,” and join the 40 Days of Writing project. As it happens the Pebble Beach Food & Wine event is a little over forty days from now, making this a time when we would normally hunker down to an intense study of wine. Adopting this project as a means to study for the event affords a more creative, collaborative opportunity to work together to explore and understand wine. Some of us like to write more than others; some prefer to talk, some to read, some just to taste. We’re hoping this project combines everyone’s strengths and levels the playing field, allowing us to start and finish each others’ sentences.

We obviously aren’t expecting our servers to sit down and write elaborate essays while tending to our guests. Rather on the menu of what we want to write are brief and can often be composed in teams: haikus, acrostic poems, journal entries, drawings, in short quick and creative notes on what we learn on any given day at the restaurant. Our wine director Jannae—usually the only contributor to the blog—and her editor Andrew—the host/resident creative writer of Passionfish—will be leading this project with the contributions of the whole staff.

And if you also find yourself inspired to write we invite you to take the 40 day challenge as well.

We’re looking forward to sharing our creations with you as they come!

Trinch!

Andrew & Jannae

Love Child II- Galgueira Mencia, Valdeorras, Spain ’09

2012-02-08T07:22:00.000-08:00

Cool climate Syrah + Loire Valley Cabernet Franc = Mencia

If you’re as smitten as we are with the white pepper, black olive and lush red fruits of cool climate Syrah as well as the minerality and herbal notes found in Loire Cabernet Franc, we think you’ll love Mencia!

Galgueira’s Mencia offers red currant, olive brine and white pepper on the nose which remind us of our favorite cool climate styled Syrahs, especially Wind Gap’s Sonoma Coast ’07. On the palate you’ll be pleased to find a generous amount of minerality layered with raspberries, tobacco leaf and a hint of the herbaceousness we adore in Joguet’s Chinon Cuvee Terroir ’09 made from Cabernet Franc.

Mencia is grown primarily in Spain’s north eastern Galicia region. Galicia is known for its crisp white wines made from Albarino which pair perfectly with its plethora of fresh coastal seafood and river fish. Crisp and fruity red wines made from Mencia are beginning to gain popularity and they pair equally as well with Galician gastronomy.

Our Galgueira Mencia is produced in the Valdeorras region, Galicia’s most inland appellation located on the Sil River. Valdeorras translates to “Valley of Gold” which may have taken its name from the Roman gold mines or from the golden color of the beaches that line the river. On weekends landlocked locals flock to these golden beaches to spend their time sunbathing and barbecuing, and we hope they enjoy a bottle of juicy, herbal Mencia while doing so!

The Best Thing I Didn't Taste Last Week

2012-01-31T18:09:00.000-08:00

A former member of our staff came in for dinner last week. A visit from this distinguished gentleman—we’ll call him Mr. S—usually means we’ll be showered with some type of lavish gift from his new stomping grounds in Napa. We’ve been pleased to receive detailed wine tasting notes from his posh tasting groups, as well as care packages of cookies from French Laundry. This last visit included a generous share from Mr.S’ cellar, a 1987 Guigal Hermitage. Hermitage is an appellation located in France's Northern Rhone Valley that consists of a single 1,000 foot granite hill with just 300 acres of vines planted. Syrah vines that cling to the southern slopes and loom over the Rhone River endure harsh hot summers and icy northern winter winds, creating the most revered wines of the region.

Mr. S was seated in Mr.T’s section (and no, not “I pity the fool” Mr.T). Mr.T has a younger but eager palate and his New Year’s wine resolution was to focus on one grape variety a month and experience that grape from as many different appellations as possible. As luck would have it Mr.T had chosen to delve into the multiple personalities of Syrah this month. A generous taste of the Hermitage was poured and brought to the back to be dissected. After the first whiff Mr.T rightfully stated thiswine didn’t smell anything like the XYZ Syrah he had the night before. I brought up points as to why this would be the case, the age of the wine, the different terroir, the “new world” versus “old world” factor, the fact that this wine was from what most consider to be the “Holy Grail” of the appellations that produce Syrah. With Mr. T’s expression after his first sip I could tell instantly all of those points had clicked and, at the same time, been dismissed. There was a pause, a smile, and I could almostsee the light bulb or heavens parting above his head. And then in reference to the two very different Syrahs he had experienced in the past 24 hours he said this, “This is like going from reading a children’s book to reading an epic novel.”

