Zazu, Santa Rosa

It was a rainy night in Sonoma County and I really didn’t want to drive anywhere. However, I attended Pigs and Pinot on Friday night and didn’t know if I wanted to stay in town another night to eat either. I had a bit of a dilemma. I didn’t want fussy. I didn’t want Italian. But I wanted to stick with a porky theme. There was one place, but I had to drive. Zazu.

I’ve never been to Zazu. I’ve heard about it. I’ve seen Chef Duskie Estes on TV. I’ve eaten Black Pig Bacon at my house. I know pork will be involved in tonight’s meal. But how much more pork could my body deal with?

"I'll start with the house made prosciutto please."

Four slices of prosciutto are presented to me. Fantastic product. Rich fat, not overly salty. A real top-notch product and as good as any Italian product I’ve had. I would love to buy this by the pound and serve it to hard-core prosciutto lovers.

I suppose I can handle a bit more pork from this chef master after the perfect prosciutto. But I had to plan my dinner. I couldn’t just order the fresh pasta with rabbit, which was my gut reaction. Pasta would tap me out early. I needed to experience the atmosphere, the sense of place, the mood of the chefs; virtuoso performance on piano (the prosciutto) or a night of improvisational jazz? Smaller plates was my call; I wanted to eat a full performance.

The “Pigstrami” reuben speaks to me in many ways. I asked my server what the portion size was, as I’ve got a lot of eating to do. He said it’s a single reuben slider. Done deal. When my slider sandwich was presented, I was told that the Pigstrami was made with pork heart. Oh yes. My little slider came with side of potato salad. This little bite was outstanding.( I recently was forced to eat a pastrami slider at Yard House and I didn’t like it then and I really hate it now.) The side of potato salad was perfect to match up with the slider.

Next up was a single pork rib with pork hash. I eat a lot of pork ribs and this rib was underwhelming. Sure it was tender and reasonably seasoned, but it just wasn’t at the level of the Pigstrami or other more traditional BBQ places. The rib tasted more like an oven roasted rib than a rib that had been BBQ for 8 hours. The pork hash was ok, but again, nothing to write home about.

As my meal was lacking any ruffage, I decided on the frisee, bacon, egg, and asparagus salad as a "greens" course. The flavors were fine, but the dish felt and looked a bit like a list of ingredients placed into a plate, dressed, and an egg placed in the middle. Lazy? Maybe. More of an afterthought I think in the grand scheme of the menu. Sort of like my choice on greens. I should probably have greens, but I really want the farm egg and bacon that come with it.

All was forgiven when my main course of fried red rice with foie gras and roasted duck, topped with pan seared and tamarind glazed Liberty Farms duck breast was presented. Asian inspired perhaps, but French-like in its richness and execution. The whole dish came together like nothing else that evening. While the rice on its own could have been a meal, a slice of breast with each fork of rice was absolutely wonderful, along with the occasional dollop of tamarind to accent the flavors. Well done.

The staff at this point actually encouraged me to have dessert. I think they wanted to see if I could actually eat more. Or they’d taken out a term-life policy on me. I asked a few questions about the desserts and said that the “Better Butters” looked great, but that I couldn’t do a full order. “We’ll cut it in half for you.” Done deal, Better Butters it is.

Better Butter or a peanut butter cookie sandwich with peanut butter gelato and dark chocolate dipping sauce was fantastic. I have always loved Nutter Butters from my youth. Zazu’s Better Butters are certainly an improvement on the original.

There’s a sense of home cooking here, country sensibility and a sense of place about it. For comparison, Petite Syrah was refined with cleaner lines and a deliberateness about the food but with a sense of simplicity. Diavola also has a sense of choreography about it. Zazu draws outside the lines, that was evident from my first step in the door. But that’s its edge up here, a little outside of town.

So, was my experience at Zazu classic piano or a free jazz saxophone solo? Zazu is a bit more improvisational jazz than I would have expected. Not every part of the solo is brilliant, but it feels good, there is heart (pig heart) behind the cuisine and the next solo will be better than the last one as long as they keep performing night in and night out. There is a certainly a virtuoso at work.

I’d be happy to eat another performance from Zazu.

Locanda, San Francisco

I don’t normally head to the Mission for food. From parking issues, I have no reason to do business there, friends I’m with don’t want to go there, whatever the lame ass or legitimate excuse, I don’t get to that part of town much. Too bad really. When one looks at the number of great restaurants in the City, the Mission can lay claim to several and Locanda is one of them.

Valet parking was the first plus when I drove up on Valencia St. Parking…check.

I arrived at roughly 5:55pm to an already packed bar, save for one seat, mine, at the far end of the bar right next to the kitchen. Best seat in the house as far as I’m concerned; I get to watch food coming out. And this semi-crappy picture of the kitchen is the only one of the meal.

