Comal, Berkeley, CA

This is kind of a two-fer in that we went to Comal for dinner twice in 2 weeks for two different music shows at one of our favorite venues, The Freight & Salvage in Berkeley. The first show was Long time favorite David Bromberg and his Quartet +1...    

 

                                                                                                                                                                        

David Bromberg                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

 

                                                                                

                                                    David Bromberg Quintet +1 (-1)  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and the second show was master guitarist, Tommy Emmanuel and his opening act, a finger-style guitarist we were unfamiliar with, named Richard Smith. 

 

 

Richard Smith

 

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We were first introduced to the restaurant Comal by my brother, Walter, some years ago. My first impression of the place back then was none too positive as we were seated somewhere in the back right next to a door (thankfully not to the bathroom) that kept opening and closing letting in a gust of cold air each time. The food was OK then but the surroundings were too much of a distraction for me. But its proximity to The Freight was too much to pass up and not give it a second (and now third and fourth and...) chance. 

Now when we go we have learned to walk right past the hostess and the 'Please Wait To Be Seated' sign and head for the first two open stools we see at the bar. Second, in our experience so far, they have the most friendly, congenial, helpful bartenders, and Third, there has never been faster food service in any restaurant that we've ever eaten at. Our food and beverage order had no sooner left out mouths then there was a friendly wait person at our elbows with the chips, three kinds of salsa and a nice bowl of fresh guacamole. Just as we got the appetizer settled our drinks arrived. 

We generally start with a cocktail from their menu. The name Joaquin Murrieta stood out for me from the menu as there is a special place in my heart for the Lynch Family (my brother-in-law, Dennis and his brother, Brian) Joaquin Murrieta 4th of July celebrations i used to attend up Rte. 4 'in' Camp Connell, CA. Right near the town of Arnold and just uphill from the Tuolumne River. They were the most pleasant of weekends with copious amounts of frisbee throwing, river swimming, deck dancing, music playing, tequila drinking, food cooking, hella general merrymaking and an all-around great weekend + of fun and celebration...Jeez I miss those sweet times and the always pleasurable company of the people that showed up...Sigh....Great Memories!

Plus, with ordering this cocktail i saw it as a time to learn something new as i had no idea exactly what 'carpano antica' or 'amaro montenegro' are....so that is what i ordered...OK, so Carpano Antica is a type of vermouth, (and, of course, they claim to be the first of the vermouths)....and Amaro Montenegro is an herbal liqueur distilled in Italy from a secret recipe of 40 different herbals and botanicals...all in all a very flavorful and enjoyable kind of tequila martini-ish that went down quite easily....

For eats we ordered the aforementioned chips & salsa(s), a bowl of guacamole and a plate of fish tacos for each of us. The fish tacos are composed of handmade tortillas and a nice serving of a slightly spicy pickled cabbage with a very lightly mixed in avocado aioli...plus a side of some slices of pickled carrots, onions and jalapeños....simple yet quite tasty...one can almost lose 'sight' of the fish as there is a lot of the cabbage, but the fish is there done well and quite juicy....all in all, a couple of really wonderful meals before two really good shows at one of the best musical venues in the Bay Area....Lucky Us!

Like the fish tacos, David Bromberg is always a treat, not only for his abilities as a stringed instrument musician, but also for his wit, his choice of accompanying players and his near endless catalog of material....We try not to miss him and his group whenever they come to town. I first started seeing him back in the early 70s after Walter played me Bromberg's first record starting with the song Sharon...and i was hooked....I first saw him and his large band at the tiny Cellar Door in Washington DC in 1973 and have enjoyed shows at a number of different venues through the years...I missed them when he semi-retired and didn't tour for a long time. Then in 2004 he came around again, playing a show over at the Mystic in Petaluma where i ended up having a nice chat with Peter Hartlaub from the Chronicle about it. His shows as of late, in these parts, have been two-night stands at The Freight so we make it a point to get to at least one of them and will continue to as long as he keeps playing.

For years i had heard and/or read the name of guitarist Tommy Emmanuel. He didn't really register until one of the veterinarians (and fellow guitarist) at an animal hospital where i was working encouraged me to go to one of his shows. I got Tehra and me tickets to his show at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco in 2011 and since then we have seen him a number of times as he is one of the best guitarists touring. He puts on quite a show with just he, his immense skill, and an ever-changing selection of guitars, since he plays not only the strings but the body, neck, headstock, tuning pegs, bridge...i'm sure he'd physically play the inner bindings if he could reach them...but you can see is his style of playing that he just flat wears his guitars out. One if the things that we enjoy the most, aside from his stellar playing, is that he smiles a lot as he plays and you get the feeling that he Really Loves and Enjoys what he's doing and that comes across deeply as he's playing. I encourage you to pick up his latest 'album', a double CD set of just he and his guitar(s), a really worthwhile investment if you enjoy solo guitar playing with no vocals. It's been on heavy rotation here at the house as well as in the car since this show.