I don’t think any of my logical information about the wine mattered at that point. Mr.T was experiencing a wine epiphany. These moments don’t happen all that frequently, but when they do, you know. When a wine stops you in your tracks and has you grasping for words to describe what your senses just experienced, that’s an epiphany, a memory you will savor forever.

When the rest of the staff noticed the tell tale signs of perhaps an amazing taste of wine in a stray glass, they clamored to see what it was that Mr. T and I had gone silent over. Someone asked me how I thought it tasted and I realized, I hadn’t even tasted it yet; but experiencing Mr. T’s reaction and perfect words for that moment was enough for me, I didn’t need to taste the wine, I tasted it through Mr. T’s eyes. We often find ourselves concerned with the logical details of a wine such as oak selection, points it received from Parker, who made it, how good or bad the vintage was—and in turn these details cloud our expectations of the wine. I think, or can only hope, that situations like this bring us all back down to earth and hopefully remind us that at the end of the day wine is fermented grape juice. We all too often forget that for the most part its role in our lives is for hedonistic pleasure, and canoccasionally make us speak poetry of sorts.

Cheers,

Jannae

New Years Resolution

2012-01-09T09:31:00.000-08:00

Resolutions

Resolution- the act or process of resolving: as the act of analyzing a complex notion into simpler ones

At the end of every year wine writers flood us with a myriad of predictable “Most Memorable Wine of the Year” lists, just to be followed by a slew of “My Wine Resolutions” posts the following week. As we’ve tried to absorb and reflect on a lot of thought-provoking resolution pieces, some great conversations have been had with the staff over the past week. Our top picks for wine resolution suggestions include: Tailia Bioncchi’s Winemakers and Sommeliers on Their 2012 Resolutions - Vintage America - Eater National, Jay McInerney's 10 Wine Resolutions - WSJ.com and Maggie Hoffman’s 5 Ways to Get Into Wine This Year | Serious Eats: Drinks . The question that posed the most interesting debate and reflection came from Talia’s questionnaire. She asked a handful of winemakers and sommeliers across the country if they had any prejudices against regions or wines that they’d like to work on this year?

For us this question involved a lot of analyzing and coming to a conclusion that wasn’t as simple as one might think. It’s my job as a wine buyer and my staff’s job as ambassadors of our wine list to banish any prejudice we may have toward a grape variety or region. We spend our working hours consciously not forming an opinion as to whether we love X,Y, Z in a wine or detest it; our job is to remain neutral. If you want to drink a wine that tastes like X,Y,Z, it’s our job to find the best match for you off of our wine list. Those of you familiar with our wine list are aware that the list leans a bit more toward the esoteric, less predictable side; so in essence our list is built to help most guests banish their own wine prejudices and it is our job to help navigate you through unfamiliar terr(oir)itory. However this week when we asked ourselves which wine region or variety we habitually avoid, we found it quite challenging to answer, and for some of us, the experience was like sharing a deep, dark secret we rarely get to admit!

We’d like to offer the challenge to you- how would you answer Talia’s question? Are you ready to work on a variety or region that has previously been off limits in your mind? Does something come to mind immediately or did you have to think for a minute? Did answering this question make you realize you are stuck in a wine rut? If you choose to take the plunge and work on a wine prejudice along with us remember to have fun with it, experiment and have an open mind. Our list and our staff are here to help support you in this endeavor! And you may even pry a resolution or two out of us. Experiment, enjoy and share your thoughts with us! Here’s to an open wine mind in 2012.

André et Michel Quenard Mondeuse, Vin de Savoie Chignin 2009

2011-12-14T08:15:00.000-08:00

As you may have suspected, red wines are tricky to buy for a restaurant that specializes in seafood! I’m constantly on the lookout for a red wine that straddles the line between being rich enough for a medium to full-bodied red wine fan, but at the same time having just the right amount of acidity to compliment our fish dishes. By thinking (or tasting actually) outside of the typical red wine ‘box’ and its usual cast of characters, Cabernet, Syrah, Merlot or Pinot, I’m often pleasantly surprised to find red varieties that offer a mix of what we tend to favor in one variety or another. For example, I like to describe Mondeuse as tasting like a wonderful three-way cross between an earthy red Burgundy, a perfumed cru Beaujolais and a white-pepper laden-cool climate Syrah.

