C Casa: Napa, CA (in the Oxbow Public Market)

This taqueria is one of the many delightful eateries in the Oxbow Public Market, which is just across the river from Napa’s main downtown. On C CASA’s  website it describes itself as an innovative kitchen and warns eaters that they’ll become addicted to the food served up.  After a dinner of guacamole, chips, a piled high taco and a pineapple agua fresca, I agree that C CASA is an innovative kitchen and a great restaurant.

Localness: 3

The menu and website mentions that sustainable ingredients are used (grass fed beef, free range chicken, etc.) But I didn’t notice any producers or suppliers listed on the website or menu. I have no doubt that they are doing what they are saying, but it could be great to know which sustainable producers they are supporting.

Flavor: 4

I was impressed by the innovation of C CASA. The menu is filled with unique taco creations. I had fresh guacamole and a spiced lamb taco that was piled high with mixed greens. It wasn’t the easiest taco to eat because it was very tall, but I didn’t mind using a fork to scoop up the yummy bits.  I quickly crunched through my chips and guacamole   None of the flavors in my meal crunched me over the top, but I appreciated that there were so many different flavor combinations offered.

There were a few creations posted that weren’t on the regular menu. When I visited a few weeks ago, I think it was an Asian fusion type of taco. I noticed that just now on the website they are offering two dishes as their ever changing Seasonal Dishes. There’s a crab salad with ruby grapefruit, avocado and fresno peppers all tossed with a jalapeno lemon vinaigrette as well as a duck taco with blood oranges, goat cheese, avocado, and a meyer lemon serrano salsa.

Also they have rotiessere duck and chicken. If I lived in the area, I’m sure I’d stop by every once in awhile to get a whole roasted duck to go. (I used to get this from my neighborhood roast duck vendor when I lived in Dalian, China.)

Pleasant Suprise: YES

For those of you who try to or have to eat gluten free, you know how difficult it can be to find baked goods that are devoid of gluten. I was super excited to see that C CASA offers a number of gluten free baked goods and sometimes even dairy+gluten free ones. When I visited, they had a massive chocolate-y gluten free brownie.  If I hadn’t already eaten enough chips and guac to feed a small family, I’m sure I would have tried a gluten free baked good. ;)

Comfort+Coziness:  4

The Oxbow Public Market is basically a giant food court. It’s lined with a variety of restaurants, and there are open seating areas scattered throughout the middle of the market.  Some restaurants have their own designated seating areas. And some also have outdoor dining, I noticed that C CASA has patio space set aside for their customers, but since it was a rainy day I wasn’t keen to eat outdoors.  Since it could be hard to find seating and because the noise level varies depending on the time of day you visit, I’d say the atmosphere (and that of the entire Oxbow Public Market) is fairly comfortable, but not cozy.  Also, the service at C CASA was friendly and prompt, which always makes for a pleasant dining experience.

Overall Rating:  11+

I would certainly return to C CASA if I lived in the area because there are many menu items and specials I’d love to try.  While I didn’t get much of an impression of being connected to the food (there weren’t any locations of farms listed on the menu), this is the type of place I hope to encounter with increased frequently.  People often rely on fast food chains, but I hope consumers can come to rely on places similar to C CASA… places with fresh options, sustainable ingredients and creative menu items.  It’s tons more fun to eat healthy quick food than greasy factory made fast food.

If you live near Napa, stop by C CASA and think of me as you enjoy a creative taco, piled high with fresh and sustainably raised ingredients!

 When Steve and I worked for corporations, we often attended conferences, each in our own professional areas: me in training and development and Steve in production agriculture or beef production. I like conferences because I enjoy networking with others in my field. Steve didn’t really like them because he would have rather been at home with me and the kids(…what a nice guy.)

Now that we have a new profession and we’re working together, we decided to make the first week of our winter vacation a learning vacation by driving to Little Rock, Arkansas to attend a sustainable farming conference. We had hoped to attend a pre-conference session by a somewhat famous urban farmer from Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Will Allen. Unfortunately his hands-on session was sold out.