Taqueria Las Palmas, Santa Rosa, CA

Ten years since i started doing this blog...Yikes...I'm Way overdue for another posting so here goes...

 

A couple of nights ago we went to Berkeley with our good friends, guitarist and sommelier John Burdick and his wife, terrific chef Catherine Venturini Burdick. We went to enjoy a meal together to celebrate their 10th anniversary. We also had tickets for The Freight & Salvage to see (and listen to) Yasmin Williams and Andy McKee. They are wonderfully talented, creative and entertaining guitarists and well worth your time to listen to (or go see if their respective tours take them anywhere near you). 

Yasmin is 'just' 26 and is really starting to come into her own as a guitarist. She plays her guitar mostly lap-style and creates some unique sounds using her fingers and/or a small hammer, including taping a kalimba to her guitar top and playing both for a unique sound that I had not heard before. I was lucky enough to find her on Bandcamp and I really look forward to her growing and expanding her capabilities and seeing what the coming years have in store for her.

Andy has been around for a couple decades and is a very enjoyable performer and stellar guitarist. We were all in awe of his fingerstyle abilities and technique. He has a real openness and wit about him that is quite engaging and made the evening pass way too quickly. Check him out on youtube and you will see (and hear) what i mean.

And oh my goodness it was so great to be back at The Freight for a live music show in person. The last live show we attended there was Sonny Landreth and Marcia Ball (again with John and Catherine) just before Tehra's last trip to England in February of 2020, right before the world dumped itself in a handbag and boarded a fast train to Near Hell.

 

 

The Andy & Yasmin show had been postponed from January 2022 due to the Covid wave variant that was burning its way through the population at that point. Actually it worked out better for us as we were able enjoy a very pleasant and delicious Italian meal outside at Lucia's on Shattuck (which was even better as John and Catherine were due to leave for Italy the following Sunday) with masks not being as much of an issue as it had been. 

I know you're saying 'What does an Italian meal in Berkeley have to do with Fish Tacos?' Answer is - while we were eating J&C asked us if we had had a chance yet to have the Fish Tacos at Las Palmas in Santa Rosa, which they had recommended to us pre-Covid. Due to the extenuating circumstances of Covid we had not had the chance. 'You Have to go', they said, 'and make sure you get the blackened, not the fried.' and 'You're really going to Love it, guaranteed'. OK, with Catherine being the pro chef that she is we took that as a very high recommendation.

Well as our luck would have it we had tickets the next night to go see the renowned chef, Yotam Ottolenghi, at the Luther Burbank Center in Santa Rosa.  We have known about him for years as Tehra, or we, Always go to visit at least one of his delicatessens in London when there on a buying trip. And we also enjoy reading his cookbooks for some great recipes or food prep ideas. Fortunately for us, it just so happens that Las Palmas was on our way from Sonoma to the LBC and right off the freeway on Santa Rosa Ave.

It was a Friday night so i figured it would be busy and we might have trouble getting our order on time. I couldn't have been 'wronger'. The restaurant on Santa Rosa Ave., a couple blocks off 12 and the 101, just behind BJ's Market, next door to a small auto repair shop. Tehra's mom used to live about a block away so Tehra knew just where it was. We pulled in to a parking space and inside there was only one other couple eating. We were greeted warmly and kindly when we walked in. Oh, They could not have been warmer or friendlier. 

 

Even though Fish Tacos was not visible on the menu over the register we were told 'oh yes, we have them, do you want blackened or fried?' 'Blackened', we said. 'How many would you like on your order"...mmmm, good question. Not having eaten there before that stumped us for a minute. Tehra settled on 2 and i said' why not, give me 3'. He said it would be about 10 minutes. Fine, we have time, it's a beautiful Friday night, let's go have our chips and salsa and relax for a bit while we sip our IPAs. Both chips and salsa were very good with just the right amount of flavor and heat. When our plates arrived they looked Almost good enough to just look at. With the fresh grilled onions on the top, loads of vegetables covering the fish fillets and not a single bean or grain of rice in sight, resting deliciously on a double layer of fresh corn tortillas. And my goodness they were Hot out of the oven which made the IPA taste that much more refreshing.

Three was just right though next time i may say 2 as that filled me up and then some...i did finish as it would have been near sinful to let Any of that oh-so-delicious plateful go to waste.

