Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow!

Pictured at left: Chef Ben Sims shopping at the farmers market.

I'm Back.
The hiatus for the past week and a half is unintentional, and believe me "I'd Rather Be Blogging" than enduring another minute of the continuing circumstances in our family right now. But today I have a free morning and the energy to write about last weekend, which was all about Slow Food and real food. Following this will be a couple or three other little blog entries that I want to keep separate.

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A Date with a Sturgeon.
With Logan abruptly out of town over the weekend, we found ourselves with actual grown-up free time for the first time in a long time. The last time Logan wasn't here all weekend, Bob had to work. Not this weekend. He asked me out to dinner on Friday, and I knew this was the perfect opportunity to go to Ristorante Avanti, one of Santa Cruz's best restaurants, to try the food of the new chef, Ben Sims. I'd run into owner Cindy Geise at the Wednesday market downtown, who introduced me to Ben, formerly of Oswald (drool, slurp) and Chez Panisse. A native Santa Cruzan, Ben is considered to be the perfect fit for Avanti, who have been serving local/seasonal menus for nineteen or twenty years now.

We sat at the bar and had wine while we worked out what to order: being that he inherited outgoing chef Brian Curry's menu, I thought it would be best to order off the specials chalkboard. We shared calamari, from the regular menu, and pondered an entrée. Ben came out in his chef whites to say hello: I was surprised not only that he remembered my name after one meeting, but that he pronounced it. ("Tana" rhymes with "banana." To people who call me Tanya, I say "The 'y' is silent.")

Ben steered us toward the sturgeon: if I'd ever had it, I didn't remember. The selling point was when he said it was like halibut, which is one of my favorite kinds of fish. Well, I have no photos, but only sincere praise that every bite of everything was delicious. There were cranberry beans, cauliflower, artichokes, and a light tomatoey broth. It was perfectly cooked. Oh, thank you, Chef.

The bartender, Katie Cater, guided our wine selections, and then delighted us further by presenting me with a postcard invitation to her Open Studios showing of her gelatin silver print photography. (She's married to Scott Cater, whose chef's jacket I had photographed at the 2004 Tomato Festival, and he is the executive chef at Casablanca. (It's a small world, after all.)

We did visit Katie Cater's open studio on Saturday afternoon, and I highly recommend it. A friend loaned her the perfect studio, and it's a very pleasant space. She's doing Encore Weekend, if you are on the west side of Santa Cruz near the lighthouse.

So. The meal was wonderful, the staff and owners are thrilled with Ben, and I think you will be very happy with a visit there.

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Harvest Festival at UCSC

Saturday was Bob's birthday, and we went for a little while up to the UCSC Farm & Garden Harvest Festival, a very kid-friendly event attended by farmers, families, and people who love the idea of being on a beautiful farm on an Indian summer day.

We were delighted to see Kirsten and Jasmine, who had met at the program, though they were disappointed that Logan had been taken out of town. (So were we, baby, so were we.)

He would have loved the cider press, the tractor rides, and the Farmers Market String Band. He would have loved the tour, and the kitties, and the face-painting. He would have loved the roasted corn, and feeding apples into the cider press. He would have loved the cider.

We saw lots of friends, including Cindy Geise herself, and I spoke with Liv Nevin Gifford, with CAFF, and who produces the Local Food Guide, which contains listings for local farms, farmers markets, CSAs, restaurants and caterers, grocers, produce stands, and even farm-to-school programs. Hey, I'm going to be supplying them with most of their photography in the next issue! CAFF is one of my favorite organizations, and I am so happy to support their work.

The farm itself was beautiful, and I saw something new to me. I didn't know that kiwi fruit grows rather like grapes, but Bob pointed out the arbors where they were hanging.

I'll be connecting with UCSC when the spring internships start; the idea is to follow a class from beginning to end. The program is nearing its 40th year, and is the most respected organic farming program in existence, that I am aware of.

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That's It, Gromit, We'll Have Some Cheese.

You'd think I would be a Slow Food member by now, wouldn't you? I'm not...yet. But I'll join as soon as I get a windfall. Last month's potluck at Everett Family Farm convinced me that the Santa Cruz Convivium #1 ("It's About Thyme") is a wonderful group of people, and most especially the outgoing leader, the lovely Martine Mahoudeau, and the new leaders, Cliff and Claudette Warren.