The Mondeuse variety can be found growing predominately in the Savioe region of France as well as Australia, Argentina and California. In the past Mondeuse was thought to have been identical to northern Italy’s Refosco however recent DNA testing has proved that is not the case. Regardless of it’s mysterious origins or lineage, Mondeuse grown at the base of the western Alps really shines and express all the dark cherry,

lavender and licorice component I have come to love in this variety.

The Quenard family have been tending their vines on the Savoie’s steep, terraced slopes since the 1930s. André along with his son Michel and grandson Guillaume farm their vineyards by lutte raisonnée, which translates to “supervised control“ in English. Lutte raisonée is considered a happy medium between conventional methods and the stricter demands dictated by organic certifying agencies. The grapes for this wine are sourced from 70-year-old vines growing on fragmented limestone in the Savoie cru of Chignin. This wine starts with brooding black cherry and plum fruit, followed by fine tannins, a bit of white pepper and finishes with refreshing acidity. Its the perfect red to chase away that winter chill without fatiguing your palate! This wine pairs wonderfully with our Arctic Char dish that includes a mushroom vinaigrette and works equally as well with our roasted lamb breast served over a Meyer lemon tajine. You’ll find this Mondeuse on our Strange & Wonderful page along with a bevy of other grape varieties that might not sound familiar but are worth seeking out the next time you’d like to drink outside of the box with us!

Cheers!

Jannae

Drinking lots of wines!

2011-09-11T10:24:00.000-07:00

Frequently we're asked where we find all of our fun, esoteric, seldom heard of wines. Our guests are surprised to see wines from Lebanon, Slovenia and Corsica on the list, just to mention a couple and even many small California winery's never before seen. Our wine list is always a work in progress and we cringe every time someone asks to have the wine list sent to them weeks in advance to their visit. The wine list changes every week, sometimes several times in a week, so the list we send is never going to be a complete reflection of what they'll see the day of their visit. The reason why is very simple. Ted and our Wine Director Jannae spend several days a week meeting with winery owners, salespeople, and small 'book' distributors. On top of those 'in house' tastings they're going out to 'trade' tastings where they have the opportunity to sample many different wines/wineries in one day from very small distributors & importers. Jannae calls it going to the 'farmers market' of winemakers. We're looking for the wines no one's heard of that knock your socks off for the complexity of flavor and price. The wine industry is an enormous investment, and if you're a small start up you've probably already invested several hundred thousand dollars over a period of a few years before your wine even comes to market. These small wineries begin knocking on doors in the hopes that someone, anyone will take the time to taste their wines, and in an industry that is so competitive, unless you've had the extreme good luck of being noticed by a trade magazine or written about on a wine critics blog getting an appointment with a wine buyer can be a tough thing indeed. So, we make it a point to try to make time for all of these small wineries and importers. Sometimes we have an entire day of YUK and other times we have a day full of gems. We can't buy everything and so we try to buy what WE love to drink, and we also try to keep in mind what some of our most frequent guests love. Many times I've heard Jannae say, "well its not MY favorite but I know the Smith's will LOVE this!' and so we buy it. The productions are small from these wineries and sometimes we're happy to get a case, sometimes its just a few bottles, and if one of our staff loves the wine, he/she can sell it all in a night. With most of the list built from this philosophy a guest could come in and find multiple wines listed that week already sold out while we're waiting to reprint a new list. Frustrating? Yes, for us and for the guest, but thats the beauty of our list.

Jannae and Ted tasting one of our favorite wines, Cobb Wines. A father/son venture, David Cobb (grower) visits us frequently with the newest wines his winemaker son Ross has produced. Besides having a long time love affair with his wines, visiting with David is pretty fun too!

Honey harvest!

2011-09-04T08:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning my mentor Patrick from Blue Moon Bee's arrived with his lovely artist wife Murphy to help me with my first honey harvest. We spent our time checking both of my girls hives, adjusting the 'supers' and then selecting a couple of panels from the larger hive to harvest a small amount of honey. I had researched different types of equipment and spinners for honey harvesting but, at Patricks prodding chose not to purchase anything until after I had harvested once with him. Thank you Patrick for saving me hundreds, potentially a thousand dollars! We lined a large stainless steel mixing bowl with four layers of cheese cloth and 'scraped' our honey into the bowl and onto the cheese cloth. The panels dripped warm, golden brown honey every time Patrick moved them around and I couldn't help but continue dipping my fingers into the honey. I ended up with a quart of honey from one side each of two panels. The panels were returned to the hive and bee's immediately began cleaning up the mess we had made of one side of their panels.

