The Art of Eating Alone

Why must there be an art of eating alone? Unfortunately, there still seems to be a stigma, especially for women.

I’ve found myself alone in restaurants in Washington, D.C. and East Lansing recently and it seems as though the staff work to make a normal situation awkward. To begin with, I’m almost always greeted with a hostess who says quizzically, “only one?” “Yes, it’s just me. Is that a problem?”

I’ve been seated in some awkward positions. At an Indian restaurant for dinner in D.C., I was placed at a skinny table for two facing a single man at a similar table which was only inches away. It was as if we were sitting together. At a Mexican restaurant for dinner in East Lansing, I was told, “take one of the very small tables against the back wall.” A man came in behind me, alone, and was given a booth by the window. I checked and I know it isn’t because I smelled.

I could say that you should take a book, work, newspaper, Iphone, etc., with you when you eat alone so you can look busy. Maybe you really do want to read that book or you went out to dinner just to finish that pesky project. But what if you just want to sit quietly and rest while you eat your meal? Surely that’s acceptable in this day and age.

I find that I eat too quickly and often too much when I’m alone at a restaurant. I try to remind myself not to be rushed by the waiter or my over-eager desire to eat the entire oversized portion. Of course, the same happens when I re-heat too much of last night’s dinner.

Enjoy yourself when you go out to eat alone. If there's an art to it, it is the same art that applies to groups: find a good restaurant.

Sushi in Ann Arbor

Now that we’ve prepared sushi at home, I think we’ll mostly be eating it out. It was not our easiest cooking adventure, although we did enjoy the results with a glass of chilled Sake.

If you decide to try it at home, I recommend watching these helpful Youtube videos:

Video on how to make sushi

Video on how to make hand-rolled sushi

In the Ann Arbor-area, you can buy almost everything you need at reasonable prices at this market :
Hua Xing Asia
2867 Washtenaw Avenue
Ypsilanti, MI 48197
(734) 528-3388

If you decide to eat out, we've fallen in love with these two restaurants in Ann Arbor, MI: Yotsuba and Godaiko.

Both are outside of the downtown area and worth the short drive. Godaiko, next to an enormous Asian food market, has a Tatami room where you can sit on the floor with friends while you feast. Yotsuba is a bit further out and seems more popular; I’d recommend reservations. We were taken by the fresh ingredients, kind service to those of us who had questions about the menu.

Sava's Cafe in Ann Arbor, Michigan

I want Sava's Cafe on State Street in Ann Arbor to be my new favorite restaurant. With the high ceilings, spacious seating arrangement, and menu that includes fresh squeezed juices, potato pancakes and croissants with nutella, it is close.

But, it isn’t quite there yet.

While the menu is indeed NJ-diner-ish (the ultimate compliment for a breakfast spot), the food isn’t always hot or what you'd expect from the menu listing. The first time I went, I tried the potato pancakes and was surprised by their pink hue. They didn’t taste right, either. The waitress told me that they were seasoned with ketchup. Ketchup? Being allergic to the corn syrup in most commercial ketchups, I was surprised and displeased that I’d eaten some of it, since it wasn’t described in that way on the menu. Very kindly and apologetically, the waitress took away the dish. I ordered a toasted croissant spread with nutella which reminded me of Italy (another high compliment.)

Not wanting to give up on the inviting space, I returned a week later and tried one of their creative egg and hash concoctions. With a Mexican twist, it came with chorizo sausage, guacamole and sour cream. The combination of flavors, topped with an egg on top, was delicious, although not as hot as it could have been. My husband had a crepe, which was light and sweet.

Locally minded, they serve Mighty Good Coffee, which can’t be beat, and Knight’s burgers. I look forward to trying lunch or dinner there.



Thanks to the Ann Arbor Chronicle for linking to this review!

Chef Interview: Dan Richer from Arturo’s in Maplewood, NJ

I’m always jealous when my parents tell me that they’ve had chef Dan Richer’s tasting menu from Arturo’s Osteria and Pizzeria in Maplewood, New Jersey.

Recently, my mother, photographer Melabee Miller, documented a few of the courses that made me want to book a flight from Michigan. Here are some details on the pictures above:

Salad: vegetables from Zone 7 (all NJ sustainable farms). Butterhead lettuce, curly cress, red oak lettuce. It is dressed only with black sea salt from Cyprus, organic extra virgin olive oil from Puglia that my friends from Equus Foods import, and 25 year old balsamic (tradizionale) from Modena (Dan brought it back on his November trip).

Pasta: handmade pappardelle with Pennsylvania grown mixed mushrooms and parmigiano reggiano.

