Modern Fusion. Dad and I stopped by E & O Trading Company the other day for an Asian fusion lunch. I've been here several times before, but to my surprise, even though I posted about it in 2005 and 2006, I have not done a full review with food photos. I've consistently enjoyed good service and good food here.

We started with some fresh Indonesian Corn Fritters which are made from the freshes sweet corn, shaved off the cob just before cooking.

We then moved on to the E & O Platter, with its succulent pieces of meat, seafood, and portabello mushroom perfectly marinated, cooked and skewered. Hoisin, Peanut and honey mustard dipping sauces were perfect accompaniments.

The last of our savory dishes was the Asian Chicken-Mint Salad. So light, so refreshing!

Dad wanted to hear about the desserts, and chose the Pineapple Upside down cake with vanilla ice cream. I took a bite too, and it simply melted in the mouth. This is an old favorite of ours in Larkspur and we'll certainly be visiting again, with or without camera.

Unusual week. Another funeral, this time for the death of a good friend and colleague's wife, Rodica Randawa. She was a very lovely woman, both inside and out and is already missed. I met another colleague at her funeral I hadn't seen in years, and reconnected. These kinds of key moments do tend to bring people back together again.

Later in the week, I had a treat in the city with a friend to see Mama Mia and have drinks and a light dinner at Anzu. We started off with some edamame.

We then moved onto Hamachi Crudo, Japanese Farm-Raised Hamachi, Grapefruit, Jalapeno Pepper, Micro Cilantro and Grapefruit-Ginger Vinaigrette. What refreshing bites!

The last plate was Toyo Sushi, with a mix of tasty fish and asparagus on the inside, and white albacore, peppers and onions on the outside.

Mama Mia was absolutely adorable. Highly recommendable, light and happy.

A friend of mine (Daniel) pulled me off to the No Name Bar tonight, so I now can say that just as I guessed, it comes alive with people at night. Met a whole host of interesting people including a cute couple who had just moved to Sausalito three days ago.

Good Times at the Rain Tree Cafe. Dad increasingly enjoys simple familiar meals, so a place like the Rain Tree Cafe, close and simple yet varied menu is often just the thing. Here are some food photos from the last couple visits.

Cream of broccoli soup (of the day), good but nothing to write home about.

This turkey patty melt was delivered much more nicely, but I pushed it around so you could see the inside of the sandwich with its melted swiss and grilled onions in between the pieces of grilled rye bread as well. The Rain Tree Cafe nicely gives a choice of turkey, chicken, garden and beef for their burger type and grilled sandwiches.

And here is a teriyaki chicken burger.

Dad enjoyed a garden burger.

And I tried the Monte Christo, executed nicely. Some over do the egg and it's rather greasy, but this one had a nice light egg wash on the bread which wasn't overdone. I reviewed this restaurant last in March.

Italian Restaurants in Marin. And who doesn't love Italian? Flavorful, healthy sun-kissed ingredients with a dash of olive oil. Molto bene! Here's what I've found in Marin. One of the best ways to find what I've missed, is for you to post a comment on those accidentally overlooked!

Italian Restaurants where I have eaten

Corte Madera
Benissimo
Il Fornaio
Marin Joe's

Larkspur
Emporio Rulli
Fabrizio

Mill Valley
Caffe Oggi
Frantoio
Gira Polli
La Ginestra
Pasta Pomodoro
Piatti Locali
Piazza d'Angelo
Vasco

Novato
Grazie

San Rafael
Cinecitta
Hanna's
Il Davide
Mulberry Street Pizzeria
Ristorante La Toscana

Sausalito
Angelino Restaurant
Cafe DiVino
Cafe Trieste
Caffe Tutti
Cacciucco
Dario's Pizza & Pasta
Giovanni's Pizza
Poggio
Pomodoro Pizza Cafe
Rustico
Spinnaker
Winship

Tiburon
Milano's

Italian Restaurants I have yet to discover

Fairfax
Ghiringhelli's Pizzeria

Greenbrae

Giorgio's Ristorante

San Anselmo
Cucina
LoCoco's Pizzeria
Riccardo's Restaurant & Pizza

San Rafael
Amici's East Coast Pizzeria
Panama Hotel & Restaurant
Roma Pizza
San Rafael Joe's

Sausalito
Scoma's

Of Local Interest. Getting back into the swing of things, there are a couple things of note in the county food universe I've noticed since returning.

One is a sign welcoming Asqew Grill to Strawberry Village in Mill Valley. Having enjoyed food at other locations (East Bay & San Francisco) I'm looking forward to its arrival with its nice choices of combinations, including a skewer over salad, which is friendly to the South Beach Diet.

The above sign certainly gave me a shock. It is in the window of Akira Sushi Bar! I sent a note to the owner, who also owns Sushi 69 to find out what the story is, but have not had a response to date. Since I walked by at a time that it would normally be closed, I'm not sure of the current status.

On the move. I stopped into Sushi to Dai For to have a quick lunch the other day, and inquired when they may be making the move down the street to their new and larger digs. I thought they were scheduled to already be there. I think I was right, because the waitress allowed a sad little puff of air to escape her lips and said "Well, we are just telling people within the next three months since there have been so many unexpected delays". Hopefully they will make it over soon, and I'll visit to update you on the new space.

