Anchor & No Hope

Image courtesy of SF Mag

All seriouslyfood-ers were present as we celebrated our 9-5's by spending our hard earned cash on a bottle of bubbles and some fries with eyes. Our anticipations were high on the recently opened, nautical-themed restaurant Anchor & Hope (same owners as Salt House and Town Hall). The decor was cafeteria-chic (or open and lofty), and our service was equally cafeteria-like with 8 different servers waiting on us.

I met Erica and Allison there, who were already clearly sauced up for the night. The minute we received the menu, Allison exclaimed her items of choice, "Pork belly! Bacon wrapped oysters! Fries with eyes! Broccoli rabe! Garlic soup with anchovy tapenade!" After I calmed her down with some gentle taps on the head, we settled on the Angels on Horseback (bacon wrapped oysters), Fries with Eyes (deep fried smelts with remoulade), and a side of broccoli rabe to get those greens in. The seaweed and sea salt garnishings decorating the Angels on Horseback might have been more memorable than the dish itself, which was good but not GREAT. The remoulade accompanying the less than crisp "fries" tasted like a fancy (or not so fancy) version of thousand island. And the side of broccoli rabe, while nice and garlic-buttery, were maybe overcooked? I thought so at least; my problematic-untouching teeth had a difficult time chewing.

All would have been forgiven on the average appetizers (after all, they are appetizers) except that our entrees were just as unremarkable. In retrospect, the appetizers may have been the highlight of the meal. Erica's boullaibaisse was boullai-bad. Allison's lobster pot pie with brandy cream sauce, tasted like buttered brandy (not creamy!) with undercooked celery root and a shred of lobster. I ordered the petrole sole with preserved lemons and almonds after securing that 1) the dish was the server's favorite entree and 2) the preserved lemons did not have a strong presence (after Allison expressed her dislike of the pinesol-tasting slivers). Props for having fish with bones and props for filleting it for me (I knew there had to be a catch when I saw fish with bones on the menu, and we were the only group of Asians). The sliced almonds were a bit distracting as I couldn't differentiate an almond from another fish bone when all mushed up in my mouth (poor fillet job, bud). The fish could have used more flavor, or some salt. I kept eating only in anticipation that the dish would get better (which it didn't). At last our meal ended with earl grey tea on Erica's side and some over-baked gingerbread served with a, as always, less-than-enough scoop of gelato. We went dutch on the bill and signed away a half day's worth of work.

Two blocks away, Erica hurled her boullaibaisse out, and Allison and I left feeling stuffed without an ounce of happiness.

Seriously?

I know we aim to be serious here at seriouslyfood, but woah

Fergus Henderson's Roasted Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad

Fergus Henderson is known for making eating offal stylish again in the Western world. Anthony Bourdain cites Henderson's London restaurant, St. John, as his favorite, ever. Bourdain even says his death row meal would be Henderson's bone marrow and parsley salad, which has popped up on the menus of several top-notch American restaurants. Naturally, upon my acquisition of Henderson's The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating, this simple starter was among the first recipes I tried while cooking dinner with my sister last weekend.

Henderson uses veal bones; my sister located some mature beef bones at a Berkeley butcher, which worked well. We scooped the marrow out with a small spoon (okay, fine, chopsticks. it's easier.), spread on toast, topped with sea salt, and parsley salad (parsley, shallot, capers, lemon vinaigrette). Buttery, savory, manly, and delicious.

My own previous experiences with bone marrow have been isolated to Chinese food, kind of an afterthought, but equally as enjoyable. Have your parents ever told you to pick up that beef bone from your soup and suck on the end of it? Have you ever been to a hot pot restaurant, where at the conclusion of the meal, they bring out plastic straws for you to puncture the leftover beef bones and enjoy your dessert with? These Chinese were all telling you to not let that tasty marrow go to waste. Luckily, the Westerners are now doing the same in their own way, and man, is it awesome.

Spain...On the Road Again and Asleep the Whole Time

KQED and KCSM started airing the first episode of "Spain... On the Road Again" in the Bay Area last week. The idea of two respected foodie personalities, Mark Bittman of the NY Times and Mario-need-I-say-more-Batali traveling the hottest food paradise in Europe right now, is, in theory, irresistable. I imagined the two men making countless visits to colorful outdoor markets and tapas bars, learning how to create vivid and mouthwatering dishes from Spanish cooks in their kitchens, and plenty of informative, witty banter about food. Alas, the first episode failed to bring its audience deep into the world of Spanish food, bringing us, instead, deep into comatose.

Where the show really mucks up is the addition of Gwyneth Paltrow and lesser known, but also pretty, Spanish actress Claudia Bassols. Although Gwynie may be somewhat of a foodie, her prissy comments about only eating birds that grew up in the wild and that were slaughtered naturally, and how she's going to gain 10 kilos on the trip were totally irrelevant. I'm not sure why the producers thought it would be a good idea to split Mark and Mario up for most of the episode, forcing each to participate in vapid chit-chat with one of the actresses while driving around the Spanish countryside in Mercedes convertibles. Neither actress had any opinions of value to contribute and watching either of them try to eat is quite painful. The two minutes Mario and Mark did get to spend alone together at a seafood market was unjustly cut short; I found myself grasping for more M&M time. All of this, topped by the constant musical interlude of Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again" (an absolutely inappropriate soundtrack for a Spanish vacation), in places where it seems they just couldn't find enough interesting dialogue to keep audio busy, made watching this show an utter chore.