Thursday, October 16, 2014

October 16, 2014 - The Landmark Restaurant - Mesa, Arizona



I ordered the Chicken Fried Steak…and it was delicious….it was steak and tenderized but not like they usually do by running it through the machine that makes cube steak..the breading was a homemade cornmeal based breading

…all of this set on a bed of more smashed than mashed potatoes covered with a white gravy….I liked it.  Cooked carrots were also served with the entrée.  I love cooked carrots. These had a very tasty sauce that spoke to be more than just brown sugar and butter…maybe a maple syrup base….very good..and cooked to perfection..they were not mushy.


                                    

I also decided to try the dessert – a 3-Layer Pistachio cake…it was moist and has a wonderful pistachio flavor…almost like a pistachio extract had been used.


Howard Marble sat next to me and he ordered the Crab Cakes so I had to take a picture of that also because it mine had been served with brown gravy instead of white….I would have switched to the Crab Cakes.

Our group ate in the Clock Room.


The Landmark Restaurant
809 W. Main Street
 Mesa, AZ 85201
 (480) 962-4652

Hours:
Lunch, Monday-Saturday: 11 AM - 3 PM
Dinner, Monday-Thursday: 3 PM - 8 PM
Friday-Saturday: 3 PM - 9 PM
Sunday: 11 AM -7 PM

Family owned and operated since 1981
Owners: Don and Candy Ellis

History of the building:

The distinctive gable roofed building which houses the Landmark Restaurant today, began its life in 1908 as a Mormon Church. Extension Road, the street that flanks the building’s east side, had an open canal. Large cottonwood trees grew on each side of the canal, with the branches touching in the middle. It was a favorite swimming spot for children in the summer.

(This restaurant closed after the winter season in 2015.  I will also miss this lovely place for dinner.)

Saturday, October 11, 2014

October 11, 2014 - 54th Annual Greater Phoenix Greek Festival"

We ate our way through the Greek Festival today at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral located at 1973 E. Maryland.

There is always a small admission cost but when we went today they were not charging senior citizens an admission fee.  How nice!  Gave us more money to eat.

Our first snack was a Tiropita - Phyllo pastry filled with a feta cheese blend.  Even though the pan was marked "Tiropita" I believe they gave us the Spanokopita because our pastry did have spinach in the filling with the feta cheese blend.  That didn't matter to us.  We ate it anyway...and it was delicious.

Tiropita or Spanokopita

Found some great shade in the big tent while we ate...so we decided to try the Calamari.  This was exceptional because sometimes battered calamari can be quite tough and chewy.  This calamari was not.  It was very easy to eat.  It was served with a lemon wedge.  We squeezed that over the calamari and it was delicious.  I did detect a bit of Greek humor though.  At the very bottom of the order was on small battered and fried herring.


Calamari

We followed that up with an order of Greek Fries - a simple thing - French Fries served with feta cheese crumbled over the top and some chives.  It was delicious.  I love feta cheese.  I almost bought a shirt that read "Everything is beta with feta."  Isn't that the truth.


Greek Fries


That was followed with a Baklava Sundae.  Now this is quite yummy.  It is soft ice cream served with crushed pieces of baklava over the top and a cherry.  The lady explained to me that when they cut the baklava there are ends that they are unable to use so they crushed those up and voila the Baklava Sundae was created.  You haven't lived until you try one of these.   I also bought 2 of the Koulourakia.  Those are the Greek Easter cookies on the plate.  A dry cookie with a subtle lemon taste in the dough.



Baklava Sundae

There was a second dessert that we chased down.  The priest who conducted our tour through the cathedral told us about it.  We finally found where the dessert was located.  It is called Galaktobouriko.  We will try those next year because we were on the Las Palmas bus.  We had to buy four of them and they needed to stay cool.  Next year I will take my car with a cooler.  I can hardly wait.

Monday, October 6, 2014

October 4, 2014 - Linda's Seabreeze Cafe - Santa Cruz, California


Eggs Benedict


Huevos  Chipolte   


Orange Poppyseed Pancakes

Breakfast was delicious.  Rose ordered the Eggs Benedict….Neal ordered the  Huevos  Chipolte   and I ordered the Orange Poppyseed Pancakes….three big pancakes covered in dripping butter.  I have never tried anything orange with poppyseed…always lemon…I love poppyseed….I love pancakes…who could go wrong with this.

I tasted Rose’ Eggs Benedict….and it was yummy but I liked the Hollandaise Sauce at the Harbor Café a little better than at Linda’s.  I am definitely coming back to visit because Bacon Waffles are also on the menu…and I love those Bacon Waffles…so I want to try them at Linda’s.

