Meal of the Month: August

Time just flies when you’re eating well. I sure was lucky this month. Meals ranged from stellar meals (yes, many, many meals) at Beretta, to a fancy dinner at The Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton with my family, to a chef’s tasting menu at Postrio with my friend Vanessa, to Dining in the Dark at Opaque Restaurant (even tasting miracle fruit!). There was also the dinning poolside in Palm Springs with Supper Club friends, ‘bar food’ at Boulevard with my friend Jason, a fantastic brunch at Foreign Cinema with the Benjamin clan and one of the most fun Sunday brunches I’ve had in a long time at Balboa Café with friends Sabine, Rohit and new friend Dave. There was also lots of home cookin’ this month too, some delicious grilled salmon, home made pad thai, and more heirloom tomatoes than this gal knows what to do with.

Not attractive to everyone, but those chicken livers at Beretta sure are yummy!


Yummy pizza...prosciutto di parma, tomato, arugula & mozzarella


One of my favorite pizzas: broccolini, pancetta, tomato & mozzarella- with an egg on top!


Sauteed Ayu with a tomato gelee, basil seeds, basil oil and heirloom tomato compote


Opps, it was so good I dug right in! Kindai tuna tartar with a stone fruit compote


Devil's Gulch Pork Chop, with crispy skin on top, and a blackberry gastrique!


Sonoma Duck Breast, it was Delicious!


There are no photos when you're dining in the dark! So here's a photo of my friend JT and I post-dinner


One of the many yummy tomato salads I've had this summer


Kebabs! Perfectly filing and light for a hot summer night in Palm Springs!


My first attempt at making my own pad thai at home. It was yummy!

Let’s not forget burritos at my friend’s Alli’s house after putting Charley to bed, lasagna with Kathleen and her adorable son Joe, and ‘nibbles’ with Tatiana and Michelle (FYI: nibbles to a chef is quite the spread, not what you have in mind at all!) The end of the month brought cheese tasting with JT and Teresa, a fun meal at Mission Beach Café with Jason and Eric (and an amazing honey lavender cheesecake!), and a lot of SLOW FOOD! (More on that later!)

Hmmm, you can’t beat a month like that! How’s a girl suppose to pick a favorite? I feasted on heirloom tomatoes this month, fresh California pizzas, cheese (lots of cheese), lots of fresh corn (and tons of corn soup!), and some yummy sticky toffee pudding too!

Cheese...

More cheese...

The prettiest cheese of all!

What could beat all of these meals? Tough, right? Well. Here’s the winning meal.

A casual family dinner with my Dad and sister, Michelle. There’s a little restaurant in Redwood City that we like, it’s called Blue Sky Café. Some friends of ours own it, the husband is the chef and the wife runs the front of the house with other family members. Is it fancy? No. Is service great? Not at all. Do we always have a great meal there. Most definitely. On a recent visit home to see Dad, we opted out of cooking (it was just too hot, and we were just too lazy!) The only problem with going out to eat? There were foods we were craving. The solution? We decided to go up to Blue Sky Café, but we came with goods in tow. A fresh crab and whole fish.

We feasted that night. We had delicious steamed fish (everyone should try this method—it’s so simple, and yet so good!), baked crab with onions and ginger, eggplant with chicken and a delicious beef with onions in a strawberry sauce. The meal was simple. So simple and casual, there aren't even photos! Special because of the company. And just one of those great summer nights when everything in the world is perfect.