Kara's Cupcakes in Oxbow

A preview of coming attractions – cupcakes galore:


Like a lot of people, I had been waiting for Kara’s Cupcakes to open up in Oxbow for a long time. Finally, this week I received an email from the good folks at Oxbow informing me of Kara’s grand opening – that day.

I was hesitant at first since I’m uber picky about my cupcakes. Down in my former domicile, Los Angeles, cupcake stores are everywhere and most of the cupcakes are dreadful: dry, tasteless cake and frosting that is over dominated by sugar and lacks any nuance of flavor. But I was pleasantly surprised by Kara’s cupcakes.

My favorite cupcake thus far:


This is the Spring Chick, a vanilla cupcake filled with passion fruit cream and topped with a vanilla frosting adorned with coconut. Great flavors (all of the components were really balanced) and the texture was lovely.

A close-up of the Meyer Lemony Lemon which seems to be one of their more popular flavors:


The grand tour of the platter of cupcakes:



Both chocolate cupcakes, the Chocolate Velvet and the Fleur de Sel, were really good! The Fleur de Sel was one of my favorite cupcakes: the cake was very dense and the chocolate ganache was fabulous. Added to this was a caramel filling which I felt was somewhat unnecessary considering how rich and delicious the cake and frosting were.

And finally, a pic of the “normal” chocolate cupcakes:



Kara’s Cupcakes
Oxbow Public Market
610 First Street, Suite 19
Napa, CA 94559

Shan Dong Restaurant

The second half of our meal that day – we were doing some serious noodle whoring:

Ever since I left LA I’ve been having saudade for that certain aptly named dumpling house in San Gabriel. I’ve begun my quest to find a Bay Area alternative and first up was Shan Dong in Oakland’s Chinatown.

We got into a dumpling frenzy and ordered vegetable dumplings (boiled), Shan Dong special dumplings (boiled), potstickers, green onion pancake (ok, officially not a dumpling), and steamed veggie buns.

I think that the crowd favorite were the Shan Dong special dumplings. They were filled with ground pork and vegetables and a little something else that gave them a bit of oomph. I was really looking forward to the onion pancake and the potstickers, since I had heard that they were really good at Shan Dong, but they were just ok; the restaurant seems to do a lot better with the steamed and boiled dumplings.

Several of the many noodle dishes that we ordered:

The sesame paste noodles were actually my favorite dish. I was surprised that these were served hot instead of cold. The sauce worked really well with both the noodles and the Chinese broccoli. My only complaint was that the menu said that these noodles spicy and it turned out that they weren’t at all (but that wasn’t something that a big spoonful of chili sauce couldn’t cure.)

I haven’t had Singapore noodles in years and Shan Dong’s version was better than I remembered the dish to be. The noodles were perfectly cooked and the curry sauce had a nice spicy kick to it. Also, the vegetables, especially the onions, were cooked (there is a place for raw onions but I don’t like them in stir-fries).

The soup turned out to taste better than it looked. We also ordered a sizzling rice soup and both soups had very flavorful broths.

We went a little crazy and splurged for the hand pulled noodles in almost every dish.

Although Shan Dong wasn’t as good as my beloved SoCal dumpling house, I thought that most of the items that we ordered were good and I would probably go back and try some different noodle dishes.

Shan Dong
328 10th Street
Oakland, CA 94607
http://sd.222.to/

SacsTasty Hot Dogs - Indeed.

Immediately after reading this review, I knew that I had to go here. I thought that the perfect time would be when I was returning to Napa after my vegan cooking class and lunch in Oakland (I like to seek redemption before I give into temptation).

I started off with the Original Tasty Dog with mustard, relish, onion (chopped), and tomato. I really wanted to get cheese on it but I was trying to practice some sort of restraint since I knew that I was also going to get a chili cheese dog.

I loved this hot dog. The dog itself had really good snap! and I really liked how all of the accoutrements worked together. It really didn't need cheese but that is not going to stop me from ordering it with next time!

Next was the chili cheese dog. Oh man, I got so excited when I saw the gobs 'o' cheese that went on the dog.

My only complaint was that the chili that day tasty a bit pasty/grainy. I miss the days when fast food chili was emulsified by thick orange grease instead of the low-fat thickeners. Despite that, this was one great chili cheese dog.