Thank you to the kind folks at Las Palmas, we so very much look forward to enjoying at least one more meal there first chance we get. Maybe we'll even be lucky enough to share it with John and Catherine (should they ever return from Italy).

Lucas Wharf Restaurant, Bodega Bay, CA

My apologies for not having written in so long, I had no idea that it has been almost 4 years since the last post I wrote...Jeepers....I'll try better to keep up...but I am getting older so don't hold your breath for too very long, please...(unless you're one of those current republican congresspeople, then keep holding it...c'mon, you can do it...just a little longer...hollllld it....hollllllld it.......I'll tell you when you can exhale.....)

anyway, on to the latest...

We were finally able to book a weekend away together. Beautiful and sunny it's been, a welcome change from the deluge (is it possible to pluralize it to deluges? as it has been a record year of precipitation so far this season, one 'tropical moisture' inundation after another). So Tehra booked a room for us for two nights at Bodega Bay Lodge and we looked forward to finally being able to relax after a very busy and eventful past few months.

We went by way of Sebastopol, out Bodega Hwy to Freestone to pay a visit to Wild Flour Bakery. Oh my goodness...Believe me, sticky bun was on my mind but we settled for Lattes and Biscotti, splurging on 2 of them (you can see them behind the Pile o' Bread in the second picture) to enjoy on our way through Bodega to Bodega Bay.

So big you need 'em sliced in their machine.
















Pile o' Breads

Sunset View from our room.

Usually when we visit Bodega Bay we eat at Lucas Wharf Restaurant because Tehra Loves their Fisherman's Stew. I have been known to drive out and pick up an order to surprise her for dinner, she loves it that much. We were able to get a small table in the bar to sit at, like we have in times past, as it is away from the main part of the restaurant and also has a TV in case the Warriors happen to be on. (We watched one of those exciting We Believe Dallas upset games from this very spot! Take that Mark Cuban!)
For me this night, because they were on the menu, I chose the (What Else?!) Salmon Fish Tacos, side of Fries, and a Lucas Wharf Bloody Mary (Absolut Peppar vodka, tomato juice, celery salt, horseradish, Worcestershire, Tabasco, salt, pepper cayenne pepper & celery salt rim). I mean, look at that picture, will you? Two of my favorite 'not quite so healthy' foods in the world, side by side, on the same plate! Being accompanied by a nice and spicy Bloody Mary that helped take the chill off the breezy Saturday night outside. 

It really was as good as it looks if you like the 'sauce-slathered' style of fish taco. The flavors blended well and the salmon was thick enough for its flavor to not get lost in all of those sauces, even with the battered coating. It wasn't overdone or dried out, but moist and tasty inside, though not that rich pink salmon you expect with a salmon meal. At first it kinda made me wonder deep-down if they were truly grilled as stated with the batter and moistness.That later sent me exploring on my go-to-guy Chef Googlé, where I found this recipe, which I know I will get around to trying in the not-too-distant future.
Anyway, we so enjoyed our meal that night that we went there for dinner the next night as well but unfortunately the service was nowhere near as open and friendly as it had been the night before. On our arrival the hostess told us, and not all that kindly, that No, we couldn't eat where we had the previous night, and that we would have to wait for a table in the restaurant proper. I saw a table opening and she said it would take at least 5 min so we were to wait. We grabbed a couple of empty stools at the bar to wait and watched as she promptly sat the couple that came after us, at the table that had just opened, that I had enquired about, and no they didn't have a reservation either I had heard them say. Fine, so when ordering I asked for the same meal I had the previous night, specifying fries instead of salad, they brought out a whole large side order of fries with the salad on the tacos plate. Needless to say, it was not as relaxing or festive a mood for us sitting at the bar, listening to a loud enough, somewhat inhebriated fellow to my right describe his time in the snow at Tahoe and talk about how much brandy he wanted in his friend's drink..continuously....funny how the same building can house two almost completely different restaurants on consecutive nights, based almost solely on those providing the service...had that second night been our first experience there I might 2-starred them on yelp or opentable, if I did such a thing...
ehhh, but enough of my bitching...their tacos passed the '2 nights in a row' test, which is a good thing,
and we'll be visiting Lucas Wharf again in the future I'm sure, just so long as their Fisherman's Stew is up-to-snuff to a certain special lovely someone's taste buds.

All in all it was a great weekend getaway, not too far from home and hopefully we will do that or something like it.....Soon....

The early morning breakfast view of Bodega Bay from The Tides (just down the road from Lucas Wharf and a good place to eat, too, in a touristy kinda way).

