Fajitas- The Forgotten 80's Classic

There are few foods hotter these days than Texas Hill Country Barbecue specifically smoked brisket. People are waiting two hours early in the morning for Franklin Barbecue in Austin (which recently appeared in the movie Chef and Obama himself has stopped by). Shows on the Food Network and the Travel Channel are extolling generations of pit masters who have worked the legendary spots like Salt Lick, etc. New York City has no less than four restaurants devoted to Hill Country BBQ with places like Brisketown
But back in the 80's as a kid living in the Hill Country, BBQ was not a big deal. Don't get me wrong, I loved it. Instead of crappy deli meat, I got my mom to buy brisket by the pound and make my lunch with that. But it wasn't something made to worship, it just was part of everyday life. What was a big deal at that time was a sliced skirt steak dish served with peppers and onions on a sizzling hot plate- the Fajita.

Now this was special occasion food. During the early 80's we would trek all the way to Market Square in the heart of San Antonio to eat at La Margarita. There waiters jostled about with sizzling platters of fajitas that would be brought to your table with great fanfare. You assembled your own tacos with a myriad of ingredients brought to your table. Mariachis played in background, the location was historic, the food was good, the whole scene was magical. It was my understanding as a kid that the early Fajitas were an effective way to feed cattle ranch hands with a "throw away" cut of tough meat and that the dish was commercialized by La Margarita in the 1920's/1930's. From there it formed the centerpiece of the Tex-Mex menu throughout the remainder of the 20th century

La Margarita

Of course this was all complete bullshit. The "Fajita" didn't appear until the 1970's and those Fajitas were skirt steak cut up into strips and assembled into tacos. No sizzling plates here. It was a German head chef at the restaurant in the Austin Hyatt who came up with the sizzling steak concept in 1982 (for complete history see this excellent article here). Customer loved the theatrics of a sizzling plate arriving at their table with all of the fanfare that entailed. Soon he was moving 13,000 orders of this stuff a month. And soon more legit Tex-Mex restaurants picked up on this dish success and started replicating it at their own restaurants.

Unfortunately by the late 1980's, everyone was doing Fajitas and the dish was watered down. Skirt steak started to get expensive and restaurants started pitching shrimp and chicken fajitas. All of the Mexican chain restaurants(i.e. Chevy's, El Torrito, etc.) started serving the dish often cuts other than skirt. The final nail in the coffin was when fast food chains got in the game with the legendary Chicken Fajita Pita at Jack-in-the-Box and what Taco Bell called Fajita tacos. The once proud icon of 80's Tex-Mex cooking was now a fast food joke best represented in the first episode of Family Guy when Peter orders 6000 chicken "va-ji-tas" .

Ian's Fajitas

Well its time to take this dish back! You are going to have to make it yourself since finding a decent restaurant version is next to impossible outside of Texas. The key to a good plate of fajitas is a long marinade that tenderizes the meat and gives it that distinctive taste. Also use skirt steak! No sirloin, no tenderloin, and I wouldn't even use flank. The beefiness and fat content of skirt is key to the dish. Alternative cuts just don't have the same level of flavor or don't have the right fat content. Make sure you have a cast iron pan as a non sizzling plate of fajitas is just sad. Outside of those rules, feel free to make the dish your own. The dish was born as a hodge podge of more traditional ingredients, so there is not a longstanding tradition to follow here.

Here is how I make it:

Fajitas for Two
(will feed two Texans, four of anybody else)

Ingredients:
1 lbs of Skirt Steak
1  Onion cut into rings
1  Julienned Red Bell Pepper
1  Julienned Bell Pepper
2  tbs Minced Garlic
1/2 Cup Worcester Sauce
2 tbs Goya Adobo with Coriander
1 tbs Freshly Ground Pepper
1 Packet Goya Sazon
1 Tbs Canola Oil
1/2 tsp Cayenne (optional)

Additions:
2 Cups of Shredded Monterrey Jack
2 Cups Shredded Romaine Lettuce
1 Cup Minced Cilantro
Salsa
10 Flour Tortillas

1. Mix together the garlic, Worcester Sauce, Adobo, Sazon and pepper in small bowl
2. Combine spice mix with steak, onion and peppers in a gallon sized bag
3. Marinate in the refrigerator for 24 hours
5. Assemble your extra ingredients
4. Heat a gas grill up to 450 degrees

5. Heat oil in a cast iron pan
6. Place meat on the grill cooking each side for 2 or 3 minutes
7. Saute onions and peepers on the heated cast iron pan until peppers are slightly charred and onions are
    caramelized
8. Let the skirt steak sit for five minutes then slice into thin strips
9. Add skirt steak to the sizzling pan and saute with the peppers and onions
10. Serve the pan still sizzling to the table with all of the extras

Spanish Cuisine-Does It Translate?

