Flour + Water, San Francisco

I sat at the bar on a warm Wednesday evening in San Francisco. I’ve heard a lot about Flour+Water, a lot of good things. The only bad thing, the potential wait for a table; so I arrived when they opened for dinner service, 5:30. Only one thing interested me that night, the pasta tasting. There are no substitutions for the pasta tastings, only additions can be made. I made a single addition to Flour + Water’s Autumn Pasta Tasting, orrechiette with rapini.

As for wine notes, I paired a bottle (yes an entire bottle) of Rosato, 2010 Bisson, Ciliegiolo, Golfo del Tigullio DOC from Liguria with the entire meal, as I’d done in Italy several times over. In my humble opinion, Rosato pairs with practically everything. 

To start, Eggplant and treccione aformatino with crispy butter beans, cavolo nero and chili oil. The timbale or tortino, depending upon what classic or more recognized word you would like to use, was smoothly made. The eggplant when combined with the smoked cheese made for a pleasant and light starter. The timbale itself was light, near custard–like consistency, but lighter. The chili oil was unexpected for its heat, but welcome as its intent was to wake up the mouth. The fried butter beans were really good too and offered the crunchy contrast to the timbale.

 

First Pasta: Butternut squash tortelli, I expected this to taste good and considering I was in the kitchen at Parma in Fresno with Elena watching this very dish being made, complete with the amaretti cookie, this dish was no surprise for the season. The pasta was light, the filling tasted of the season, and the dish was simply presented and served. A solid start to the pasta tasting.

 

Second Pasta: Sunchoke and ricotta cappelletti, personally, the standout of the evening in terms of flavor and presentation. The pasta shape itself was perfect, standing up on the plate. Great texture, mouth-feel, and flavor in each of the bites. If they tripled the order, I wouldn’t have had any problems finishing it.

Third Pasta: Saffron lasagnette, probably the most challenging of the courses as I reflect on all of them. I happened to enjoy this dish, but I like shellfish and saffron. I can see where these strong flavors could be a challenge for others. Small circles of pasta were layered one on top of the other, with various seafood in between each layer. A béchamel-like sauce was also in between the layers of pasta to carry the flavor. The pasta itself was crispy along the edges. Lots of flavor here, but perhaps not a dish for everyone. I happened to like it.

 

Fourth Pasta: Horseradish leaf strozzapreti was a simple dish, perhaps less impactful than the previous lasagnette or nothing to make it pop like the others. Just not as memorable. It was good, just not the highlight of the night. (Sorry, no more pictures, they dimmed the lights)

Fifth Pasta (optional addition): Orrechiette, my personal addition to the tasting menu, was not traditional in the sense that the sauce the pasta was served in was creamy, rather than simply olive oil, chili, and greens. The dish seemed more American or perhaps more Tuscan than Puglian, with a creamier consistency to the sauce rather than the blunt force usually used in most orrecheitte dishes I ate in Puglia. Not once did I have this dish in Puglia as richly prepared as here. Is this good or bad? I still don’t know yet. I was often surprised at Michelin starred chefs in Puglia elevating a dish beyond their simple roots and this could classify as elevation, but I’m might need to eat it again to decide. 

Sixth Pasta: Pig heart caramelle, if you like offal, this dish is for you. As I happen to like pig heart, I loved this dish. It was the right way to end a tasting, with a bold flavor of offal. The pasta itself was the contrast, good texture to the edges and near paper thin in the middle. Well executed. 

Dessert Course: Olive oil and thyme cake. Normally I don’t even cover desserts, I either forget that I ate dessert, don’t take a picture, or just want chocolate. I’m making an exception because this cake reminded me of Italian breakfast in Puglia. The cake was savory and slightly sweet. The olive oil was present in both smell and flavor. It was simple and lovely and I could have eaten twice as much.

I am very pleased with my experience at Flour+ Water. Service was attentive and friendly. The pace of the tasting menu from the kitchen was wonderfully timed, and the food was above average at worst. I may have personal issues with orrechiette, but don’t let that stop you from ordering it if it’s on the menu. I bashed the strozzapreti a little, but if you compare it to other restaurants serving the same dish, I’d put money on F+W doing it better than most. I’d come back and I’d recommend that my readers visit.

The Cured Ham makes The Wall Street Journal!

