Ayurveda and amazing meal. I had the privilege of attending a lecture by Dr. Arya Bhardwaj, visiting from India, who is a peace activist and founder of Gandhi-in-Action as well as being an Ayurvedic doctor. A group of us also enjoyed a marvelous dinner at Gaylord in Sausalito with him. (The above photo is taken from just outside Gaylord). I reviewed Gaylord Restaurant first almost a year ago.

Dr. Arya explained Ayurveda's meaning as "life + knowledge" and shook up our simple understandings of it by explaining the principles and showing the depth and complexity of traditional Indian medicine.

Those who went to dinner with Dr. Arya voted in favor of having him choose the dishes, and what a good idea that was! Gaylord's staff were quite flexible in taking Dr. Arya's special spicing suggestions, and we had quite an extraordinary vegetarian meal, starting with the appetizer selection above.

The bread selection was delicious.

And I'd never seen a raw plate like this served at an Indian restaurant before.

And numerous delicious dishes like this channa masala were served. Such as a daal the likes of which I've never had before, due to a special herb request (wish I knew which one!).

Adding a sweet note to the evening was a lone airplane pulling along a marriage proposal, back and forth in front of the restaurant. It was a lovely evening, and the staff at Gaylord were so cordial and unobtrusively made sure all the details were handled well in the background.

A great combo. I was mourning the departure of Saylor's Landing, and it's eclectic and delectable menu choices. Since Saylor's South is just down the street from where I spend most of my days working, I come here relatively often (more often than I blog it). Stopping in for a quick lunch last week I found that Saylor's South has expanded its menu to include old favorites on the Saylor's Landing menu! It's also been renamed to "Saylor's Restaurant and Bar". I've reviewed it one or two times before on the blog. Saylor's also has a private room upstairs called the "Cabo Wabo" room and has added live music on weekends. The private room seats up to 40, and has a $25 per guest minimum charge with a minimum of 2o people. A gratuity of 20% is also automatically added to the tab. At lunch it's the same with a $15 per person minimum.

This post combines a couple of visits. First up is a lunchtime chicken tostada. This had succulent white meat strips atop a typical corn tortilla covered beans, lettuce and avocado. It also had a soft white cheese sprinkled on top and a sour cream topping. It was accompanied by rice and beans. I thoroughly enjoyed this lunch.

Another visit I tried one of the daily specials, Osso Buco, a braised veal shank. The meat was fabulously tender, having been slow cooked about two hours. It had all the flavor of the osso buco I used to enjoy in an upscale Italian restaurant in Washington DC, but at half the price! Yes, the presentation at the other place was more formal and fancy, but if you are looking for good chow that is a little more homey, don't' miss this! Osso Buco literally means 'hole bone' in Italian, which is the origin of the dish (Milan), and was named this because having the marrow as part of the dish was part of the appeal. Osso buco is an every Friday special.

Ou la la! French Restaurants in Marin. There are a number of French places in Marin to choose from, some of the best restaurants in Marin are on this list!

Places my red beret has seen -

Greenbrae
Cafe Z Epicerie

Larkspur
Left Bank

Mill Valley
Champagne French Bakery Cafe
La Boulange

Novato
Chez Pierre
Kitchen

Ross
Marche aux Fleurs

Sausalito
Christophe

Tiburon
The Caprice

Places my red beret is longing to see or be seen in -

Corte Madera
Champagne French Bakery Cafe

Mill Valley
El Paseo Restaurant

San Anselmo
Bistro 330
Fork

San Rafael
Le Chalet Basque Restaurant

Gone with the leaves. I was saddened to see that Virapan's Tiburon Thai has closed. Dad and I hoped to enjoy a meal there on Friday night, and were surprised to see it gone. I was also noticing that a lot of shops on Ark Row have closed or have closing signs.

A command. Or that's what the restaurant name simply feels like - EAT. Or just nice verb-iage. At any rate, the welcome mat drew me in to a place I've been wanting to try since it opened now awhile ago.

I was too tempted by their soup special, cream of broccoli with cheddar. I imagined that I was getting a cup, but rather a large bowl was placed in front of me with this smooth and green warm liquid inside. It was worth ordering again, but maybe as the main dish, as I couldn't finish it.

Good thing I ordered something lighter as my entree, Ted's Grilled Shrimp Salad, consisting of greens, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, green beans, avocado, grilled shrimp, blue cheese & white balsamic vinaigrette. At a different angle, you would be able to see that the grilled shrimp on skewers is in generous portion, crunchy on the outside, and moist on the inside. This was a great meal. I also noticed that Eat is open for Sunday brunch as well.

More family. While I was in Louisville (just landed in fact) my cousin Darwin's wife, Tamara called me to let me know she was coming into town -- luckily she stayed long enough for me to get back from Louisville and enjoy meeting her on Halloween night. I thought Enrico's might have something fun going on, so I made a reservation there.

