Pressure Cooking with Precious Results at Italian Colors Ristorante

By Emma Krasov, photography by Yuri KrasovNever tiring of trying new things is a sure sign of genius. Picasso was not afraid to change his style even at the height of his career, and venturing out of our comfort zone usually works well for the rest us.Alan Carlson, prominent chef/owner of the Italian Colors Ristorante in Montclair Village Square in Oakland, constantly changes his seasonal and daily menus, implements the newest trends into his acclaimed cuisine, and recently started adding ingredients prepared with sous vide cooking method to his enticing spring plates.
Vacuum-sealed meats and veggie retain all their nutrients, moisture, color, and flavor when boiled at precise temperature, defined individually for each kind of food. They also store much longer, thus reducing waste.
On the night we dined, amuse bouche of sous vide chili-honey glazed carrots with garbanzo beans and romesco sauce was not only healthy, but had that undiluted fresh taste to it.Roasted organic beets salad, due to its uncompromised brightness, looked like a piece of modern art rather than a meal. Large paper-thin slices of watermelon radish, green rounds of grilled asparagus, and orange-brown goat cheese arancini were complimented by toasted hazelnuts, turnip puree, edible violet flowers, and “Tuscan clouds” made of white balsamic foam.Sous vide duck confit significantly enriched ever popular spinach salad with dried cranberries, red onions, and candid walnuts. Slices of ricotta salata on top made it irresistible.Chef Alan’s famous sour dough pizza was split at our request – half buffalo mozzarella, roma tomato sauce and basil, half prosciutto di Parma, grilled sweet onions, manchego, arugula, and shaved grana. I know that many regulars come here for pizza alone – and now I understand why.However, the new seasonal pasta, appropriately called Gnocchi Primavera is a definite winner and a must-have. Delicious hand-made soft dumplings, bathed in lemon butter sauce, are mixed with heavenly sous vide artichokes, green peas, asparagus, garlic, white wine, prosciutto and Parmesan.Two California wines pair nicely with this dish – Talbott 2008 Chardonnay from the Central Coast, and Watts 2005 Old Vine Zinfandel from Lodi.Another great sous vide-prepped entrée, Bisttecca, is a marinated skirt steak with grilled sweet onions on a slice of peasant bread, garnished spring greens and absolutely amazingly crispy fries.A chocolate soufflé cake with ganache center and espresso cream is made in-house, and it takes 20 minutes for it to rise to perfection.
Chef Carlson opened Italian Colors with the GM Steve Montgomery in 1993. The restaurant is steadily attracting – and never disappointing – its old and new patrons on any given night ever since. On Wednesday through Saturday nights there is live classical guitar music performance. Gets really busy on holidays, like the upcoming Mother’s Day, so advance reservations are highly recommended.
Italian Colors Ristorante is located at 2220 Mountain Boulevard in Oakland. Dinner nightly, lunch Tuesday through Saturday. Reservations and more information at (510) 482-8094 or www.ItalianColorsRestaurant.com.

