She’ll be required to make trips to Santa Fe and the Trinity Alps and other favorite haunts to return me, once and for all, to lands I love. She’s been a good sport about indulging my morbid fascination with final resting places many of which involve food of course. She knows I want a bit of my ashes spread at San Francisco’s Ferry building, otherwise known as Mecca to Foodies like me. She has a mental map: A few tablespoons sprinkled at Salumeria Boccolone, that shrine to all things porcine, and a few tablespoons at the Acme bread stand. Maybe a dash or two near the tamale booth and another smidgeon at the feet of the Allstar Organics woman who bottles dried chile flakes that miraculously taste of, and smell like, real chiles.
Kathy, her daughter Hayley and I recently embarked on an Easter road trip up the North Coast to visit my son Colin who attends Humboldt State. Ostensibly we went so that Hayley could tour the campus. But the real reason was to pay homage to Alice Waters. The long weekend would culminate in a meal at Waters’ famous Berkeley institution, Chez Panisse. Since it’s on the list of 1000 Places To See Before You Die we figured we better get busy. As a gastronomic build up to the big event, we’d celebrate the local farm to table movement long supported by Waters and visit the shops and restaurants of some of her disciples along the route.
We wandered through the farmers market early that Saturday morning, stuffing our bags with ingredients we planned to cook in our rented house in Arcata. The prize was a hunk of Guanciale from Boccolone (Motto: Tasty Salted Pig Parts!). The cured pork jowl was destined for Pasta Carbonara. Kathy had brought another key ingredient from home--day old eggs from her backyard chickens. We grabbed a hunk of imported parmesan from Cowgirl Creamery and a bag of English shelling peas as we had every intention of bastardizing the classic recipe. Lovely salad greens, a pork roast, fingerling potatoes and crusty loaves of Acme Bread completed our haul.
Side note: Steve Sullivan and Peggy Smith who founded Acme Bread and Cowgirl Creamery respectively, both worked with Alice Waters at Chez Panisse.
The night before, we’d eaten at The Zuni Café on Market Street. Owners Judy Rodgers and Gilbert Pilgram are also both Chez Panisse alum and the food there echoes Waters’ philosophy: simple, seasonal food, beautifully done.
While we waited for our table Hayley and I started with a selection of raw oysters from the bar, choosing from roughly 20 varieties.
Our meal did not disappoint. A starter of grilled baby fava beans in an herbed oil preceded Caesar Salads—“The best ever!” according to Hayley. When we inquired how they made the delicious croutons our waiter replied, “Deep Fry ‘em!”
We shared the crispy, succulent Zuni Roast Chicken surrounded by warm bread salad with tender, spicy mustard greens, a side of soft polenta with parmesan and a wedge of Meyer Lemon Tart for dessert.
You may be thinking, “They drove all that way for a roast chicken?” It’s truly sublime, each whole chicken cooked in the wood-burning oven, to order. A peek into the open kitchen reveals calm, controlled and intense focus from the oven master as rows of steaming chickens await plating.
Inspired and full of anticipation for what the rest of the trip would offer we headed north on Highway 101 on Saturday, determined to make it to Arcata by cocktail hour.
The second leg of our trip among the redwoods offered a myriad of epicurean delights…
• A picnic of Dante cheese from Cowgirl Creamery, Brown Sugar and Fennel salume from Boccolone and a Fig and Walnut Baguette enjoyed alongside the Eel River.
• Finding an entire wheel of Cypress Grove Dairy Humboldt Fog cheese for only $18.00 at the Arcata Co-Op.
• Fresh Organic Strawberry Ice Cream at Arcata Scoop
• The pasta carbonara made with Guanciale instead of ordinary bacon or pancetta. (It really does make a difference).
and we made some delightful discoveries….
• Dying brown eggs for Easter yields deep, rich jewel-like colors. We’ll never dye white ones again.
• No matter how old your kids are, they still like dying Easter eggs even if they say they don’t.
• Sugar Gliders are popular, albeit illicit, pets at the Humboldt dorms. (Google them)
• It can snow in Arcata in April.
The whole weekend’s menu was a nod to Spring, the food a celebration of Earth’s rebirth. So why the opening musings on death and dying? Honestly, it was the carbonara. It has always been my “last meal.” If I become suddenly prescient or a prison warden is breathing down my neck and I have to place an order, it will be Pasta Carbonara. But since I get to choose, it’ll be made with Boccolone’s Guanciale.
Spaghetti alla Carbonara
Adapted from Saveur Magazine
4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
4 oz. chopped guanciale or pancetta cut
into 1⁄2" pieces
2 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper, plus more
to taste
1 3⁄4 cups finely grated Parmesan
1 egg plus 3 yolks
¾ cup to 1 cup fresh shelled English Peas
Kosher salt, to taste
1 lb. spaghetti
1. Heat oil in a 10" skillet over medium heat. Add guanciale and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 6–8 minutes. Add pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, 2 minutes more. Transfer guanciale mixture to a large bowl and let cool slightly; stir in 1 1⁄2 cups Parmesan and egg and yolks and stir to combine; set aside.
2. Meanwhile, bring a 6-qt. pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta; cook until al dente, 8–10 minutes. Reserve 3⁄4 cup water; drain pasta and transfer it to guanciale mixture. Dump in the peas. Toss, adding pasta water a little at a time to make a creamy sauce. Season with salt and pepper; serve with remaining Parmesan.
SERVES 4
Future post: Breakfast at another Alice Waters inspired Oakland Restaurant, Olivetto and finally: Chez Panisse.
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