One of the many things I enjoy eating in Hawaii is poke. It’s a raw fish dish, that generally combines fresh yellowfin tuna, also known as ahi, with local ingredients like seaweed, Hawaiian salt and kukui nuts. There are seemingly infinite varieties, with ingredients such as green onions, sesame seeds, mayonnaise, tobiko, wasabi, sriracha, etc. In Hawaii you can find it at delis but also in supermarkets where there is often a poke bar in the seafood department.
Well, guess what has arrived at Costco in San Francisco? A poke bar! It features fresh wild ahi from different regions of the world including the Philippines and Sri Lanka and marinades flown in directly from Hawaii. It’s all prepared fresh at the store and sold only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Prices range from $15.99 to $17.99 per pound.
Varieties include ahi shoyu poke, ahi wasabi poke, and ahi spicy poke. They also had two cooked shrimp styles of poke. I tried the ahi limu poke which had onions, ogo (Hawaiian seaweed) Hawaiian salt, kukui nut, sesame seed and sesame oil. The limu was my favorite, it was very fresh and had a particularly nice balance of flavors and brightness. It's cool and savory, but has an intensity from the dense fish and slightly nutty and spicy flavors.
It was my 33rd birthday and I decided to treat myself to a nice trip to Sonoma Valley. Some call it the “Jesus year”, but I like to call it another excuse to play in wine country! With all the choices for fine dining restaurants, I had quite a task to narrow it down to one. We are talking about one of the culinary meccas, people! While I knew I’d stay multiple days in Sonoma Valley, most nights were allocated to be spent with good friends, so that left me with one night all to myself. At the end of the day, I was extremely happy with my choice: Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen.
No man is an island; we are all interconnected by our humanity. That
is the philosophy of Ubuntu, a belief rooted in Zulu culture that
emphasizes people's allegiances, relationships, community, sharing, and
generosity. Ubuntu, then, is an apt name for the Michelin-starred
restaurant, which aims to connect patrons with the bounty of the earth
through produce that is sustainably and biodynamically grown. Located in
downtown Napa, Ubuntu is a restaurant, yoga studio, and store, all in
one building. The dining space is quite modern and rustic with exposed
brick, wood, steel, and conduit and features a wine bar with an
expansive wine list and an open kitchen. I had the absolute pleasure of
dining at Ubuntu on my day trip to Napa two weekends ago. What sets the
restaurant apart is its all vegetable menu. All dishes are vegetarian or
nearly vegan, but what some might consider a culinary limitation
becomes limitless in the hands of executive chef Aaron London.
Boon Eat + Drink in Guerneville on the Russian River is a delightful place with delightful food. We stopped by one Saturday to have lunch. The summertime crowd was out in force. The restaurant was pleasantly busy, but not too crowded.