Rabbit: Braised over farro.




Dan, who you can find not only cooking in the restaurant, but blogging and on Arturo’s TV, very kindly agreed to an interview about his experiences, local New Jersey produce and his dream meal.
Thanks for your time, Dan! I look forward to my next visit to your restaurant.


The first time I came to your restaurant, it was for an amazing tasting menu. You write on your blog that the tasting menus “are determined by market availability.” How do you craft such authentically Italian dishes from an American market?

The tasting menus are determined strictly by market availability. As I'm sure you know, the ingredients are the most important part of any great dish. The techniques used to prepare the food are always secondary in importance. It is the quality of ingredients that matter the most. Most of my job as a chef is searching for the best ingredients. The rest of my job is to make sure that I don't ruin the integrity of such perfect raw materials by trying too hard to create a perfect dish. Technique often gets in the way of a great dish. As a cook, I try to back off as much as possible and let the ingredients shine. Maybe I'm lazy, but I think the ingredients should do all of the work! Any authentic Italian cook would tell you this same story. Find the best ingredients, treat them with respect. It doesn't really matter where your physical location is (Italy, NJ, etc) as long as you spend the time in finding the best ingredients, your food will be great. Obviously, it's much easier to find great ingredients in Italy!! They are everywhere!. The great thing about being in NJ is that we are so close to NY and there is a quickly growing demand for great products. So, it’s becoming easier to find great ingredients. And, I suspect in the near future, it will become even easier.

What markets/farms do you primarily rely on?

Let's talk about produce...

99.9% of restaurants use a produce distributor that delivers 6 days per week. This company takes orders from the restaurant at night, then early the next morning travels to the nearest produce market (hunt's point, NY or PA). They buy the produce from another intermediary (definitely not from the farmer who lives in CA, FL, or Mexico) and then he delivers to the restaurant. Meanwhile, the produce has just made a 2000 mile journey over days and days time. Not to mention that the specific seed varietals that the farmer chose were to ensure its transportability, not its flavor. Also, the vegetables usually are harvested well before they are fully mature, leaving them lacking in flavor but ready for their long journey ahead. The restaurant receives their sub-par vegetables after very little effort on their part. This mentality is unacceptable and I'm really trying to not be a part of any of this.

So, I've worked directly with farmers in trying to bring their sustainably grown heirloom vegetables to our dishes, but it's a lot of work! Between trying to run a restaurant and the farmer trying to farm, it was so hard to physically get the produce from the fields to our kitchen. This summer I worked with a local woman who started an urban farm in downtown Newark. This is such a revolutionary method of bringing fresh produce to the areas that really need it. The city of Newark lent her an abandoned plot of land to farm on. She used Earthboxes (self-watering planter boxes) which enabled her to grow sustainably and to employ people who are not trained farmers. It was a really great idea and I can’t wait to start working with her again when the growing season starts. You can read more about her on her website.

After that, I started working with an amazing company called Zone 7. They are that missing link between farmer and restaurant. The owner, Mikey, has relationships with sustainable farmers throughout NJ. He emails me Monday with a list of products that are available and delivers them on Thursday. It has been really amazing so far. We are actually getting great vegetables in Dec. Obviously we are not getting tomatoes or zucchini but the beets, radishes, potatoes, lettuces, carrots, etc are amazing!! We are one of 35 restaurants in NJ using this great company.

The tasting menus change from week to week depending on what products we can find. The format is usually standard: antipasti (cured meats/veges of some sort), salad (market driven), soup (market driven), pasta (always handmade), secondo (fall/winter=braised meat while spring/summer=fish or fast cooking meat), then a simple dessert.

What are some of your favorite dishes to prepare?

I love making pasta. I am a freak about fresh, handmade pasta. When I travel through Italy, it’s all about the pasta. Nothing else really. I am obsessed. I also love preparing/marinating/pickling vegetables that I have sourced from great farmers. It’s very rewarding in many ways.
 
Your menu includes house-cured pancetta and duck prosciutto, you blog, create regular tasting menus and continue to grow your business. How do you do it all?

Time management is such an important thing in my life/business. I delegate as much as I possibly can, this is easy for me because I hire the best people I can find. My staff takes care of 100% of the day to day business. They do payroll, ordering, scheduling, cooking, among everything else. I focus on keeping the business on its proper course. We are in a great place right now.

How did you first become interested in cooking Italian food?

