April 2006 Archives

I have a theory that the best time to visit a popular restaurant is just after it opens. True, you don't yet know if the restaurant is actually going to be popular, but on the other hand, you won't have any trouble getting a reservation. Whether my visit on Saturday to Daniel Patterson's new restaurant, COI ("kwa") falls into this category is something that is yet to be determined, but there are positive signs.

COI is in the corner of a building with the door protected by a small alcove. You enter into a lounge area where there are six or seven tables in front of a pillow-appointed banquette along the wall. While they are starting up you can get all three menus here (ala carte, 4-course tasting menu $75, and the 10-course tasting menu $108), but I suspect plans are to limit these tables to the ala carte menu once things settle down. This lounge area is also the entry hall which leads to the small dining room holding about ten tables. The dining room looks like it can accommodate about 40 people. There is also a private room that can hold eight.

Sometimes when I am in a particularly impish mood, I quote Oscar Wilde's praise of simplicity: I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best. The problem with this simple creed is that the search for the best can consume all of your time, so you have little time left to be satisfied! Thus it is with my exploration of tea.

My father always drank tea and avoided coffee. He didn't have the same pathological aversion to coffee as Oscar Progresso (not his real name), but when Dad said to his young son, "Coffee is nasty and bitter, how can folks drink that stuff?" it was obvious to the young man that coffee was indeed nasty and bitter, so he did as Dad did and drank tea. Unfortunately, the tea that Dad consummed (Lipton tea bags) was also nasty and bitter, a fact that he hid by liberally adding sugar and milk to the overbrewed and massively tannic black tea. It took me a while to realize this unpalatable fact, but eventually I did and I started searching out teas that were elegant and sublime. This search started down a blind alley where I found Bigelow teas but it evenutally led to the fine oolong and green teas of the Orient.

Oolongs I liked almost immediately, green teas took longer to appreciate, but now I have a larger tea collection than most supermarkets and could make a pretty strong showing against the tea selection at Peets. Oolongs are constantly refreshing and there seem to be an unending number of them to try. Here is the most recent....

Taiwan Ming Xiang Oolong Tea. Tea leaves are very dark green/brown and rolled tightly but irregularly with stems protruding. Dry leaves have a reticent nose smelling oh so faintly of day old grass cuttings and green twigs. First infusion made at 200 dF for 150 seconds, producing a reddish-gold-brown liquor. Nose is similar to dry tea but more pronounced. Palate shows good bright acidity and mouth-coating tannins leaving a pleasant slightly metallic finish which lingers on eventually (60 seconds +) producting a slightly sweet aftertaste. Very Good+

UPDATE: Here is an earlier post about tea in Chinatown.

I was gliding along thinking I knew quite a bit about sushi, and then last night, at Sanraku Four Seasons on Sutter, I see they have "isaki" as a special. Isaki?

What is that? Well, the English translation is "threeline grunt." You know, I think I prefer the Japanese, "isaki," don't you? (BTW, the flesh is silvery and very firm, almost crunchy).

And, except for the length, I also prefer the latin: "Parapristipoma trilineatum." And then there is the French, "le Pristipome," and the German "das Isaki" (how German, right?).

Perhaps you are puzzled? So, I've never heard of isaki. Is that so bad? How many sushi places are going to have that? So the truth is, even though I had never heard of isaki before, I was still feeling pretty knowledgible until I saw this:

The Ultimate Sushi Glossary

Now, be honest... have you heard of "kibinago" (Banded blue-sprat)? Or, how about "bu-dai" (Whitespotted parrotfish)? See what I mean?

P.S. I have blogged about the amazing sushi glossary before.... see Sushi Reference but it keeps getting better!