Tasting the honey our daughter in law Brenda declared detecting a citrus flavor, our son Kevin felt the flavors ended on the back of his tongue with a lingering 'strange' flavor, and I definitely tasted a 'woodsy' flavor. Patrick explained to us that he suspects this particular hive (Khaleesi is her name), has been foraging in the woods near the house and we are tasting tree pollens. I'm not finished with this particular harvest, as the cheesecloth is tied up and hanging over a steel bowl to allow gravity to do her job and pull even more honey from the ball. Then next I'll be extracting the bee's wax for future use in my personal care products such as a face or body cream. We'll have a larger harvest of honey in the fall and hopefully we'll have enough to supply Passionfish with a teaser before the next complete harvest in the spring! I hope all of you have had a great summer and I, personally, am hoping for a long Indian Summer on the Monterey Peninsula!
Cindy

Cleaning my kitchen......

2011-08-08T15:41:00.000-07:00

It has long been known that Passionfish cleans our kitchen with primarily all natural products. Things like baking soda, white vinegar (5%), borax and kosher salt. We use Dr. Bronners liquid soap as our hand soap and we clean the floors with it too. Its 100% biodegradable, organic and fair trade. That means when I spend my dollar I'm thinking about the bottom line all the time, not just financially, but environmentally and socially. Heres a picture of my cleaning products in our kitchen at home. Now, right there, is everything I need. The tall bottle is Dr Bronners liquid soap which I use to wash my dishes. It smells good depending upon whether I'm using my favorites, the peppermint or rose scents, however, my BFF likes the almond scent best. The short bottle is 5% white vinegar which I use when some of my dishes are really greasy. Nothing cuts grease like vinegar! And the little jar, which has a shaker top on it, purchased at Sur La Table, has baking soda for gently scrubbing everything from cast iron to non-stick pans. I can also use the vinegar for disinfecting the counter tops. Did you know vinegar kills 99% of all known bacteria? Not only am I saving lots of money, but I'm being kind to my environment. And that alone makes me sleep better at night. To top it all off I use dish cloth's. This drives my son in law nuts, but I'd bet my dish cloths which go to the laundry room every day have a lot less bacteria on them than his biodegradable sponge! And, I'm not spending money on sponges every month!
Happy cleaning friends!
Cindy

Back to blogging

2011-06-17T20:52:00.000-07:00

As some of you may know, I have been away from Passionfish for the better part of a year. I'm still in and out but not seen during dining hours. My absence has been due mainly to some needed surgery on my feet, and without the use of my feet, walking the 'floor' during dining hours, or even just standing at the front has been impossible. Now that I'm nearing a complete recovery I'm back to walking each morning and looking forward to returning to the 'front door' soon. However, I thought you might be interested to know some of what I have accomplished during my time away! I started last June (after the 1st surgery) by landscaping my yard. A much needed affair after two puppies destroyed most of what we had planted the previous years. We added 2 persian Mulberry trees, a Pink Lady apple tree, 3 Meyer Lemons, 2 pomegranite trees, a Blood Orange tree, a Lime tree and relocated my grandfathers Youngberry vines. Some of you have had the pleasure of tasting those berries and some of the Meyer lemons too! Everything came together beautifully and this year we're beginning to see the 'fruits' of our plantings. In December, after 3 surgeries to my feet, I recovered enough to enjoy a trip to Barcelona with Ted to dine at El Buli. The trip ended rather badly with me taking a fall on the pavement, a trip to the University of Barcelona's hospital and a broken ankle.

January found me in Washington DC with the Ocean Conservancy in a 'boot' on my ankle walking the halls of Senate and Congress and making visits to offices to discuss California's new Marine Protected Area's. This sent me home with a new respect for both our conservation groups who work diligently to protect our environment and also our political system. My ankle failed to heal and so hence another surgery to reconstruct the ankle (which had several surgeries in the early '80's). My mother always said she should have named me Grace.

