GREEN FOOD SPOTLIGHT: The Plant Cafe Organic

The Plant Cafe Organic
Neighborhood: Marina/Cow Hollow
3352 Steiner St (between Chestnut St & Lombard St)
San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 931-2777
www.theplantcafe.com


Anyone who has been paying attention to my Yelp reviews, my Facebook posts, or my Tweets (on Twitter) knows that ever since I started running in September, I've been delving deeper into the world of vegetarian and green foods. I feel very fortunate to be living in the Bay Area, where our options seem endless when one wants to eat healthy, sustainable foods. The Plant Cafe Organic (formerly known as Lettus Cafe Organic) has fast become one of my favorite go-to restaurants when I want to eat healthy but I don't have time to go to the grocery store or farmer's market to get all the ingredients myself.

In the mornings, they have breakfast selections, and on weekends, they have a separate brunch menu, which I have yet to try. I personally like their smoothies for the morning, though pricey ($6.50), they are delicious. I highly recommend the mango, which has mango, banana, and ginger. They also have a full juice bar, with one of the best selections of juices I've seen in the city.

Midday, the cafe is full of Marina-ites and employees from the Presidio (i.e. LucasFilm folks) who are getting salads and sandwiches. They have an extensive salad menu ($8-9), as well as the option to "create your own" ($5.95 for small), where you get five "toppings" and a dressing, and the option to add protein (chicken, tofu, specialty cheese) for an extra couple of bucks. I haven't had any of the sandwiches here, but I have had the California Burger ($10.95) - it's The Plant Cafe's own version of a Gardenburger, but it's tastier and fresher than those patties pulled from the frozen food section of Trader Joe's.

After 5:30pm, the dinner crowd heads in - mostly young professionals who don't want to cook, or folks who just finished a workout and want to end their day with a healthy meal. They have a variety of items...quinoa bowls, udon, a fish special, soups, curries. The cold soba noodles ($7.50) are great - a big bowl of noodles, pea sprouts, cabbage, and ginger-lime dressing. My favorite thing to order for dinner is the seasonal tempeh special ($10.95) - it changes every few months, but I have yet to find a version that I don't like. And to finish off a really delicious, healthy meal? The raw cashew raspberry cheesecake - all of the flavor of a sinfully rich dessert, but none of the guilt. Really.

The Plant Cafe may seem pretty yuppie, but it has a hippie soul and is striving to bring local, sustainable goodness to the masses. Bring on the quinoa! (Pretty awesome, since the word "quinoa" wasn't even in my vocabulary until last year.)

New Year's Detox...$85 A Day!

Happy New Year, everyone!

I know, I know..it's been forever since I've posted anything on this blog, but life kind of got in the way. I promise I'll try to keep updating as best I can!

~bernad*va

Imagine spending $85 a day on food. Completely possible, if you eat out three times a day, OR if you decide to have dinner at Chez Panisse on a nightly basis. But would you spend $85 a day on food...that you can't even chew?

So, this particular blog isn't quite about cuisine. It's about a cleansing juice fast that one of my friends introduced me to: The Blueprint Cleanse. It's been popular in New York City for the past year or so, and my cousin has done it (and she loves it), and so far, my friend seems to like it. Here's the deal: there are three levels of the cleanse. One for beginners (total omnivores), one for those who eat mainly vegetarian, and one for the stricter vegetarian/vegan types. You get six bottles of all natural, organic juices per day, and you can do the fast for one day up to twenty days. Sounds hardcore, but let me tell you, nothing could possibly be worse than the effects that I experienced when I tried the Master Cleanse a couple of years ago.

I really like the combinations of juices that they've set up. My friend is doing the Renovation Cleanse, which sets you up with:

1. Green Juice: Romaine, kale, cucumber, parsley, celery, spinach, green apple, lemon.
2. Pineapple-Apple-Mint
3. Green Juice (same as the first)
4. Spicy Lemonade: Lemon, Water, Agave, Cayenne
5. Carrot-Apple-Beet-Ginger-Lemon
6. Cashew Nut Milk

My friend says the juices are delicious! And my cousin says the program is "dummy proof".

I haven't exactly convinced myself that it would be worth it to participate, so I've decided to do my own sort of cleanse. I started my day off with a carrot-beet-celery juice combo, and have tempeh leftovers from last night for lunch. I bought some organic juice from Whole Foods (a green veggie juice, a carrot-beet-celery juice, lemonade sweetened with agave) and am going to drink that tomorrow and see how I feel about not eating solid foods for a day. We'll see how long it takes before I cave.

