California 2010

Mission Figs at the San Francisco Farmer's Market

After a thoroughly lived-up two and a half week vacation in California, I was one well sated individual through and through.

It was my first visit to the Golden State in about 10 years. I honestly couldn’t remember most of what went on the last time I was there save Disneyland and deep fried turkey legs, so it all felt like a new experience for me. Hotel hopping, needing to drive everywhere, being surrounded by Vietnamese people… I was having a mild transition shock. Fortunately, I was only there long enough to enjoy the honeymoon phase.

It’s like that high you get when you dunk yourself in the pool in order to become acclimated to the water. Being immersed in a different environment, everything is so much more exciting than what you normally have [at home].  Such was the case.

Peppers from my aunt's backyard in Oakland

It’s ironic that some of my most favorite meals there were left undocumented: Everett and Jones by UC Berkeley had amazing barbecue; The Boiling Crab’s crawfish rocked my socks; Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles on Pico was the highlight meal of my entire trip; street tacos from some unknown truck shamed almost every street taco in NYC (Country Boys/Martinez up in Red Hook being the only exception).

Apples from my aunt's backyard in Oakland

Also, I’d never driven so much in my life. According to my cousin, we averaged about 200 miles a day on the Impala and possibly 100 on the Malibu.

Kim's fruitless blueberry bush from my aunt's backyard in Oakland

Despite rolling through the ghettos a couple of times — I wouldn’t want to live in any part of Oakland because, as one random passerby put it while beckoning his cohorts to walk faster, ‘people be bustin’ out here for no reason’ – and eating at some rather seedy places, I’d have to say that overall I love California.

Young banana plants from my aunt's backyard. Grown for the edible root.

Banana roots. It's a starchy tuber of sorts with a bland to slightly sweet taste. It can be mealy or even a little stringy and fibrous at times depending on how you cook them and how much they are allowed to grow. I don't know why they are differently colored.

A big difference everyone likes to point out about California vs New York is that of fast food. I made a point of trying In-n-Out burger (meh) and Jack in the Box (yum) just to see what all the fuss is about. Nothing in New York beats J in the B — all day tex mex breakfast for the win — but I’m certain InO pales in comparison to Five Guys. I didn’t bother with Fuddruckers because my cousin said it wasn’t anything special. And you always trust a fat man when it comes to fast food.

A couple of notable chains outside of the burger realm: Tapioca Express (not depicted) and Lee’s Sandwiches. TapX is like a TenRen or Quickly’s but with a larger menu and more fresh fruit options. They also have bar snacks like karaage-style Crispy Chicken and fish ball skewers.

Lee’s is great because … it’s fast food banh mi.

Nem Nuong from Lee's Sandwiches - grilled cured pork balls. They were cold.

That's a big slice of pepper.

The sandwiches are torpedo sized (narrow) and cost about $3. In terms of price, they beat our only banh mi ‘chain,’ Baoguette, and in terms of taste, they marginally win. The pate is better, the bread is better, but Lee’s skimps on meat. Lee’s also suffers from a slight lack of quality control. We went to two and the second go wasn’t as good.

Speaking of Vietnamese food, I had my first bowl of pho in about 6 years. It was delicious. I had two more. And then we went out for some more Vietnamese food.

Banh Cuon with the works. We need this in NY!

Sapodilla shake! My second favorite fruit in 'sinh to' form. It didn't taste as good as the one I had in VN but it still made me smile.

Aside from the dissimilarity in fast food, and the differing qualities of the available Vietnamese cuisine, there is also a marked degree of contrast in the following of locavorism between NY and CA. Nothing we have here can hold a candle to their expansive farmers markets. It likely stems from their abundance of arable land.

A big and varied state, California encompasses 16 unique climate zones, allowing it to grow a plethora of produce: artichokes...

... peaches ..

... pistachios ...

... purple artichokes ...

... tomatoes ...

Golden raspberries, mission figs, reed avocados, niabell grapes, blood oranges, dates, corn, sunchokes, apples, cherries, almonds, walnuts, … dammit California. You’re almost as good as Peru, and I don’t even need a passport to visit you.

Roli Roti Porchetta Sandwich from the San Francisco Farmer's Market

I made a point to visit a lot of places I ended up not going to — Chez Panisse, Napa Valley, Yosemite, Slanted Door, etc — but one opportunity I could not let slip away was the chance to eat at the Roli Roti truck. Italian roast pork + sweet onion jam + green stuff + ciabatta = delicious. The meat was juicy, the crackling divine. The only negative thing I have to say about the truck is that everything is under-seasoned. The meat needed more salt and the greasy roasted potatoes were rather hard to swallow. Porchetta, and subsequently New York, still wins this battle… for now.

Cutesy sourdough bread near San Francisco Farmer's Market

Oh the sweet taste of victory is oh so fleeting. Another thing they’ve got over us is affordable quality seafood. The following pictures were taken at the Sushi House in Alameda (or that place my cousin affectionately refers to as Alamurder).

Orange Blossom - salmon, tuna, crab meat, avocado

Poki - spicy tuna topped with seaweed salad; Lambada - tuna, salmon, avocado, house sauce

Lion King - California Roll draped with salmon and baked

Crispy - tuna, salmon, and hamachi, battered and deep fried

Bay Scallop - California Roll topped with bay scallops and baked

Monterey had some great seafood as well at the Old Fisherman’s Grotto.

Fried sand dab fillets

Stuffed calamari with an AMAZING caramelized onion risotto

A large portion of the award winning Monterey style clam chowder. A lot thicker and heartier than the usual New England fare. Delicious but not for everyone.

Also, they invented the fortune cookie.

In San Francisco, they charge you for trivial things - Hello! If you take a picture please pay 50¢

And of course, there are those happy cows.

Fenton's Creamery - Double scoop of peppermint and roasted almond. Yes, that giant blob of pink counts as one scoop.

Fenton's Creamery - A 'small' roasted almond sundae

And driving in California is a real pleasure (when there’s no traffic). Right turns on red, no one ever really honks at you, and everyone always drives 10+ above the speed limit on the freeway.

And… hmm.

I think I’ve about run out of things to compliment them on. The more I reread this post, the more I realize I have lots of unfinished business in California. I definitely have to come back for more.