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Las Vegas

This post was inspired by my review in the survey requested by Momofuko after our meal there. The restaurant is in the Cosmopolitan Hotel. I gave it four out of five starts for overall experience, three for ambience, 5 for service, and four for the food, which was a tad generous. If I had the option to give it a 3.5 I would have.

Here is what I wrote: “Server Danielle was terrific. I like the dining room and it is very pretty. The views of the city-scape were stunning. It was just too loud for my tastes. The food was pretty good, not great. The sauce on the Bronzini was too heavy for such a light, white fish. While it was tasty, it overwhelmed the fish. I like a simpler sauce for this wonderful fish. The endive salad was absolutely fabulous. Sunchokes good, not great, grilled lamb chops good, not great.

As I wrote the review I couldn’t help but recall the number of times and quality of the whole grilled Bronzini we had during our six-night stay in Riccione on the Adriatic “Riviera” in Italy, summer of 2018. Riccione is about 10 miles south of Rimini. We went there after five nights in Rome to hang out and relax, like part of a long vacation should be, especially if you are in between Rome for five nights and Florence for four nights – both intense city experiences.

We had the Bronzini at least twice while in Riccione. The notion that we were in a seaside resort probably created the perception that the fish was fresher, local. But it’s how it was prepared that made the difference. It definitely tasted grilled, lightly charred, and it certainly didn’t have much sauce on it. In fact I don’t remember anything more than a drizzle of olive oil, salt, and a squeeze or two of lemon. Let the fish shine! And it did. Indeed it did.

Momofuko is a really good restaurant and worth going if you are in Las Vegas. Better yet, make a point of visiting a seaside resort on the Adriatic and order the Bronzini. You won’t be disappointed.

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Crispy Polenta

One of the few things in life better than creamy polenta is crispy polenta. Both delicious, the latter just looks good to eat. Golden brown, crispy on the outside, cream inside, it really dresses up a plate and goes with just about any kind of sauce, but my go to favorite is an Italian red, or spaghetti sauce. If you are Italian, it is simply, gravy. It also pairs beautifully with Green Chile (made with pork shoulder and butt) or regular, red Chile. We had it the other night with a bowl of Green Chile.

I started making polenta in the early 1990s, when it first started trending in America. Or at least in my world it did. I don’t recall but I probably came across it at an Il Fornaio or other Italian eatery. In its creamy form, it instantly spoke to my palette. Creamy, with butter and cheese, it was better than mashed potatoes, with its deeper, corn flavor, and more suited for dinner than say, grits, which I prefer with breakfast. However, and to contradict myself, serve me a bowl of shrimp and grits for lunch or dinner in New Orleans and watch it disappear!

I made creamy polenta for a ladies’ luncheon in what must have been 1991, maybe 1992. The three years from 1990 to April 13, 1993, are something of a blur to me. That was another big life transition, post-divorce from #2. The lucrative sales job I had in the mid-late 90s had evaporated with the 1990 recession and I found myself doing odd jobs. Bartending, neighborhood handyman/labor work, some freelance writing. Whatever I could to make rent. I met the co-founder of Cisco Systems through my volunteer work at the local Humane Society, Sandy Lerner. She was a board member of the Society. We were similar in age and almost attracted to each other. I know our minds were attracted to each other. When I shared my love of cooking with her, she invited me to her home to cook for some of her friends. There were 6, 7, or 8 women and the luncheon went well. The food was a hit.

A day or two later I was on the phone with my mom, a very Italian women, when I told her about the luncheon. She naturally asked, what did you make? I said: “Grilled chicken seasoned with oregano, creamy polenta, red bell peppers sautéed in olive oil and garlic, and steamed broccolini drizzled with lemon-infused olive oil and red pepper flake.”

My mother was aghast!

“What?” She said. “You made polenta for a group of affluent women? Polenta is peasant food, for poor people,” she said excitedly. And my mother rarely got animated. But she was then, on the phone with me, 375 miles apart.

Mom went on to explain that polenta was a staple for Italian families that often could not afford meat. Make a big batch of polenta and cover it with red sauce. It’s a meal. I get it. I tried countering her, without success, which polenta had become popular in high-end restaurants and the chefs were serving it with a variety of main courses in innovative ways.