Recipe: Gomoku Takikomi Gohan

Today I got a hankering for lotus root. Strange craving, I know. But I was perusing the produce at Berkeley Bowl and I got inspired. So I bought some lotus root, some carrots, gobo, kuro konnyaku, and shiitake mushroom and got to work. Today's dish, Gomoku Takikomi Gohan, is essentially rice boiled with five ingredients. You can use fish, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, whatever you think sounds good. For the version I made this evening, you will need:

carrots, peeled & julienned
gobo, peeled & julienned (today I used PICKLED gobo, I like the flavor)
shiitake mushrooms, caps sliced thinly
lotus root, peeled, sliced thinly & cut into pieces
kuro konnyaku, julienned

2 1/4 c. dashi stock
2 T mirin
2 T sake
2 T shoyu

2 1/2 c. Japanese white rice


Now, I am not good with measuring cut vegetables, so basically I use as much as I think I need. You don't want to overload your rice with stuff, but you don't want it to be ALL rice.

Wash the rice until you wash most of the starch off, then soak in a mixture of dashi, mirin, sake, and shoyu for approximately 1/2 an hour. It is best to use freshly made dashi made from seaweed and bonito flakes, but for time's sake, I often use instant dashi.



Then, you add all the cut ingredients and put them on top of the rice - and cook as you would normal rice. If you have a rice cooker, you can throw everything in there and hit the button, and you're good to go. If you're doing stovetop method, like me, make sure to watch that it doesn't boil over...lower the heat to a simmer and let it steam.

When the rice is done, you can mix everything together so that the vegetables & konnyaku are distributed evenly.

It is a bowlful of oiishi-ness!

NYC Food Adventures

Here are some of my recent Yelp reviews for a few restaurants I went to on my recent trip to New York!

Balthazar Restaurant & Bakery
80 Spring Street
New York, NY 10012
(212) 965-1414

Neighborhood: Manhattan/SoHo


It was my first trip to SoHo, and my friend and I were walking very quickly, in the cold, towards the subway station to catch the 6 train uptown. We were thinking about going back to Les Halles, but instead I caught a glimpse of a familiar red awning. How could it be familiar? It was the same bright red color with simple lettering that spelled out a name I know well - Balthazar. I only knew Balthazar through the famous cookbook, and I was excited to find that we could get a table in this bustling, crowded restaurant - and it was a Wednesday night, mind you. The giant mirrors on the walls combined with a votive candle on every table filled the restaurant with a warm glow. We were seated at the tables for two - small cafe tables that are very very close together, lined up against a banquette - a common feature of NYC restaurants.


My friend and I decided to share a cheeseburger and fries and the pork belly. As we waited for our food, a waiter brought out an enormous tower of seafood on ice to the couple seated next to us. The woman commented that it was an "embarrassing" display, and her companion turned to us and offered us some. (He was dead serious.) My friend and I laughed and politely declined, but chatted with the couple while the server brought us the half bottle of wine we ordered (note: Balthazar only carries French wines), which was really delicious and medium bodied.

Our food came, the cheeseburger (cooked medium) accompanied by a giant pile of some really good fries (though Brasserie Les Halles is a bit better), the pork belly (the top part a glistening deep brown, was so succulent and moist that it really did not require a knife to eat) was set atop a bed of these incredible mustard lentils. I could have had an extra order of these lentils. We shared our fries with the couple next to us, and they shared some really fresh oysters.

The entire meal was perfect, even without dessert. The service was impeccable - servers should be like the stagehands during a play - you barely notice them, but they make everything run smoothly. Balthazar was a show for which I'd definitely request an encore presentation.


Caracas Arepa Bar
91 E. 7th Street
New York, NY 10009
(212) 228-5062

Neighborhood: Manhattan/East Village

Holy Guacasaca (that would be the name of the Venezuelan style guacamole they serve here) - this place is awesome.

For those of you who have never had an arepa, you MUST try it. Little corn pouches stuffed with deliciousness...I had the Los Muchachos, perfect for those who like the SAH-PYE-CEE - grilled chorizo, spicy white cheese, jalapenos, and grilled red peppers, and the La Surena, a chicken-chorizo-avocado orgasm in your mouth topped with chimichurri sauce.