In the late 1990's, I was planning a post-graduate backpacking trip to Europe. My route was going to take me from London to Paris to Spain. I had devoted two weeks out of my month long trip to exploring Spain for one reason only...it was cheap. I knew a smidgen of Spanish, a little about its history (mostly in relation to the Americas) and liked the movie Barcelona.  But as I did my research on Spain, I became more and more fascinated. More than anything I was intrigued by tapas-little plates that were individually described and photographed in my Eyewitness Guide. Back then there were few Spanish restaurants and very few tapas bars. The small plate trend was a couple of years away and I had never been to tapas bar (it sounded vaguely erotic). It was with great anticipation that I headed to Spain to try these tasty morsels.

Once I arrived in my first destination-Madrid I didn't have much success with the food. My companion was not much of adventurer so our dining options were fairly limited. Most the time what I discovered was that most restaurants didn't fall into the classic models described in my guidebooks. The tavern that I had lunch in served a large grilled pallard (chicken) with french fries and a  gazpacho starter. I was quickly learning that Spanish food was much more than the classic Patas Bravas, Albondigas, and Spanish Tortilla of the guide books. The places that served those dishes were for tourists. In Granada, I had a delicious mixed fried seafood plate-misto fritto and ham with the freshest tasting peas that I have ever enjoyed. Then in Barcelona, I ate at the legendary Cal Pep a seafood tavern where I dined on delicate fried baby squid, blistering padron peppers and clams that tasted better than any that I have had since. I can remember the look on my girlfriend's face when I told the bartender "Que Recomenda"and have never regretted that decision since. One of my great foodie moments.

     

Cal Pep's Clams

However, I have found that Spanish cuisine doesn't translate well in the United States. Too often Spanish restaurants serve the same dishes that you find at the tourist traps in Spain. The same dishes appeared at every Spanish joint I tried- Patas Bravas, Albondigas, and Paella(which would have its own type of restaurant devoted to it in Spain). It was like when Spaghetti and Meatballs, Chicken Parm and Raviolis dominated the menu of "Red Sauce" Italian restaurants for years. Luckily that is no longer the case for Italian restaurants have regionalized and absorbed local California ingredients into their menus. However, the same cannot be said for Spanish restaurants for the most part. Why don't we have Spanish restaurants that focus on one region or type of cooking? Even big name Spanish restaurants like Jaleo served all of the classics albeit delicious versions of them. Where were the daring regional or fusion Spanish restaurants that would transform the cuisine like we have seen with Italian and to a lesser degree Japanese cuisine.

In the Bay Area, a couple of big Spanish restaurants have opened up recently- Shakewell, Coqueta, and Duende. Shakewell is Spanish-inspired while Coqueta and Duende feature a few unique dishes mixed with the classics. Duende had several creative dishes that broke the traditional Spanish menu mold like Txipiones (fried baby squid with frisee) but featured standards like patatas bravas and paella. The space is beautiful with Art Deco flourishes and a fabulous bar centering the space. However the dish that I was ultimately the most excited (Txipiones-fried baby squid) to try was the most disappointing.  The baby squid were over cooked and paled comparison to the fried gossamer bites that I experienced at Cal Pep. The prices were high with most of the tapas being priced in the teens.  For the amount of money spent versus the middling quality of the dishes, better value/experience can be found at Shakewell and Coqueta.

