Tag Archives: cookbooks

Red Velvet Closes and Marine Room’s Chefs Win Big

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It’s summer vacation so Buzz will take some time to play and tackle new projects while occasionally posting throughout the next few months.  Expect to see Buzz pushing beyond the San Diego boundaries to bring you food and travel news to inspire the wanderlust in all of us…from Los Angeles and New York to Paris and Prague (and beyond).   But first, news from San Diego:

Red Velvet Wine Bar in Little Italy closes tomorrow Saturday (as noted by a Keli Dailey tweet).  To answer Dailey’s question of “why”, Buzz talked with wine director Kyle Showen today to get the answer.  Bottom line:  Owner Wendy Segal wants time off and isn’t ready to recalibrate the staff as Kyle is moving to San Francisco where Katie Brookshire (opening wine director) now works.  Terrific chef Luke Johnson will be missed as will the very contemporary and grown-up spot for interesting wines and well-paired food.  We hope that Segal will not keep the place shuttered too long.

The Marine Room‘s dynamic duo Bernard Guillas (executive chef)  and Ron Oliver (chef de cuisine) nabbed two big awards at the IACP gala last night in Austin, Texas.  Their cookbook Flying Pans, Two Chefs, One World won the People’s Choice award along with best in the Chefs and Restaurants category (they beat chefs Rick Bayless and Michael Chiarello).  Congrats to Bernard and Ron.

 

Uni: More Than Just Sushi

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sea urchinsIf you love sushi you’ve likely experienced uni, the roe from the spiny creature called sea urchin. These days, uni dishes go way beyond laying it on a mound of rice to be eaten in one bite. Recipes that incorporate this prized ingredient into everything from sauces and soups to savory mousses and more, appear in French, Italian, Asian and American cookbooks.

From San Diego to Ft. Bragg, California is home to sea urchin divers who bring the creatures to processors who in turn ship it to sushi bars and restaurants worldwide, mostly to Japan and the United States. Recently, Philanthropy Roundtable organized a trip to San Diego to go on the boats with the divers and see fiirst-hand the sea urchin harvesting.  Urchin packed for shippingUrchin packed for shippingThe group saw the urchin processing at San Diego’s Catalina Offshore Products, followed by dinner and no, it did not take place at a sushi bar.urchinbox1.jpgurchinbox1.jpgurchinpete.jpgurchinpete.jpg

Pete Halmay is a diver with a mission: Get these sustainably grown urchins beyond the sushi bars and into restaurants such as Tony D’Amato’s well-known Baci Ristorante on Morena Boulevard. D’Amato hails from Sicily where sea urchin, known as ricci di mare, is as much a staple as pasta.

D’Amato served a sampler of urchin dishes that began with drinks and an incredibly simple bruschetta: Bread rounds brushed with a bit of garlic infused olive oil, topped with a “tongue” of roe. At the table, an amuse bouche of roe served in the spiny test (its shell) with prosecco and eaten with a teaspoon. Note that these two presentations allow the roe to stand alone, much like it does in sushi. In dishes like these, the roe’s delicate sea taste and creamy texture meld in the mouth, unhampered by too many other flavors.

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urchinbacibisque.jpgNext came uni bisque with mussels, scallops and uni also served in the test. The sampler finished with a classic Italian dish of spaghetti mixed with a hint of olive oil, garlic and pinch of red pepper and barely warmed roe.

If you think sushi is the only way to experience this lovely delicacy, think again. Resources include http://www.calurchin.org/ and http://www.catalinaop.com/ as well as http://www.epicurious.com/.  Photos by Marcie Rothman.