Bray Butcher Block & Bistro

Let's have lunch. I hadn't seen my friend Armando in a while so we met up for a bite the other day. One of his favorite places to dine is the San Pedro Square Market in downtown San Jose.

The market is two buildings that contain a collective of restaurants and a few shops where one can order their food from a multitude of independent casual dining options. Then you decide where to sit. I've dined at small tables with friends and at the large communal table when I've been there alone.

Armando decided it was time to try BRAY Butcher Block & Bistro. Imagine your neighborhood BBQ joint. Now take the food up at least a handful of notches, not so fancy that it's fru fru, but more thoughtful in not only how the food is prepared and where their ingredients are sourced from, but how the flavors and textures meld and blend together.

It's a meat eaters haven for sure so I wasn't sure I wanted to eat there. I'm still eating small amounts of beef but continue to be very selective about the kind of beef I eat. Prather Ranch is still my preferred brand but I'm open to others that raise their livestock in humane and healthy ways, basically I don't care for factory farmed meat.

This sign and a chat with co-owner Josh Hanoka reassured me that this is meat I would feel comfortable eating. Grass fed, hormone free, and free range are definitely qualities I look for in the way farm animals were raised. They're the same reasons why I pay what some feel is an outlandish price ($8.99 a dozen) for pasture raised eggs.

Caring about where your food comes from, how it was raised, slaughtered, grown, made, and packaged is called conscious consumerism. Yeah, it's a lot to think about but given that a lot of food isn't as healthy as we think it is, for me, it's effort I'm willing to expend and dollars I'm willing to afford when possible.

And this is what I ordered: Bray's French Dip - House made roast beef with ooey gooey melted pepper jack cheese and horseradish cream on a soft black pepper onion bun accompanied alongside au jus and slaw. Best French Dip EVER. There's a little kick in there from that house made horseradish cream, a surprising touch. And the slaw held two more surprises: Bacon and blue cheese crumbles. It was fantastic, and I don't even like blue cheese! If Kitai were still with me I would have saved him the bacon bits. He loved bacon.

Can you tell I didn't like it at all?

This was Armando's dinner: Black & Blue Salad - Grilled iceberg wedge, red onion, roma tomato, twice smoked bacon, and crumbled blue cheese in a buttermilk blue dressing. Armando added a grilled chicken skewer and was shocked at how generous the portions were. Just like the beef in my sandwich, Armando commented the meat was very tender and the flavor was good. He also liked that the lettuce was lightly grilled, adding another layer of flavor to the salad.

BRAY also offers smoked deli meats made in house. If you enjoy deli meat and want low or no nitrate options to make sandwiches at home be sure to visit BRAY and check out their selection.

You'll find them in the Market Hall building to the west of the larger El Dorado Building. Or, if you're facing both on West St. John Street, they'll be in the building to the right.

What did we talk about over lunch? Armando is training to (again) ride with thousands of other cyclists in AIDS/LIFECYCLE, a seven day, 545 mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The ride is done each year to raise both awareness and money. From the AIDS/LIFECYCLE website:

"The costs associated with medical care and treatment for a person with HIV are about $20,000 per year. Access to life-saving drugs, clinical trials and state-of-the-art treatment helps those with the disease live a longer and better quality of life. AIDS/LifeCycle will help those living with HIV/AIDS gain greater independence and get the treatment and care they need. Prevention services geared towards high-risk populations will ensure that future generations will not experience the same level of loss that we have faced in the last two decades."

It's a great cause. To ride he's still seeking sponsors as he must meet a fundraising goal to participate. If you'd like to support his efforts just CLICK HERE and you'll be able to make a sponsorship donation to Armando on the official AIDS/LIFECYCLE website.

A delicious surprise: Agave in Mountain View

On the northwest corner at the intersection of Castro and Villa Steets in downtown Mountain View my friend Judy and I found a gem of a Mexican restaurant. We chose Agave because they had outdoor seating, perfect because Kitai was with us. A look at the menu and we both commented that the prices seemed a little high. That observation quickly made sense once we saw and tasted the food. Agave is all about flavor, freshness, and quality with portions that were enough to fill us both up at our late lunch.

The red was not too spicy and the green was nice and tangy.

When the chips and salsas arrived I immediately knew we'd chosen a good restaurant. One bite and I could tell the sauces were made from scratch. There was both a freshness and depth of flavor I haven't ever experienced from a can or jar. The chips were also exceptional in both texture and flavor, something I noticed because I hate chips that have no flavor or taste like they were fried in old, stale oil. At that point I was very much looking forward to my meal. . .

I'd ordered the Veggie Enchiladas lunch special. They were superb. The vegetables (corn, onion, squash, and tomato) were impeccably fresh and the green sauce was delicious. I ate every bit of the rice and black beans too. In fact, I cleaned my plate and bowl.