Instead of putting our hands in the soil and learning about worms, we went on a tour of two community/school gardens near Little Rock. We put our backs into it and learned how to make a French Intensive row for planting at a school that is part of the Delta Garden Study with FoodCorps and the Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

 Steve did attend Will Allen’s breakout session and was impressed with his energy and passion for being able to take any surface, even asphalt, and grow things.  His ability to grow food anywhere relates to his ability to make excellent compost. This session made us wonder if we could grow crops on our parking lot.

During the two day conference Steve was drawn to attend sessions focused on the operations of growing food. I was drawn like a magnet to sessions based on food access, food hubs, and restaurant/farm partnerships. So even though we were together, we went our separate ways.

We have noticed before that when we go to conferences we feel a bit overwhelmed at the time and don’t really feel like we learn anything new. I think it comes from being introverts. We both need time by ourselves to process information.

Now that we have been home for about a month, we can say that what we gained most is a commitment and new-found confidence about the steps were are taking to transform our business from a traditional restaurant into a food establishment that strives to educate as well and feed our hungry customers.

Zzest Market and Cafe:  Rochester, MN

While in Rochester to visit a friend who was seeing doctors at the Mayo Clinic, we decided to look for interesting places to eat.

Zzest caught our attention with this tag line: Market by day, Restaurant by night. We were unsure if they had food at lunch, but we decided to drop in and check out the market a little before noon on a Saturday. The menu looked interesting and the place smelled good so we were motivated to stay for lunch.

Zzest is easy to reach from various locations around Rochester; it’s near the Apache Mall and next to the Trader Joe’s parking lot.

Review: (See Real Local Cooking’s criteria)

Localness: 3

Both local ingredients and speciality food items sold in the market are used in the restaurant.  My take is that they cater more to foodies than locavores. For example, you are as likely to see asparagus and octopus, which is very far from local to Minnesota, as you are to see braised local pork and fall veggies, which is what I ordered.

We don’t mean to speak poorly of this approach. It highlights the fact that true foodies seek the best in taste and dining experience, and they know that local is often the best way to get quality ingredients.  The purpose of our restaurant reviews is to seek out “real food” and the food at Zzest was carefully prepared using quality ingredients…some local and some exotic speciality items.

Flavour: 3

The Roasted Vegetable Salad was very good; best described by my friend as having “layers of flavor.” The roasted vegetables, which included one beet, some Brussels sprouts and cauliflower, were lovely. The pure deep taste of roasted vegetables came through. Underneath the roasted vegetables, the greens were laced with balsamic dressing and which brought forth another unique flavor. My pork was wholesome and enjoyable but provided no lingering memories.

Pleasant Surprise: Yes

When we walked through the door we found ourselves in a kitchen/gourmet food shop. We wandered around and then saw people dining in the restaurant area. Soon we discovered that the menu changes twice a day. This is an ambitious undertaking which requires creativity and fresh insight on the part of the three chefs.

We had a chance to look at the evening menu from the night before and the lunch menu for the current day. The dining room attendant explained to us that when the evening chefs arrive they figure out what they plan to cook that evening and then the menu is produced.

My preference is to “discover” things as I go, so I was pleasantly surprised to uncover more and more about the place. If you like to know what will be on the menu before you arrive, you might not find this approach a pleasant surprise.

Comfort+Coziness = The C factor: 2

The restaurant and store was a fun place to shop and dine; however the service was a little cool for Minnesota, which my friend, from the East coast, had experienced as a land of helpful and caring people. It seemed like the person in charge didn’t want to get too close.

Since we visited at lunch, we were told to order at the counter and serve ourselves water. Afterwards I checked online to see what others were saying. Mostly I wanted to find out that if you visit in the evening would the service be different. From what other reviewers posted, the service, in general, seems to be a bit spotty.