Of Wines and Oxen at Long Meadow Ranch

By Emma Krasov, photography by Yuri KrasovOn the very first sunny Saturday after all those torrential months, my husband and I headed for the farm. Hello, Mother Nature!
Long Meadow Ranch Winery & Farmstead in St. Helena just introduced its new Napa Valley Food, Wine and Tour Program, with tours departing from the historic Gothic Revival Logan-Ives House on Main Street, built in the 1870s and fully restored as classic farmhouse.
We arrived in the morning to join A Napa Valley Dream tour, which started with some good coffee, pastries, and fresh strawberries, grown right in front of the house on a well-tended circular kitchen garden bed.
Long Meadow Ranch is a contemporary certified organic establishment, successfully growing vines, olives, and cattle, and producing wonderful cabs, superb olive oils, and farm-to-table meats.
Proprietors Ted, Laddie, and Chris Hall, whose motto is “Excellence through Responsible Farming,” adhere to full-circle method, which means food and wine are grown sustainably, with the estate-produced animal fertilizer and compost, enriched by unique nutrients found in olives and their byproducts.As we learned on our tour of the 650-acre green pastures located in the Mayacamas Mountains with gorgeous views of the Valley, the owners believe in eating locally and seasonally, and are committed to providing the best food-and-wine destination experience, equally compelling for the local community and for the visitors from near and far.
After a short drive uphill, we stopped among the yellow, red, and purple wild flowers by the combed vineyards, climbing upward with their pruned black vines, speckled with the first greenery.Above them there was a solar-powered winemaking facility in a majestic building, literally pressed into the mountain behind it to create naturally protected coolness within its thick walls.
A high roof with openings for daylight created deep shade over the stainless steel wine storage vats in one of the spacious rooms.In another, French oak barrels formed rows upon rows under a low curved ceiling of the cave with year-round maintained 100% humidity.In the third one, there was an entire olive mill, with humongous granite wheels for the first crush of the fruit, pits included, into a tapenade-like mass from which pure oil would be extracted in a series of further operations.Back in the sun again, we visited Custom, a beautiful Scottish Highland ox with luxurious russet coat, big head, and massive horns, grazing peacefully behind a wire fence.Then we drove a little farther to an open-air barn to see a bunch of calves of the same breed, grown here for a special grass-fed beef, lean and relatively low in saturated fat, but with enough marbleization to attract chefs of upscale restaurants.We also stop to look at a clean pinkish-grey pig and at a chatty crowd of beautiful multi-colored egg-laying hens – red, grey, black, and brown.
Finally, it was time for us to sit down in one of the private rooms of the Logan-Ives House for some food and wine pairing.
Our first glass of 2010 crisp LMR Sauvignon Blanc was paired with a Red Wattle pork rillette. Tender, pleasantly-fatty meat was garnished with fresh uncooked asparagus, shaved into green ovals bathed in lemon vinaigrette, and decorated with purple chive flowers.
An elegant 2007 Ranch House Red was nicely matched with LMR grass-fed bresaola, brined in this same wine before being air-cured for two months. Dry Jack shavings and arugula with olive dressing rounded up the bouquet of flavors.
For dessert, we had a glass of LMR big signature cab – 2006 E. J. Church Cabernet Sauvignon to go with buttermilk panna cotta covered with blood orange gelee and candied peels.
LMR’s acclaimed wines and extra virgin olive oils are offered for tasting daily in the Logan-Ives House at Long Meadow Ranch Winery & Farmstead, located at 738 Main Street in St. Helena. It is open to the public from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. No appointments necessary. For more information, visit www.longmeadowranch.com.

Garcon! A Real Tresor!

By Emma Krasov, photography by Yuri KrasovSitting at Garcon! Restaurant on the corner of Valencia and 22nd on a rainy misty afternoon is like being in Paris.The ambience is casually-elegant and cozy, the wine list is well-selected and impressive, and the food is so good, you want to linger over each bite. And so the regulars do, as well as the newcomers. The staff is genuinely friendly and jovial. The place is rather small, but with enough elbow space, and with a reflective chanson playing quietly in the background allowing for (oh so French) dinner conversations.Our dinner started with a very satisfying amuse bouche of duck confit rillette mixed with foie gras and formed in a tiny patty. It came mounted on a beet and honey gelee coin, and garnished with truffled crème fraiche. Put on a crostini, this heavenly combination seemed to me a testament to Executive Chef Arthur Wall’s culinary talent.Chef Arthur and proprietor Jerome Rivoire are a dynamic duo behind the Garcon’s success, cooked up with local, seasonal, and organic ingredients. Bar manager Brian Felley adds perfect wine pairings to all menu choices.Chilled Alsace blend of Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and pinot blanc, “Gentil,” gently complimented our starter.The best white I’ve ever tried, Vouvray chenin blanc from Domaine Sylvain Gaudron 2008, with subtle notes of flowery sweetness, accompanied our roasted eggplant soup, made with diced artichokes, roasted garlic and leeks, and finished with basil, Madeira, paprika, and lemon cream.While pairing eggplants with seasonal artichokes seems like the most natural thing to do, it took Chef Arthur’s creative imagination to come up with this soup du jour, and now I’ll have to come back in hopes to catch that same jour again.Grilled scallops on a bed of braised lentils with airy cauliflower-garlic puree and topped with candied bacon is another great appetizer, surpassed only by my favorite grilled asparagus with translucent Serrano ham slices, arugula and frisee in lemon vinaigrette, and crowned by a pouched egg, breaded and fried – crispy on the outside, with a gooey yolk center.A glass of Vacqueyras from Clefs des Murailles 2007, a blend of syrah, mourvedre, and Grenache made a great pair to our appetizers, while pinot noir Melville pinot noir 2009 was perfect for pork tenderloin with halved baby artichokes, end-of-season black trumpet mushrooms, bacon, potato puree, and crunchy pickled mustard seeds.
Chef Arthur has an uncanny ability to transform and elevate every element of every dish, adding his special touches to the most tried and true ingredients, making them shine.
A nod to his New Orleans roots, our delectable dessert of espresso pot de crème came with sugar powder-coated beignets – and a glass of exquisite Rivesaltes (1945 vintage!). I make it a point to come back and try more dishes from the inspired and lovingly executed menu and more rare wines from the precious wine list. I know I can’t go wrong with anything at Garcon!Garcon is located at 1101 Valencia Street, on the corner of 22nd Street, San Francisco. For more information and reservations, call (415) 401-8959 or visit www.garconsf.com.