Txipiones at Duende

Coqueta felt like a Disneyland version of a Spanish tapas bar with a beautiful setting on Pier 5 smack dab on center of the San Francisco Embarcadero. The space at first glance was stunning with a glassed in bar separate from the main restaurant and a big city brasserie meets rustic tavern look in the main restaurant. But upon closer inspection(and a trip to the bathroom) the buildings roots as a waterfront warehouse appear. The whole thing feels like you are on a sound stage or in Vegas. The service was excellent with a very attentive waitress who knew her stuff and wasn't afraid to direct you to the highlights of the menu. Even if I didn't always agree with her assessments, I appreciated her command of the menu. My wife and I started off with fantastic Rioja (Biga de Luberri) that got the evening started on the right note. There were plenty of (relatively) reasonable wines on the list which is a nice touch for a restaurant like this. We got some pinxtos(tapas on skewers) which were a mixed bag. Chorizo and Manchego made for a happy couple but the quail egg and jamon serrano didn't have chemistry. At $2.50 each these were not cheap bites. Next we got a Kale Salad with Strawberries($12) that I read was excellent. I am generally suspicious of all things kale but this has to be the best salad I have had all year. Everything in this dish worked together- the soft cheese bound the kale and strawberries together and the acidity of the dressing finished the dish off perfectly. The next dish was a "sunny side up" huevo ($13) that was the most intriguing item on the menu. It consisted of a sunny side up egg that was mixed tableside with fried potato matchsticks, shrimp, and chorizo infused dressing. While it looked and sounded spectacular the dish itself was slightly overpowered by the chorizo dressing. The wife thought it made the dish unappetizing but I believed if salinity was toned down slightly it would have been perfect. Finally we finished with the Seafood Paella which was technically perfect...good "la raspa" (burnt rice layer), quality ingredients, and decent flavoring. The ingredients were separated from the paella and then composed tableside with a lemon/garlic aioli. A very sophisticated Paella with a price tag to match($45). A strong meal but the cost and hassle of obtaining a reservation were big detractors from the overall experience at Coqueta. Coqueta was like a Las Vegas interpretation of Spanish cuisine-good, pricey, and somehow disingenuous.

"Sunny Side Huevos" uncomposed

Finally I made it to Shakewell, a Spanish inspired restaurant that just opened up on Lakeshore Ave in Oakland. I had high hopes for this restaurant as it was only two exits down from my house and could easily make my regular rotation. Upon a arrival, Shakewell has that look that most new Oakland restaurants posses....slick bar, loud, open kitchen in the back. Nice but nothing exceptional or noteworthy unlike Coqueta and Duende. We were last minute drop ins due to a severely delayed flight. Rather than subject ourselves to the horror of Oakland Airport food we decided to relax with a few cocktails and small dinner here at Shakewell. The menu consisted of small plates of varying sizes-with no patatas bravas or gambas al aijo to be found. They have section for rice dishes called Bombas(in honor of the grain that they use) that fill the gap for paella.  The prices were $5 dollars less than those at Coqueta on average. With many of the small plates and salads being under $10 dollars. We avoided the Bombas and ordered on the lighter side due to time concerns. First up came a quartet of melon/jamon serrano pixtos ($6 or $1.50 each) that made for a refreshing starter.  Also on the small plates menu we chose the Octopus/Olive cerviche-esque combo. The tartness of the olives formed a nice foil to buttery octopus. For mains we chose the Albacore($19) and Lamb Kefta ($17). While both of these dishes had a more of an Middle Eastern influence then embodied the spirit of spanish cuisine-great local ingredients and playful presentations. The Kefta was arranged as five "lollipops" with a tangy yogurt sauce. The lamb was well seasoned but would have benefited from a second element to the dish. The albacore was the star of the evening. The fish was cooked perfectly and paired well with a smoky eggplant spread and crispy sugar peas. We finished with the churros that were fresh from the fryer and a great way to finish the meal. While there were service miscues, overall this was the favorite of the three restaurants. In large part because Shakewell dishes broke the generic Spanish mold.

Lamb Kafta Lollipop

Seared albacore with charred eggplant

So has Spanish cuisine finally been translated in the Bay Area? I am not sure but things certainly have improved in the fifteen years since my meal at Cal Pep. Of course that meal becomes less real and more legendary as the years go by. Some recent reviews that I read talk about Cal Pep going downhill and becoming a tourist trap. Hopefully I will get to go back to Barcelona in the near future and find out for myself. But in the meantime I am more and more excited about what is available in the Bay Area.

