Country Basque French experience

We've had some gloriously sunny days this week, so much so that I have hope that my green tomatoes will eventually turn red. On one of those beautiful days, I meandered towards China Camp on North San Pedro Road in San Rafael to visit Le Chalet Basque. Being off the beaten path gives this place extra charm as it is very quiet for sitting outside under the awning in the front of the restaurant.

The stock of the French Onion Soup Gratinee is definitely not vegetarian, but ooh la la what a wonderful flavor the chef creates with this simple French classic. I would drive out here again just to have it.

The meal's main dish was the Steamed Clams in Garlic Broth with Linguine. You must like garlic to enjoy this dish, as it was in generous portion. And it was wonderful. The linguine was wrapped in a lovely clam/garlic/parsley flavor. And was glad I didn't have to go to any meetings after lunch! It was a very enjoyable, leisurely lunch which I expect to repeat again.

Restaurant Inspection Results

Critical: 0
Noncritical: 0
Last inspected: 3/19/2009

Find address/phone number/directions on Anna's Map.

Farewell dinner. My friend Judith is moving away to Fredricksburg, Maryland next week, so we enjoyed some tapas together for a last catch up before her move. We chose the award-winning Sabor of Spain for the setting so we could leisurely enjoy various tastes as we caught up with each others lives. We were warmly greeted and seated and a team of people supported the waiter in giving us a fabulous dining experience. It was Judith's first time, my third, and we were impressed. We selected a variety of tastes which harmonized well and tantalized our palates.

Good luck Judith!

Supper Club - Spanish Tapas. As those of you know who have been following my blog, I belong to a Supper Club in Marin which creates events on a theme and each chef chooses and executes a recipe. It's a foodie paradise, and there are several professional chefs among the members. This event was celebrating Spanish Tapas. As usual, the chefs were in rare form, and the food was delightful, as you can see in the slide show above. My dish for the evening was Red Onion and Orange Salad.

Red Onion & Orange Salad

6 sweet, ripe medium oranges, peeled
1 small red onion, sliced finely
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
1.5 ounces organic raisins
20 black olives, pitted and halved
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons almonds, blanched and sliced thinly

1. Boil some water and soak raisins in the hot water for 20 minutes, removing from heat. Drain and set aside.
2. Remove the white pith from the oranges and cut the fruit crosswise into 1/4 inch slices.
3. Arrange the oranges on a serving platter and scatter over the sliced red onion.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.
5. Drizzle this dressing over the onions and oranges.
6. Sprinkle with the raisins, olives, sunflower seeds, and almonds.
7. Serve chilled.

Serves 6-8