I started working in an Italian restaurant when I was 15 as a busboy. After that, I worked as a waiter and manager at other restaurants. I skipped my graduation ceremony from Rutgers in 2002 and flew to Italy. I traveled with my cousin, who had an apartment in Trastevere (Rome), for two weeks from Lugano, Switzerland to Salerno, Campagna covering much of the in between. I came back with a passion that has rapidly grown into what it is now. I have no formal training as a chef, just the constant desire to be the best at what I do.

I started my personal culinary education with Molto Mario. Mario Batali is an incredible teacher (even though I have never met him).

What main advice do you have for the home chef who wants to learn more about cooking authentic Italian food (particular book, tv show, class, etc.)?

Practice is the best. I used to cook 6 course meals for my friends and I learned so much from that.

If you could eat anything and anywhere right now, what would it be and where? (Your dream meal!)

This is a hard question. My dream meal? I love cooking for myself and for family/friends but I'd say that my dream meal would be in Tokyo. No specific restaurant, but a multiple course meal where you can expect to be completely surprised and blown away by just about everything. I spent several weeks in Japan just before I bought Arturo's. The Japanese have such integrity, tradition, and ingenuity. I love the culture.

For more information, visit the restaurant’s website or just stop by and eat:

Arturos
180 Maplewood Ave.,
Maplewood, NJ 07040

Eating & Buying Fish

My husband and I recently visited the Georgia Aquarium and were reminded (perhaps ironically!) about the importance of eating fish.

They had pamphlets put out by the Monterey Bay Aquarium about how good fish is for your body. We are reminded that “it's often rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which help boost immunity and reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer and other ailments. Omega-3s are especially important for pregnant and nursing women, and young children. Unfortunately, some fish carry toxins that can become harmful when eaten frequently.”

Here are the fish from their Best of the Best list:


*The Best of the Best: October 2009

• Albacore Tuna (troll- or pole-caught, from the U.S. or British Columbia)


• Mussels (farmed)


• Oysters (farmed)


• Pacific Sardines (wild-caught)


• Pink Shrimp (wild-caught, from Oregon)


• Rainbow Trout (farmed)


• Salmon (wild-caught, from Alaska)


• Spot Prawns (wild-caught, from British Columbia)

You can also print out their Seafood Watch list. This list doesn’t only consider what is good for you and your body, but also the fish and our oceans.

Happy eating and shopping!

Petite Provence in Portland, Oregon

If there is a choice, I’ll choose something savory over sweet. When I saw my husband’s “savory French Toast,” at Petite Provence Alberta in Portland, Oregon, I was smitten with a breakfast idea I hadn’t encountered before. I tend to put salt on my French toast or pancakes instead of maple syrup. I know, weird, right? But if there is already asparagus, ham and cheese and on your French toast, it seems justified.

I ordered an arugula omelet with avocado on top. My side potato pancake had some other vegetables mixed in (carrots and leeks.) I’m a purist on some things and I didn’t like it as much as my husband’s order. (Good thing he is open to sharing.)

We drove by this very French Boulangerie and Patisserie on Alberta Street and decided to try it for brunch. It was bustling with business, breads and pastries. With wood panels, cappuccino foam that matched the décor, it was simply adorable. Sometimes you can tell a book from its cover.

Willamette Valley, Oregon: Wine Country

The Willamette Valley in Oregon is Wine Country. One afternoon during our visit to Portland, we took a drive and visited a few wineries. It didn’t take more than an hour to arrive.

Our favorite winery was De Ponte Cellars. We tried a few Pinots, the grape of choice in the region. These wines were fuller and more developed than the other wines we tried in the area.

Ok, I’m not sure if that’s true. I’m a terrible wine taster. I know what I like and what I don’t like, but I’m not sure that I can really explain why I like something or describe the taste properly. I remember taking a cooking class at Trattoria Zibibbo in Florence and the final class included a wine tasting led by a sommelier. When he started talking about the complex flavors in the wines that disclosed that the vines ripened close to wildflowers, I scrunched up my forehead. I couldn’t taste it and couldn’t imagine that anyone else could (he announced that the “americana” didn’t know the words in Italian and needed a translator. In that case, the words were not the problem.)

Regardless, it was a great afternoon driving through the valley. The scenery throughout, if you put aside from the large, beautiful Northwestern trees, reminded me of Tuscany.

Pine Street Biscuits

Visiting my in-laws in Portland, Oregon over the holidays, I received a text from my food-savvy father. He was telling us where to eat a biscuit-breakfast in Portland, a city he has never been to, clear across the country from his home. My father knows good food and good food television shows (he saw it featured on the Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.)

Pine Street Biscuits is a hole-in-the-wall storefront with only a few seats. We got there a little early for lunch and were able to squeeze into a table with an accommodating couple. When we drove by later, the line was literally out of the door.