Southern Fried

I am not a fan of the South. Well let me rephrase that...I am not a fan of the modern South with its endless sprawl and affinity for generic chain restaurants. Now there is the South of New Orleans, Charleston, and Savannah all beacons of how to properly fuse the old with the new. Charleston and New Orleans are world class food cities with great culture and history to match. Then there are cities like Charlotte and Atlanta with their massive metros, god awful traffic and generic eats. The restaurants worth eating at are few and far between in Atlanta where the dining scene is more geared to pleasing business travelers rather developing a unique food scene grounded in local culture. On a recent trip ATL, I got to witness this first hand as a semi national chain restaurant with frozen ingredients had a 40 minute waiting list while a reasonably priced local restaurant struggled to fill up their dinning room. However not all is lost as some restaurants have found a way to fuse traditional southern cuisine with modern food trends such local ingredients and head to tail eating. Here is a breakdown of my recent experiences in the "Dirty South"

Head to Tail at Holman and Finch:

I first went to Holman and Finch back in 2009 when the whole head to tail eating trend was hitting full steam. It featured dishes you just didn't see on menus like Fried Rocky Mountain Oysters (lamb testicles) and a lovely veal brains spread. But the cooking featured a distinct southern sensibility with emphasis on fried preparations and lots of pork. During our most recent visit we just tried three dishes as we knew we would be eating at a friend's (then) restaurant later that evening. We got the aforementioned lamb balls, a new dish which was a pork skin noodle/shiitake mushroom soup and a GA shrimp roll done in a lobster roll style.  All three were excellent. The lamb testicles were perfectly fried and came with a delicious mustard based sauce. They melted in your mouth just like a good ball should...(I tried to convince my wife that my testicles would be just as enjoyable later that evening to no avail...:) The GA Shrimp tasted just like a lobster roll but with fresh shrimp and as we know from my last post I love a good lobster roll.  The Pork Skin Noodle was the real winner in my book. I was initially wary as it sounded more Asian than southern with shiitake mushrooms. However the finished product was definitely a nice rift on a classic Japanese Ramen with the pork skin taking the place of the noodles and the pork broth featuring a smoky flavor that was invoked both the east and the west. A classic Asian fusion dish (maybe if all of those 90's Asian fusion dishes were as successful a few more those establishments would still be around...RIP Cafe KATI, Grasshopper, Eos..etc).  To me Holman and Finch is the quintessential restaurant that other Atlanta restaurants should be looking to. A must try for any foodie while visiting the ATL (probably on a god awful business trip).

Lamb Ball!!

Gastro Pubbin' at The Drafting Table:

The next stop on this tour was The Drafting Table where our friend was working at the time. Even though he no longer works there, we did get a comped meal and in my book that means a mention in my blog. The Drafting Table is in an odd part of town that is not downtown(though very close), not Little Five Points, not Grant Park, not Cabbagetown. You know one those niches between neighborhoods like the Upper Market stretch near the Octavia on-ramp..not the Castro, not Hayes Valley and not the Mission. Anyways the Drafting Table had a nice space in a new urban condo complex that used to be a pencil factory or something like that. The inside was a little sparse but did have an inviting vibe. The menu was less adventurous than Holman and Finch but featured some interesting choices. We went with the 50/50 burger and the Curried Oxtail for entrees plus the Beer Battered Cauliflower to start. The cauliflower featured a nice batter but the addition of the house made chouchou elevated the dish. The pickled mix was sweet and not too briny and made nice addition to the hot tender cauliflower. The 50/50 burger was good with a nice smokiness due to its better bacon half. The burger was a little over cooked but I guess with bacon you are not looking for a medium rare center. The Curried Oxtail was mammoth plate filled with a spicy curried oxtail that was tamed by the addition of bitter sauteed greens and wintery mashed sweet potatoes. The meat was tender and I found myself going to town on the bones to get as much as I could. Overall a good meal especially if you are staying downtown which is a food wasteland.

Curried Oxtail with Spiced Sweet Potato Mash

Good Country Cooking in 'burbs-the Chicken and the Egg

With the exception of Decatur, the food scene outside of Atlanta is hopeless. Chain restaurants rule the day with their similarly uninspired eats. However, my in-laws had eaten at a relatively new farm to table restaurant on the outskirts of west Marietta called the Chicken and the Egg. The space was in one of those unnecessary strip malls that they couldn't build enough of in the last decade. Smack dab in the middle was the Chicken and the Egg. The inside was much more impressive with a nice bar and large interior. The decor was a little Hiltonesque but given the setting I don't know if there was much more they could do with the space. The menu featured country classics with local ingredients and everything was made from scratch. The mother-in-law got the meatloaf, my wife got the flat iron or hanger steak (boring), and I got the country fried steak(which I can never resist) and we started with black eyed pea hummus. The black eyed pea hummus was delicious with smooth texture of good hummus but the kick of a black eyed pea. A another great example of fusion pulled off successfully. The meat loaf had a smokey taste and lush texture with no hint of dryness. My country fried steak was exactly what I was looking for with a loose crust, well seasoned non-collaguated gravy, and a tender steak. It's probably a good thing that I cannot find a suitable specimen here in California otherwise I would be 300lbs! Overall an excellent, well priced meal from a locally owned restaurant.    