JuanitaJuanita, Sonoma, CA

 JuanitaJuanita Menu 

So if you think it looks fun-ky on the outside, wait until you get inside. Piñatas hanging from the ceiling, old and new bumper stickers on walls coolers doors, testimonials and hand-drawn artwork from students of all ages as well as their teachers, more piñatas, posters from social events long past, and, last but not least, more piñatas. To go along with the formica counters and naugahyde-covered stools....
We have been enjoying meals at Juanita's for about as long as I can remember. Whether it be a no-meat tostada on a pleasant summer evening or a hot enchilada plate on a chilly, rainy winter afternoon, the food has been tasty and filling. Occasionally, in the late summer, if the weather has been consistently warm enough, and our garden productive enough, I'll bring by a bag of hot peppers from the garden to share with them. The women in the kitchen are always happy to have fresh organic hot peppers from Sonoma...

When you first sit down you are given your menus along with a wax paper-lined, small galvanized pail of warm corn chips and a plastic coffee cup of their made-fresh-daily Salsa Verde. The trick is to try and eat the chips and salsa without making a total mess of either yourself or the flat surface directly in front of you, and I wish you a lot of luck with that, you're going to need it...You get a plastic spoon in with the salsa, too, in case you want to try ladling it on rather than dipping...Good Luck with that one as well...I usually just line up a couple of long white napkins mapping the trail from the salsa cup to my face and not worry about the drips...it works....most of the time....And what makes this process a bit more difficult than it ought to be is the small containers of distracting, dog-eared, food-stained Trivial Pursuit cards that share counter and table space with the ample variety of hot sauces.

As to the fish tacos...first thing to know is that they are usually served only on the weekends...and don't get there too late on Sunday either, or Buddy, you find yourself S-O-L. So Friday evening to Sunday afternoon is your best bet. As you can see, it is quite the appetizingly colorful dish as well as a heaping serving (or two).

Under the Tomato, Guacamole, Cilantro Stalks, Salad Greens, Red Cabbage and Pickled Red Onions are some spicy chunks of fried fish and onions, all filling to more than capacity two double-layers of fresh corn tortillas...And to wash it all down, a pint of draft Racer 5 from Bear Republic of Healdsburg....
Needless to say, lunch stayed around long past dinner time...

The Marshall Store, Marshall, CA

 The Marshall Store

It's always been a pleasant way to spend a weekend day (or rare weekday off) driving out to Pt. Reyes and then, after spending some time poking around the bustling Pt. Reyes Station (really busy on Saturdays & Sundays-a plethora of cyclists, bikers, city cruisers, pedestrians and seemingly all with their kids and pets), either heading out to the beaches of Pt. Reyes Seashore for beach combing and/or kite flying, or heading north to the oyster 'outlets' up Hwy. 1. This past Sunday we opted for the latter, Tehra thinking along the lines of a meal at the Marshall Store, where we had eaten before and, located right 'next door' to Blue Water Kayaking, where we spent the evening of her birthday on a bioluminescence tour on Tomales Bay.

I was just happy she hadn't meant the Tomales Bay Oyster Co. as the cars there were parked quite precariously up and down both sides of 1 that afternoon because the parking lots on the property were completely full.

The Marshall Store has changed a bit since we first started stopping and sharing meals there. They have added more parking, tables, and bar seats on the deck outside, as well as expanding the menu and beverage selections. One of the first times we ate oysters here they had just gotten busted for some liquor license violation. They could sell us beer but we couldn't open it and drink it with our meal, not even brown bagging.

This day looked like the overflow from Tomales Bay Oyster and Hog Island too maybe as oowee were they busy...I know, Sunday afternoon on a mostly sunny day on Tomales Bay...go figure...

So while waiting in the line to order our plate of oysters we noticed they had Fish Tacos on the blackboard menu as well. OK, so a dozen BBQ oysters and a plate of Fish Tacos, along with a water for Tehra and a Racer 5 for me. As you can see by the pictures it was sunny, though slightly cool, with the Fog just starting to work its way in from the beaches, most likely to hit just as all of the big city daytrippers were packing up their economy or sports cars and heading back out to the 101 to make it home in time for Sunday night TV. What is interesting about the Fog around Tomales Bay is  that when it rolls in the bay becomes almost completely flat, which is what happened the night we went kayaking...it was so still and peaceful and surprisingly warm...
OK OK back to the food....

The oysters arrived first, a baker's dozen of them, along with soft warm buttery garlic bread to soak up the oyster juices...and those juices were most assuredly worth soaking up...mmm-mmm-mmmm...