Thriving on Chocolate at SF Chocolate Salon

By Emma Krasov, photography by Yuri KrasovSoft truffles infused with lavender or chili, hard and dark blocks with cocoa or coffee nibs, and hard chocolate confections with gooey soft centers of exquisite taste filled the Festival Pavilion at Fort Mason last Sunday, when the most distinguished chocolatiers of the Bay Area and the world came to celebrate the 5th Annual San Francisco International Chocolate Salon.
New and improved chocolate milk, called Adult Chocolate Milk, was presented by Adult Bevarage Co. At 40 proof it’s a winner, and should be delivered to every door every morning, if you ask me.Ever creative Socola now has a gazillion new tastes, among them Dangerous Durian. A very special Southeast Asian fruit with a smell of rotten garbage that some find irresistible, is equally loved and hated by the local population, deeply divided on the issue, but to me it tastes heavenly in chocolate – as is always the case with Socola.Momotombo, Fabrica de Chocolate from Nicaragua, presented the best ever dark milk chocolate, as well as its dark-dark chocolate new creations which never fail to amaze.A newcomer Neo Cocoa, pretty in pastel colors, came up with many tender flavors of The Hearts of Bittersweet Truffles.Cuisine Noir magazine employed Chef Pannell to cook the most complex chocolate sauce on premises, equally finger-licking-good for bread pudding, fresh strawberries, and marshmallows.Lulu’s Chocolate showed off its red-hot display of cocoa beans, hearty chocolate bars, hot dudes, and red roses with a motto, The Love Affair Begins…
Old favorites, like Choclatique, Amano Artisan Chocolate, Saratoga Chocolates, Gateau et Ganache, etc. etc., were nicely complemented by the new arrivals of Salt Side Down Chocolates, Dolce Bella Chocolate and Café, Kika’s Treats, and many others.VAD vodka made an appearance, claiming to be infused with a spectrum of vitamins, and be good for your health – and who would argue with that? I don’t know if VAD had any problems with its motto, Thrive, which eerily resembles fishy TV commercials of a gigantic health insurance company, but it surely is better to thrive on vodka and chocolate than on any other medicine.More information at: www.SFChocolateSalon.com