Agave's Sangria

Agave is one of four sister restaurants that include Fiesta Del Mar and Fiesta Del Mar Too (also in Mountain View) and the Blue Agave Club (in Pleasanton).

Here's where you'll find them:

Agave - website
Phone: 650-969-6767
194 Castro Street
Mountain View CA 94041

Local flavors abound at The Picnic Basket in Santa Cruz

Take all of the things I love about The Penny Ice Creamery in Santa Cruz, translate them into a food restaurant, and you have its sister stop: The Picnic Basket. Visit and you'll find fresh and tasty food made from local ingredients by a local small business supporting other local small businesses. What's not to love about that?

I'd been wanting to visit The Picnic Basket after hearing about it, then saw where it was one evening when hubby and I decided to take some night pictures in Santa Cruz.

It's on Beach Street right across from the Ideal Bar & Grill.

And if you know this mural you know where the Picnic Basket is because it's in the same building the mural is painted on, just a few doors down.

Inside is one u-shaped booth and counter space in two areas with two types of seating. One counter runs along the front windows with picnic benches. The rest wraps around the open kitchen on two sides with low, red diner stools. The basket weave detail along the wall creates a casual ambiance and the silver disc light fixtures around the kitchen were super cute with bent forks and spoons as embellishments.

They matched the small fork and spoon chandelier above the order counter.

I'd read their sandwiches are good so I tried the Beet Panini. It came with a slice of pickled carrot. The portion was so generous I couldn't finish the entire sandwich. Those cellophane tipped toothpicks were there for a reason, this was one stacked sandwich!

It was filled beets, greens, lemon chick pea hummus, some bits of toasted nuts, a bit of sauce, and I'm not sure what else. It was fantastic. The only drawback was that it was as messy as it was delicious, but that was a small price to pay for such a great sandwich. Just make sure you grab a fork to rein in any rogue beets and have a napkin at the ready.

I know The PIcnic Basket purchases some of their produce from Happy Boy Farms, one of my favorite vendors at my weekly farmers market. And that afternoon hubby had a hot dog from el Salchichero, a local charcuterie.

It seemed appropriate to choose the Santa Cruz Organic Lemon LIme Soda while dining in its namesake.

After lunch we walked across the street to the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf. Hubby wanted to try out some new photography gear and I decided to play with my new Sony NEX-5R camera a bit. This is a shot of the famous boardwalk taken with the "Toy" setting which adds the vignetting around the edges as you shoot the picture.

And this is a cropped close up. Except for all of the clothes (instead of swimsuits) it could have been summertime.

Back on the wharf we saw and heard the resident sea lions and sea gulls.

But then I broke out my Lumix GF2 with its 300mm telephoto lens to take pictures of the barnacles and shellfish clustered on the pier's pilings right along the water line.

That day I spotted two large red violet colored starfish clinging to one of the pilings. The lower one looked like it was probably at least a foot in diameter.

And surprise! I do believe I saw a sea cucumber.

There were plenty of gulls but we also saw three Western Grebes.

With it's snowy white, swan-like neck and shocking red eyes it is a very striking bird. Note how the black feathers on its head extend below its eye. A year ago I photographed the very similar Clark's Grebe at the Baylands Nature Preserve. The Clark's Grebe has a more shallow black head area with the black ending above white feathers that surround its eyes.

After shooting from the wharf we headed back to The Picnic Basket for dessert.

I sampled the Cayenne Apricot but it was a little too spicy for me so I ordered the Fresh Mint Chip made with local mint from Route 1 Farms. Hubby had a scoop of Seabright's Verve Coffee with Chocolate Almond Praline.

Oh, and don't expect The Penny Ice Creamery mint chip to be green. The mint is all in the flavor and all of the flavors are fresh and natural so there aren't any artificial colors anywhere. The ice cream was light with a smooth texture. Their vanilla based flavors are the only ice cream anywhere where I can really taste the fresh, organic milk used to make it. This was a kid's sized scoop in a small waffle cone.

It was the perfect ending to a fun afternoon hanging out near Santa Cruz's famous Beach Boardwalk.

The Picnic Basket - on Facebook
125 Beach St - Ste B
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
(831) 427-9946

A is The Picnic Basket, B is the Boardwalk: View Larger Map

My new favorite beers at Steins Beer Garden in Mountain View

What? Did I just say I have not one, but favorite beers (as in plural with an "s")? Yup. Which sounds weird to say because I've never liked a single beer I've ever sipped until last Tuesday when I went to Steins Beer Garden. It's a hybrid of a beer garden + restaurant with food that will exceed your expectations of what often passes for food at bars and breweries.

Located on Villa Street, at the intersection of Bryant, I arrived quite late for a media event hosted two nights before their official opening. It was the kind of service where the food and beverages are complimentary so that everyone from the hostesses, bar, kitchen and waitstaff can gain experience and learn how to meet the company's quality and service standards.