By the mid-90s and after cooking with polenta for several years, one of my favorite meals to make for a gathering became a Southwestern-style Thanksgiving. I had gone to Santa Fe and took a cooking class. I started giving the big bird a Southwestern spice rub, stuffing it with onions, lemons, limes, herbs and olive oil, then putting it on the Barby. Served with creamy polenta, sautéed Poblano peppers, fried tomatillos and a Caesar salad, it’s a fine meal.  

To make crispy polenta, first you have to make a batch of the creamy stuff. Enjoy a meal with creamy polenta and the crispy becomes a great dish several days later.

Dried polenta, sold in one pound or three pound bags, is found in most grocery stores. I see tubes of pre-made polenta in some grocery stores but have never bought one. Just make this from scratch ok!

Creamy Polenta

Ingredients

  • Polenta, just under one cup
  • Salt, about one teaspoon
  • Water, just over three cups
  • Butter, half of one stick
  • Cheese, almost one cup, grated

A note on cheese: you can use any non-pungent cheese though the best are combinations, such as Jack and Parma, Manchengo and Parma, Gruyere (ok almost pungent), Havarti, Cheddar of course, and even that pre-blended Mexican cheese sold in stores.

In a non-stick, 2-3 quart pot, heat the water on medium. When it is warm, not boiling, stir in the polenta and salt. It is best to use a wooden spoon. Have the bowl you plan to put the leftover in at the ready. I use an 8 inch, somewhat shallow soup, or large (individual) salad, bowl.

Once the polenta starts getting hot, and near bubbling, add the butter. Give it a stir and turn the heat off, and put the lid on the pot. Let it sit for 10 or more minutes, and about 5 minutes before you want to serve the creamy polenta. Whoever coined the phrase, “comfort food,” may have done so after a bowl of this food.

Turning the polenta off and leaving it unattended may be sacrilege to some veteran polenta makers, as a traditional way of making polenta is to stir it constantly. I did it that way the first couple of years I made the dish, until I realized I can’t make the rest of the meal if I am stuck at one station. By turning the heat off and covering the pot, it allows the polenta to develop without evaporating any water, and hence, keeping it creamy.

When 5 minutes from serving, take the lid off, turn the heat back to medium and add the shredded cheese. Stir somewhat constantly and it will start to bubble from the heat. Within minutes it should achieve the desired thickness, which is not runny but doesn’t “plop” when you plate the polenta. I use a regular plastic serving spoon, and the mixture is runny enough to pour into the leftover bowl for the creamy polenta.

Have a spatula handy for this task so you can get all the polenta out of the pot.

Do this immediately after plating the creamy polenta!

If you don’t, it becomes like concrete in the pot. You will still be able to repurpose the polenta, but not into pretty wedges of crispy polenta.

Crispy Polenta

  • Cool the leftover in the fridge and once cool, cover it with plastic wrap. When ready to make crispy, loosen the plastic wrap and turn the bowl upside down, over counter space. The polenta should drop out in one whole piece – and 8 inch “pie.”
  • Pre-heat oven to 450.
  • Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil on top of the polenta and smear it around. I use a corner of a paper towel. Then slice the polenta into wedges.
  • Use the same paper towel section and smear oil on an oven-friendly skillet. Cast iron is best. I use a Le Creuset, of course.
  • Place the wedges in the skillet and make sure they don’t touch. Put the skillet in the oven. Cook for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.
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Turkey Chiliquilas

Throughout the year I make a chicken chiliquilas though it is mostly during the colder months of the year when I roast a whole chicken and have leftover white meat, plus the good meat off the carcass. The week after Thanksgiving, however, the Mexican casserole is made with leftover turkey, and it doesn’t matter if it is white or dark meat.