I remembered there was to be a wine and cheese tasting at their house on Saturday, so that's what we decided to do for Bob's birthday. I told him to bring a book or the Chronicle, in case he got bored and wanted to read in the car, as sometimes happens. (Honestly. At least he doesn't read the paper at the parties any more, though.) Food events are often networking opportunities for me, and also fact-finding, resource-finding missions.

Happily, the food and wine and company were all so good that Bob did not get bored. About 50 people brought 30 bottles of good wines, and they opened every single one that evening. I brought the Monte Enebro cheese from River Street Café (search this blog for more details on that), and it was a smash hit. Cliff turned me on to two good things: La Tur cheese (from Italy) and, drat it, a great French red wine for $15 that I can't remember. (I'll ask.)

Cheese expert Andrea London provided much excellent information--she is the principal cheese buyer for The Cheese Shop in Carmel. I spied wetsuit deity, Jack O'Neill, and met some good people. I learned a couple of dirty jokes. Nothing like wine and stinky cheese to get the ribald humor flowing.

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The Fun Never Stops.

On the way home Saturday night, my cell phone rang. It was Annaliese Keller, inviting me to a "Slow Food picnic" on Sunday. She said she'd e-mail details, and I could call her when I got home. Well, gentle reader, I have to say that my eyes about popped out of my head when the "details" included the following description:

Slow Food's Fast Food Picnic II
                    With Carlo Petrini & Alice Waters
                    Richard's Grove and Saralee's Vineyard, Windsor, CA                   

Carlo Petrini, Founder and President of Slow Food International and Alice Waters, Slow Food International Vice President, will be honored guests and speakers as Slow Food again turns  the tables on fast food with the second Slow Food Fast Food  Picnic. The convivial day includes a family-style picnic and  takes place Sunday, October 9, Noon-4PM at Richard Grove and  Saralee's Vineyard in Windsor, CA, just north of Santa Rosa.  In keeping with the organization's dedication to organically grown and traditionally prepared local dishes the menu includes  Hamburgers of Inglehaven Ranch (Mendocino County) grass-fed beef, Organic Fried Chicken Wings from Petaluma Poultry, a  variety of salads, and homemade potato chips, pickles, catsup  and Gravenstein apple pie, all by Jennifer Sherman, formerly  of Chez Panisse. There will also be a wide variety of Sonoma  County wines, Russian River Brewery Beer and local apple ciders.

Noon- 4PM. The all-inclusive price is $90 for Slow Food members and $115 for non-members. Funds benefit The Gravenstein Apple Preservation Project, A Sonoma County school garden project and programs of Slow Food USA.

Whoa! Whee! Sign me up! I had to wake up at 7 AM, but who needs an alarm clock when insomnia wakes you up at 5? And again at 6? I ask you.

Annaliese wanted to visit Plaza Farms in Healdsburg before the picnic...I dimly remembered seeing something about it in the press, but I was game (and captive), so take me wherever!

We arrived at about 11 a.m., and oh, is Healdsburg a lovely little town. Plaza Farms is right on the square, and it's worth a trip. I had my camera out, and a woman came up with a helpful look on her face. She turned out to be Colleen McGlynn, of DaVero, one of the owners of the enterprise. From the Plaza Farms website: "Plaza Farms was conceived by Ridgely Evers and Colleen McGlynn of DaVero. 'We've wanted to do something like this for years - to create a way for the small producers to connect directly with their customers,' said Evers. 'The building's owners, the City of Healdsburg, and the food community have been tremendously supportive from the beginning.'  They've recruited Oakville Grocery veteran Gordonelle Weisgerber as manager."

Inside, pale wood market stalls featuring some of the region's best culinary offerings (Bellwether Farms cheese, Scharffenberger chocolates, wine, tea, olive oils, etcetera) are displayed in a flowing design, with lots of open space, gleaming wood, and friendly people. (Though I have to wonder if mentioning that I blog about farms in a farm-friendly atmosphere isn't a ticket of some kind.)

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What happened next.
You'll just have to take my word for it that this kind of thing happens to me with some regularity, and I suppose it's the result of having lived in so many place during my life (Atlanta, San Diego, Nashville, Boulder, upstate New York, near Los Angeles, to name a few). I run into people from all over: friends from Nashville in San Francisco, friends from New York in Boulder.

I heard someone call, "Tana?!" and turned to see Tracey Ryder, one of my favorite people in the entire world. If someone is keeping track of how many "Favorite People lists" Tracey's on, I'll bet it's a big number.