So back home again, I was bored and decided I needed a new project. Now, everyone needs a mentor at some point in their life and I was lucky enough to meet mine last fall at an educational event at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Patrick Adams is a professor of Marine Biology and Botany, works part time at the Aquarium (besides his full time teaching job), and is a Master Bee Keeper. I have always wanted to keep bees, having grown up with a father who kept nearly 15 hives. Ted and I love honey and Ted even cooks with bee pollen at Passionfish. We always use honey in place of sugar at home, and as much as we can at the restaurant. I contacted Patrick after the first part of the year and he offered his services to help establish a hive in my yard. He brought a lovely english garden hive box with a copper roof at the most reasonable cost. I had to keep asking if he had priced it properly! He arrived with a queen and a healthy hive and I was able to suit up and help a little while he transferred the girls to their new home. It was one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had. That resulted in yet another hive being ordered and we now host two happy, healthy hives! Patrick continues to mentor me and I continue to learn. Passionfish should see its first harvest of honey at the end of the summer, but the best part is the yard. My yard, in the 20 years we have owned our home, has never looked so nice. The trees are blooming, the bees buzzing and nature is quite grand right out my back door. I will have all the bees wax I need for all my home made lotions and the satisfaction we receive each day by seeing our girls out and busy is incredible. Some folks have no idea that our honey bees are currently having a difficult time surviving. Hives all across the globe are suffering from Colony Collapse Disorder, and although there are many theories on why it is happening no one is completely certain. Friends that questioned my intelligence on bringing hives into a small space are the first to visit 'the girls' now when they come over. They are gentle little creatures who are interested only in their work during their short 35 days of life. I can work next to the hives easily in the yard, with a visit occasionally by one or two curious girls, who eventually decide I'm no threat and back they go to their own little business. I'm convinced that everyone should have a hive - what a great learning experience for me and my grandchildren! Please visit Patricks website at www.bluemoonbees.com and consider bringing some of these little girls to your home. Its not hard to do when you begin to realize that every third bite you take is because a little bee was busy, busy, busy. Patrick also offers free removal of bees in the chance that you've had a swarm come to your home uninvited. Perhaps someday I'll be able to say the same!

Heres hoping you are enjoying a summer as lovely as ours!

Cindy

Barcelona...

2010-12-08T01:33:00.000-08:00

Barcelona has been celebrating holidays since we arrived on Monday. First was the holiday celebrating their Constitution, a mere 35 years old, and today is the holiday of the Immaculate Conception. This brings many visitors to the city and the streets are packed with families from Spain, Britain & Germany. Those are the ones we have noticed the most. The Christmas market is in full swing, and just across the street. At night the lights are blazing with Christmas decorations, Santa Claus (a slim version) wanders the streets and the children are so excited to see him. There is fresh foods every where we turn, fruits, juices, ham's, truffles. The city is definitely an exciting spot for a 'foodie' such as Ted. We have rented a lovely apartment in the El Born district, just across the street from the National Cathedral and a block from both the Music Palace and the Picasso Museum. I would highly recommend the company we used to do this. (www.bizflats.com) They handle only Barcelona flats. I am always amazed at the cleanliness of the European cities that I have visited. To walk out our door and find the streets freshly swept and washed is an amazing thing, especially knowing how many people were out last night. There are receptacles for garbage and recycling down every street. Almost every restaurant/cafe we walk by entices us by the smells drifting out, and the small espresso shops are full of incredible pastries and locals taking a break from their Christmas shopping. Today we look forward to the festivities of the city as they celebrate their religious holiday, a chance to view the Music Palace, the Picasso Museum and of course, more food.... -Cindy

Sant Pere Mas Baix, El Born neighborhood, Home of our little apartment,

a converted convent.

El Bulli, Part 2

2010-12-05T07:10:00.000-08:00

Highlights of Our Meal

Olive oil chip

That’s it. Clear and round and crispy. Touches your tongue and melts and tastes simply of olive oil. Cindy moaned her way through that chip and I just can’t figure out how it was done.

Parmesan Porra

Nothing but straight parmesan, but like flakes of the lightest filo dough ever presented. If I could make this all my guests would be hooked.

Shrimp Omelette, Shrimp Tortilla & Ginger strip palate cleanser

Both were very light shrimp morsels. Finished by the ginger strip which was an interesting surprise. A small bite and suck produced an amazing juice that cleansed my palate.

Soy Matches and Yuzu with Miso

I ate the Soy match so quick Cindy didn't get a photo, but it was intensely soy but not over salted, almost like a hard candy. The Yuzu was baked with miso, served cold and the entire thing was popped into our mouths. Delicious!