SacsTasty Hot Dogs
2445 Springs Road
Vallejo, CA 94951

A16 - Swinealious!

A preview of coming attractions: still life at A16. In the foreground you can see my carafina of the ’03 Mastroberardino Taurasi Aglianico; in the background there is a glass of the ’04 Emmanuel Scammaca Murgo Brut (it’s Sicilian!)


I knew the lunch at A16 was going to be fabulous. Luck was on my side that day: no traffic coming into the city, I was able to avoid the Marina District hills (manual transmission, Dear Reader), and I found a great parking spot right away.

Since I had been praying to the Porcine God earlier, I planned on ordering the pork liver terrina but it wasn’t on the menu that day. So to start, I ordered the wonderfully subtle ciccioli:


Next up was the burrata with prosciutto. Yes, burrata is excellent on its own but slathered in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt it becomes amazing:


Both of these apps paired really well with the sparkling white. The Aglianico, which was HUGE, didn’t work as well (although it tasted fine with the burrata alone). I was originally going to order a bottle of Aglianico but once I put on my reading glasses the bottle that I wanted ended up being priced at $228. I had to implement Plan B.

Mumsy’s choice was the scarola pizza since she’s old school Italian and loves her sautéed escarole.


This was not my favorite dish (although it tasted pretty good the next morning with a fried egg on it.) I noticed that most people ordered pizza at lunch and the pizza of choice at A16 is the Margherita supplemented with prosciutto and arugula. I will definitely try that next time that I am there.

Two views of the utterly famous meatballs:




These were so lovely - they were almost as good as mine (nota bene: every Italian cook thinks that they make the best meatballs). The meatballs were the perfect match with the Aglianico – the meat and the sauce just brought that wine to life. When I put a spoonful of the sauce in my mouth for the first time, I tasted this wonderfully rich pork flavor; I’m wondering if the sauce is simmered with other pieces of pork along with the meatballs?

As we learned from our burrata appetizer “what doesn’t taste better slathered in olive oil and sea salt?” How about a chocolate budino tart? This was insanely good. We all know that salt goes great with chocolate but olive oil? Yes, Dear Reader, the olive oil added a new level of unctuousness to the creamy chocolate tart.


I’m looking forward to trying the expanded dinner menu.

A16
2355 Chestnut Street
San Francisco, CA
www.a16sf.com

Ad Hoc, Street, and BarBersQ - The Fried Chicken Trifecta

A preview of coming attractions – a platter of fried chicken at Ad Hoc:


People up here are always baffled by how far I’m willing to drive for food. The Nappans are always shocked that I do food shopping in Berkeley (it’s cheaper!) and the people in San Francisco can’t understand why I would drive from Napa to the city for dinner. In Los Angeles no one thinks twice about rejecting a potential squeeze because they may be considered geographically undesirable but a true foodie worth his or her salt will drive anywhere for a good meal.

How far was I willing to drive (one way) for good fried chicken?

Ad Hoc (11 Miles):

Ms. Diva Princess was in the city for a few days and informed me that she would be coming up to Napa to stay with me for a day or two. It’s only the best for my little Princess so I made rezzies at Ad Hoc. It didn’t really matter what was on the menu that night since all Princess needs is a bottle of wine to make her happy. Nevertheless, I was thrilled to discover that it was fried chicken night since I’ve been hearing of its infamy for months.

Some balk at paying $48 per person for fried chicken but how many of those dinners are served with a white anchovy salad?

And French Laundry garden vegetables?

I totally dug this fried chicken. The execution was perfect: nice and crispy without being greasy. The batter had a nice kick to it. Princess remarked to mumsy that she was unimpressed with Ad Hoc since they “only served fried chicken” but she obviously forgot that she raided my refrigerator the next morning and ate three beautiful pieces and left me the dregs – those dregs still tasted pretty damn good the next day.

Fried chicken is normally served on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday of each week.

Street (46.9 miles):

When I told mumsy that I was going to drive into the city for a fried chicken specific dinner, she said, “When you were really skinny you wouldn’t go near fried chicken.” Well, I’m not really skinny anymore and I’ll now drive 50 miles for it.

