June 2007 Archives

Tuesday night, June 19th, 2007 and Wednesday night following marked the end of a short tradition at Manresa in Los Gatos: the annual Pig Dinner. Chef de Cuisine Jeremy Fox last year put together an evening of dining on pig and this year it returned. The press release put it thusly:

Manresa Chef de Cuisine Jeremy Fox will share his passion for making classic French charcuterie, or Italian affettati, on Tuesday, June 19. In his skilled hands, the art of traditional dry-cured salumi, sausages, terrines, and pâtés takes a contemporary turn. For one special evening, aficionados of nose to tail eating can savor an eight-course dinner of saucisson sec, trotters, tongue, pancetta, boudin noir, chorizo, porchetta, mortadella, all made from the whole hog. Also try delectable cassoulet, agnolotti (stuffed pasta) with sweet and savory desserts by Pastry Chef Deanie Fox.

Northern California foodies like to think they are at the center of the food universe. Of course! you say... Northern California is home to The French Laundry, a contender for the best restaurant in the world, and the Bay Area is also home to Ron Siegel, the first foreigner to best the Iron Chef—and with a unanimous decision, no less. While this is all correct, it isn't what the true believers have in mind. They mean Chez Panisse (1971), Kermit Lynch Wines (1972), and Acme Bread (1983 - the owner having started as a busboy as Chez Panisse). Everyone who knows, knows that the true center of the food universe is at 1605 San Pablo Avenue, in Berkeley. It is here, arrayed around a small parking lot, that you will find Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, the original location of the Acme Bread Company, and Café Fanny, Alice Waters' casual outpost of Chez Panisse.

Several times during the year, the cars in the parking lot are replaced with tents, benches and chairs, and the Center of the Food Universe becomes the location of (as Paul Bertolli puts it) a "seasonal outdoor Bacchanalia." These events include Oyster Bliss, Provence Day, and a Beajuloais Nouveau celebration. Yesterday the event du Printemps featured the sausages and salumi of Paul Bertolli, celebrating the first year of operation of his new Fra'Mani Handcrafted Salumi company.

In 1896 a new Trinity Baptist Church was erected, including an Esley pipe organ to help sing the praises of God. In 1918 the building was sold to the Victor Talking Machine Company, who were impressed with the fine acoustics and wanted to use it for a recording studio. I don't know when Victor/RCA first recorded the Esley Organ which they received as part of the bargain, but those turn of the century Baptists may have been surprised to know that their organ would play an important roll in the history of American Jazz.

The father of jazz organ playing and the undisputed master of hot pipe organ jazz is Fats Waller. The son of a Harlem Baptist preacher, Waller learned the pipe organ early in life before taking up the piano. By his late teens he was making a living as a musician, playing at rent parties and accompanying silent films on theatre organs. By his mid twenties, he had started a career as a Broadway composer and was in demand for recording sessions.