le blog de tranny

I am really lucky to live in the Bay Area, hub of the local food movement, located at the confluence of three magical forces: fresh local ingredients from farms and the sea, culinary talent schooled in the art of simple cooking and an open, innovative food culture. I eat well and for the most part, relatively cheaply. I feel sorry for people who live in Southern California. So I feel bad for saying that I’m kind of bored with the Bay Area local food movement’s flagship culinary genre, new American (/sort of Italian). Or should I say American (new)? There are so many four star Yelp rated American (new) restaurants around here catering to a clientele of boug-ey Berkeley/Oakland hills residents and fledgling foodies. The problem, I’ve realized, with having so many new American restaurants grounded in a mantra of local ingredients, is that all their menus end up looking quite similar. Who can blame them? If you’re working with the same ingredients, within the same culinary genre, there’s only so many ways to mix it up. If Liberty Ranch duck, polenta and sautéed chard go well together, then why not put that on the menu in spite of the fact that everyone else is doing it? The sautéed dark greens, the roasted Yukon gold potatoes, the melted leeks — these are all things I am sick of, even if they are paired with a juicy New York strip steak. This redundancy is exacerbated by the fact that many of the restaurants around here were founded by chefs who were schooled in the ways of Alice Waters. Perhaps that would explain why Chez Panisse and Pizzaiolo both have Little Gems with crème fraiche dressing on the menu. And speaking of salads, how many times have I come across the asparagus with fresh mozzarella or a farm egg combination in the past two weeks? And people still can’t seem to get over that whole soft-boiled or poached farm fresh egg paired with some kind of pork fat thing (though the first time I saw this on a menu was at Commis way back in the fall, and they did it superbly). And what’s with all the corn cakes? I fucking hate them; I’d rather have a biscuit from KFC.

Okay I guess I’m exaggerating… I just looked at the menus of my local faves online again and they aren’t really that similar. I guess I was just so disenchanted with my recent trip to Rivoli on Solano that I allowed my bitterness to unleash itself on the Bay Area food scene as a whole. Maybe this is what I get for taking restaurant recommendations from Rachel Ray (I first heard about Rivoli on her Food Network travel show).

This was tasty but I was bored. Am I being unfair? It’s not Rivoli’s fault that I just recently started experimenting with fava beans and prosciutto. Adding artichokes was clever but can’t I just pick up a few things at Genova and make this dish myself? I probably should’ve ordered something different. Regardless, the apps were still way better than the entrees.

My experience with the ‘slow braised’ pork osso bucco at Rivoli was similar to my experience with the duck dish at Bay Wolf (Paul and I went in January for my birthday) — dealbreaker. The meat wasn’t that tender or that flavorful, rendering the entire dish a complete waste of money. For me, the meat was the main attraction and my sole reason for ordering the dish, which came with a starch and vegetable I eat at home on a regular basis and can prepare with ease.

Why hello sugar snap peas and carrots! Did you sneak out of my fridge, hide in my purse and hop into my risotto? Maybe the saffron can introduce some novelty into this risotto — oh wait nope still pretty mediocre.

The infamous corn cake thingy, referred to on the menu as a “spoon cornbread soufflé.” I kind of hated the fish — they should’ve just kept the dish simple and fresh instead of trying to put that whole Southern-fusion spin on it. So tired.

In conclusion, everything at Rivoli was decent but nothing was amazing. We were as usual the youngest people in the restaurant but I now must conclude that it’s because these older people are too lazy to cook and have money to spare, not because they have terribly sophisticated palates. More often than not, the food at these four star rated on Yelp places is good but not that good. Not good enough to warrant paying 50+ dollars per person, in my opinion, when I have all these ingredients in my CSA and a home-cooked meal would be so much more satisfying. As Jane put it when describing how burned out she became during asparagus season last year, “I have my own seasonal menu at home.” I want to be served something I can’t make myself; if the pork or duck isn’t melt-in-my-mouth tender then what the hell am I paying for? At that point, the cocktails become the main draw and that’s just stupid.

The manhattan and the cucumber gimlet at Rivoli were both excellent btw.

I feel bad because I think my sourpuss expression of utter disappointment throughout the entire meal ruined the experience for Paul. He brought up a very interesting point – that we seem to be suffering from a Bourdain-like syndrome (perhaps induced by watching too much Anthony Bourdain), where if an upscale dining establishment isn’t the shit (read: a Michelin star recipient), then we’d rather eat at a taco truck or at someone’s grandma’s house. I’d never interpreted Anthony Bourdain’s eating habits that way (to me he seems to just like hearty meaty shit) but I see the truth to it. And it does kind of hold for us now too; when it comes to new American, these days I almost don’t find it worth going out to eat unless the restaurant is like, Commis or Gary Danko. One exception to this rule is Pizzaiolo (which I guess is more Italian but is also a seasonal ingredients type joint). Maybe Rivoli could benefit from following Pizzaiolo’s example, by moving away from the latter and closer to the former on the spectrum between Italian and Californian. Here’s some photos I took during our most recent trip to Pizzaiolo for Caro’s birthday. I’d say Pizzaiolo is a pretty much a unanimous favorite among me and my besties.

Worth it for the cocktails and the food!

The Little Gems with creme fraiche dressing were a bit overdressed. Caro says they’re less so at Chez Panisse.

Morro Bay shrimp from the wood oven – delicious from head to tail!

The Monterey Bay squid pizza with tomato sauce and aioli… my absolute fave.

I don’t want to sound like a douchebag and I know I hold none of the qualifications of a food critic. It’s my fault really, for choosing to eat out at American (new) restaurants so often. If it comes down to a choice between that and my CSA in order to remedy this gastronomic ennui then I am obviously going to cut down on the former. All I know is the next time I eat out I’m going to Kirala.