Hand Crafted Country Fried Steak with Traditional Sides..Yum!

Now their are plenty of cities like Atlanta out there and spread of bad food is not just confined to the South (I am looking at you Ohio...). But by not eating at a chain restaurant and trying out that new farm to table place or a long time local holdout, you help reverse the trend. If you travel for work, I would recommend making the effort to search these places out. Otherwise, there will just be an Olive Garden and Applebees world in our future.

Lobster Madness

In the 1980's while other kids were delightfully digging into Happy Meals and boxes of Kraft Mac & Cheese, a little boy in central Texas was dreaming of lobster. Lobster was my favorite food up until the age of 11 or 12 and I consistently pestered my family for the pricey treat. More often than not that meant a broiled rubbery tail that had spent more of its life frozen than attached to a large bug walking the ocean floor. The options in San Antonio were limited to places like Red Lobster or my birthday favorite the Magic Time Machine(see link here). A few standouts were the grilled lobster tails that I enjoyed in Jamaica that were fresh from the ocean and imparted with smokiness missing from insipid chain versions that I normally enjoyed. However, I never came close to visiting the motherland of lobster, New England. 

As my tastes evolved my love for lobster diminished. I associated lobster with old school surf and turf places that delivered less than stellar eats. There were new frontiers to explore like Dim Sum, Japanese, Asian Fusion, Regional Italian, and every other food trend of the last 20 years. Lobster was now a menu item that I generally avoided in favor of something like prosciutto wrapped rabbit loin. 

Classic Surf and Turf

But like all things from the 80's, lobster is making a comeback in my diet. This has been largely driven my trips to the Boston area over the past five years. Deep in the crustacean motherland, I have had lobster dishes light years ahead of what I have experienced in the past. A few standouts include a phenomenal lemongrass fried rice stuffed lobster at Blue Ginger in Wellesley and the lobster bake at Legal Seafood. But I have really taken it to the next level with my most recent trips to MA. I had not one, not two ,but three different types of lobster rolls and the crown jewel of all surf and turfs-lobster roe noddles with short ribs at Island Creek Oyster House. So without further ado here is a list of the lobster dishes that I have enjoyed in the Boston area. 

1. Lobster Roll- Summer Shack Cambridge MA

For my first Lobster Roll, I hit up the Summer Shack with a couple of co-workers. I had been to Summer Shack years earlier during my first trip back east. It looked exactly the same after all these years. Everyone at the table ordered the lobster roll so I can't comment on the rest of the menu which featured your standard New England seafood options. The roll was a salad style roll versus the hot buttered type. The bun was a classic NE England hot dog bun. The chunks of lobster were glued together with mayo and cucumber (instead of celery). It included a bunch of standard fries for good measure. Overall it was the weakest roll that I tasted in these two trips to the Boston area but still better than any Lobster Roll you will ever get outside of New England. The lobster was plentiful and the cucumber added a unique element to the roll. The roll was also the cheapest I had at $20.00. 

2. Lobster Roe Noodles- Island Creek Oyster Bar Boston MA

My wife had gone to Island Creek early in 2012 and was a big fan. So when I had a free night from training, I convinced a couple of my fellow conscripts to make the trek out to the Back Bay for further lobster treats. Island Creek was nothing like the faux lobster shack environment of the Summer Shack. This was a large big city restaurant with a beautiful interior and stylish clientele from adjacent Commonwealth Hotel. The menu reflected that sophistication with upmarket seafood dishes like locally sourced Monkfish, Bay of Maine line caught Halibut and about 15 different types of oysters.  Everyone in the party was intent on having lobster rolls but the server tried to steer us away. He mentioned that their signature dish was Lobster Roe Noodles($27.00). These noodles where fettuccine with the lobster roe added to the pasta mix. The noodles were then topped with chunks of lobster and short rib. Well how could I say no to such a modern interpretation of surf and turf. The others stuck with the lobster roll. When our dishes arrived it was clear that I chose the winner. The lobster roll was fine but the noodles were out of this world. They melted in your mouth with a light lobster flavor that was enhanced by the chunks of tender short ribs and buttery lobster. The dish came together with a delicious gravy and earthy shiitake mushrooms. This has to be one of the top 3 lobster dishes that I have ever eaten. 