Luckily, a friend Sachiko was also available and coincidentally, Tamara also lived in Japan for awhile so we all had some cultural interests in common. Tamara works for Hertz and is visiting here for training from Bothell (north of Seattle), where she and Darwin have a lovely stucco home with cows. Not the kind you milk, but the kind you eat. They enjoy having 'grown' their own steaks and of course their cows eat the best food and aren't treated with antibiotics.

The staff at Enrico's all had fabulous Halloween costumes, and the jazz singer, Vernoica Klaus had a silky smooth voice and great stage presence. Veronica sings at Enrico's every Tuesday, and is well worth a special trip to enjoy.

We started with a Fritti Misto for the table. It had shrimp, calamari, zucchini and lemon slices. The lemon slices were a taste sensation!

Tamara had the chicken apple sausage pizza with gruyere and oregano. It looked great, and Tamara looked like she was enjoying it.

Sachiko went with the charred port tenderloin with baby carrots and balsamic rum. She gave me a taste. It was fabulous!

Craving something on the lighter side, I tried the chicken Caesar on flatbread. It was really good with moist chicken breast atop the fresh and crisp romaine over a crisp and peppery flatbread. It was certainly a winning combo that I would repeat.

The finale was the warm chocolate fudge brownie with espresso ice cream and caramel sauce, and three spoons. It was smooth yum. We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, and this place is a sure winner for both great food and good ambiance/entertainment. You know I'll be back.

And Happy Birthday to my former college roommate - Nellie!

Down home in Louisville. This is a departure from food blogging - a family resemblance and stories post after a great visit with my Aunt Ruby and cousins. I visited my 87-year old Aunt Ruby, who could be my mother's twin other than my mother's hair never turned that pretty snowy white. Aunt Ruby is pictured above with her daughter, and my cousin Annie. My mother and aunt used to think it great fun to fool people by switching places when younger. Not only did they look alike, they also sounded alike.

My first cousin, once removed, Michael, pictured above with his mom, aka my cousin Annie, is very close in looks to my grandfather, Ollie.

This next resemblance was startling. My aunt had just given me some photos of my brother, Jim when he was younger, and I noticed a photo of my cousin Mac's grandson Kyle on the refrigerator and did a double take! I had to take a shot of the photos side-by-side. Even that far apart in the family tree, the resemblance was striking.

Although I don't have a photo handy to put up of Collette at the same age, little 8-month old Reece looks just like my great-niece Collette at that age.

Meanwhile, I had some wonderful talks with all my relatives, including my other cousin Ruby (named after her mother), and of course with my aunt. My aunt confirmed old family tales, and told me some new things too.

Such as confirming the tale about how one of my great-great (don't know how many) grandmothers smoked a corn cob pipe. She came out with my great-great (??) grandfather in a covered wagon from Pennsylvania to settle in Kentucky. Apparently, the group who traveled together in the covered wagons, build some temporary housing (my aunt called them shacks), to stay in while the men explored to stake their claim on some acreage. These 'shacks' were built around in a circle to help position them better to protect from Indian attacks (this was new info from my aunt). Well, the story goes that my great-great grandmother leaned down in the fireplace to light her corn cob pipe, and when she did an Indian who was standing on the roof shot an arrow down the chimney, and into her back, killing her. And not a single woman in our family has smoked since (until my mother's generation). My great-great grandfather went on to choose 1,000 acres of land in Grayson county, and eventually each of his kids received a 100-acre inheritance.

Since my cousin Ruby had just bought a new mattress, it reminded my aunt about mattress making when she was a girl. She said that each year you made a new mattress out of a lot of straw stuffed in 'bed ticking', and then you plucked your own down off a number of geese to make the topping for the straw mattress, which also kept you quite warm. She also said there was nothing like scrubbing your sheets on a rock, then boiling them to achieve the whitest whites for your linens!

It was nice to spend time with relatives, eating southern fried chicken and biscuits and keeping these old bits of our family history alive.

Quick breakfast at Chicago's Midway. On my way to Louisville, I picked up a great breakfast at Harry Caray's at Midway airport. I had the most cheerful waitress, and she told me there were two other restaurants in the Chicago area.

I chose their breakfast croissant with ham, and the home fries. It was served promptly and it was very tasty! Nice place to stop if you are at Midway for a little local flavor, and friendly service.

As I wrote this at home in Mill Valley, the floor started shaking under my chair, and I held my bookcase to the wall -- EARTHQUAKE! But a small one I think, relatively speaking. I'll have to check the news to see what happened!

