A Day in Washington Wine Country

As I drive East on Highway 12 it hits me that I am definitely back in the country. As far as the eye can see there are rolling hills spotted by wheat fields and vineyards. The air just feels cleaner already, and although I love my new home in San Francisco it does feel great to be back in Washington Wine Country.

I meet up with my brother and we head out to the airport to do some wine tasting. We head over to see an old friend, Zach at Syzygy. He has sold out of his current wines, so his tasting room is closed, he is taking a little breather before Spring Release, scheduled for the first weekend in May. He invites back into his barrel room to taste the wines he has recently blended. With an evil grin on his face he asks us to guess what the blend is… I am stumped until finally he admits it is a Malbec/Tempranillo/Cab blend, can’t wait for this one to be on shelves!

We stop by Walla Walla Roastery to grab an espresso. We talk with Jesse who tells us all about the different kinds of coffee they roast, and then takes us in the back to see the air roaster they use. It is nudged in between huge garbage pails of raw coffee beans from all over the world. Much like wine these are supplied through a broker. He tells us that smaller coffee companies such as theirs actually have more of an advantage because they can import the smaller crops of coffee beans, and pick really cool and fun new beans without having to worry about future availability or consistency. We are then invited to come with the coffee guys to skate the vert ramp they have in an old airplane hangar across the street, but alas, we are late to meet friends for lunch and have to head downtown.

The sun is out and we sit on the deck at Luscious by Nature, the newest café in town with friends Dawn and Mary of Dama Wines. I have an amazing grilled cheese sandwich and we all order “Dunham” sized glasses of hard cider made in Milton Freewater by the Blue Mountain Cider Company. I suggest trying their semi-dry if you get a chance, delicious and crisp, this makes the perfect afternoon drink for summer.

Next we are off for a tour at Northstar Winery where I am able to try an array of wines and view the facility. Crush is long gone, and the tourist season is not yet in full force, so the winery is quiet on a Sunday. My brother leads a tour with Myles Anderson’s class from the Walla Walla Community College department of Enology and Viticulture.

After a short rest, we are off to Creektown Café for dinner. We run into old friends, and have a stunning meal. The duck is amazing, and pairs well with the Northstar Walla Walla Valley Syrah we have brought with us. Amazing as usual, this small restaurant has been a local favorite for years. So nice to be home, a perfect day of wine, food, and friends in Walla Walla.

Rethinking Pet Food

By Olga

One of the greatest aspects of life in the Bay Area is how conscious many residents are about what they eat...not just for health reasons but for a wider concern about who grows and raises their food, and how, in the case of livestock, the animals are treated. I had considered myself to be a pretty conscious and conscientious consumer when it came to choosing foods that were both healthful and humanely and sustainably harvested. I embraced Hippocrates proclamation of ‘let your food be your medicine’ and took very seriously Marrion Burros’ New York Times article in which she argued for the importance of local food over even organic [a revelation to me at the time]. Then with the recent troubling developments with commercial pet food, I began to think about what effect buying and feeding supermarket dog food had on both the environment, the animals whose parts are used for this food and of course on my dog. Its no secret that conditions are grim for animals who are raised for food in industrialized facilities. While the so-called ‘good’ parts go to supermarkets and restaurants of all levels, do the odd cuts then get processed into pet food? Thus by purchasing name brand pet foods are we supporting some cruel farming practices? I don’t know and I don’t claim to here...I’m just wondering aloud. And what about the nutritional value to our pets of feeding them food with preservatives?

While I don’t know the conditions surrounding the raising of the animals used in pet food, I do know, at the other end of this particular food chain, that for my dog’s whole life, most of the food she’d been given was from a can or a bag that has a frighteningly long shelf life; she had never been fed fresh foods. For that matter, she hadn’t been fed any vegetables, just meat and whatever is in her kibble.

So recently I found a few great solutions to feeding my dog, Lucy, a 10 year-old Shar-pei mix. This being the Bay Area, there’s a meat purveyor called Prather Ranch (www.pratherranch.com) which is Certified Humane by the much-needed and pioneering group, Humane Farm Animal Care (www.certifiedhumane.com). Prather insures that all of the animals they sell are not only raised and fed humanely but are humanely ‘processed’ (as they say in the industry) as well. Prather sells (for $4/lb) ground up odd cuts of beef that are not for human consumption, but that make great pet food. I serve some to Lucy every evening with her old kibble, in hopes of all together once I get organized and start steaming brown rice. I know there’s debate on whether or not raw foods are the best option for your pet. And I’m not someone who believes in pampering pets with extravagant foods. However, it just seems natural to feed a dog a bit of raw meat with some good complex carbohydrates.

Vegetables: I had no idea my dog even liked them until, as an experiment, I started feeding her the discarded stems of my spring asparagus. She loved them. She eats grass in the park so it only makes sense that she’d like veggies. Another hint that she would have liked vegetables is that she often raids the compost bin. I know ‘yuck’ but she’s an animal after all, and clearly an omnivore.

If anyone out there has thoughts on how to feed pets in accordance with goals of sustainability and the humane treatment of all animals, I’d love to hear from you.

Slow Club

By Kimberly

After a positive experience last week, I decided to brave another restaurant that does not take reservations. I had always wanted to try Slow Club but I had previously been put off by its unfamiliar location and rumors of long waits for tables. I decided the safest time to visit was a weekday afternoon, and last Friday I finally got the perfect opportunity. Slow Club's sleek, minimalist decor manages to at once be very chic and at the same time fit in with the surrounding industrial area. Although the restaurant was quite crowded with Slow Club's eclectic patrons, my friend and I were lucky enough to get seated immediately. For lunchtime it was quite loud despite the purple velvet curtain which lines one wall and must muffle some of the noise. I can only imagine that at night, when there is a packed bar, it must be pretty difficult to hear your companion across the table.