Lobster Roe Noodles at Island Creek Oyster House

3. Lobster Roll-Legal C Bar  Logan International Terminal B 

I wasn't expecting to be eating at Legal C Bar but thanks to an indefinite delay due to fog in San Francisco I spend the better part of an evening there. Outside of security at Terminal B, it is the only dining option for Virgin American flyers. I wasn't expecting that much at the airport but they actually produced a serious lobster roll(salad style). It was chock full of lobster and featured celery as a proper salad lobster roll should. It was the best meal one could ask for at an airport especially considering the lack of other options at Terminal B for Virgin Flyers. It almost made up for the 6 hour delay and the reverse red eye I had to endure...almost...

Legal's Lobster Roll...a classic rendition

4. Neptune Oyster Bar- Boston, MA

While I was enjoying all of these great lobster dishes, my colleague Norm was regaling me about his trip to Neptune Oyster Bar and the divine hot buttered lobster roll. Everyone at the Cambridge office that I was training at told me that Neptune was a challenging place to get into in the North End. Norm and I decided that we needed to go on the slowest night possible. So we chose September 11th a Monday, it seemed like it would be the slowest day possible. Well after a 60 minute wait (promised 20 minutes) we were squeezed in between two couples on the counter the pocket sized restaurant. The menu was short with several raw bar options along with a few hot favorites. We went with the hot buttered lobster rolls of course but also convinced ourselves that we could down the Trident Plateau a massive collection of raw bar classics($59). The Plateau was a sight to behold and could have been a meal onto itself. Filled with cooked chilled lobster meat, oysters, littleneck clams, mussels, and crab salad it was shellfish overload. Then the lobster rolls arrived($25).... A simple hot dog bun filled with giant chunks of buttered lobster..it was truly a thing of beauty. So simple yet so divine... While I enjoyed my dining experience more at Island Creek, it was hard to resist the raw carnal power of buttered lobster chucks and copious amounts of shellfish.    

Hot Buttered Lobster Roll..pure food porn...

After Neptune's I took a sabbatical from lobster and haven't had it since. But another trip to Boston looms on the horizon and I can not resist the siren song of the divine crustaceans forever...

Food Trucks or A Roach Coach Filled with Hipsters is still a Roach Coach

In the long ago, there were no food trucks. There were Roach Coaches. Generic lunch trucks that roamed light industrial parks and the financial districts of the United States offering a blah menu of pre-prepared sandwiches and sodas. They were the outcasts of the food world. The last resort of workers too busy to make the five block journey to a real restaurant. Out of this primordial food ooze arose the Taco Truck-an ideal marriage of the Roach Coach and the traditional but not USDA approved Mexican street cart . These trucks provided awesome tacos filled with a variety of meats for about half the cost of a traditional brick and mortar taqueria and with the advent of the internet quickly developed a foodie following.

Meanwhile a in cold and rainy place filled with well educated but impoverished hipsters called Portland, Oregon another movement was taking place. There locavores were establishing food carts throughout the city and specializing in a variety of different delights. The logos were hip and food was varied(and sometimes excellent) and soon the crowds showed up. These carts began to congregate together and formed pods (see my first post for more info!). Recognizing an opportunity but realizing that his own city was going to be less supportive than Portland to a semi-permanent food cart, some twenty something pseudo-entrepreneur decided to open the first hipster roach coach...I mean food truck.*

These trucks are decorated with cool characters (pandas, little monsters, giant metal pigs) and staffed with a solid line up of hipster order takers and "cooks". However, the one things these trucks have forgotten is value. For their too cool for school menus, these trucks turn out mediocre eats for surprisingly high prices. Having eaten at about two dozen of these trucks in both Seattle and San Francisco, I can say only two or three have delivered something worthwhile. Which is a shame because the concept of the food truck is really cool. You want that giant metal pig truck to deliver excellent eats but unfortunately it rarely does.

Looking at the lemmings standing in line for mediocre Vietnamese Food 

For a case study, I am going to compare celebrity food truck Nom Nom (the SF version) and the decidedly unglamorous Tu Tai III in the "transitional" Dimond neighborhood in Oakland. Both are Vietnamese focused with menus primarily devoted to dishes like Bahn Mi' and bun but that is where the similarities end. Nom Nom was founded by two hot panethnic twenty-something ladies in LA and featured on the Great Food Truck Race. They charge $6.95 for a Banh Mi, and $8.95 for a lemon grass pork bun(vermicelli noodle salad). To prove their hipster credentials they have Vietnamese taco on the menu. Their SF truck frequents the financial district and often has a long line. Their slogan is " Bringing Bahn Mi to the masses". Which makes no sense because the two markets that they operate in-SF and LA-have thousands of Bahn Mi options and in the case of the SF financial district a dozen or so within easy walking distance....but I digress...