As always, before the main course arrived a fragrant, hot and tasty miso soup arrived. The waitress must have sensed I would eat Japanese style, as she didn't bring me one of those Chinese spoons that seemed to accompany most of the miso I saw her carrying about.

I ordered the special bento box of the day that had teriyaki salmon and agedashi tofu as the main ingredients. I even enjoyed the California roll, but was careful to avoid the white rice mound to be somewhat in keeping with my South Beach Diet. Not pictured is the warm dipping sauce for the agedashi tofu. The cucumber salad was crunchy and light, and the couple of steam carrots with a sesame topping were a nice treat too. The locals have loved this place for years, and I'm sure it will have great success in its new location as well.

Victoria and home to San Francisco. This is the last post on the Alaskan cruise, and then we'll be back to normal Marin food blogging. Our last port of call was actually not in Alaska, but Victoria, B.C. Ladies and gents in costume greeted us at the docks with maps and a friendly greeting.

We left the dock on a horse drawn trolley ride.

We soon passed the Empress Hotel. I've enjoyed high tea any number of times there since Seattle was close enough to make Victoria a frequent destination while I was living there.

We were shown a lot of old, but beautiful houses in the historic district. This one is the Emily Carr House, the home of a famous and eccentric artist.

We went through Beacon Hill Park, and understood that the Victorians are quite proud of the newest addition to the park, the world's largest watering can!

Around the corner were some palm trees to demonstrate that Victoria's climate is so mild it can grow anything!

And we caught this beautiful view of the sea when exiting the park and nearing our ship.

And here is the other end of the happy horses who pulled the trolley.

And my Dad wanted to thank them personally.

All too soon, we were back viewing the Bay Bridge.

And were waiting for our number to be called to leave the ship in San Francisco. My Dad's first question upon disembarking? "Where are we going to next? I want to take another cruise soon!"

Tracy Arm Champagne Brunch. Dad & I were honored with a treat from the Executive Chef, Joseph Strummer and his wife La Tin of a full champagne brunch in our stateroom the morning of the venture into Tracy Arm to see the glacier and wild life along the fjord. I snapped the above view as we were making our way out of the fjord. The unfortunate thing was that the icebergs were so thick, unusually so, that we could not go far enough in to see the glacier. A disappointment, but better than hitting an iceberg and ending up like the Titanic!

I did see some 'wild life' on the top deck and snapped a photo quickly. They were so cute in their 'fur' coats, I just couldn't resist.

The day before we landed back in San Francisco, I attended a cooking demonstration led by Josef, who is shown in his hat and with awards around his neck. He's a much decorated chef, and it shows in the excellent food which unfailingly was served at our table.

Now the champagne brunch - room service knocked on our door with no less than THREE trays laden with food. The first one had coffee, orange juice and a full bottle of champagne!

You can see the daunting eating task before us! And I didn't take a photo of the matching tray on the bed behind me!

First up we each got the above plate of Alaskan King Crab Legs, Quiche Lorraine, Baked Tomato with Herbed Cheese, Beet and Green Salads. This alone would have been enough!

Next we each tucked into our fresh plate of loks.

We believed the lobster rolls were to go with the loks. One each.

Then we shared the plate of breakfast breads... we couldn't finish this one, as delicious as these were. Not pictured is the lovely medley of fresh jams and marmalades which accompanied this plate.

And well over the top was the fabulous fruit plate, one entire plate for each of us! I also have to mention that all the fruit on the cruise was served at its peak freshness and flavorful ripeness. I was impressed. I often ordered a fruit plate as either my appetizer or dessert on this cruise since it was unfailingly perfect. This fabulous champagne breakfast treat went a long way in making up for the disappointment of not seeing the glacier.

PS. And can you believe that I only gained 2.4 lbs on this 11 day eating extravaganza!

Juneau to Skagway. We're taking a break from food reporting as I report on the cruise Dad and I took to Alaska. In Juneau our big adventure was visiting the Mendenhall Glacier, pictured above. We also saw the most eagles of any place on our trip to the glacier from downtown Juneau. The eagles seemed to have favorite hangouts along the way to the glacier, so we enjoyed observing this most majestic bird.

In Skagway, we wandered around the town more before our train trip. We noticed the above unique building. I thought it most photo-worthy.

We then caught the Can Can girls with Soapy Smith an infamous Skagway legend, in a "Days of '98' Show". It was a colorful way to catch some local history.

We then boarded our White Pass & Yukon Route Rail Tour. The first reasonably decent photo I got from the window of a moving train was Bridal Veil Falls, pictured above. The whole panhandle that we saw reminded me so much of home (Seattle). So many Evergreen trees and similar plants, such as Devil's club and ferns.

We could see the train ahead of us clearly at many points as there were such steep curves. The line is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, a distinction shared with the Eiffel Tower, the Panama Canal, and the Statue of Liberty! The ride was 3.5 hours round trip, and it crossed into the Yukon territory of Canada. A ride well worth the time and money. Spectacular sights!