Ingredients:

  • Tostadas (or if you can’t find pre-cooked tostadas and Guerrero is the best, you can make do with a very sturdy and large bag of corn chips used in making nachos)
  • Green Chile Enchilada Sauce (one can to make a small casserole, a large can to make a bigger dish or even two cans if you make a big batch!)
  • Diced jalapenos (small can, juices drained)
  • Sliced black olives
  • Onion (one or two)
  • Optional Chiles – a couple poblano peppers or one can diced green Chiles, drained)
  • Shredded Mexican Cheese
  • Chile Roasted Olive oil or plain olive oil
  • Mexican Oregano
  • Cumin
  • Garlic Powder
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Deep Casserole Pan
  • Optional can of white beans, drained and rinsed thoroughly with water.
  • Sour Cream, for serving

First, shred the turkey or chicken into bite-size pieces.

Turn oven on at 385.

In a 2-3 quart pot, preferably non-stick, put in 3 tablespoons of oil and heat skillet for a minute, then added the chopped onions and sauté for a few minutes. Add the Chiles and spices and cook until the onions are soft.

Then add the can(s) of green Chile enchilada sauce. Stir well and once it is blended well and warm, turn the stovetop off.

For the bottom of the casserole pan, drizzle some peanut oil on the bottom (if you have it) and smear evenly with a paper towel. This is just to make it easier to remove the sections of chiliquilas and also to clean the pan.

Assembly:

Put down a layer of tostadas – covering the bottom of the pan completely.
Spread chicken or turkey evenly throughout the pan.
Using a ladle or big spoon, and cover the meat with the green Chile sauce.
Put a layer of shredded cheese over the entire casserole.

Put a second layer of tostadas on top and repeat the process… meat, sauce, cheese.

If making the dish a little heartier, mix the beans in with layers of meat.

Finish with a third layer of tostada, cover that with cheese and spread the black olives (drained beforehand) on top of the dish. For folks that like it hotter, mix in fresh, chopped jalapenos on the top as well.

Bake for 25 minutes.

If serving “immediately”, this dish must cool for a solid hour before you can cut clean sections.
This dish is better a second day.
Top served sections with sour cream, if you like sour cream.

The tequila is for drinking and has nothing to do with the recipe! For wine drinkers, I recommend a chilled Rose of any brand, though I recently had this meal with a 2019 Bucher Vineyard Rose of Pinot Noir from the Russian River in Sonoma County. Bucher is just up the road from me, in Healdsburg. With a fresh green salad, or even a Caesar, it is an excellent meal. Chiliquilas also makes a great breakfast with a fried egg over the top, and a little hot sauce.

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Paonia Peach and Burrata Salad

I have many favorite memories of living in Colorado in my youth, among them is peach season. The fruit orchards around the Western Slope town of Paonia produce some of the best peaches, apples, cherries, pears and plums in the world. At the time, we didn’t use the phrase or slogan of eating local, organic food, but we regularly did, and the peaches of September remain memorable to my palette.

And so it was on this final weekend of September, the yellow peach I bought a couple days ago had reached its zenith of ripeness, and lucky me, I had on hand fresh and organic spinach salad, some Burrata cheese that I had used to make a riff on eggplant Parma the other night, and assorted nuts. Because this was my mid-day meal, I boiled an egg to yield enough protein to get me through the day. The peach I ate with this splendid meal was from an unknown orchard. It may have been from Paonia though it is unlikely. Regardless I named the salad Paonia Peach and Burrata Salad in tribute to that place, and those memories, not to mention Paonia has a nice sound it, like LaPaloma, or Pay-ola. Besides, it’s my blog so I can call these dishes what I want. It was a working lunch for me so I didn’t drink wine with it, but if I served this lunch for a friend or lover, I would have opened a Chablis I have been drinking that I got earlier this summer from Kermit Lynch. The Chablis is a Vielles Vignes, 2018, from Roland Lavantureux.

Paonia Peach and Burrata Salad
One serving

1.5 cups fresh spinach salad
One small peach or half of one large peach, preferably organic and perfectly ripe
2 ounces or about 8 slices of good Burrata cheese
One egg, hardboiled
A couple splashes of The Ultimate Arugula Salad Dressing
A small handful of raw pecans and walnuts
Salt and white sugar
Roasted sesame oil

Boil an egg and let cool.