Inside I found the space broken into three sections. To the left is an expansive dining room with high ceilings, standard tables and several large and long community tables where people can gather. In the center of the room the bar is accessible from three sides. And on the right there's a chic lounge area with a lower ceiling and more club-like ambiance with colored lighting.

With wood plank walls and floors the feeling in the dining room was comfortable, modern, and earthy. Note the glowing windows to the left behind the bar. Guess what's inside?

It's the keg room where all of the tapped beers reside.

And over in the lounge was the bar and a more intimate seating area.

Just to the left there's an outdoor patio that I didn't photograph that night because it was too dark. I'll get a picture on my next visit and add it to this post later.

This is the bar on the lounge side.

The floor plan is very well done and at the end of the night I was given a teeny tiny beer mug with the company's name and logo printed on one side.

The reason I was there was to try their strawberry beer. What? Yes! I said strawberry beer! It's imported from Belgium and it was DIVINE! And so was the apple beer. I've never liked beer before but my friend Elley knew, since I had discovered I enjoy dessert wines, that I would equally enjoy the fruit beers at Steins. And she was right.

The flavors were of fresh fruit, smooth and sweet but not overly so. I have no idea how to describe beer or its proper vocabulary so I'll just say the apple beer is like a grown up's sparkling apple cider because the alcohol content is around 4% and there's no refined sugary sweetness to it. It tastes like the essence of fresh fruit with a depth of flavors that blend together in a way that there's no off or strong taste to hide from. I let the beer pass over my finicky super taster taste buds and found it to be a superbly enjoyable experience. Yum, and double yum for the strawberry too.

I'm looking forward to returning and having them again on a hot day this summer. I've always felt a bit of envy watching people enjoy cold beer on a hot day. Now I can too, but apparently only in Mountain View when I visit Steins.

And I mentioned the food was good. How classy is this? Instead of giving me a bowl of nuts or pretzels I was offered a small jar of house pickled vegetables. Just looking at this picture is making my mouth water. Lately I've been loving pickled veggies like a pregnant lady! LOL. My very nice waitress packed a small to go box of them so I could have them at home too. What a nice treat!

Clearly there's a chef, not a cook, in the kitchen at Steins.

Though I could have ordered anything on the menu, I only ordered one appetizer because it was more than enough to be a meal (for me). I tried the Smoked Salmon and Potato Pancakes with an apple herb salad and crème fraîche. The staff was disappointed that I didn't want to try more dishes but I honestly, I couldn't eat another bite. Plus it gives me a reason to go back and something to look forward to. I really want to try their soft, hot pretzels appetizer too.

There was even a dessert buffet where I was able to sample a multitude of dainty, bite-sized, desserts.

My favorite was the tiny cinnamon sugar donut.

I think the buffet was only there because it was a special event but I heard the donuts are a menu item you should be able to order when you visit.

As I sat staring at my glasses of beer it made me sad I couldn't drink them up. I hate waste. So I posted on Facebook to see if anyone would come pick me up and drive me home if I drank both of them. LOL. There were no takers so I'll have to bring hubby along in the future to be my designated driver so I can enjoy my entire serving.

Their website isn't live yet but you can find them at:

Steins Beer Garden - website
895 Villa Street
Mountain View, CA

Their Facebook page is pretty active so until their site is live you can learn more about them there.

Sourdough Spaetzle at Willow Glen's The Table

The first and last time I had Spaetzle was at Lecosho in Seattle, WA. Well, now instead of 2.5 hours away by plane I found a restaurant that serves it right here in the South Bay. I've blogged The Table before, having enjoyed their Chilaquiles and Lemon Ricotta Pancakes the two times I visited them for weekend brunch.

But the other night I literally ate every morsel of my Sourdough Spaetzle with cauliflower velouté (sauce), roasted cauliflower, and arugula ($18.00). It was really delicious. And I don't even like arugula! I tried to order the dish without it but my waiter insisted it would be good. So I trusted him. And he was right. Its flavor changes and becomes less pungent when cooked.

This was so classy. Instead of butter we were offered a small, complimentary dish of burrata cheese and olive oil . . .

to go with our warm, freshly baked, French bread.

Unlike the pasta spaetzle I had in Seattle, The Table's has a bit of sourdough mixed into the batter giving each perfectly browned bite more depth of flavor. Spaetzle is first boiled like a dumpling then pan fried in butter and served on its own or with accompaniments like the cauliflower and arugula.

That night dinner entrees ranged from $14-$30. It may be a bit more expensive than where you normally eat out but  imo their prices are a fair reflection of the high quality of food and outstanding service you'll receive at The Table.

The restaurant is located at:

The Table - website
1110 Willow Street (On the southwest corner at Lincoln)
San Jose, Ca 95125
(408) 638-7911