Prawn, two firings

The prawn had been poached but then the head was fried. Now theres a trick! The spoon contained essence of prawn. I consumed the entire thing.

Spanish Caviar with White Truffles

This was Cindy's dish, my dish was Caviar Creme with Hazelnut Caviar. Mine was the worst dish of the meal, it just tasted like hazelnut butter. Cindy however poked around for a utensil before realizing that was what the bay leaf was for. She decided to attempt a small amount of the caviar and then gobbled it up barely before I could beg a bite. This was her favorite dish, and for those who know her, you'll be as surprised as I was!

Artichoke petals with Rose essence

This was Cindy's course. The artichoke leaves just melted in her mouth, thin and delicate, but the highlight was the essence of rose. Not overly perfumed, but leaving the slightest hint of a lovely rose upon finish.

Cindy eating her White Truffel Blini.

Polenta Gnocchi with coffee & saffron Yuba

The lightest gnocchi we have ever tasted. It melted in our mouths leaving fabulous flavors.

Oysters Gillardeau with black sand and bone marrow

I really disliked the oysters which had been baked firm and had a heavy sauce on top. This did nothing to brighten the flavors. I usually think of succulent and briny, this came across as meaty & grainy. However, the bone marrow was unbelievably succulent and one of my favorite flavors of the evening!

Tender Pistachios

Hands down my favorite dish and I hope to re-create something similar. Basically, fresh pistachios poached in ham stock with tidbits of beautiful ham. All very tender and delicious.

Golden Enoki Fideua

This was one of Cindy's alternate courses, and easily one of the most balanced dishes. The great mushroom flavor and crispness of the noodles played well together. Cindy commented that she'd be quite happy with an enormous plate of these.

Hare Ravioli 'Bolonesa' and Blood

The ravioli were delicate and gamey with a reduced game sauce 'Bolones'. But the star of the dish was the wonderful Hare blood scented with rosemary. We were both served this dish, and poor Cindy thought the blood was a drink being provided to match the dish. She was right, but blood she was not expecting. I was the lucky recipient of both glasses of blood.

Wild Strawberries with Hare soup

Simple and straightforward.

Rose Won Ton

Vanilla 'Cabello de Angel'

This was all fruit, cut so that it was like the finest angel hair pasta ever. It was oh, so delicate and melted in your mouth bursting with the flavor of vanilla.

Strawberry Carpaccio

This was Cindy's dish and she commented that it was by far the lightest panna cotta that she had ever tasted. It was reminiscent of a lovely dessert we ate many, many years ago at Stars in San Francisco, and then it was called perfectly 'Fantasy Creme'.

El Bulli! Part One...

2010-12-03T23:34:00.000-08:00

Wow! I thought my meal was going to be a long adventure over 32 courses. Boy was I wrong. The first 3 courses came bam! Bam! Bam! They were 3 riffs on drinks, the first being an apple Mojito. This ‘drink’ was a little sandwich of vodka air with green apple-mint fluff in between. Two bites and it crumbled into a light sip and crunch of my wife’s favorite drink. As I ate/drank these ‘drinks’ I watched other tables begin their courses. The guests would pop whatever arrived in their mouths and moan, laugh or excitedly converse with their friends about what they just ate. Everyone had a camera and two tables set up camcorders to record the event.

In the first hour we easily consumed 12 courses. The service was seamless and continuous. They dropped the plate, explained what it was, gave us a few minutes to enjoy, then picked up the dirty dish and returned quickly with a new one. I believe we didn’t order a bottle of wine until the 6^th or 7^th course. However, we started with glasses of cava which was very rich and flavorful. There were no utensils set out at the table, and none arrived until possibly the 20^th course. I had 38 courses for my dinner. I easily tasted 50 dishes when you include the different dishes my wife received. Sounds impossible? The magic Ferran Adria creates is to take a dish or an ingredient and reduce it to its essential flavor profile; as a dust lets say, and then stabilize the product with natural, chemical magic so that it is transformed into something you can eat. Then he gives you an edible utensil (when the item cannot be eaten merely with your fingers), such as a bay leaf, to add another flavor profile. For example: take the mozzarella with tomato and olive oil. Caprese. We have all eaten this dish. What Ferran does is dehydrate the mozzarella, compresses the solids, freezes it, than shaves it into a bowl so it is light as a whisper. When you spoon it into your mouth you have all the flavors of the cheese, fruit and oil but there is almost no substance.

