|
Dear Friends,
Gung Hay Fat Choy! We will ring in the Chinese New Year February 10th at Mustards Grill, a longtime tradition for us. Since this is the year of the Snake (not a particularly appealing menu theme), we are going with delicious classics like Hot and Sour Duck Soup, Mongolian Lamb with lettuce cups and scallions, and Cantonese Crispy Squab with roasted spice salt - one of my favorites. For dessert: lemon grass parfait with fresh pineapple sauce. We hope you will join us and enjoy a year of good fortune! (This month's recipe: Chinese Almond Cookies.)
February is made sweeter by Valentine's Day. It's such a romantic ritual to take your sweetheart out on February 14th, but don't forget that dining out can be just as romantic any other day of the year.
Our Valentine's Day menus were created with special temptations in mind: a Sweet and Savory Chocolate theme at Mustards Grill, scrumptious Dungeness Crab, Scallops and T-Bone Steak dishes at Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen, and a marvelous "Love from New Orleans" theme at CP's Wood Grill. Good luck choosing!
I love the tang of citrus this time of year. It has inspired Jennifer at CP's Wood Grill to develop some zesty cocktails like the Seville Orange Caipirinha and Citrus Elderflower Gin Fizz. I just gave her a bunch of Rangpur limes from my garden and can't wait to see what she concocts!
This month's Supper Club (Wed. & Thurs. at Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen) features dishes with Cara Cara and blood oranges, honey and Satsuma mandarins, tangerines, and Meyer lemons harvested from Howell Mountain, Mustards Grill garden and my home garden. Come on in for some bright flavors.
For a late afternoon pick-me-up, join us for our new Happy Hours from 3-6pm at Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen and CP's Wood Grill. To hit the spot, we're offering special apps and libations at great prices. Think cheesy polenta fries with marinara sauce and deluxe chicken nachos (at CBK) and spiced popcorn, grilled oysters and braised short rib sliders (at CP's Wood Grill), and many, many more. Yum.
Exciting renovations are underway at the restaurant and café at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, slated to re-open late April. Our chef, Jeff Rogers, is working on new menus and just like our Napa Valley restaurants, most ingredients will come from the freshest, most sustainable, local sources - a tall order when serving over 5,000 people on a busy day! Stay tuned for more news from the MBA.
I am off to New York to prepare a meal for members of the Core Club as part of a Napa Valley Vintners' promotion of Auction Napa Valley. While there, I'll be sure to visit one of my favorite spice stores, Kalustyan's on Lexington. It's a chef's dream for finding ingredients you read about but can never find.
See you at the table,
P.S. One of the highlights of last summer was making chocolate bark with my step-daughter Kirstie in Banff. It's a great homemade sweet for your sweetheart, and super easy. Melt dark, bittersweet, milk or white chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir in chopped, toasted nuts* and/or chopped dried apricots or sour cherries. Pour onto a silpat or waxed paper-lined cookie sheet, spread thinly, cool and break into pieces that remind you of bark (of a tree, not a dog). *Toast raw nuts on a cookie sheet in a 350-degree oven for 6-7 minutes or until golden brown.
|