Overall Rating: 8+

Even though the overall rating is lower than the other places we’ve visited and reviewed, I would still recommend visiting Zzest Market & Café when you are in Rochester. It is part of the Creative Cuisine Company which owns several restaurants in Rochester. Next time I head back to Rochester, I’ll visit again and see what’s on the menu and poke around in the shop.

Hi friends!

This post doesn’t have anything to do with food or cooking, but it does have to do with real…buttons!

I decided to replace the boring tan buttons on one of my sweaters with an assortment of red buttons I found in my grandma’s button jar. (Some of the buttons are probably from the 50s or 60s.)  It’s made a rather boring sweater into a darling one. 

I love changing the buttons on clothing; it’s a simple way to make something unique. Also, I’ve found that thrift stores often have packs of unused buttons for super cheap.

Have you ever given your clothing a button makeover?

On a chilly Wednesday night during our vacation, we bundled up and ventured out to our vacation neighbor’s house. As guests at Fern Hollow Cabin, near Decorah, Iowa, we were invited to attend a benefit house concert at a nearby home.

We didn’t know what to expect as we were directed down a snowy lane and up a steep hill to a half-built house standing like a beacon among the bare winter trees. But, hey, it was for a good cause and I do love adventure! (And what could be more adventurous than listening to a band you’ve never heard of, in a  home where you don’t know a soul?)

The gracious hosts of the house concert have a nanny who has traveled to Ghana. Her name is Janine. She has a friend from high school whose husband has a band. It is one of those crazy connections that is a bit hard to follow, but here is the good news…

The band, called Andy Juhl after the lead musician, is a fantastic bluegrass band. They performed intelligent and original songs that demonstrated their passion for social justice and peace.

Janine got up half way through the performance and spoke about Drive Aid Ghana.  She told the audience about the moringa plant. We learned that to Africa and the world at large; the moringa plant’s value cannot be over emphasized. It is known by several names; the miracle tree, Drum stick, Mama’s best friend among other names.

The tree is beginning to be identified as a solution for Africa’s poverty…it provides health and agricultural opportunities as well as being a source of income/employment for the rural poor.  Here’s more detailed information about all the plant can do. Drive Aid Ghana is just one of the many organizations dedicated to spreading the good news of what moringa trees can mean for communities struggling poverty.

Janine is an artist and she’d created a painting, some jewelry and a silk scarf to raise funds for the organization. She incorporated the patterns of the moringa leaves into the design of the scarf. I bought the scarf and gave it as a gift to my colorful scarf wearing daughter, Francine.

Have you heard of the moringa tree?  Do you also love colorful scarves?

As I wandered around Yountville, CA last week, I decided to stop by The French Laundry, the landmark restaurant in Thomas Keller’s restaurant empire. Just to let you know how well-known this restaurant is, Anthony Bourdain of TV and restaurant fame has remarked that it is “the best restaurant in the world, period.”

When I say, “stop by” I mean, take photos and marvel at their beautiful garden, in which they seem to grow every vegetable imaginable and maybe even raise chickens (I heard clucking in the distance).

The downloadable menu on their website lists the price for a one person nine course tasting menu as $270(!!!). At this moment in my life, there are about a million things I would throw $270 at…a plane ticket to England, visa fees, new shoes, but a once-in-a-lifetime meal does not make the list. ;)

But oh how delightful it would be to eat there, I’d love to find out what they do with white strawberries.

Their website also mentions that everyday they create two 9 course tasting menus, with no single ingredient used more than once.

It’s their goal that “their guests say, ‘I wish I had just one more bite of that.’  And then it’s gone, and then the next plate arrives and the same thing happens, but in a different way, a whole new flavor and feel and emotion.”