Tracey and her work (and her team) deserve a separate entry in my blog, and that will come soon. The short story: she is one of the founders of Edible Ojai, which has evolved into Edible Communities, and which is something with which I feel completely aligned. How circumstances led us together is, in my mind, a miracle and something which is keeping my faltering faith alive.

Stay tuned for more news about all of this.

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If It's Not Too Late, Could You Make It a Cheeeeeeeeseburger?
Wow, this is a lot for one weekend. So we arrived at the picnic. I saw Farmer Al Courchesne and congratulated him on the birth of his second little girl, Camille. He wasn't with family, so I invited him to sit with us. This was a wonderful thing, as he's always so busy at the markets that most of his conversation (if it could be called that) is "Next?"

He, Mike, and Annaliese talked about jatropha, a miraculous plant that produces oil, biodiesel, latex, and other products, and which appears to be a promising source of energy.

Al told us how people will ask him, "How can you dare to charge $2 on ONE PEACH?" He answers, "You can go across the street and get a crappy cup of coffee for $2. So what, exactly, are you willing to spend $2 on?"

I could go on and on about Carlo Petrini, Corby Kummer, Alice Waters, and Percy Schmeiser, the Canadian farmer who battled Monsanto, all of whom spoke. I was in tears when Carlo Petrini talked about the first "meal" we have: from our mother's breast, with love. Just love. (Well, ideally, but don't get me started on bad mothers.) Go read Amy Sherman's blog for her report on an evening with Petrini. (Go, pretty please.)

I could go on and on about the food, which was just fan-freaking-tastic. Except those tomatoes you see at the right: the people at the table adjoining ours ate THE ENTIRE PLATE without offering any to us. In this case, "Why don't you take a picture, it'll last longer" is apt. Al Courchesne consoled me that the best tomatoes he's ever had are from a farm in Watsonville, and I'll report back when I track some down.

The chicken wings were as big as turkey wings, and plumper than anyone at our table have seen before. The condiments were homemade, the shelling bean salad was heaven, and the hamburgers were substantially tastier than any hamburger I've had in a long time. (I'm used to good meat from my local ranchers, though, so I can't exaggerate too much.) If only there had been cheese for the burgers!

I could go on and on about the beautiful babies and children who were there, and the beautiful weather we enjoyed.

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The Best Moment of All.
Well, in a day filled with extraordinary moments and happenings, my favorite had to be when I finally found Tracey at the picnic. She introduced me to one of her traveling companions, who turned out to be Sherri Brooks Vinton. You may already own her book, Real Food Revival, which I had mentioned previously. I've been slowly making my way through it, and what I've found is that, as is the case with the Eat Local Challenge, reading this book is molding my thoughts in a very pleasant way. I'm just thinking differently about what food means. And now, real is real and all that other crap "food in a box on Aisle 6" is just that: crap.

Well, Sherri is a fan of this blog, and we've exchanged a few e-mails. She was interviewed by my friend, Anne Bramley, of EatFeed, and that made me happy. But what made me happy, really happy, was being able to tell Sherri (and everyone there): "I have your book with me RIGHT NOW." And I did. I'd brought it to show Annaliese, and it was in my tote at the table as we stood there.

Great news: Sherri said the book has gone into its second printing, thanks to me personally. (Heh.)

I am sorry to say that we were not able to hook up again, as Mike and Annaliese wanted to leave as soon as dessert was over. But we will meet again.

I'm looking forward to all of it.

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And that, gentle reader, is how I spent the weekend. And I needed a dose of wonderfulness to counteract certain bad weather, about which I don't want to be specific. A blog shouldn't be a therapist's couch.

Coming up next: more about Plaza Farms, sponsors, Bloglines, and some autumn photography of beautiful small farms.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: "Silent gratitude isn't very much use to anyone." —Gertrude Stein

Thanks for visiting.

Comments

[kelly]

My goodness, you've been busy! What wonderful experiences. I hope the family circumstances calm down soon for you. I'm so jealous of your locaton, as I'm watching a near frost hanging across the gardens this morning. Time to put them to bed. Boo.

[Brett]

Very fun to relive the picnic experience on your blog! We must've been standing right next to each other without knowing it taking pictures of Carlo P and Corby K. I loved hearing Al Courchesne's comeback about the price of a Frog Hollow peach. Ties right in with what Carlo P was saying about the artificially low prices of food in America. Thank you, also, for the book rec--sounds right up my alley.