In the shameless promotion category, The Cured Ham was quoted in the September 1, 2011 edition of the Wall Street Journal for my recent trip to Cotogna in San Francisco (read the post here).

I've been trying to get published in The Journal for my day job for 20 years! It only took a little over 3 years as The Cured Ham to get picked up. Who knew?!

Cotogna,San Francisco

I could have easily been back in Lecce, Italy with my lunch at Cotogna. 

Squid ink pacchieri with spicy squid. Actually, the pacchieri was the pasta I had in Lecce, not at Cotogna. Cotogna served a  spaghetti type pasta with a dash of a spicy tomato sauce with some calamari rings placed on top. I recall as though it were yesterday my meal at Picton. I chuckled with delight my dish was presented to me. The pasta was wonderfully cooked Italian al dente and there was a hint of spice to the dish. Well exectuted.

 

Mussels with guanciale and fennel tops. Once again, a simple and authentic Italian dish of mussels cooked with pork cheek with a lovely broth to accompany. I asked for more bread and a spoon because every drop of that lovely nectar deserved my attention. No mussel was left unopened and no juice or cube of pork cheek was left in my plate. 

It was good to come back to Lecce in Jackson Square (San Francisco).

Update on Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at 7:25AM by The Cured Ham

It seems The Cured Ham got noticed in the WSJ for his recent trip to Cotogna.

A Dinner with Friends

It was a real pleasure to eat with fellow foodies this weekend. It's also a lot of fun to get in the kitchen and do some proper prep and cooking over an entire day.

The last time I scored, blanched, peeled, destemed, seeded, blended, and strained tomatoes to make a pure tomato nectar was when I cooked in Italy. A labor of love to extract the purest flavor of the tomato, probably an hour worth of work and every bit worth it. The end product is simple, it's what nature brought to the table. And a rarity. We often want to manipulate ingredients, shape them into a grand creation, when the smartest thing to do is showcase the purity and simplicity of an ingredient.



My favorite dish to create was Summertime in Puglia. I was looking at pictures of some of the meals I'd eaten when I was in the south. Simple prep of peppers, cheese, bread, tomato, olive oil, and rosato were staples. Even in Michelin starred restaurants, a 'back to basics' dish was included. My family has always eagerly awaited summer for those simple peppers. Thanks to my Dad for tending the vines this year and helping raise a healthy tomato crop. We're not Certified Organic...We're Certified Backyard.

It was also a thrill to watch a friend, Chef Tommy Chavez work the wood-fired grill. We created a "Prime Tasting of Three Ranches", a carnivore's dream selection of rib-eye steaks. Magrueder Ranch, Alexandre Farms, and Painted Hills beef were chosen for this tasting. All raised differently, corn-fed 21-day wet aged, grass fed only, and grass-fed corn-finished respectively, allowed everyone at the table to make a judgement about what steak was "the best" and prepared exactly the same way. 

I've attached several pictures of the prep as well as the complete menu for your review.

We hope to continue creating evenings around the table, sharing a story, a meal, and a little drink from time to time. I'd personally like to thank John and Falina Marihart for offering their home for this wonderful evening. Additionally, it was a pleasure to have so many friends around the table, including a fellow blogger (and better photographer than me) Foie Gras and Flannel. It wouldn't have been a memorable evening without all of you.

Vino Cotto of Sonoma County

The wine grape harvest in Sonoma County is obviously a big event, but wine isn't the only thing that you can make with wine grapes. A Southern Italian speciality, although many wine regions in Italy make it for personal consumption. It's not that common here in the States, but many old Italian families have a stash in their freezer and each covet their stash as they would gold.

The Cured Ham has of course participated in the wine grape harvest and has made his own stash of vino cotto for a select group of friends and relatives. I reduced about 1/3 of the large pot into two 375lt bottles that you see in front of the large pot over the course of 4 hours. And yes, the house smells like evaporated grape juice for the better part of 2 days.

So how do you use this stuff? Add a tablespoon or two to rich braised dishes such as short ribs. It has the flavor of plums, figs, grapes, but with a more earthy quality in many cases. However, this earthy quality may be coming from the grapes I used, in this case Cabernet Sauvignon.

A classic Puglian use is to deep fry strands of a modified pizza a dough and drizzle this grape syrup over the top of each fried piece of sweetened dough.

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