The San Francisco List

Lots of ground to cover in this truly American city.

• El Farolito: taqueria on grungy Mission Street, for pitch-perfect taco carnets
• Rich Table: innovative comfort food in Hayes Valley, for a Dirty Hippie (mousse of buttermilk, wheatgrass, sprouts and seeds, and sardine chips), chicken lasagna (hmmm)
• Blue Bottle Coffee: fresh coffee, but long lines at the Ferry Building
• State Bird Provisions: much in demand table, serves modern dim sum, specialty of lemony, deep-fried quail on Fillmore Street
• Central Kitchen: quintessential Northern Cali with an Italian twist
• Park Tavern: warm and lively atmosphere, trendy crowd, fresh from the market menu in North Beach; the Washington Square Cocktail (Limoncello, Aperol, ginger and prosecco) sounds intriguing, as does poulet noir served with truffles
• Craftsman & Wolves: nice patisserie on Valencia Street
• Benu: Keller disciple Corey Lee making tasty and inventive food, tasting menu only on Hawthorne Street

Bloom's Choc Chip Cookies

Seems like a good recipe. I've always strived to make a chewy and gooey chocolate chip cookie but harder than it seems. From Bloom in Hong Kong.

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsalted butter at room temp.
1 cup bittersweet chocolate
2 cups white chocolate chunks
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 cups macadamia nuts
1 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

• preheat oven to 170*C
• chop macadamia nuts into quarters and break chocolate bar into small pieces
• in a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars with a wooden spoon until creamy
• in a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, desiccated coconut and salt
• add the eggs and vanilla extract to the butter mixture and beat until smooth
• incorporate the flour mixture, then add chocolate and white chocolate pieces and nuts, mix venly
• on a baking sheet smeared with butter, roll the dough to the size of a Swiss roll and refrigerate for at least 30 mins (or up to 24 hrs) until firm.
• cut the dough into 1/2 inch slices
• on baking sheets lined with parchment paper, bake the cookies for 10 minutes until golden brown around the edges but soft on top
• plate the cookies and serve with strawberries, raspberries and freshly whipped cream

The Singapore List

A few things to keep in mind next time in Singapore.

• Burnt Ends: BBQ with a twist
• Esquina: Jason Atherton in Chinatown
• Lucha Loco: authentic taqueria including Baja-style fish tacos
• Luke's: romantic French in Chinatown
• Les Amis: still going strong, with ex Joel Robuchon now at the stove
• Catalunya: ex-Adria team doing their thing

Tonight's Dinner

A great birthday dinner kicking off at La Cabane, then Yardbird and Ronin. Lots of tasty treats consumed, accompanied by a very special sake: Fukucho by Daiginjo 2005. Happy birthday to me!

• half-dozen Shigoku oysters (Washington state) with ume 
• two Hotate scallops with salt & pepper
• 1 Hamaguri clam & sake
• tomato salad with black vinegar
• celtuce, carrot & daikon
• grilled maitake, cucumber & myoga
• cobia, smoked eggplant puree, shichimi
• sawara, mentaiko, ume
• tiger prawns & spring bamboo shoots

The Auckland List

In case I make it there anytime soon. Things to do according to Jessica McCormack a London-based, NZ-born jeweler with a shop in Mayfair.

• Ponsonby Central: markets, restaurants
• Little Bird Organics: good healthy breakfast
• Glengarry wine shop: in Ponsonby, Stolen Kiss rose (small production only)
• Farro Fresh: cheese
• Auckland Fish  Market: Freemans Bay
• Meola Kitchen: good coffee, near ocean
• Hopkinson Mossman: good gallery
• Melanie Roger: good gallery (landscape photography by Derek Henderson)
• The French Cafe: local, seasonal produce, oysters

Cream of Corn

I've always enjoyed a good cream of corn soup, although I can't remember the last time I had some. This is a recipe from Carmen Li, the publisher and editor-in-chief of Crave, Hong Kong's best foodie magazine. She says this soup is good hot or cold. As a side note, I may experiment and add a bit of white chocolate at the very end. The Japanese have a favorite national snack which is basically white chocolate covered popped corn.

4 corn on the cobs
1 onion
1 carrot
1 minced garlic
1 cup of chicken broth
1 tblsp butter
1 tblsp of double cream
maldon sea salt
ground black pepper

1. chop the vegetables into small dice and sauté in butter
2. add broth, simmer for half hour
3. blend and put through a fine sieve a few times until very smooth
4. add cream and seasoning (this would be where I add some white chocolate!)