In a small skillet, heat 1.5 Tablespoons of roasted sesame oil and toss in the nuts before the oil gets too hot. Stir them around so both sides/all sides of the nuts get a nice coating and roast until golden brown. One or two might get blackened. Don’t worry about it, but don’t overdo it, either.

Turn heat off before they are fully roasted, and add a little salt and little white sugar, then stir the nuts around and let cool.


Slice the peach and Burrata. Toss the salad, putting greens down on the plate first, then top with peach slices, cheese and nuts, in that order. I sliced the egg and lightly salted it and put that on the side of the salad. If you are at a picnic, enjoying some charcuterie or other meat, or want to feature this salad for dinner on a warm evening, skip the egg assuming you are serving some other protein, and enjoy!

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The Ultimate Arugula Salad Dressing & Le Bernardin

I don’t remember where I got this recipe but if I had to guess it was Chef Eric Ripert, the French chef, author, television personality and to me, the most important part is that he is the Chef-owner of Le Bernardin, the only 3-star Michelin restaurant I have dined in. Located on 51t Street in New York City, I walked past it one evening while going to another place for a business cocktail reception. The reception was part of a real estate conference I had attended earlier in the day. I was in Manhattan for some media meetings and was heading to Philadelphia for another half-day conference the next day, then to Wilmington Delaware to stay with a good friend for a night or two. The reception was good, met people, had a couple cocktails and noshes, then walked right back to Le Bernardin about 8:30 and grabbed a seat at the bar. The bar seats only 7-8 people. I order the three-course tasting menu and started with an ahi tuna crudo.

The second course was very good. Thin slices of Hamachi tuna floating in a yummy sauce that had olive oil and citrus and something else!

The third course was the absolute winner: a surf n turf featuring a two ounce piece of Kobe beef with a roasted scallop and braised bok choy. It was the best damn piece of meat I’d ever had.

I asked the server if I could just have two more pieces of that beef. The request was so rare, apparently, that the next thing I knew the manager was standing by my side qualifying that I really wanted two more pieces of meat, because, and he lowered his voice for this, they were $80 apiece. I said, yes, and one more glass of that red wine please. The tab was over $400 (with two glasses of wine) and well worth it.

About that arugula salad dressing, it’s good with other lettuces but magical with arugula. Must be the bitterness of the arugula – some chemical reaction perhaps. I added two things to the recipe, the sugar and the dill. I just thought that would take a little of the bite out of it (the sugar) and I was right, and also the dill, to add an ever-so-slight herb flavor to the dressing. The key is the oil. I tried making this with olive oil when I didn’t have the sunflower oil. Nope!

The Ultimate Arugula Salad Dressing

½ cup Sunflower Oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar (slightly more)
¼ cup soy sauce (slightly less)
1.5 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1.5 Tablespoon minced shallot
½ teaspoon granular white sugar
A few dashes of dried dill
A few dashes of black pepper
A pinch of finely ground sea salt, kosher salt, or a couple dashes of table salt from a salt shaker

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March 2020

We are in the midst of an international crisis, Coronavirus and COVID-19, and in mandatory “settle-in-place,” or required to stay home other than go to the bank and buy food, and walk. Just yesterday authorities even closed all county parks, because too many people were going there. That’s what sequestered at home will do to you. A friend, fearing an even greater lock down in San Francisco was about to be ordered, asked to come up for the weekend to escape the city. I went shopping and loaded up for options, and remembered a Wall Street Journal recipe for a lighter version of coq au vin that uses white instead of red wine. The recipe called for Sauvignon Blanc, a white I do not like, so I bought an inexpensive Chardonnay to have something to drink while cooking. It was a damn fine dish, with a couple pieces of bacon to enhance the flavor. The recipe did not call for celery but I added some to give the sauce texture. The recipe called for skin on, bone in thighs, and I am sure that would have been great, but my friend brought skinless and boneless breasts. I just adjusted the cooking time so the meat was moist, and it was. The Dijon mustard and tarragon, with copious amounts of sliced mushrooms, formed the flavor foundation of the meal. Instead of Crème Fraiche, which I didn’t have, I used sour cream to give the sauce a nice creaminess. My friends from Kermit Lynch were promoting some French wines a couple months ago and I bought a case of Morgon, a Rhone-style wine from the Beaujolais region of France between Lyon and Beaune, at the southern end of the official Burgundy region. The Morgon appellation is famous for deeply-coloured red wines from the Gamay grape. The wines are crafted exclusively in the small commune of Villie-Morgon. The wine paired beautifully with the chicken dish. It was a good meal in a cross-over season from winter to spring. The friendship and companionship was a treat. We had both been home alone for over a week. The next morning I thought about drinking that wine (I almost opened a second bottle – Jim Harrison would have approved) and resolved to go eat in France when this thing is over, this virus crisis. I’ve been to Paris twice and the Normandy coast up north. Earlier in this blog I wrote about dreaming of the South of France and drinking Rose.  This is a sign, for sure. I must go there.