The Fish Tacos, once they did arrive, were...OK. Delicious to look at, 3 to the plate, fresh lime and vegies, small double-layer corn tortillas and the avocado-tomatillo salsa, which was quite tastytangy. The fish though, was small and somewhat dry, maybe because it took a while for them to make their way to us. Long enough that I finished one beer and was part of the way through another when they showed up. The flavors all worked well though and we will most definitely give them another try on another trip to Marshall, though probably on a weekday when  they may not be quite so overwhelmed.
This particular day (and probably most days, come to think of it)..Oysters Rule!!!

To give you an idea of how big the formerly just fishing and ranching area of Marshall has gotten, there is now free valet parking on the weekends at Hog Island just up the road. Time was you could show up, order some oysters, take your tray glove and knife out to a picnic table and enjoy fun hour or so eating oysters. Hog Island is now pretty much booked solid for the rest of the summer and yes, Free Valet Parking...

Yellowfin Steak and Fish House, Edgewater, MD

Yellowfin Steak and Fish House

Ahhh Happy Hour, which, as we all know, can stretch over hours or the course of an afternoon/evening and then some....

And you sure don't get cheated on Happy Hour at Yellowfin. We (my Mom, my sister, Martha and myself) went for lunch and ventured into the middle of half-priced for both appetizers and bottles of wine...in other words...Happy Hour!!! Who needs a lunch menu when you have this extensive list to select from (Appetizer Menu)?  We ended up ordering the Hand-Cut Fries, Coconut Crunchy Shrimp, Crispy Calamari, the Seafood Flatbread Pizza, and Fish Tacos. Plus a bottle of Sonoma-Cutrer Russian River Chardonnay to add just the right touch of fruit and oakiness that Sonoma-Cutrer chars are known for.

So the Fish Tacos...most eclectic looking plate of them that I believe I have ever been served, How about you? 

The flour tortillas were soft, hot and puffy; the cusabi(?) was a surprising mix of mild wasabi heat balanced by the cool of the cucumbers; the vegies were fresh and not intrusive; the fish blackened on the outside and tender and moist on the inside; didn't even bother with the red squiggle thingy. The limes, though looking fresh, didn't yield much in the way of juice, but it wasn't missed all that much with the other flavors blending well and the Chardonnay providing plenty of fruit. The wine went so well with everything that it was hard to not order another bottle, but one of us had to drive, and it was my car so I will have to wait until next time on that particular notion...

Oh yes...happy hours, indeed....it would have been so easy to while away an hour or three, talking with Martha and Mom, running up a sizable but equitably worthwhile tab, and watching the sun go down in the west over the South River...

Papas & Pollo Southwest Mesquite Grill, Sebastopol, CA

 Papas And Pollo

Let me say at the outset that I really wanted to like this one, I really did...a sunny day, Giants baseball and Fish Tacos on the chalkboard sign out on 116...my kind of place to sit, have a cold beer (all Lagunitas beers on tap!), eat some tacos and watch Matt Cain pitch on a Thursday afternoon.
When I stepped to the counter to order I was told that they were out of fish so no fish tacos today, sorry...Damn!...OK, Jumbo Prawn, then (shooting this posting all to hell at that point) and an IPA. I sat down, ate my chips and salsa, watched the pregame warmup and looked around at the surroundings...Had just the right amount of Sonoma County/Sebastopol funkiness...surfboards hanging in the rafters, couple of small rasta flags, tables held pseudo-level with small bundles of folded paper napkins....you could almost picture this place on a beach somewhere with sand on the floor and a well-tanned clientele taking a break from the ocean for a quick meal and a brew or two, (though I don't know how many beaches you picture when you hear the words 'Southwest Mesquite Grill') but the surf/skate crowd looked to be the demographic they were aiming for in their choice of decor...
Just then a white van pulled into the parking lot, Tide's Wharf Fish...hmmm...maybe...Yes! Fish Tacos are back on the menu, she said, would I like to change my order? Well...OK...But it must have been a small order or they were just delivering for my tacos as the van was out of the parking lot pretty doggone quick.
It took a little while after that but she finally brought my order over just as Matt was getting knocked around for a couple of runs in the first. And unfortunately my tacos seemed to match the velocity of his pitches that half inning...just not all there...
I mean everything was present.....but the pieces of fish...well, they were there but well-hidden under the greenery, and that concealment was managed quite easily given the size (or lack thereof) of the snapper chunks. The salsa verde was good for both the chips and the tacos, the salad was fresh, with hearty portions of reddened white rice and black beans on the plate, but it still didn't make up for the amount of fish that wasn't there....
If I knew that this were just a 'fluke' then I would consider visiting again, but...
(and the Giants came back to win 7-5 in what, for them, was a veritable offensive onslaught)