Thus we were easily able to eat 38 courses. I have to admit the last course was the chocolate box. Not by any means a light finish. It was a large box with drawers that pulled out from both sides and multiples of about 15 different types of chocolates.

Cindy really stepped up to the plate for this round, and her favorite was the dehydrated corn kernels covered in white chocolate. I am not going to describe every dish but just give you the highlights over the next few posts!

Ted Walter

New York....

2010-12-02T09:12:00.000-08:00

We've decided the worst thing about vacation is traveling. Cindy was appalled at the amount of styrofoam cups being used in the airports, mostly with Burger King logo's. She questioned corporate responsibility and is determined in to launch a letter writing campaign to them. My Starbucks cup came with a second cup and then a sleeve. I guess at least, they are recyclable, but there was whining about that too. New York City is always a lot of fun, and since we've traveled near the Christmas holiday season we enjoyed the decorations and Union Square Christmas Faire from the warmth of our taxi. Scarpetta welcomed us with a warm and inviting atmosphere. Warm wood walls, exactly what Cindy wants on our floors at home and Edison lights. We arrived just a smidgeon early so seated ourselves at the bar while waiting for our table. Cindy ordered a drink (name forgotten) made with prosecco, vodka and orange and I ordered a San Remo, made with Carpano Antica, Campari,elderflower liquer, bourbon & fresh orange juice. Both drinks were tasty, made quickly and appreciated. Once seated in the dining room we decided upon a Sicilian bottle of Vinupetra, a recommendation from George the Sommelier, who entertained us with fun stories of the winemaker. He used the words, tar, leather, 'light on its feet' as descriptives and it sounded good to us.

It was tight upon opening, even after decanting but proved to be a wonderful wine by the time our food begin to arrive. Cindy ordered Buratta with charred figs, beets and arugula as a starter. She's not a lover of figs, but gobbled these figs down before Icould get a taste. I had the Raw Yellowtail, served simply with flaked sea salt. I moaned about the fact that I have tried to serve this unsuccessfully at Passionfish and wondered why it did not sell at our restaurant while enjoying every delicate bite. Our next course began with my Agnolotti Dal Plin, mixed meats & fonduta, mushrooms & parmigiano. It was fabulous and a lighter version than is usually seen. Cindy had the pasta special of the evening, Tagliatel with butter and black truffles.

We smelled the truffles long before we could see them and we were amazed at the amount of truffles served in the dish. It was rich, delicate, melt in your mouth pasta and the truffles were bursting with flavor. Neither of us remembers the last time we had truffles that tasted so good. At this point Cindy whined about the need for a white wine and George helped us pick a wine from Trieste called Zidarich.

He decanted half the bottle and it wasn't long before Cindy called for the other half. Our entree's arrived while we wondered how we could possibly eat another bite. Cindy ordered the roasted organic chicken, with root vegetables, brussell sprouts, polenta and a foie gras emulsion. The skin was golden and crispy and everything worked well together. I had the moist roasted Capretto with rapini, pancetta & potatoes. It was indescribable and not in a good way. I found the reduction to be over reduced, which caused it to taste syrupy and too rich and I swear I could not discern the difference between the potatoes, rapini or capretto. The only course that disappointed me. Dessert menu's were laid for temptation, but we were so incredibly stuffed, and Cindy was still enjoying the flavor of the truffles on her palate that we decided to call it an evening and return to our hotel. Next meal El Bulli! - Ted Walter

Breast of Lamb

2010-11-29T07:27:00.000-08:00

Last night I had a customer send back the lamb dish. This happens several times a week. The meat is fatty, like a short rib, and because of this, it is succulent, juicy and tender, after slow roasting for nearly 12 hours. If the meat were prepared without the fat, it would not be so. We remove the bones, press the meat with weights, than cut it into portions. The fat cannot be trimmed from the meat because it is striated throughout. It is served with a rancho gordo chickpea and eggplant tangine that is very flavorful and it is one of my personal, favorite dishes. Most guests who order it, LOVE IT. But there is the problem of a few being sent back each week, some not even touched! Individuals see the fat content in it and refuse to even try it. For goodness sake at least taste it before you send it back! It's delicious! The fat is what gives this dish a great mouth feel and flavor. If you are trying to avoid fat in meats, or have a dietary issue that forces you to avoid meats high in fat, then this dish is not for you. But if you love meats that melt in your mouth, this is an incredible winter dish that is reminiscent of dining at grandma's house! - Ted Walter

Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T09:58:00.000-08:00

On Thanksgiving day we always try to take a moment to think about the many things that we are grateful for. We actually try to do this daily, but especially on Thanksgiving we look beyond the obvious people and things. As individuals, we are thankful for our family; our parents, children, granddaughter, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins. We reminisce about the large family gatherings we had as children, with the men gathered around the TV and the women cooking in the kitchen. We are thankful for our friends, near and far, who are here for us regardless of whether it is for fun or to provide support. As owners of Passionfish we are thankful for what we consider to be one of the best restaurant teams around. Our staff are conscientious, thoughtful, smart, funny, helpful and knowledgable. They remember each others birthdays, they exchange gifts at Christmas, share wine, bake goodies to bring to work and are a pleasure to work with. We are grateful for our guests, their commitment to the environment, and their years of support. We would not be who we are without both our guests and our staff.

Passionfish has the good fortune to know many of the leading experts in marine biology and the environment in general. We are so, so, thankful for the simple fact that we are able to tap into these resources when questions arise concerning the sustainability of a fishery or aquaculture farm.

On this Thanksgiving, however, we wish to send out a huge 'thank you' to all of our farmers, sustainable fishermen, sustainable aquaculture farms, organic viticulturists, the winemakers who source organic grapes, or operate their winery with sustainable business practices, the forager's, ranchers and organic dairy farms. This obviously doesn't even cover everyone. But our point being, that although Passionfish strives to be a 'green' restaurant and an environmentally conscientious business, we could not do so without all the people who grow our food with the environment foremost in their mind. Sourcing is much easier now than it was in 1997 when we opened and we are incredibly grateful for this. The fact that it's easier tells us more people are knowledgable and aware of the issues our earth faces, and more people are taking the steps to insure a sustainable future for the generations that follow us.

We send you all, our good thoughts and hope for a peaceful and abundant Thanksgiving day!

-Ted & Cindy

Barcelona & Beyond!

2010-11-23T06:39:00.000-08:00

So, here is the beginning of the Passionfish blog. My wife and business partner Cindy has been encouraging me to share my pet peeves, my rants and my raves that I often passionately express to her and our fans of Passionfish. Since we are going to Barcelona next week to eat at restaurants El Buli and Sant Pau I thought this would be a good time to start. This trip is my Christmas present from Cindy and I am very thankful for such an exciting gift. Hopefully I will be able to share pictures and my personal impressions on the 32 dishes we will be enjoying at El Buli and two days later our dinner at Sant Pau. There is sure to be other culinary excursions we will encounter over the 10 days of traveling. Due to a huge and fortuitious layover our trip will begin with dinner at Scarpetta in NYC . We arrive in NY at 5:30 on Nov 30th and after checking into our hotel, we will make the journey from JFK into the city and dine at Scarpetta at 9 PM. Why Scarpetta when there are a hundred choices and no easy one to choose? Well several trips back my family and I had the most amazing meal at L'Impero where Scott Conant was the chef at the time. Since I live so far from NY it is often hard to repeat dine at any NYC restaurant and I don't believe I ever have. Scarpetta is Mr. Conant's own restaurant and I am hoping the food will be as tasty as I remember. I have to tell you now that I am never navigated guides such as Michelin. For me its all about the food. Does it taste unbelievably good and drip with delicious memories? Are we saying "Oh my Gosh! That is the tastiest thing I have ever had?" If not, our meal becomes just another 3 star failure. Wow! How many times have you, and I, eaten at a "great restaurant", stuffy service, lots of plates and hovering waiters, too hot rooms that make you keep your jackets on or too cold so as to accommodate the jacketed waitstaff and then food that you just can't remember? What was it that you ate just hours ago? You can only remember by looking at the menu you hijacked. I still remember the truffled chicken my wife ordered at Stars in San Francisco 25 years ago. I can still taste the fabulous spot prawns from Pok Pok (Portland, Oregon) and I dream about that meal weekly. Then there was the tender, most delicate tempura battered uni, ever, at Nobu, seasoned only with salt and freshly ground pepper. It just doesn't get better than that. We all have those dishes, those memories, those tasty recognition factors from the past and I, looking forward, hope to experience great food during our culinary adventure in Spain. I hope that you will join us on this trip. -Ted Walter