Food notes

Food notes.

I have no idea why church peeps won’t go for Vietnamese sandwiches. When I suggest getting them they react as if I’ve suggested we go contract bubonic plague. Have you even tried them? They’re totally harmless, it’s just a warm, fresh baked baguette, meat, and veggies. Absolutely delicious. And super cheap! You can get like a chicken baguette, and pork and taro eggrolls for $3.50 and be stuffed. Ever since Lee’s Sandwiches opened up their Sunnyvale branch I’ve been going there twice a week on average. It’s awesome.

So last week I had one of the top 5 meals I’ve ever eaten, at Manresa in Los Gatos. I’ve written about this before, but a weird thing about me is that with food, I’m either super ghetto and try to be as cheap as possible, or super upscale; there’s not much in between. I love good cheap food like Lee’s and In ‘N Out and have it a lot. But I’m also willing to spend, once or twice a year, what to some would be a ridiculous amount on good food. I think that’s OK in moderation. Some people spend money on skiing, some on golf. Me, every so often, I spend it on food.

We had the tasting menu which was like 15 tiny courses, every one of which was delicious, with the lone possible exception being this veal sweetbread dish. They also had fascinating combinations. Like a soft-cooked egg placed back in the shell with creme fraiche and maple syrup. Amazingly delicious. Or they served this foie gras with caramel in such a way that it looked like flan. That also worked. Also served uni with a tart citrus sauce which was a bold and surprisingly good combination. The roast hamachi with warm salmon roe and the 36 hour braised lamb was particularly delicious, but everything was amazing – I wanted to lick every plate.

At the risk of sounding totally fufushishi, I’d probably rank my top 5 meal experiences: Masa’s (Lobster tasting menu), Charlie Trotter, Manresa, Sawa Sushi, Jardiniere.