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).