Terry’s Restaurant + Lounge at the Cypress Hotel in Carmel, established by the late Doris Day, and named for her son Terry Melcher, was the People’s Choice winner last month at the annual Big Sur Fungus Face Off. This fun, friendly and fungi-focused competition took place at Big Sur Lodge, where local chefs vied to create the best mushroom-based dishes from freshly foraged ingredients. Chef Luis Reyes of Terry’s came up with a crunchy riff on a fried oyster, enrobing clusters of oyster mushrooms in special batter and deep frying them. He beamed with pride as he accepted the award and, after a long day of cooking for the crowd of 300, headed off to Terry’s for the dinner shift. A chef’s life is grueling.
Professional judges from Edible Monterey Bay also awarded Best Use of Foraged Ingredients to Chef Pamela Burns of Wild Plum Café for her riff on steak and eggs, a sautee of king trumpets, enoki and porcini with cloves of garlic and soy emulsion over polenta. Most Creative was won by Chef Adan Chavez of Big Sur River Inn for his beautifully composed chanterelle tamale topped with mushroom mole. Best Overall was awarded to Chef Carlos Rene Esparza of Deetjen’s for a tasty dish of short ribs with enoki mushrooms, porcini, pickled onion and micro cilantro over cheesy polenta. Their trophies were glass replicas of ‘shrooms set on engraved wooden pedestals, complete with battery operated lights.
The sold-out event raised funds for the Big Sur Health Foundation. The Fungus Face Off also includes foraging hikes and displays by King of Mushrooms Todd Spanier, who provides truffles and other fungi to many of our local restaurants.
Whimsical Son & Garden in Menlo Park offers a casual but adorably decorated enclosed tent setting near the Caltrain station. The impossibly tiny kitchen still manages to put forth quite a spread. On a recent chilly January day, we warmed our hands over excellent chai lattes and feasted on the garden omelet with home fries and toasted levain served with maple honey butter, which was a sweet way to start the day. Specialties here are bibimbap, loco moco and Korean Benedict with shortribs and kimchi fried rice.
While attending Peninsula Fresh, a media event put on by San Francisco Peninsula, the region’s travel and tourism board, I met Jim Murphy of Half Moon Bay Wasabi (hmbwasabi.com), the only US-based farm to successfully cultivate the prized root. Turns out the leaves are edible and delicious, and he says the stems are great sauteed with other Asian veggies. He sells wasabi root directly to chefs, at farmer’s markets and online. Murphy also carries a wasabi grater kit, made in Japan. Nothing like fresh from the root. By the way, it’s spicier closest to the stem.
The event, held at the Farallon Room at Skyline College in San Bruno, was a mini-showcase of the region’s abundant restaurateurs, farmers, fishers, ranchers, orchardists and beekeepers, and highlighted initiatives like San Mateo County’s “As Fresh As It Gets” farm-to-table program, which seeks to connect producers with restaurants, hotels and schools to provide nutritious food in its purest form.
We also heard from panelists, including seaside cattle rancher Chris Giannini of Pomponio Ranch, David Westendorf of the Pelagic Group in Half Moon Bay, Adrian Hoffman of Four Star Seafood in San Francisco, Daniel Theobald of Twisted Fields in San Gregorio and Tiffany Nurrenbern of Zero Foodprint, discussing hot topics like food waste, composting, regenerative farming and a particularly thorny one, the use of the word “organic” on labels.
Looking for Japanese food with some Thai spice? Head to Rin-Tei, a tiny and serenely spare spot at the intersection of Crystal Springs Road and El Camino in San Mateo that oozes zen. You’ll find a varied menu featuring clay pot dishes like cod braised in creamy citrus soy, and pho with soy milk mushroom and butter chicken, both of which are special winter editions.
My friend ordered and loved the regular beef pho, recommended by the server, and we split the shrimp spring rolls, accompanied by a tangy, velvety peanut sauce. The Kra Pao spicy stir-fried shrimp was served over basil and garlic chili-seasoned white rice, alongside sweet onion and bell peppers, topped with a fried egg. We’re coming back for the Japanese style chili garlic poached chicken and the carpaccio with wasabi and citrus soy. The tempting Rin-Tei plate includes papaya salad, shrimp fresh spring roll, fried calamari and Thai fried chicken. Rin-Tei, located at 104 S. El Camino Real in San Mateo, is open for lunch and dinner daily, except Tuesday.
Delve into the secrets of Chinese cooking with the new “House of Nanking Cookbook,” a love story to China and San Francisco’s Chinatown by father-daughter duo Kathy and Peter Fang. Part history, part technique, part mouthwatering recipes and 100% engaging, it’s a key to sourcing the right equipment and ingredients for the timeless dishes that made the restaurant an essential part of the Chinatown food scene.
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