Rose asked me to compare Linda's Seabreeze Cafe and the Harbor Cafe.  The items at the Harbor Cafe are delicious and not your run of the mill breakfast dishes...but the food was just as good at Linda's Seabreeze Cafe..and the menu offerings really outdid the Harbor Cafe.  Neal thinks the wait staff are hotter at the Harbor Cafe.

Linda’s Seabreeze Cafe
542 Seabright Avenue
Santa Cruz, CA    
831-427-9713
Hours:
              Monday - Saturday - Breakfast & Lunch -    6AM - 2PM

              Sunday Brunch - 7AM - 1PM 

October 3, 2014 - Cafe Cruz - Soquel, California


Rose ordered Linguini, Gulf Shrimp & New Bedford Sea Scallops  - fava beans, roasted tomatoes, fresh basil, smoked prosciutto with butter white wine sauce .


Neal ordered -  ½ Garlic Herb garlic aioli  - cooked on the spit.


I ordered Applewood Smoked Boneless Pork Chops with  molasses cured house made applesauce .  I was not happy with the first pork chop that I cut and ate….but the restaurant redeemed itself with the second pork chop…it was cooked exactly the way I like my pork chops cooked.  I chose the mashed potatoes and the steamed artichoke heart…that was very good as was the sauce..almost like a hot mustard sauce that was served with the heart for dipping.


Dessert – Rose – Polar Bear Famous Mud Pie - Coffee ice cream, Chocolate cookie crust, fudge,  House made whipped cream, Toasted almonds .   Neal – Black China Bakery Mile High Chocolate Cake with Fresh whipped cream.

I would have to say that I want to try this café on one of my next trips.  After some quiet time at home I realized how much the noise in a café affects the dining experience.  We were seated in the bar…and the talking was at a very loud roar.

Café Cruz
2621 41st Avenue
Soquel, California
(831) 476-3801

Hours:
            Monday – Thursday 11:00 a.m.  – 9:00 p.m.
            Friday – 10:30 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
            Saturday – 11:30 a.m. – 10:30 p.m.
            Sunday – 5:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Friday, October 3, 2014

October 3, 2014 - Companion Bakery - Santa Cruz, California

Rose Filicetti, Neal Savage and I made a quick stop for morning pastries and muffins.

Oh what delectable delights!  I chose the Almond Croissant and coffee…Neal chose the Blueberry Muffin and Rose chose this pastry that looked like a little box with the four corners turned up…I hope it was a tart.  Rose and I also chose a shortbread cookie each.

Neal bought a crusty loaf of 3-grain bread…a small boule.


My almond croissant was very good.  It differed from Gayle’s in that Gayle’s Bakery almond croissant had an almond filling in the middle.  The Companion’s do not. So it was more of a bread type croissant where Gayle's is more like a dessert croissant.

Look what we had to choose from:




Companion Bakery
2341 Mission Street
Santa Cruz, California 95060
(831) 252-2533
Hours:
            Closed Mondays
            Tuesday - 7:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
            Wednesday – Friday -  7:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
            Saturday and Sunday – 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

October 2, 2014 - La Fiesta - Mountain View, California

Late night dinner after watching and listening to the Sal Khan's  Interview of Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg on their just released book How Google Works.  It was held in the Theater of the Santa Clara Convention Center...with Rose Filicetti, Matt Savage and Kristy Calaway.  We each ordered a combination of enchiladas with different sauces.  I ordered the two enchiladas – shrimp with Grandma’s sauce and chicken with Mole.  .They came complete with rice and beans.  I really liked the shrimp with Grandma’s sauce.  The chicken enchilada was filled with chicken.  I will admit right now that I do not like Mole sauce but this was very tasty with the chicken.  I really liked the beans, but did not care for the rice.  There was no taste to the rice.



The chips were tasty...and came with the three sauces.  I tried all of them.  Each has a distinct taste and brought a variety of tastes to add to your chips.  I really like this.  Rose later ordered the chips and guacamole pictured above.


My selection two enchiladas - one...shrimp with Grandsma's Sauce...the other chicken with Mole Sauce.

La Fiesta
240 Villa Street
Mountain View, CA  94041
(650) 968-1364

Hours:
Monday-Thursday 11:00 AM - 9:30 PM 
Friday-Saturday 11:00 AM - 10:30 PM  
Sunday 11:00 AM - 9:30 PM


Thursday, October 2, 2014

October 2, 2014 - Harbor Cafe - Santa Cruz, California

Rose Filicetti and I went to the Harbor Cafe for breakfast.  


Iordered a Bloody Mary…great…they make their own mix…it comes with a huge piece of celery, a small slice of lime, cocktail onion, a slice of a jalapenos pepper ,  an Italian pepperoncini and a green olive…yum…almost a breakfast in itself.



Rose chose the Captain’s Frittata – egg and home fries scrambled with cheese, topped with salsa fresco and sour cream with toast.



Doesn't this look delicious.  Here is a picture of what it looks like inside.



