Apologies for the long hiatus readers, life has been a whirl of activity of late. I managed to escape the last of Beijing’s summer sweats with a long sojourn in the U.S. The good news is that while we didn’t blog it, I got to eat some amazing meals with Christine. The bad news is that these mealsoffood were in San Francisco, where Christine has returned in pursuit of that pesky phD. And so, the Beijing Haochi team is down one, and we have lost the brains behind the operation, not to mention our food stylist extraordinaire. In the spirit of viewing the glass as half full, we did get to pig out in my favorite food city in America. In honor of Christine, this post is entitled “Ode to Food One Cannot Eat in Beijing.”
#1: The uncontested winner of best dish we ate was the raviolo di ricotta with farm egg at Cotogna. This stylish Italian trattoria is relatively new and immensely popular – the only reservation we could get on a Tuesday was at 10pm. However, that one ravioli was worth it. The dish was nothing less than orgasmic. One palm-sized round of pasta is stuffed with a little mountain of fresh ricotta, into which a hollow has been carved. Into that hollow is lovingly deposited one egg yolk of an incredible rich gold (or was that just the candlelight? Who cares, it was magical – it actually TASTED like yellow. Molten, yellowy gold). This pillow of heavenly goodness is poached oh-so-gently, then topped with brown butter, parmesan shaving and truffle sprinkles. Hot DAMN. Unbelievably good.
#2: Hog Island Oysters. Our original plan was to take off for Point Reyes, armed with some oyster knifes and chain-mail gloves, ready to do some serious damage to a big bagful of lusciously alive and crusty molluscs. However, conferences and … life got in the way, so despite the best laid plans, we had to settle for a boozy afternoon at Hog Island Oysters at the Embarcadero Ferry Building. While not quite as satisfying as prying the little suckers free yourself while squatting in the bright sunshine out at the oyster farm, it’s a pretty fine way of spending an afternoon. Also, without having to fight for each briney nugget, it’s a lottt easier to put down a lot more oysters than one perhaps ought to. That includes oysters casino. Very Jersey Shore? Yes. Yum? Yes.
#3: Mission Chinese Food. There are many hyped-about restaurants in the Bay, yet the one I had my heart set on was Mission Street Chinese. I admit it – I love fusion food. I also love Chinese-American food (who doesn’t secretly or unashamedly love sweet and sour pork? Or General Tso’s chicken?). The line for this joint was unreal – over two hours the Friday we went, but reviews such as this made it a mission (Ha. Sorry.) we were determined to undertake. Also, they had me at la zi ji with chicken wings. I love that Sichuan dish of deep fried chicken fried with deep fried chilies, but like most foreigners here in China, am left hungry and miffed at the miniature nubbins of chicken you unearth after rooting around a sea of chilies. Maybe that treasure hunt is part of the psychological satisfaction of the dish for the Chinese, but to me, the brilliance of using whole chicken wings was just too much to resist. As was the promise of “thrice-cooked” bacon – as if the twice-cooked Chinese version wasn’t dastardly delicious enough. And clever too – the use of nian gao (rice cakes) to mimic the chewy mouth feel of the fat in twice-cooked pork was as pleasing to the palate as the idea was to my brain. To the naysayers who claim it’s not authentic Sichuan – true ‘nuf, folks, but these guys are after something more important than authenticity, they went right to delicious.
#4, 5, and so forth: As for the rest of our eats, well, there is only so long I can let myself ramble on for. There were countless Cowgirl Creamery cheese plates and home-cure salumi, not to mention five (yes, five) trips to Tartine, where I scarfed down delectable grilled cheeses, coconut cream tarts and bread puddings. Oh, and every day started (and continued) with lovingly made cups of fancypants over-priced and truly fantastic coffee. Thank you San Francisco, for reminding me why I loved you so. And Christine, for helping add five wonderful pounds to my waistline. Totally worth it.