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Blackened Brussel Sprouts a la NOLA

On my second trip to New Orleans and after totally enjoying a sister restaurant of Pesce on the previous trip, I went to Pesce in the Warehouse District. What struck me most about the food was the size of the Gulf Oysters. I ordered six and only got through four of them. I sat at the back bar where they shucked them and also prepared some other seafood dishes. But the dish that wowed me the most were the Brussel Sprouts. They were tangy and a little spicy and the flavor combination was made even better by blackening the vegetables.

I was just in New Orleans again for a fundraising event on a Foundation I serve, and two fellow Trustees, Bob, Sheldon and I, went to N7 for a stellar meal. We had a side of blackened Brussel Sprouts. Delicious. I mentioned the Pesce version of this dish to them and had to write it down once I got home.

My version may not be as good as Pesce’s but it’s pretty damn good. One thing to keep in mind: Brussel Sprouts are not very good left over, so make what you plan to eat, be it for two, four or more. Thus I am only posting the ingredients, not the portions.

Cast iron or cast iron-coated skillet (I have the later and it works perfectly – a Le Creuset product, of course)

  • Brussel Sprouts
  • Oil (I use a blend of Canola and Olive so the olive oil does not burn – you could also or simply just use peanut oil)
  • Mongolian Fire Oil
  • Red Wine Vinegar
  • Butter
  • Salt

Par-steam the sprouts but don’t overdo it … keep them firm.

Heat the oil combination in skillet until super-hot – like make-a-mess of the cooktop hot.

Dump the Brussels in and start turning them with a wooden spatula or similar tool. After you mixed them evenly with the oils, let them settle in place so they start to blacken.

If you have not already, this will be the time you turn on the oven fan.

Turn sprouts occasionally until evenly blackened. Once I add them to the skillet, they are blackened in about 10 minutes – so maybe 3 or 4 turns.

Sprinkle the red wine vinegar evenly around the skillet and turn the skillet off.

Add salt (don’t add while cooking – you risk making them too salty).

Stir the vegetables around so the vinegar is mixed well.

Add the butter.
Stir more.
Serve.

In terms of main dishes and other sides, since the Brussel Sprouts have such bold flavors, I like this dish to be the star of the meal. I might make rice or mashed potatoes and roast a chicken breast (bone-in, skin on), or roast salmon for the protein. You get the idea. Salad is always an option to add to any meal.

It’s a great meal – when you can’t get to New Orleans.

Half way there

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Braised Lemon Chicken

Back in July 2017 I posted a piece on the most essential cooking item in my kitchen – anyone’s kitchen, in my view. And to back that opinion up, I just bought a second 3.5-quarter Le Creuset braiser, though not for me. My niece Lisa is getting married the week after 4th of July week. Mark apparently is a cook. It’s the most versatile piece in my arsenal. This is one of my favorite meals using the braiser, and it is so easy!