I ordered the Seafood Omelet – shrimp, avocado and cheese – topped with either Hollandaise Sauce or Salsa Fresca.  I chose the Hollandaise Sauce. Served with hashbrowns or Home Fries…I chose the hashbrowns…toast or a biscuit…I chose the biscuit.


The Hollandaise sauce was perfect.  I could just see them whisking together the eggs and butter…then slowly adding the lemon juice. This sauce was so smooth.  The shrimp were not those little tiny canned shrimp.  These were small shrimp.  There were also huge pieces of avocado.  The best seafood type of omelet that I have ever tasted.

Harbor Café
535 seventh Avenue
Santa Cruz, California
(831) 475-4948
Hours: Open Daily 8:00 a.m.  – 2:00 p.m


This isn't necessarily the Harbor Cafe's Hollandaise Sauce recipe but I thought someone might be interested in the simple one that I use.

Hollandaise Sauce

4 eggs
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/ 2 cup unsalted butter, melted (one stick)
pinch cayenne pepper
pinch salt

Vigorously whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice together in a stainless steel bowl and until the mixture is thickened and doubled in volume.  Place the bowl over a sauce pan containing barely simmering water (or use a double boiler,) the water should not touch the bottom of the bowl. Continue to whisk rapidly. Be careful not to let the eggs get too hot or they will scramble. Slowly drizzle  in the melted butter and continue to whisk until the sauce is thickened and doubled in volume. Remove from heat, whisk in cayenne and salt. Cover and place in a warm spot until ready to use. If the sauce gets too thick, whisk in a few drops of warm water before serving

October 1, 2014 - Sitar - Santa Curz, California

Neal Savage and I went to see The Hundred Foot Journey….about an Indian family who moved to France….they owned a restaurant in India…so decided to start a new one in France…just across the street from the big One Star Michelin restaurant.

About half way through the movie I was thinking that all the good food in the movie was making me think about maybe Indian food…just as Neal leaned over and said, “I am beginning to think that we should have Indian food for dinner.”  And so we did.

We went to Sitar…we ordered the buffet…Neal  had the Marsala Chicken add on…and I had a Tandoori Chicken add on…both dishes were marinated chicken cooked in a clay oven with lots of spices and herbs….but each tasted completely different…very good.  Off the buffet we tried Daal Tadka – yellow lentils with special spices…I really liked this…also tried a red bean mixture…and I loved that..went back for seconds…tried a chickpea fritter… and  dish that I didn’t get the name... was like a stir fry with okra…it was my least favorite…but then I don’t like cooked okra…but of all the cooked okra I have tried this was the best…rice with peas..and flatbread.   What I liked the best about the Indian food is the use of the spices…delightful eating….plus it is just darn good.


We shared a Mango Lassi – a yogurt drink served with mango pulp.  

October 1, 2014 - Pino Alta - Aptos, California

Rose Filicetti and I met Neal Savage at the Pino Alta for lunch.  This restaurant is  located in the Sesnon Home…on campus at Cabrillo College…it is used for practice by the culinary arts department of the college.

This week was a French Menu.  Rose ordered the Bistro Steak with Pomme Frites, Red Wine Demi glaze.  Neal ordered the Basil and Sundried Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breast.  I ordered the Artichoke and Mushroom Filo Tart.

It came with French Onion soup, Pear, blue Cheese and Walnut Salad and Olive Bread.


Bistro Steak with Pomme Frites, Red Wine Demi-glaze


Basil and Sundried Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breast


Artichoke and Mushroom Filo Tart

We thought they needed a lot of practice.  Neal’s soup was served without putting it under the broiler…it was sent back.  Rose’s meat was cooked perfectly but they did not give her a knife that would cut steak…so she just sawed away.  I thought Neal’s chicken had one overpowering spice that I could not identify…my tart though tasted just fine.

We decide to order just one serving of crème brulee and spoons around.  It was too thin…just about  1/ 2 inch thick..and it was too egg-y tasting.

What bothered Neal was our waiter…she kept serving him from across the table…oh…nooo…bad…bad.


Good effort on the parts of all the students…they just have to keep practicing.

Pino Alta
6500 Soquel Dr.
Aptos, CA 95003

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

October 1, 2014 - Sweet Pea's Cafe - Capitola, California

Rose and I went to Sweet Pea’s Café for  breakfast.  I ordered the Lemon Curd Crepe.  The crepe itself was not as thin as it could have been…plus the lemon curd was very tangy…tart.  I would have thought with it being curd that the filling would not have had such a strong lemon taste as it did.


Rose ordered the Quiche Lorraine….it came with fresh fruit…I tasted a bite of it…and it was delicious…about 1.5 – 2” thick…homemade crust…and the filling was very creamy.

The restaurant offers a wide selection of crepes, salads, sandwiches, wraps, soup, quiches and breakfast.