Charming mid-west. As I noted in a previous post, I traveled to the greater Chicago area on business last week. During this trip I was introduced to the charming old town of Libertyville. Since I was dining with business associates, although the topic of my blog came up, I didn't feel comfortable whipping my camera out and taking photos in this context. However, I would like to tell you about a couple places that we dined at in Libertyville. The first was The Tavern, which we ended up going to as it was next door to the intended recommended dining place, Firkin, which had a 45 minute wait. The Tavern was a great choice as it was much quieter, with a more formal atmosphere and the food was great. Meats, especially steaks were predominant, but I ordered the Grilled Free-Range Chicken Breast "Nelle": creamed spinach, tomato, & and melted Spanish manchego cheese.

The following evening, upon our client's recommendation we tried Ristorante Bottaio, also in Libertyville. My fellow diners were kind enough to give their impressions of their dishes, which I'll note for you here (to the best of my memory). Two of my companions tried the local fish special, which they expected to be rather good because of proximity and the noted preparation. The fish was fresh as expected, but they both concurred that the vegetables accompanying it were rather too mushy, and that the dish lacked the expected 'punch'. My dining companion to the immediate left of me ordered Vitello Marsala: veal medallions and mushrooms in a Marsala sauce. It is interesting how foods evoke strong memories, as my companion thoroughly enjoyed his dish, and recounted his first experience as a child eating 'grown up food' with this as the dish. It was the first time that he'd enjoyed mushrooms, and he has been enjoying them ever since. My dining companion to the right ordered the Petto di Pollo Parmagiana, described as: chicken breast breaded and topped with cheese and tomato sauce. He said that the chicken was good, but that the cappellini accompanying it had a 'strange' buttery tasting sauce rather than a tomato sauce so he wasn't as fond of it since he's a 'tomato guy'.

What did I have? Well, I tried the Pollo Vesuvio: half a roasted chicken with potato and spices. It was marvelous. The skin was browned to perfection, the meat underneath was moist and flavorful. There were nice bits of green sprinkled on it, and the roasted potatoes also had a rustic and meaty flavor. There was a light brown sauce covering the dish that melded the flavors together as well. I also had the pasta e fagioli soup, and the cup looked like a bowl! The waitress said that what they called the 'bowl' was truly gargantuan. It was well-spiced and the small pasta tubes still had a nice bite to them. My companions also had soups or salad to start, but didn't comment on them, however they all looked wonderful. The atmosphere was also nice. I understand many of the dishes were are the restaurant owners family favorites from the Abruzzo region of Italy. I would definitely come back.

As I mentioned last week, I have gone to Chicago, and now I'm leaving Chicago and will be staying with my 87-year old aunt in Louisville, so I doubt I will have internet connection to post again until I'm back home in Mill Valley. I'll be back with new eating adventures then!

Bringing more sun in. I stopped by Willie's Cafe the other day for lunch, and found them in the midst of a reconstruction project. They are remodeling their deck area to be more enclosed, with sliding windows which will open up in the sunny weather, and can be closed and the spaced warmed more effectively for those colder days. That's the area I chose to eat in, and it was light and bright and I'm sure this place will be even more packed on weekends for a sunny breakfast. Willie's serves breakfast every day.

And I was here for lunch, and started with the beef and barley soup, which sounded irresistable from the description that the waitress gave. It was good, and it was a big 'cup'!

Next I enjoyed one of their daily specials, the Salmon BLT. This was a really well-put together sandwich., The bacon was extra flavorful, and the salmon tasted fresh and made a nice contrast with the bacon. There are also a lot of Mexican choices on the menu. This is definitely a good place to keep in mind for a casual lunch, or generous breakfast.

With reservations. My friend Linda and I met at Kitchen in Novato, a newish upscale place that has a lot of buzz right now. We had reservations at 6:30 on Saturday, and we were greeted and seated quite promptly with a friendly flourish. The service was excellent, there at the right times, but not hovering, and our waitress was quite pleasant.

Linda started with the Field Green Salad, with Seckle Pears, Point Reyes Blue Cheese, Candied Walnuts, and a Red Wine Vinaigrette. It looked quite good and was in generous portion. Linda concurred that it tasted good as well.

I was daring and tried the Cinnamon Spiced Ginger Carrot Soup. The flavor was good, but it was definitely begging for some salt, and there wasn't a salt shaker in sight. Sigh. It was also served a bit on the cool side. Sam's post at Becks & Posh about Salt & Pepper on the table is apropos here.

Linda and I both chose the same entrees, the Braised Beef Short Ribs, with Parsnip Mashed Potatoes, Baby Squash, Gremolata, and Star Anise Jus. The beef was excellent, very tender and flavorful, but the overabundance of salt really distracted from the otherwise stellar taste. Linda asked me the million dollar question, would I come back? Well, with a one in four batting average, yes as I am hopeful and this was the first visit, but not soon as it is a spendy place so my expectations are higher.