Tu Tai III on the other hand is in storefront next to Cybelle's pizza that has housed several Chinese restaurants before becoming a part of the Tu Tai empire...(Tu Tai II is in Alameda and Tu Tai is in San Leandro). It is not a particularly noteworthy Vietnamese restaurant(only a few Yelp reviews) and is usually empty. Their menu is significantly longer than Nom Nom and features the standard Vietnamese options. The grilled pork Bahn Mi is $3.75 and their combination bun with grilled pork and an imperial roll is $7.95. I do not believe that Tu Tai III has a slogan but I could be mistaken.

Considering I have not had a Bahn Mi at either establishment I am going to focus on a comparison of their buns. Nom Nom produces a smallish bun with some minced pork combined with noodle salad. It looked like one of those prepared versions that you see at a Lee's Sandwich store for about $4 dollars. Considering the price tag, I thought it would more resemble one of the bun that you might find at Out the Door in the Ferry Building but no such luck. The bun itself was very run the mill and the meat was nothing special(FYI...there was no indication that the pork came from a humane/local/non-gestation create source). It could have been easily served at a generic Vietnamese sandwich shop.  You can make your own judgement based on the picture below(which looks nothing like the picture on their website):

Sad looking Lemongrass Pork Bun from Nom Nom sitting lonely on my desk at work

     At Tu Tai III, the combination Bun was different beast indeed. Here the bun was a towering bowl filled with vermicelli and veggies. The pork was in whole pieces and not minced. The bowl came with an imperial roll which in this case was a fried pork egg roll essentially. Overall the bun was good but nothing spectacular compared to dearly departed Tu Lan, Cordon Bleu, or the fancy versions at Slanted Door. However it did represent a considerable step up in flavor and value from the Nom Nom truck version shown above.

Grilled Pork Bun with Imperial Roll at Tu TaiIII

Now I don't want you thinking that I hate the whole mobile food movement. I have had excellent dishes from carts usually at events like Eat Real Oakland. But it looks like that the branded trucks favor flash over quality. The best trucks that I have eaten at focus more on doing a couple of dishes right in nondescript vehicles versus something that sports flashy graphics, cute cartoon characters and fancy taco's. Maybe once the whole hipster element moves on and the TV shows fade away we can have a truly mobile food culture here in the Bay Area that places substance above style.

FYI: There are a couple of food trucks that are actually worth a visit:

The Chairman-an extremely trendy truck but their specialty baked buns have a nice combination of flavors-especially the Coca Cola braised pork.

Skillet- the original Seattle truck has a fantastic Poutine

The Architect's Kitchen-fried chicken in the Financial District that is decent. They sell a massive Chicken Sandwich that is worth checking out.

That is about it. Let me know if there is a great food truck out there I am missing out on. I would love to put out another post out there rebuking this one.

* There is some debate who opened the first hipster food truck. Mission Street Food by Anthony Mynt which lasted four weeks  is considered to be the forerunner in Northern California. But Skillet in Seattle and Kobi in LA have also been around for a little while now.  

Seattle Final Thoughts

Living in my new house in the Oakland hills, my time in Seattle seem like a blur. An extended vacation that like all vacations had to end. I would be remiss not to mention a couple of places that I will miss from my time in Seattle.

1. Chuck's

When I first moved to Seattle, Chuck's was your standard convenience store. Somehow in the course of 18 months it turned into a temple of awesomeness. More and more space was devoted to a rich variety of NW microbrews, tables were added, and 30 taps were installed. While there are other beer store/bars in Seattle(see Bottleworks) none of those have ice cream for the kids! I could indulge my alcoholic tendencies while my children enjoyed a frozen treat...yeah!(Don't worry I lived walking distance from Chuck's) Then right before I left Chuck started having rotating food carts. Awesome! (Well I did get food poisoning from one of the carts but don't let that hold you back)

Yeah this is good stuff...

