Our roof has full southern exposure and the parapet around the perimeter offers some shelter from winds.  It is also a large thermal mass – it absorbs sunlight all day long and then gradually releases the heat throughout the night, creating a perfect little microclimate up there.  And thankfully it’s a white roof, so it doesn’t get too hot.  Fingers crossed that the initial plantings thrive!

JP

¡Cinco!

The number five seems to be enjoying its day in the sun lately.  In his book In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan put forth some basic rules of eating.  One memorable rule is “Avoid Food Products That Contain More Than Five Ingredients.”  Soon after, clever, manipulative products and ad campaigns followed, most notably Häagen-Dazs’s Five line of ice creams featuring only five ingredients and Lays Classic Potato Chips boasting that they are made with “three simple ingredients” – neither of which are particularly healthy foods.

And in an unrelated but locally relevant example, there’s Five restaurant down the street.

Anyway, we didn’t necessarily set out to have five ingredients in Cinco de Mezcal, our special Cinco de Mayo cocktail, but that’s what we ended up with nonetheless: mezcal, lime, pineapple, chartreuse and hoja santa.  The first three are no doubt familiar and require no explanation.  Chartreuse is a French liqueur made by Carthusian monks since the 1740s that includes over 130 herbal extracts (there seems to be a long tradition of monks making all manner of spirits, but that’s for another time).  Hoja santa is an oft-used herb in Mexico, whether for tamales, wrapping whole fish or mole verde.  It is a plant with heart-shaped leaves that grow up to a foot in size and have a complex flavor, with notes of sassafras, mint and anise.

Matt Campbell’s idea for Cinco de Mezcal evolved from the Mexican flag, but we didn’t want to make a layered drink with cinnamon schnapps.  The Chartreuse, lime, pineapple and hoja santa mingle to create a nice balance between earthy and fruity, and the mezcal adds some smoky intensity.  The ‘flag’ on top is comprised of mint for aromatics and a pineapple chunk dipped in a salt of morita and guajillo chiles and tomato powder.  As barman Matt says, “A little spice alongside a good amount of lime and mezcal is exactly what I want to beat the heat this weekend.  It’s a good sweat.  I’m starting to sound redundant but this drink is meant to be refreshing and quaffable-on the patio or in paradise-oh wait, it’s both.”

Hope to see you at Comal on this momentous weekend that includes both our one-year anniversary (on Saturday) and Cinco de Mayo.

JP

May 4^th marks the one-year anniversary of our opening night at Comal, and to mark the date, we will have a special delicacy on the menu that evening.  Anyone who has wandered through the bustling markets of Oaxaca has heard the calls of the Chapulin vendors, standing behind baskets piled to the sky.  Chapulines are the native grasshopper of Oaxaca.  Traditionally, these grasshoppers are toasted on a comal with lime, garlic, agave worm salt, and sometimes chile.

Although eaten in other regions of Mexico, chapulines are so associated with Oaxaca that they are represented as the local professional soccer team’s mascot.  They can either be popped in the mouth as a stand-alone snack like popcorn, or be found as the protein component of a taco, quesadilla or tlayuda.  We will be serving them on memelas, along with black beans, asiento, and queso fresco.

Over the course of the last year, we have fielded many inquiries as to when these crunchy little critters would make an appearance on the menu.  Mark your calendars, Saturday they drop like a biblical plague, shipped to us directly from Oaxaca.

We have one additional treat in store for Saturday night.  We’ll be sending each dining guest home with a bonbon from our Berkeley neighbors at Casa de Chocolates, who make delicious handmade Latin American chocolates and other desserts.   They offer a wide variety of bonbons – we’ve chosen Brazilian Sea Salt Caramel, Cajeta (like dulce de leche), Maracuya (passion fruit) and Tamarindo.

MG

The dinner tonight has been sold out for some time, but I couldn’t resist sharing some recent rave reviews that Wind Gap received from the Wine Advocate for two of the wines Pax will be pouring tonight.

2010 Chardonnay Brosseau Vineyard, Chalone (95 Points):

…one of the great wines of the year. Crushed rocks, gun flint, graphite, lemon and green pears are all alive in the glass. The 2010 is ultimately all about energy, tension and pure minerality, qualities that aren’t often associated with California Chardonnay, but that are very much present here.

2011 Pinot Noir, Gaps Crown Vineyard, Sonoma Coast (92 Points):

Dark red cherries, flowers, mint, spices and licorice all flesh out in an expressive, generous Pinot Noir that captures the very best qualities of the year. In 2011, 75% of the wine was aged in concrete eggs, an unusual approach with Pinot that yielded stark, naked expression of fruit that is remarkable for its purity. 

Congrats Pax and Pamela – should be a memorable night!

JP