  • 6 large or 8 small bone- in, skin-on chicken thighs
  • 2-3 lemons, cut up in quarters
  • ¾ cup Castellano green olives
  • One-half of a large yellow onion or one small whole onion
  • One-half to three-quarter cup of chicken or vegetable stock
  • Seasoning

Pre-heat oven to 400

Rinse and dry the chicken, season with salt and pepper and dry sage and/or finely crushed rosemary

Put a little peanut oil in the bottom of the braiser and wipe the surface with a paper towel, which will help prevent the chicken from sticking to the bottom

Once the oven is hot, put the chicken pieces, skin side UP, in the braiser and make sure they are not touching

Roast for 20 minutes, turn oven down to 350 and roast another 10 minutes

Remove from oven, take chicken out of the pot and put on a platter

Put the diced onions in the pot and use a spatula to pick up any of the meat bits from the chicken, but leave them in with the onions and swirl the onions around

Place the chicken pieces still skin side up on top of the onions

Pour the stock in so the entire bottom is covered, but the chicken skins remain above the stock line – very important to get crispy skin!

In between the chicken pieces put the lemon wedges and green olives

Return pot to oven and roast another 30 minutes, then turn oven off

Remove the Le Creuset 5 or 10 minutes later and serve.

I like crusty bread with this dish but rice is wonderful if you prefer.

Goes well with a crisp Chardonnay, Pinot or burgundy wine. Whatever you are in the mood for, really.

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In Praise of Pork

Even vegetarians love bacon.

God, country, mother, apple pie, and bacon.

There’s a restaurant here in Marin County called Bacon. It’s probably not the only one in the U.S. I attended a conference once on Amelia Island off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, and must have been assigned one of the last available hotel rooms because I was right next to the kitchen. And every morning I woke up to the aroma of bacon cooking. I did not mind.

After I bought a house I hired a gardener to keep the property clean. We have something of a wild garden and plants grow profusely. We also have big trees, lots of them. Oaks, a Tri-Colored Beech, Dogwoods. We had a Persimmon tree but it died of old age. It was about 100. After a while Fernando and I became friendly enough for me to ask him if his wife made green chile. It’s my favorite Mexican dish. He told me no, his wife did not make green chile pork, but his mother did. I handed him a $20 and asked if he could bring me a serving of green chile the next time he came to clean up my property. He did, and this routine kept up for about a year. But then I let the gardening crew go, figuring I had better start doing more physical work myself to stay fit. That’s when I decided it was time to make green chile at home.

It’s not that daunting of a dish. You just need the right tools. Namely, a big ass Le Creuset. I’ve written about Le Creuset earlier in this blog. I have about 12 of the vessels in various shapes and sizes. This is the big boy at work, my 9-quart pot. I have a 6-quart version in blue that is excellent for roasting a 3-4 pound chicken with halved onions and whole carrots. I’ll make green chile, aka “pulled pork” with the 6-quarter Le Creuset or even my 5-quart (in orange!) pot if the pork shoulder and butt I buy is only three or four pounds. But when the chunk of meat is seven+ pounds, I need the big boy.

The second key to making this dish is having enough fresh, rough-chopped garlic on hand, and two, not one, yellow onion.

The third key to green chile – for the flavor profile I like, is a good amount of dried Mexican oregano. I added almost a half of couple to the fried onions and garlic. But first you brown the meat. Set the oven at 450, added a third of a cup of vegetable oil to the bottom of the pot and sprinkle that with either chile powder or cayenne pepper, the latter of which I did with this dish. Make sure the meat is dried off before putting it fat-side down on top of the oil and cayenne. Season the top of the pork shoulder with copious amounts of ground cumin, black pepper and garlic powder before placing it in the oven to roast, for about 40 minutes.

After the meat browns, extract the meat from the pot and put it on a large platter. This is no easy task, as the meat is huge and you don’t want to pierce it. I used a large metal spoon and large metal spatula to get the meat out of the pot. Turn the oven down to 325. Then cook the onions and garlic. Once the onions soften, I added two or three pasilla peppers and one diced jalapeno or fresno chile – whichever I have on hand. I also add smoked paprika as this phase of the cooking.

Once the vegetables are mixed well together, add the meat back to the pot and pour any juices from the platter on top of the meat. Add two cups of chicken stock, put the lid on tight and put the Le Creuset in the oven. After 90 minutes or so, turn the oven down to 200 and let it cook another 90 minutes. The meat will be fork tender.

