My Newest Addition

 I got a new tattoo a couple of days ago on my left wrist. 

Found the photo in a hotel when Andi and I were in Nanjing. Think it came out pretty good!

What are you eating?

So I haven't had much time to write anything as once again I've been crazy at work. We lost one sous chef and I have another leaving soon so it's been a little crazy at work. We have still been doing the 400+ breakfasts and 350+ dinners while still not having a fully staffed kitchen. I have 2 good prospects in the works for a sous so that should help since come mid November all hell breaks loose!

Anyway, I came across an article this morning about 8 foods that are banned in other countries but WE in the USA eat. Artificial food dye is in just about everything these days but did you know it inhibits nerve cell development! Brominated vegetable oil goes in most soft drinks but it may also cause major birth defects and organ damage. Could be why it's banned in over 100 countries including India, Japan, and Europe. Check out this article that gives you a quick incite as to what's out there!

PACKERS!!!!!

I got free tickets from my produce purveyor to see the Pack play SF on September 8th, first game of the season!!!  

Our seats are the red circle. Wish I was on the Packers side but I'll take what I can get!!

Horseback Riding

Andi's cousin is in town for a couple of weeks and she loves horses. Yesterday was her birthday so we got her a gift of horseback riding up in Bodega Bay. For those of you that remember, Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds was filled in Bodega Bay.

Andi in her......helmet!

Andi's cousin getting some riding lessons on Sweet Pea before we go. 

Andi trying out her saddle on DJ.

Now she's ready!! 

Me on the back of Rocky riding along the trail. It's really beautiful up there. All the land is protected, lot's of wild life. Can't wait to go again!! 

Butcher and Baker

So I haven't had much time to write anything as work as been quite crazy again. I have the worst time finding good employees that pass a social security test. Also, company wide we have to make sure all employees work under 30 hours a week. Any that average over 30 hours a week at the end of the year costs the company $10000 a person. Not easy finding a bunch of part time employees. Also, I seem to have horrible luck with the current ones I have: gunshot wound(out 3-7 days), going back to her home country to get married(and taking her friend who I hired at the same time with her to be her bridesmaid), can't start the first day of work because I have food poisoning(then never heard from him again). Sucks!

Anyway, on a more interesting note I discovered a pretty cool website for Chefs. It's called Butcher and Baker and has everything from aprons to hats to cool T-shirts.

This is one of my favorites! If you've ever worked in a kitchen, you'll know how true this is!!

Sysco's Deceit

Apparently not. Here in San Francisco we use Sysco, a major food corporation that delivers to over 400000 restaurants in the Bay Area. News broke yesterday that Sysco had been using unapproved storage sheds to store food in before sending it to it's proper location. Most of this food needed to be refrigerated(chicken, meat, dairy, etc) but was left in the shed for hours before being moved again. It also looks like it has been going on for years and has been hidden from the health department. Once the health department got involved, they found rat droppings, bugs, and other major violations inside of these storage sheds. Here is the link with the video uncovering everything. I know some of my chef friends in Boston use Sysco as well. What's going on in your neck of the woods???

Our New Car(and Portland!)

So a couple of weeks back, Andi and I bought a 2004 mini cooper. It's perfect for her because it's small and she is still learning how to drive. It's in really good condition with only some minor cosmetic things that can be fixed later.

She loves it!! :D

We decided to give it a test run for a small vacation we took this past weekend up to Portland Oregon. It ran great with no issues. It's quite fun to drive and doesn't seem as small once your inside. 

As for the coast, it's beautiful. We drove around Seaside and Astoria.

This is called Haystack Rock and it's home to some really cool tidal pools.

Cool looking star fish

Some sea anemones.

Portland Oregon is a great city for food. One of the cool things they have are food trucks that circle entire blocks. We ate at this stand which had food from Georgia, a small country in between Turkey and Russia. I forgot to take photo's of the food because we were starving and scarfed it up fast. However, if you zoom in on the sign to the left, we had all five of those dishes: cheese bread, onion and bean bread, eggplant rolls, a tomato and cucumber salad, and the best was the stuffed dumplings with black pepper. Everything was amazing!! I've already found a couple of Georgian restaurants in SF that I'm going to try!

We also ate at a great restaurant called Gruner. It's a mix of German, Swiss, France, and some Middle Europe. The above photo is a shaved radish salad with pumpkin seed oil, toasted pumpkin seeds, cider vinegar and fresh herbs. Tasty and pretty to look at!

I got a charcuterie plate with several great meats, the best one being a house-made rabbit mortadella. I also loved the pickled fiddlehead ferns in the back!

This appetizer was called Maultaschen: a traditional German dumpling similar to ravioli. These where filled with pork, beef, onion, and spinach in a meat broth. Both the broth and dumplings had great flavor.

Beet pickled deviled eggs.....amazing!!

Spatzle with black forest ham, sugar snap peas, leeks, and asiago cheese. A super tasty kicked up mac and cheese!

Grilled golden trout with spring onions and yukon potatoes.

Coq Au Riesling-morels, fava beans, crispy shallots, and yukon potato puree.

And last but not least dessert. Berliners: small sugar coated donuts with marionberry jam inside. These reminded me of eating zeppoles at the New Jersey shore as a kid!

All in all a great meal and a great trip. Portland was a very cool city and I can't wait to go back with more time and explore!