Simple, Simple, Simple

"Good food is very often, most often, simple food. Some of the best cuisine in the world -- whole roasted fish, Tuscan-style, for instance -- is a matter of three or four ingredients. Just make sure they're good ingredients, fresh ingredients, and then garnish them. How hard is that?

Tony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential

I was with A. and MAD last night at my/our favorite haunt, Pizzio's Restaurant, and two things happened that had my mind racing for hours afterwards. One, I told them about my fantasy of opening a restaurant, explained the concept I had in mind. They liked the idea. I mean, they really liked it liked it. I've shared my idea now with a few people, and they all get it. It all makes sense. In other words, my idea doesn't seem completely nuts.

And then Chef Roger blew my mind. We ordered, and Andy brought some bread and some olive oil to dip. Standard stuff (though great). But immediately I noticed that the olive oil didn't have the usual dab of balsamic vinegar. It had what looked like pepper in it. Anyway, I tried it, and WOW -- Zing! Olive oil with pureed garlic and herbs. WOW, WOW, WOW. I immediately dashed into the kitchen to try to get the recipe, but Roger gave me a quick kick in the groin, chased me back to the table with a boning knife. He did come out later to chat, though, and told us how that wonderful concoction of his was born out of necessity. One day he came in to work (as if anyone in the restaurant biz calls it 'work'!) only to learn that... the restaurant had run out of balsamic vinegar. So on the fly, so to speak, he threw this together. The mother of invention. What struck me most was the simplicity... and how any restaurant (i.e., mine) could make an IMMEDIATE and POWERFUL impression on guests with this simple, yet different, wine country recipe.

Anyway, that's it from Every Meal A Feast land. I vaguely remember what we had for dinner. But that olive oil: WOW!