The menu has lots of fresh pasta, both hand-made and extruded, as well as several selections of offal, which means I’m in heaven. Offal and Pasta…Amen. I figured I’d have a light meal of stewed tripe and radiatore with lamb ragu. Oh, and roasted turnips as my fiber.

A quick note on the four bartenders, they’re hustling. Good crew of guys tasting their drinks and keeping customers happy, including the hungry ones like me.

Not shortly after my wine order, I’m presented with fresh bread sprinkled with olive oil and salt. Bread in a San Francisco restaurant that I didn’t pay for or have to request? Stunning. And it’s good, fresh bread as well and completely perfect for all the red sauce I’m about to eat in my two courses.

I asked my bartender what the difference between the big and small servings of tripe were. “I won’t lie to you, the big is real big if you’re going to have pasta.” Well then, the small tripe it is. Hell, the small was a pretty good size when it was presented to me. A bowl of steamy red sauce and tripe, garnished with fresh, long grated cheese. My second spoonful (yes, spoonful because a fork won’t do with all that sauce) reveals more than just tripe; chickpeas, mint, and guanciale for an added bonus of flavors and textures. The mint adds pop to the dish, while the chickpeas a moment of texture; just that moment of al dente bean in your mouth, before another mouthful of tripe. In the Pantheon of Tripe, Diavola in Geyserville reigns as king for domestic tripe I’ve eaten.  Maybe if I eat at Locanda 3 more times, I can crown a new king of tripe; because it was that good.

As if a bowl of tripe wasn’t enough to eat, and normally it would be, radiatore with lamb Bolognese is up next. Again, the familiar long grating of cheese garnishes the top of the dish. My first bites around the edge of the plate reveal an Italian al dente texture, not American.  Bravo. The gravy, or sauce if you’d like, exhibits a creaminess from slow stewed flavors of lamb. The flavors aren’t as strong as many expect from lamb, rather a well integrated stew of tomato, lamb  fat, and cheese. Yes, the cheese over the top of the sauce and pasta makes a difference; cheese amalgamates the  dish. This is a simple dish, a simple dish that could easy go wrong without balance.  I loved it. I paired the pasta with an N2 Sangiovese from Italy. It was fresh, with crisp acidity and straight from the tap.

For a minor bump in the road, my roasted turnips with pancetta and greens were inconsistent. Some of the turnip pieces were cut large, others small; resulting in an inconsistent texture in the turnips. And, yet, I have nothing but praise for Locanda. The floor manager walked by and asked how things were. He said that he noticed that I cleaned up a plate of tripe and was moving through my pasta, but left my turnips nearly untouched. I showed him the various cuts of turnip. He immediately removed the dish, spoke with the kitchen and chef, and reported back that corrective action is being taken both on the floor and in turnip prep. This is where front-of-house and kitchen come together and how the top restaurants keep their game tight. Well done.

To finish my hour of eating, an Affogato with espresso and Amaro. This is a twist on a classic and it works wonderfully. The non-licorice sweetness of Amaro was a brilliant substitution for Sambuca. I’m going to make this at home.

A great experience at Locanda in both the front and back of the house; one I hope to repeat in the near future.

Pigs & Pinot 2012, Healdsburg

It seemed natural that The Cured Ham would attend a Pig Event in Healdsburg. Not just any pig event, but the premier event in town, Charlie Palmer's Pigs & Pinot.

Chef Dustin Valette's Charcuterie

In between my feasting on pig, I managed to snap a few pictures of some of the food and celebrity chefs participating in the event. I walked several times around the Square later that evening after eating a lot of pig meat. Oh, there was wine too, but pork poses for the camera better than Pinot.

A humble Pork Taco from Michelin Starred Cyrus

Chef Casey Thompson and her Fried Trotters

Chef Jeff from Zin Restaurant

Charlie Palmer working the Carving Station

Wanna Split That BBQ Roadtrip

A long time friend of The Cured Ham, San Francisco resident, and fellow foodie is on a classic road trip to eat BBQ across America. Wanna Split That is the blog following a couple friends and their travels.

And with pictures like this sausage and a pile of ribs (pics taken from her website) taking lead on the blog, I can't help but encourage people to follow this classic American road trip.

Good luck Kate in your travels! The Cured Ham loves your dedication to all things Pork and BBQ! 

Gleason Ranch Porchetta

I love pork (obviously). And for Thanksgiving, I contributed this porchetta to the meal. Rolled up with sage, bay leaf, garlic, and chanterelle mushrooms. The pork is from Gleason Ranch, a local supplier. I made some other stuff too, like a pressed pork belly for lunch, but you'll have to wait to see that pic.