Have you ever splurged and eaten at an ultra-fancy restaurant? Have you ever had one bite of something so amazing that you wanted more, but it’s gone, never to be tasted again? I haven’t, but it sure does sound amazing…maybe even worth $270….le sigh, perhaps someday…;)

The Lowbrow: Minneapolis, MN

The Lowbrow’s website states they’re, “committed to bringing scratch-made comfort food to your plate using locally farmed and sustainable ingredients.” 

After a light lunch at this cleverly decorated Minneapolis eatery, I can tell you that the Lowbrow is accomplishing its goal of serving comfort food using locally produced ingredients.

Review: (Real Local Cooking’s criteria)

Localness: 3

The menu lists the local producers and growers who provide the ingredients that are used in their dishes. While there’s not a garden out back, they are helping to support the farmers of the upper Midwest.

I was pleased to see bison meat on the menu and to see Eichten’s Bison as one of their producers.

The menu doesn’t seem to change with any regularity, but there is a chalkboard that lists rotating specials.

Flavor: 3

When I visited in late November, I had a leafy green salad (which was listed on the chalkboard as the market special) with blue cheese and walnuts. I also had a cup of the Bison chili, which was hearty.  While I didn’t encounter any new flavors I did enjoy a filling lunch.

Pleasant Surprise: YES

I liked the big windows, which let in lots of natural light…something important to consider when trying to survive a MN winter.  The decor was colorful and bright, and I loved the collage of framed artwork hanging on one wall.

Comfort+Coziness=The C Factor: 4.5

I enjoyed my late afternoon lunch in a nearly empty restaurant. There are lots of booths and a large bar, which would make a great meeting place for friends. (They also have a fun-sounding $25 Tuesday date night special, which includes drinks, burgers and dessert.)  The only drawback I noticed with the space is that since it’s very open it could easily become noisy, and I didn’t noticed any hidden corners to enjoy a snuggly meal with your date.

Overall rating:

I would visit The Lowbrow again. It would be a fun place to meet friends for brunch.

Oh…and they have a colorful mural featuring forest creatures painted on one wall.  You can visit their facebook page for a sneak peek of said fun mural.

Here in the US, today is Groundhog Day, the one day a year we allow a rodent to predict our weather and the only time of year when every copy of Groundhog Day is checked out from the library.

My crafty grandma decided to celebrate the day by making hedgehog cookies.

Aren’t they as cute as can be!?

The cookies are made with ground pecans and gluten-free flour. The recipe is one she snipped from a magazine. 

They are as tasty as they are cute, but I find myself not wanting to eat any. I try to nibble as carefully as possible. 

Hope you had a Happy Ground or Hedge Hog Day!

PS. Thanks for indulging me while I post a silly amount of cute cookie pictures.

In early fall, our kind farming friends gave us many pumpkin-y things to decorate the restaurant. When Christmas took over the restaurant, I brought the harvest to our living room.

A few weeks ago I realized, I should probably remove the harvest decorations since there was snow on the ground and our neighbor had already removed his outdoor Christmas lights.

Instead of just throwing away the squashes, I wanted to get the seeds out of them so I could have a snack.

Never one to be deterred by a thick skinned squash, I decided to crack them open by dropping them on the kitchen floor.  (I should mention that our kitchen floor is old linoleum and that no one is in love with the state of our kitchen…it’s constantly mentioned that it needs a facelift.) I do not recommend this method of opening gourds or squash if you have lovely wood floors or if someone in your house is trying to take a nap.

Once the squash cracked open a bit (it took quite a few times of ‘dropping’ on the floor), I used a knife to wedge it open some more and scoop out the seeds.

Then I rinsed the seeds, salted them and toasted them in the oven. Crunchy and yum!

There were five different kinds of squash and gourds. I tossed all the seeds into one bowl.  I couldn’t really tasty a difference between them except for the seeds of the turban squash…they were very big and not too crunchy.

But I do have a warning… *For more information on this bitter orange guy see the comments.

Do you have a method for opening gourds and slightly dried out squash that is more sophisticated than “drop repeatedly on the floor”? If so, I’d love to hear!

