Each week, we share some favorite recent bites, the dishes and snacks and baked goods that didn’t find their way into a full review. Want the list a few days earlier? Sign up for our free newsletter, Bite Curious.
A recent visit to Nisei featured a celebration of the humble cucumber as a hassun course (part of a longer tasting menu). As our server described the three impossibly intricate bites, she mentioned that the chef de cuisine, Rachel Aronow, is so enamored with cukes that they’d written a haiku in their honor. Naturally I asked to read it, and Aronow gamely scrawled it on my menu:
Cool flesh, green ribbons
Quiet on the cutting board
Everyone needs a muse! Aronow’s trio included a squeaky cucumber meringue with dashi cream, as well as a sweet cucumber sorbet with ginger, soy and ikura.
It’s hard to overstate how good Lou’s Takeaway in Marin is, but I’m also wary of setting expectations too high; it is, after all, a takeout window in a strip mall in San Rafael, across the street from a church and the Terra Linda community pool. There are a handful of stools and a covered “patio” of sorts out back, and they’ll serve you on real plates if you indicate you’re dining in. But otherwise, take whatever looks good to you to go. There are truly no wrong answers at Lou’s, but I’m partial to any of their fried chicken cutlet specials ($21), like the southwest chicken, served with a drizzle of terracotta-colored sauce that gets smoke from moritas and heat from calabrian chiles.
Two weeks ago, Bar Gemini hosted a pop-up mash-up of Frede, the forthcoming concept from the former owner and chef of Friends and Family, and Passages, a coming-soon vegan wine bar. The two restaurants-in-progress collaborated on a five-course tasting menu. Late summer is a glorious time for plant-based eating, as evidenced by a salad of grilled corn with Jimmy Nards, heirloom tomatoes and herbs, all piled atop a cushion of supremely silky whipped Joodooboo tofu. Looking forward to seeing more from both crews.