I was initially a little skeptical about the fried chicken at Street. I had read that it was skinless and I wondered if the chicken would be dry. I was pleasantly surprise when I took my first bite: although it was not really juicy, the meat was not dry at all. The coating was crispy, well seasoned, and not at all greasy. Everyone really liked the fried chicken but I have to say that this chicken needs to be eaten right away – it wilted tremendously on the ride home (ok, ok, it was a long drive and I got hungry) and wasn’t as good left over the next day.


The sides here are a carboholics dream: fresh shucked sautéed corn; mashed with gravy; and if you are feeling indulgent, you can splurge for the sour cream corn bread - and I suggest that you do. I wasn’t too enamored with the coleslaw though, it had too much celery seed in it and it also tasted like the acid in the dressing was Meyer lemon which gave it a somewhat weird flavor like slightly sour (not in a good way) mixed with lemon ice cream.

Fried chicken is served only on Sunday nights.

BarBersQ (5.2 miles):

The unveiling of the BarbersQ fried chicken (Pepper approved!):



After reading about fried chicken night at BarBersQ in Napa my expectations were really high. The chef, Stephen Barber, took a foodie road trip throughout the state of Kansas researching fried chicken, and his efforts have paid off: I had an excellent meal. I was a bit worried at first since I got the dinner to-go but the chicken stayed very warm and crispy in its container on the ride home (it’s obvious that this chicken is fried to order). This fried chicken dinner was my favorite of the three due to the well seasoned and crispy crust (they use a flour coating as opposed to a batter) and the fact that the meat was uber juicy. And it tasted great the next day.

Although my favorite mashed were at Ad Hoc, BarBersQ gravy was fabulous – it had such a rich, deep flavor. The meal is also served with collards. These I had an issue with: they either had sugar in them or the restaurant used a very sweet vinegar to flavor them. I guess it’s a matter of personal taste but I prefer a savory chile spiked vinegar on my greens. Since I wanted to go into a carb coma, I also ordered a side of macaroni and cheese which was fairly good.

Fried chicken is served all day Sunday.

Ad Hoc
6476 Washington Street
Yountville, CA 94599
(707) 944-2487
http://www.adhocrestaurant.com/

Street
2141 Polk Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 775-1055
http://www.streetonpolk.com/

BarBersQ
3900 D Bel Aire Plaza
Napa, CA 94558
(707) 224-6600
http://www.barbersq.com/

Yu's Garden (of Earthly Delights)

Below, can this noodle whore go anywhere without ordering a bowl of wonton noodle soup?




Ever since my brother got married, mumsy has discovered that it’s easier for him to fly to China to visit his mother-in-law than it is for him to drive to Los Angeles (from San Diego) to visit her. This past Mother’s Day, said brother and his bride drove up the 101 to Hollywood (ok, Dear Reader how close is Silver Lake to both the 101 and Hollywood?) to attend an anti anti Beijing Olympics rally but had no time to stop by and visit for even five minutes. It has come down to this: if we want to see him we have to meet him in Orange County.

But since he has started taking us to Yu’s Garden this is not such a bad thing. Not only is the food good it’s also incredibly cheap. There is a menu that you can order off of but it’s so much fun to choose from the various hot and cold delicacies from their “deli” case. Two items piled on a plate costs just under $5; for a buck more you can get three items.




Plate No. 1 consists of star anise braised chicken “drumettes” and a sesame seaweed salad (or maybe it’s gong cai?)

Plate No. 2 consists of a yuba (tofu skin) salad and a wonderful chopped green bean salad with ground pork. The green beans had some type of really yummy sour funky flavor in it (this was my favorite dish, I could have eaten it all day long.)

Plate No. 3 consists of more tofu salad (can you ever get enough?) and “drunken” chicken. These two dishes go so well together.

Add another plus to this place: there is a Ranch 99 and a fro yo place that serves LAMILL coffee in the same complex.

Update: since I'll be en Napa for Thanksgiving, male sibling will actually be going to mumsy's house for dinner; I guess it was me who he was avoiding all along.

Yu’s Garden
5408 Walnut Avenue, Suite H
Irvine, CA 92604
(949) 654-2366