We’ll normally have a meal when this dish is done. Just take a flour tortilla, smear a little chile-mayo on the bottom, a handful of arugula, some shredded meat with juices on top of that, plus a very light serving of grated cheddar cheese to enjoy a soft-shell taco.

The rest of the meat, vegetables and juices I pack in multiple containers, one of which I freeze and is mostly just the meat. That meat will come in handy a couple of weekends from now when I invite friends over for Cubano Sandwiches. That’s the pulled pork in the Cubanos.

The container I pack with most of the peppers will be a dinner in a few nights, with sticky white rice and a side of chayote squash and carrots boiled and finished in a little bit of butter. A big and hearty Zinfandel pairs well with this meal.

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The Good (Kudos to Crudo), Bad & Not Memorable But Nice

I got stuck in Fort Lauderdale an extra day after Hurricane Harvey disrupted travel through Houston for a couple of weeks. I never travel through Houston to get to the East Coast, but somehow booked that flight for an event I needed to attend in South Florida.

But in the spirit of making lemonade out of lemons, it just meant I had a full day to myself on at the beach, at the pool and at some of the local places along beach boulevard (not its real name). It was a Saturday and I prided myself for making it all the way to 3 pm before my first cocktail of the day – a couple of Mojitos with an okay serving of coconut shrimp at Café Ibiza. I went into Café Ibiza because of fond memories of staying nearby on Mallorca years ago. The days and nights in Banalbufar remain one of my favorite holidays. Besides, back in Fort Lauderdale, the other choice was a Hooter’s.

The night before my friends Ken and Melissa took me to B&B Oyster Bar where the oysters we excellent. We knocked back a sampler dozen before finding our favorite, then ordered a dozen of those. I wasn’t taking notes and can’t remember the oyster names but they were good, East Coast bivalves.

Back home, I went to Cucina in town on one of those nights that neither of us felt like cooking. Look at this salad. It’s mouth-watering, with awesome ingredients: Arugula, ripe peach, burrata cheese, dry-aged Spanish ham, with “lemon-zest dressing.” OMG it was uneatable! My mouth puckered with each bite, it was so lemony. I don’t think you could have had a more lemony experience even if you bit straight into a lemon. I at the fruit and ham and left the salad.

A week later I was on another plane, this time to Southern Cal to take my father, sisters, brother-in-law and niece out to dinner to celebrate Dad’s 95th day on this earth. We went to an Italian place in a strip mall that is popular with the locals. The bruschetta and steak tartare were good starters. My niece had the best dish I think – Chilean sea bass with artichoke hearts and black olives. I went with gnocchi because the book on this place is that it’s real Italian food. Meh!

Ordering gnocchi is always risky. The worst part of the restaurant was the portions. They were huge. Everyone leaving the restaurant had to go packages. I left that program for the small-plate revolution years ago!

Two days later, however, I met a foodie friend from the media for lunch in downtown Carlsbad. Plan A didn’t work out – closed for lunch on Mondays, but Plan B – Compass, was no slouch! The Hamachi crudo topped with a smidge of avocado, pinch of orange and fresno chile slice was sublime. So was the bacon-wrapped dates served with a creamy goat cheese and arugula. The white truffle oil fries with aioli called for a cold beer, but I was working that afternoon and stuck with a single glass of pinot noir.

Back home a few days later I had lunch with a new professional colleague at Farmshop in Larkspur. I had been there before and recalled the quality – for its modern food and freshness. I was not disappointed on this visit.

The avocado hummus was richly creamy and flavorful, great with the house-made whole wheat pita bread and a glass of Rose. I dreamt of the South of France and a hammock after lunch after drinking an entire bottle of the pink wine. Is there anything better than Rose with lunch on a warm day?

My new colleague is on a “paleo” diet with protein, fat and vegetables with little fruit and no gluten. She order the steamed chicken breast salad with boiled egg and lettuce. It looked yummy. I absolutely had to have the crispy artichokes with burrata cheese, castelvetrano olives, stonefruit and harissa spiced walnuts. Easily, this was one of the best dishes of the year.

The short rib at Nobu in New York City is also a top 10 for 2017. We were there in August to kick off the college tours. We go to Nobu every time we’re in New York. Why not?