Indian Restaurants in Marin. One of my favorite cuisines, I have been pleased to find a nice selection in Marin. If I've missed any, please let me know in the comments! I've included Indian Fusion restaurants as well. The above photo is the door leading into Lotus Cuisine of India in San Rafael. Beautiful isn't it?


Indian Restaurants I've explored

Larkspur
Table Cafe

Mill Valley
Avatar's Punjab Burritos
India Palace

San Rafael
Bombay Garden
India Village
Lotus Cuisine of India
Om South Indian Cuisine

Sausalito
Avatar's
Gaylord India
Sartaj India Cafe

Indian Restaurants for future enjoyment

Fairfax
Cafe Tandoori

Quiet and Delicious Breakfast Hideaway. I'd received some enthusiastic recommendations about Eduardo's from some friends, so found the time to find this hidden-in-plain-view treasure of a place. If you are looking for a trendy upscale kind of place, keep going, but if you are looking for freshly made items with a loving touch in a casual atmosphere, you've got to try this one. I spoke to Neuza, the sister of the actual Eduardo who is running the restaurant after Eduardo headed south to San Diego after more than 20 years of success. I found Neuza patiently training new staff that morning, and exuding a sweet and nice aunt-like demeanor. This is a family run restaurant, with other members around as well, and everything is made freshly each day.

I ordered the California omelet, which contained turkey or chicken sausage, avocado, cheddar and a fresh salsa topping, along with obviously freshly made home fries and just out of the oven herb bread toast.

Dad enjoyed Eduardo's special omelet, which contained bacon, sour cream, avocado and cheddar cheese. If you are a fan of fluffy omelets, these are definitely of that variety. They also had a muffin tin on the counter, with freshly out-of-the-oven muffins with irregular tops and edges like homemade ones will have. I notice these were chosen by the majority of the patrons while I was there, they must know something... Eduardo's also serves lunch, and I was impressed by their list of eight freshly made soups to chose from among other things! It is in a cafeteria style with trays and a counter which you see when you first open the door, and you choose your seat in warmly decorated large semi-separated rooms. I would also echo my friends' recommendation to me that this place is great.

Barazushi, or Chirashizushi if you'd like. I remember it as barazushi from Hiroshima, although the more common name is chirashizushi. Either of these carry the meaning of 'scattered', which the toppings are. Barazushi is a homemade sushi treat which has regional variations, and differs from home to home. One general difference between barazushi and chirashizushi is that barazushi more often has some vinegared ingredients mixed up in the rice itself, rather than just on top. The photo above is a barazushi that I made myself, and what you can't see is the vinegared shitake mushrooms and gobo (burdock) strands mixed into the sushi rice beneath. The topping is cut up omelet, cucumber, carrots and curly nori (laver seaweed).

Chirashi at Sushi Gourmet

I enjoy trying chirashizushi at various Japanese restaurants since they are usually beautiful works of art, which happen to be delicious too. But honestly, nothing has ever beat my Hiroshima grandmother's version. She always included lotus root, shrimp, shitake mushrooms, and something green like mitsuba (Japanese wild parsley) among other ingredients.

Chirashi-zushi at Kabuto

Although this can be made completely by scratch, many Japanese cooks use shortcuts, like many American ones.

Chirashizushi at Taki's

First there is the bed of sushi rice, whether you make it bara-style with vinegared vegetables mixed in, or plain as in most chirashizushis. Using Mitsukan Sushi Rice Mix Powder is one of the easier ways to make perfect plain sushi rice without measuring wet rice vinegar with granulated sugar/and or mirin (sweet rice wine).

If you want to have the bara-version where vinegared vegetables are pre-mixed in and are mixed in tasty bits throughout the rice, you can either make these yourself or use a mix. One popular mix is Sushitaro, the above video clip is a cute advertisement related to Girl's Day, one of the traditional times to eat chirashizushi.

Chirashizushi at Masa's

There are also canned mixes which you can open and just mix in with some premeasured cooked rice that have all the seasoned vegetables in it with the proper amount of sushi vinegar flavoring for the overall rice.

Amberjack's Chirashizushi

This Hinachirashi (Chirashi for Girls Day) recipe has one variation of making the vinegared vegetables from scratch, althought I usually use one that has dashi (fish stock) in addition to the rice vinegar, mirin and sugar.

Akira's Chirashizushi

Magi Yamamura makes a very pretty presentation of chirashi sushi with step-by-step photos.

Sushi Ran Chirashisushi

I've noticed that a number of Japanese upscale restaurants have taken away the bowl, and lessened the amount of rice base for a very stylish presentation, as exemplified in the Sushi Ran version above. This version was tender and delicious. There are many interesting versions of sushi, Wikipedia has an excellent reference to the many types. As I said, I enjoy this dish, so you are likely to see more reviews of chirashi sushi as I visit and revisit Japanese restaurants wherever I may be!

And I can't resist leaving you with this adorable children's short "Honorable Sushi Picnic"!