Sweet Pea’s Café
2121 41st Avenue Suite 107
Capitola, CA 95010
(831) 476-2737
Hours:
            9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.  Monday – Friday
            8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.  Saturday and Sunday

There is a second location in Los Gato, California

September 30, 2014 - Rocky Point Restaurant - Monterey, California

This restaurant sits out over the rocky cliffs…along Highway 1...on the California Coast...so we were able to watch the gorgeous evening sunset…plus the bonus was a bride out on the rocks in her gown being photographed.  We also were able to see seals through the binoculars surfacing at times around these three rocks…way down below the cliff where we were.

Rose chose the Mussels and Fries…the mussels cooked in a fennel, tomato broth, white wine and chives.

Neal picked the Wild Salmon (which is local) with polenta and asparagus in a sauce of balsamic vinegar and oil.

I ordered the Gnocchi stuffed with Crab meat…potato gnocchi and Dungeness crab meat with roasted peppers and a light cream sauce.  It was the best gnocchi I have ever eaten and that includes my homemade gnocchi.  We eventually asked for bread..and were served this crusty baguette…and we used it to sop up our sauces.

I ordered a Bloody Mary to drink.  Rose ordered the Anit-Oxidant Mojito – Plantation 3 Star Rum/raspberries/blueberries/blackberries/mint/pomegranate juice/club soda.


We wanted to order the Cheese plate for dessert – four local cheeses/dried fruit/organic walnuts and Big Sur honey…but we were just too full.

Rocky Point Restaurant
36700 Highway 1,
Monterey, California 93940
10 miles south of Carmel
(831) 624-2933
(831) 624-4091 -  fax

Hours:  Daily – 11:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

September 30, 2014 - Roy's At Pebble Beach - Pebble Beach, California

I visited with Rose Filicetti and Neal Savage.

We decided to do a mixture of the appetizers for lunch.

We chose one sushi item:


Lakanilau Roll - Seared Kobe Beef wrapped around Dynamite Crab,
Tempura Asparagus & Avocado – we decided on our last pieces to take off the tiny piece of Kobe beef  and try it without the taste of the rest of the sushi piece.



Served with wasabi sauce and ginger slices....I love wasabi sauce and this didn't ...disappoint me...hot...hot...hot!

Dynamic Crusted Scallops in a Sesame Butter Sauce



Crispy Coconut Shrimp in a Chili Sweet and Sour Sauce, Black Bean


Crunchy  Golden Shrimp Dumplings in a Sake-Miso Butter Sauce


This picture is not the best...nor does it show the great presentation because we were so excited when it was served...and it was served first that we started to taste the dumplings before I remembered to take a picture...so this is a picture of the remaining two dumplings.  Five dumplings were served on the plate.

The sauces on each appetizer really made the appetizer as it accented the seafood.

I also ordered a Manchego Cheese Caesar Salad.

Dessert Time - We each choose one and then spoons around.

Rose ordered the Kona Coffee Mud Pie


Neal ordered the Melting Lava Hot Chocolate Cake


Served with a small pitcher of melted milk chocolate. There was  a twenty minute wait for this to be prepared…but we didn’t care….we weren’t in a hurry…plus it gave us time to update all of our tech devices.  It was served with a very large scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and raspberry sorbet.  I don't care for chocolate cakes...but this one was light...and not too gooey and sweet.

I ordered the Tahitian Vanilla Creme Brulee






The crust was perfectly thin and crunchy…. Inside was a creamy, eggy not-too-sweet mixture….perfect…and it was topped with huge blackberries, raspberries and blueberries.  Very good.



Great desserts


Neal and I drank ice water with our meal because we didn't want any interference with the tastes.

Rose ordered a Mojito



Roy’s at Pebble Beach
Inn at Spanish Bay
2700 17 Mile Dr,
Pebble Beach, CA 93953
(831) 647-7500

A little history:

Culinary pioneer Roy Yamaguchi created fusion cuisine at his original Roy's in Honolulu in 1988. Blending classic techniques with adventurous Pacific Rim flavors, he created an entirely new approach to fine dining.

September 30, 2014 - Verve Coffee Roasters - Santa Cruz, California

I visited  with Rose Filicetti and Neal Savage.  Along with my cappuccino I ordered a Lemon Tart.  It was  quite the surprise.  It looked like a muffin dusted with powdered sugar but was really a Danish pastry filled with a rich lemon filling.  The unique thing about this filling was it contained zest…and by that I mean  large, stringy pieces of the lemon rind and the interior fruit.  What a surprise when I bit into that goody for the first time.  I have never eaten anything like that before today…and it was delicious…a treat for the taste buds.

Verve Coffee Roasters
816 41st Ave,
Santa Cruz, CA 95062
(831) 475-7776