It's cheap too - $7 or less per arepa. I also had some of the Yoyos - fried balls of sweet bread with plantains and cheese inside. It reminds me of a breakfast food - perhaps like stuffed French toast?

At any rate, thank you to AJ who recommended this place to me before my visit to New York...and buen provecho, y'all!


Brasserie Les Halles
411 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10016
(212) 679-4111

Category: French

J'adore Anthony Bourdain.

J'adore le steak.

J'adore les pommes frites.

J'adore le vin.

Par consequent, j'adore Brasserie Les Halles.

How fortunate that my icky hotel was located literally a block and a half away from Brasserie Les Halles, the famed eatery that celebrity chef and author Anthony Bourdain put on the map. I was looking forward to having dinner here ever since I found out I was going to NYC for business.

The reviews are true - the fries are absolutely delicious and crispy, probably some of the best fries I've ever had. I ordered the "Fitness Plate", a 6 oz. serving of steak served with various grilled vegetables, sauteed haricots verts, and a small serving of fries (enough to satisfy your pommes frites craving without making you feel incredibly guilty). I also had a bit of the wonderful French bread and butter that they give you with your dinner - the butter they serve with it is nice and softened, always a plus.

I would love to come back and try several other things on their menu - they have a classic cassoulet and confit de canard that sounded really good (two of my favorite French dishes). They also have a pretty extensive wine list, including champagnes and dessert wines.

Les Halles is also open at 7:30am-midnight, daily, so you can go and have breakfast (either 'petit dejeuner' - Parisian style, or New Yorker style - a heartier breakfast) or lunch or a late dinner - they have nonstop service, seven days a week. The restaurant is spacious, and at night, very dimly lit with candles at each table. I like the vintage French posters they have on the walls, and the checkered floor - great ambiance, and probably a really nice place for a date.

I think I will try to make it to Les Halles on every future trip to NYC (yes, it's THAT good).

BUY: This is Ridiculous - Bling H2O

I just had to write about this. Today, while shopping for some food for our Christmas dinner tomorrow night, I ran across this pretty bottle of water. However, when I turned it over, I went into sticker shock as the price of the water was $55.00. I'm not kidding. I thought it was a misprint, until I picked up a smaller bottle and it was $30.00.

Bling H2O is a water designed to cater to the luxury lifestyle - according to their website, it was created because "In Hollywood, it seemed as if people flaunted their bottled water like it was part of their presentation". Apparently FIJI water and SmartWater just don't cut it anymore.

Couture water? Are you kidding me?

For that price, I better be pissing Cristal after drinking it.

OAKLAND SPOTLIGHT: Dorsey's Locker

DORSEY'S LOCKER
5817 Shattuck Ave
(between 58th St & 59th St)
Oakland, CA 94609
(510) 428-1935





Hey sister, go sister, where all my soul sisters?

The answer to that question is....not in San Francisco.

With the closing of the famed SF soul food spot, Powell's Place, us San Franciscans are experiencing a dearth of good and inexpensive soul food in our dear city, and had to travel outside of SF to find anything noteworthy. One evening, as we had a miserable dinner at PF Chang's, we asked our server, "Where do YOU go to eat when you're not working?" His answer: Dorsey's Locker. I gathered up a large group of hungry people and made them all drive to Oakland on a Sunday afternoon. Wanna see what we got to eat?



The seafood combination, yummy yummy sides, and the short ribs platter


They do all the classic soul food favorites: fried chicken, catfish, snapper, gumbo, short ribs, pork chops, liver & onions, ...and the sides: collard greens, black eyed peas, rice with gravy, mashed potatoes, fries, yams, red beans, green beans, corn, and mac & cheese (only available on Fridays and Sundays). Service was spectacular and entertaining, the food came in copious amounts, and we all left extremely full and satisfied. I think that Dorsey's is actually vastly better than Powell's Place - even in their presentation of the food. (Sorry Powell's...I loved you, but you have been replaced.) Think I'm exaggerating on how good the food was? My friend Joshua, who had the pork chops, cleaned his plate.




photo credits:  arnold at inuyaki.com

I miss cooking.

Hi Readers,

If you're still out there...it has been a hectic month, and I actually have not cooked a single meal at home that is share-worthy. I have probably spent 95% of the time eating at a restaurant or grabbing a salad from the Whole Foods salad bar. Not to fear...I have a few food-related events coming up this week to blog about!

xoxo,
BernaDiva