2. U:Don

Before the opening of U:Don in January of this year, Seattle was a noodle wasteland. There were a few mediocre Ramen places but not much else. Then there came U:Don...a cafeteria style establishment that crafts hand made udon noodles with a delicious broth. Once you select your noodle/broth combination, there is tempura bar of a fried goodies to choose from cafeteria style. My favorite combination was to get a large bowl of soup udon and then load it up with shrimp tempura, potato croquettes, and maybe some fried veggies. Then split the bowl up with the spawn. Total cost: $10.50 for three.

Udon!

3. Pike Place Market 

Yeah its touristy as hell but there is something awesome about the market. Unlike the Ferry Building there is no pretension with the Market. It is literally a maze of shops, produce markets, a cornucopia of food vendors , flowers peddlers, and of course seafood markets. I rarely shopped at the seafood markets given the cost of their wares. The produce markets were a better deal especially on veggies often carrying great local crops at lower than supermarket prices. The $5 dollar flower bouquets were also a great deal. But what I liked best were the random little shops. An outlet of the Spanish Table, the Bavarian Meat Market-a strangle little piece of Germany hiding in the recesses of one of the annex buildings, and the RR ranch outlet serving dry aged meat at a reasonable price.Is the Ferry Building cleaner, more foodie orientated, better organized...of course. But you will never get lost in the underwarrens in Ferry Building or find a 60's era German meat market there.

4. Whidbey Island

This is the West Marin of the Pacific Northwest. A foodies dream. Seafood trucks dotting the roads, ramshackle Farmer's Markets with truly local farmers selling just picked produce, and trendy little towns filled with establishments serving mussels and good micro-brews. It is an easy ferry ride from Mukilteo and the wandering road takes you near little villages like Coupeville and Langley. As you drive up to the top of the island make sure you stop by the seafood truck near the Goose market for great live seafood(spot prawns, clams, oysters, you name it). In the middle of the island you will uncover the Lavender Wind Farm nestled over a wind swept field exploding in purple. Ignore the ugly blip that is Oak Harbor and finish your trip at Deception Pass with awe inspiring views.

Whidbey Island

5. Salmon

In most corners of America, you have one choice in Salmon. A sickly orange piece of fish labeled Farm Raised Atlantic Salmon. This largely flavorless fish whose color is due to color pellets has nothing on the wild Salmon of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. In Seattle, the great clearing house for the vast majority of wild salmon(and 70% of the domestic seafood catch), the choices are vast. You can select fish by type (Coho, Sockeye, and Chinook(or King), color(Ivory, Marbled, or Standard), and location (Copper River). The prices are not cheap for the premium king salmon, but for a couple of weeks in the late summer you can usually find it on sale in the $9.99 to $12.99 pound price range. Once you take a bite into any of these varietals, the difference between the farm raised stuff becomes apparent. The depth of flavor and richness of the flesh define this fish. Even in the off season you will rarely find farmed raised stuff in stores or in restaurants. So strong is everyone's devotion to the wild stuff that they will eat frozen salmon rather utilize the fresh farm raised stuff.

I would recommend purchasing and preparing your own salmon. The restaurants charge a fortune for salmon even in Seattle and the selection is often limited. On exception would be Ray's Boathouse which usually carries premium salmon from a marquee location like Cooper River. Their view of the Sound is phenomenal as well and the salmon is always prepared correctly. Nothing groundbreaking with their food but for a "view restaurant" they always deliver.

It is sad to leave the Pacific Northwest and Seattle, but ultimately the weather and phenomenal food scene in the Bay Area will help me forget Seattle soon enough.

Pan seared King Salmon with grilled peaches and heirloom tomatoes 

Appendix:

Chuck's is located at 656 NW 85th Ave Seattle WA
http://chucks85th.wordpress.com/

U:Don is located at 4515 University Ave NE Seattle WA
http://freshudon.com/

Miso Soup

Miso soup is one of those dishes that most people think about as an afterthought. The starter for your $8.95 lunch bento box at your local strip mall sushi joint that is owned by a lovely Chinese couple. Something to slurp down before you get to your Teriyaki Chicken, California Roll, and that weird salad they always include in those things. Now most of you have probably never tasted real miso soup. The miso soup at that strip mall is probably a pre-made mix that you just add water to. A real miso soup is satisfying mixture of miso and dashi that warms the heart and the belly. It is extremely easy to make. So easy in fact that my five year old daughter is going to demonstrate for you how to make miso soup. I utilize instant dashi in this recipe instead of crafting my own dashi broth (which isn't that easy). If you want to take this recipe to the next level make your own dashi broth, add clams, kombu(seaweed), or shiitake mushrooms.


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