While I could have ordered most of the menu (and have heard raves about the burger), we decided to split the pork loin sandwich ($9) and the salad with mahi mahi ($13.50). The pork sandwich came on a deli roll with a truffled creme fraiche, arugula, swiss cheese, and grilled onion. There was a little too much bread for me, but when I removed the top bun and added some of the lightly dressed side salad, the sandwich became phenomenal. Seriously, I was quite annoyed when I remembered I had agreed to split and could only eat half of the sandwich.

The mahi mahi salad was prepared with spring greens, kalamata olives, feta cheese, cous cous, red onions, red wine vinaigrette, and large grilled strips of fish. The amount of dressing was perfect (no soggy greens!) and the cous cous added a surprising and interesting texture. The salad was actually quite a nice light, fresh accompaniment to the more substantial pork sandwich. We didn't have time for dessert, but we both agreed it was worth a return trip. While I am not giving up my OpenTable VIP status anytime soon, I am definitely going to continue trying out restaurants without reservations. Next on my list: Burma Superstar!

Pearl Oyster Bar and Restaurant

Last Saturday afternoon I found myself with friends who wanted to go out for dinner, and without reservations. While I normally avoid restaurants which do not take reservations, I realized that in this situation they were my only hope of getting in anywhere good. My friends and I decided on an early 6:15 dinner at the Pearl Oyster Bar and Restaurant in Oakland. Luckily we snagged the second to last table for four, and ordered a flight of wines to celebrate (three half glasses at a reasonable $17). Pearl's decor is sleek, minimalist, and arguably cold if it wasn't for the wall behind the bar which constantly changes colors and the menu full of small plates which encourage sharing.

A glance at the seafood heavy menu made me happy my friends all liked fish. We decided to start with the tuna poke, the Thai ceviche, and the crab cakes. The tuna poke came first and was devoured very quickly. The fish was fresh, the condiments were spicy, and the julienned cucumber provided an invigorating crunch. While the Thai ceviche was also quite good for many of the same reasons, it was less exciting than the poke and suffered from being served second. Moreover, I was disappointed that the topping of fresh horseradish was too weak to taste. Finally, the crab cakes were cooked just how I like them- stuffed full of crab and only lightly fried. One of my friends commented that the crab cakes were almost as good as the ones he can get on the East Coast.

For our main courses we shared the seared sea scallops and the coffee, cardamom, and cacao crusted sturgeon. The scallops were paired with bok choy and, interestingly enough, a Chinese mustard sauce. While mustard and scallops never struck me as a match made in heaven, they actually were an amazing combination. The sturgeon, on the other hand, was overly seasoned. The tender, expertly cooked fish would have shined more with a lighter dusting of spices. I would still order the sturgeon again just for the creamy sunchoke-cauliflower puree.

At this point the service slowed way down, and it took our waitress 20 minutes to take our dessert orders. Once dessert came, I also felt that the quality of the food had dropped. While it is hard to go wrong with warm doughnuts and coconut-ginger tapioca, the desserts lacked the sparkle and inventiveness of our previous dishes. Admittedly, I may just be bitter because they had already run out of the panna cotta trio. Nevertheless, despite my disappointments, I will definitely be returning to Pearl. There are a number of items on the menu that I am still interested in trying. And, next time, I am going to order dessert first!

Salt House

Salt House has been waiting patiently on my Need to Try list since I read of its opening a few months ago. This past Tuesday afternoon, I finally got the chance to check it out. Upon first entering the restaurant and surveying the exposed brick walls and large portions, I was reminded of Salt House's older sibling, Town Hall. However, Salt House definitely has a more youthful atmosphere; the rustic decor and Acme baguettes served on brown paper contrast with a cluster of contemporary light fixtures hanging above the bar and unusual touches such as water carafes marked with a heart and skull symbol. It seems to be aiming for what I can only describe as modern rustic.

Unless you are absolutely starving, for lunch I would highly recommend splitting a starter. My table decided to share the tuna and hamachi tartar salad. I was impressed with the presentation and simple (but obviously very fresh) ingredients. The dish tasted light and clean and was substantially brightened by the sliced apple artfully displayed on top. In fact, although the tartar salad was tossed in a zesty vinaigrette, it might have been slightly bland without the apple. -

-

For our main courses we ordered the gruyere and fontina grilled cheese with sunchoke soup, the duck confit, and the Dungeness crab appetizer. All of the mains looked wonderful (and were almost entirely eaten despite the large portions). I had the Dungeness crab which was served on top of a pile of shredded lettuce and accented with fried artichoke hearts and an olive tapanade. Although the lettuce was soggy from being drenched in far too much dressing, I was very pleased with my entree. The ample mound of crab was delicious and juicy, the artichoke hearts were lightly fried and perfectly crispy, and the olives complimented the dish well provided a nice bite.

-

We ended our meal with an unusual rhubarb dessert that was nothing like I had expected. Although the flavors were great separately, the cubes of rhubarb mixed in custard and topped with bits of granola combined to produce a strange textural experience. The pastry chef may want to think about simplifying his desserts a bit. Overall, it was really enjoyable lunch. There are still a number of other restaurants on my Need to Try list, but when I get a chance I am definitely interested in returning to Salt House. While I have heard complaints that during prime hours it can get quite noisy and crowded, that is a price I am willing to pay for a fun scene and good food!