I had the “Reggie Deluxe” – a biscuit sandwich with fried chicken, egg, bacon, cheese and gravy. My husband had the more traditional biscuits and gravy. Both were perfect. I daintily ate mine with a fork and knife (how could I have picked up that monster?) and enjoyed every bite of each ingredient. Perfectly creamy on the outside, crunchy one level in and then tender chicken in the middle. Wow. With some added hot sauce, it was perfect.

New Jersey, while perhaps not known for biscuits, is the state for a greasy spoon diner. This hip spot that also showcases at the local Farmer’s Market isn’t exactly a greasy spoon, but it is close. We haven’t been able to find the equivalent in Ann Arbor.

Someone prove me wrong? Please? Breakfast comes everyday and I’m hungry.

Ann Arbor German Restaurant: Metzger's

I’d been eyeing the German restaurant Metzger’s for a while. It is on Zeeb Road, close to Baxter’s, a liquor store with a great selection and reasonable prices.

We’d heard good things about the restaurant from locals and even from one of the ferry workers on Mackinac Island. I checked that they had potato pancakes (a hard dish to find in Ann Arbor, even at Zingerman’s during Chanukah!) and we had dinner with a friend.

There are ornate wooden clocks on the wall along with rows of larger beer steins. The interior is warm and inviting. Unlike a lot of the restaurants that seem to mimic chain-restaurant interiors, this felt sincere and authentic.

My husband and our friend had the sauerbraten (slow roasted beef marinated in wine, vinegar, and spices served with a sour cream gravy) with potato pancakes on the side. I tried the Rheinischer Sampler: wiener schnitzel and sauerbraten served with spatzle and red cabbage. Both dishes are pictured above. Neither dish, when it was served, was particularly pleasing to the eye. They weren’t steaming with heat and the colors were dull. Maybe we should have tried one of the sausage dishes?

I was taken by the beer I had, a dark Warsteiner. I don’t usually drink beer, but this one had a soft spice under the bubbles. It wasn’t as dark as I was expecting, but the flavor was still quite full.

Most people tend to focus on the restaurants closer to the University of Michigan. I enjoy exploring the outskirts a bit and eating where the long-term locals eat. This one, though, didn’t excite me enough to return in the future. At least we had a coupon!

Particular Plates: An Amazing Meal in Venice

My husband and I always say that we ate the best meal of our lives in Venice, summer 2008.

Having had over-priced and mediocre meals in Venice in the past, I was armed with online research, recommendations from friends and notes from guidebooks. Our plan was to get off the train from Florence, rush to check into our hotel and then go immediately to lunch. We had priorities, right? Unfortunately, when we arrived at the famed, well-researched restaurant, they said they were closing.

We were too late.

Speaking in Italian, I tried to chat with the waiter. I explained that we had our heart set on eating there. If we couldn’t, where would he recommend? Leaning against the door frame, he was quiet and stared out the door. My friendliness wasn’t taking. I was disappointed and wanted to have the perfect Italian vacation. I tried being a little flirtatious. Finally, with a few more questions about where he would eat, he casually suggested a place with “particular plates.”

His directions included going up and down some bridges and then turning on a side street for a restaurant called “la cantina.” With all of his quick hand gestures and the vague restaurant name, I was skeptical.

We followed his directions, laughing as we went up and down the many short bridges over the canals, and discovered a tiny restaurant just as he described. With brick ceilings, a long wooden bar, we were immediately taken by the casual comfort of the restaurant. We were certain we were in the right place when he showed up a bit later at the bar asking for a coffee.

Seated at a perfectly square wooden table, we were asked to choose: vegetables, fish, poultry or meat. We decided to share one vegetable and one fish plate, followed by cookies. The waitress helped us choose a complementary wine and then a sweet verduzzo wine for dessert.

We ate slowly and savored every bite. The vegetables were perfectly cooked. I remember the grilled zucchini were slightly smoky, but still retained their crispness. The seafood was the highpoint. I am a fairly casual seafood eater, but this was outstanding and set the bar for future dishes. Salty, seasoned with lemon juice and rosemary, each piece offered something new.

The final cost didn’t suggest that we were sharing two plates, but rather that we ordered four. Regardless of the high cost, we left knowing that we had treated ourselves to a perfect afternoon of eating.

Of course, we weren’t the first Americans to “discover” this restaurant. Here is a review from Travel & Leisure.





Restaurant information:

la cantina

Venezia, Strada Nuova

Cannaregio, 3689

0415228258