Say Fromage to French Food Connection

I’ve never seen a jam made of violets, with flowers suspended in a jewel-like substance in a glass jar. Nor have I ever tried a calisson before – an almond and candied fruit confection, a specialty of Aix en Provence. Besides these, produced by Albert Menes and Confiserie Leonard Parli respectively, many other treats, from stellar cheeses and rillettes, to oils and condiments were presented at the French Food Connection 2011, put together by the French Embassy Trade Office, Ubifrance, and French food producers, on a three city tour to Chicago, Las Vegas, and San Francisco.
Take a European staple – sauerkraut, a humble dish coming from the pre-refrigeration era. Produced by Andre Laurent, it now comes in a number of ready to serve gourmet styles, like traditional French, or made with grapes and goose fat, or with champagne and bacon, etc., etc.
The French Cheese Club is an association of five family-owned dairies specializing in the production of traditional French cheeses. Cecile Delannes, Ambassadrice, showed me how Etoile du Sud Saint Marcellin, soft ripened cheese from the Rhone-Alps region, can be heated in its own ceramic dish to make a great cracker dip for any occasion.
David Thiercelin of Thiercelin 1809 presented at the show some amazing spices and blends of his 200-year-old family business, producing high-quality saffron and vanilla, oils, vinegars, syrups, and mustards, among them the most delicious one with green apples – Moutarde a la Pomme Verte.
Another array of mustards came from Edmond Fallot, along with capers, gherkins, and cocktail onions. Then there were jams, jellies, and chutneys from Corsica Gastronomia; canned pates, terrines, and spreads from Jean Henaff; delicious frozen macaroons from Mag’m; more wonderful cheeses from Isigny Sainte Mere and from Interval; all kinds of honey, cake and candy from Le Manoir des Abeilles; steamed and peeled chestnuts from Inovchataigne Sarl; and a red berries and pomegranate energy drink from Deveurop, a family-run company in Paris, among other unique products.
All these wonderful French food producers are either looking for U.S. distributors or distributing in limited quantities here, while their definite plus is the use of healthy farm-to-table ingredients, without additives, fillers, and preservatives. To me, the French Food Connection 2011 looked like a dream – the most delicious products, and no fear reading the labels.

Berkeley Rep: Three Sisters and Three Rules of Real Estate

By Emma KrasovWhy wouldn’t Irina, Masha, and Olga take a train to Moscow instead of daydreaming about it in their stifling provincial town? Provincial towns are horrid, there is no doubt about it, but how trapped you really are, if you are a healthy young woman with inheritance, a houseful of servants, and a freedom of living your life any way you want in a rather developed society of pre-revolutionary Russia? The most obvious answers to these questions would preclude the Russian genius Anton Pavlovich Chekhov from penning one of his most beloved plays, Three Sisters - and that would be unfortunate, wouldn’t it? Location, location, location aside, whatever makes the three sisters suffer, makes their audiences happily compassionate, reflective and misty-eyed time and again, on numerous stages, on all continents. Berkeley Rep’s new successful production (co-produced with Yale Rep) of a century-old play was created by a concerted effort of a number of talented people. A play by Sarah Ruhl, directed by Les Waters, was based on a literal translation by Elise Thoron with Natalya Paramonova and Kristin Johnsen-Neshati. Heather Wood (Irina), Natalia Payne (Masha), and Wendy Rich Stetson (Olga) effortlessly merge with their characters, while Emily Kitchens absolutely shines in the role of Natasha, their only brother Andrei’s (a persuasive Alex Moggridge) wife, who in the play embodies all the dread of provincial callousness. The majority of the male roles in Three Sisters were written by Chekhov as supporting parts, with the exception of Masha’s husband, Kulygin – the author’s alter ego, perfectly depicted by Keith Reddin. While all other male performers are also doing a great job, their onstage presence would benefit, perhaps, from some consulting from an expert on Russian military etiquette and uniform. For example, back in the day, an army officer (necessarily of high birth, education, and self-discipline, even when drunk) wouldn’t dream of sitting casually in the presence of women with his right boot resting on his left knee. He wouldn’t try to lift a woman’s skirt with a tip of his boot, and he wouldn’t sit in the presence of a woman entering or exiting the room. Moreover, his attire would be mostly starched, ironed, and well-fitted. At least, that’s what we know from multiple chronicles of the time and from abundant historic documents. This might not be hugely important for the new version of the classic play, but those sisters were so attached to those men for a reason. Could that be that the men were at least in some respect extraordinary? The Three Sisters runs through May 22 at Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s Thrust Stage 2025 Addison Street, Berkeley, CA 94704. Tickets and information at: 510-647-2949, or: www.berkeleyrep.org. Image: courtesy of Berkeley Rep.