No Oak, Bay Laurel and Halibut

Nina and I spent this past President's Day Weekend along the Mendocino Coast. One of my goals for the trip was to take pictures for subject matter for my oil painting hobby. While taking pictures along the Navarro River...

... I noticed plants that I was pretty sure were Bay Laurel. A recipe for home made Split Pea Soup calls for bay leaves, and a spice-rack-sized jar of bay leaves runs in the neighborhood of $12.00, so I thought I'd stock up.I wanted to make sure my botanical information was accurate... 

(My photo.)

...so I Googled it. I'm pretty sure I got the right stuff. Walking with God is mind-blowing:

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

THE ALCHEMY OF TASTE

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2009

No Oak, Bay Laurel and Halibut

You're looking at a sneaky camera phone shot of a bottle of 2006 Chateau de Montmirail from Gigondas at Cafe Claude in SF. More fruit forward than I expected for a French wine but nevertheless well balanced, good tannins, a little black pepper and....no oak. I did not miss it one bit. Check it out. Delightful with a wedge of the house made paté de campagne.

With only 2 days in the city, I was bowled over twice more with spot on concepts and executions in taste. Tara's, a tiny, extremely hip and happen' ice creamery on Claremont in Oakland always has an edgy selection of ever changing flavors, some made with sugar and some with agave syrup. My kudos and compliments on the brilliant and ethereal Bay Laurel. On initial taste, I was immediately transported to the Bay tree canopied logging road along the Navarro River -- minty, ever so slightly stinky, pungently herbaceous and oily. There's really nothing to say other than you're missing out on something life changing and important if you haven't tried it.

Yesterday, February 20, 2013, I received a $20 gratuity from a customer. She insisted I use it for an ice cream cone. Its relevance to this blogshot only just occurred to me. I think I'll look up "Tara's" and see if "Bay Laurel" ice cream has thus far survived the recession. Alas! "Tara's" survives but "Bay Laurel" is off the menu.
Update: February 22, 2013. Today, I cleared a call on Colby St. in Oakland (a not too common location for my company to send me) and was put on lunch so I punched up Tara’s Organic Ice Cream,  Berkeley in Google maps. It was TWO BLOCKS away.
 
So I went on over, ordered the Sunflower Butter and had the Rosemary Pear at the server's suggestion in the $3.25 size cup. NICE PEARING. After the aromatically nuanced Rosemary Pear, the Sunflower Butter flavor (an exotic riff on the more pedestrian but justly popular peanut butter) baptizes your tastebuds in the better angels of salted sunflower seeds. The pricing and serving size lend themselves to moderation in the consumption of these miraculous concoctions, but I think that adds value to the experience. End of update.

Some other shots:

(Update 3-2-13: On the way up to Ft. Bragg on the 101 Freeway, we passed the aftermath of a traffic accident wherein a vehicle had run into the back of an eighteen-wheeler at full speed. Yesterday, my boss and, by coincidence, one of our customers, were attending the funeral of the driver of that vehicle. He was a husband and father in his early forties. Heartbreaking tragedy. A reminder of how temporary and ruthlessly unpredictable life in this world can be.What an instructive mix of convergent experiences. Footprints in the sand.Only this is no dream.)