Do you like toasted squash seeds?  Do you season them with anything other than salt?

Happy cracking!

Saveurs de Coree: Fine Korean Grill in Beijing, China

Finding this restaurant was a relief because the day before Scott and I had wandered around alleys and major roads looking for a restaurant that served oat noodles.  We never found that restaurant and the hunt left us grumpy, hungry and disappointed that we were unable to try oat noodles…how great do those sound!?

So when we set off with the address of this restaurant in hand and the promise of top grade beef from a nearby Chinese province, I secretly crossed my fingers that we’d find the restaurant without too much wandering.

What we found was a lovely little restaurant in a Beijing hutong. (Hutongs are small alley/ neighborhoods…it’s hard to describe exactly.)  As soon as we stepped inside we were impressed by the architecture and the décor, which was minimalistic and airy.  

As our evening progressed we were more and more delighted: there was a fruity soju cocktail, melt in your mouth beef, fresh kimchi, cute dishware, crispy-n-crunchy sesame coated tuna, cinnamon tea with pine nuts…oh my!

We had a lovely dinner…read on to find out the breakdown of this far away, but doing things somewhat locally, restaurant.

Review: (Real Local Cooking’s criteria)

Localness: 3

Their website advertised beef from Liaoning province and seafood from Shandong province. I was very excited to find a restaurant that sourced its ingredients, this wasn’t something I often came across when I dined out in China.  The menu was well designed to explain their food items and to explain their mission to serve healthy, sustainable and MSG-free food.

Flavour: 5

This place definitely gets a 5 because we were able to enjoy the Korean flavors we love and are familiar with punched up a notch as well as experiencing some new tastes.

I really like Beef Bulgogi. I’ve even made it a few times and it’s always beefy and sweet, but the Beef Bulgolgi at Saveur de Coree stands out as the best I’ve ever had.  We grilled it on our tabletop grill. The meat was wonderfully marinated and tender.
We experienced something new when we ordered the iced cinnamon tea; it was cooling and spicy at the same time. It came with pine nuts floating on the surface. (And anything with pine nuts gets my thumbs up.)  We were hoping to try a dessert of sweet rice balls dipped in nuts, but they didn’t have any…that would have been another new flavor experience and a tasty treat!

Pleasant Surprise: Yes

We were seated near the kitchen (in a tiny restaurant like this with a kitchen on each floor, most diners will be seated near the kitchen).  I was hesitant because I thought it might be noisy, but I barely even noticed; and when I did notice, I was charmed.  

When our food was up, the cook notified the server by lightly donging a gong.  It’s a simple thing, but significant because most of the time when you sit near the kitchen you hear something like “order up” in the States and probably its equivalent loudly spoken in Chinese.

Comfort+Coziness = The C factor:  5

Korean barbecues are fun, but they can sometimes be uncomfortable.  The grill is right at your table so you can really feel the heat.  This place tried hard to create an elegant yet comfortable table with a grill top.  

As I sat down, I was told that I could put my purse into my stool—the seat lifted off and the stool was a small storage unit. This was something new for me and it was nice to have my stuff out of the way.

The wait staff was helpful but not too helpful.  They asked us if we wanted help grilling our food, but we didn’t need any help. (It’s unusual because often at Korean BBQs in China the wait staff assumed we didn’t know what we were doing. So it was nice to be left alone to enjoy the food, just the two of us with Scott as the grill master.)

The design of the place was interesting. There were 2 floors, but the second floor was more of a loft.  There were rustic wooden beams and white stucco walls.  It was a charming atmosphere in which to eat.

Overall Rating: 13+

If you ever find yourself wandering the hutongs of Beijing, grab this address so you can enjoy some of China’s finest ingredients, Korean flavors and a cozy little restaurant.  But make sure you have enough cash…it is a tad pricey, but certainly worth every 块 kuai (one of the many ways to refer to Chinese currency). :)