(image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons)

El Camino Real, or the Royal Road, was a meandering roadway established by the Spanish that ran the length of much of present day California from San Diego to Sonoma, connecting the various missions and pueblos along the way, with each outpost about a day’s horseback ride from the next. You might recognize it better today as US 101.

I found myself on the El Camino Real a couple weekends back, heading to Paso Robles for the annual Hospice du Rhône weekend–easily one of my favorite wine events, and this year, with an excellent seminar by Philippe Guigal of E. Guigal, as well as standard funfests like the Rhône N Bowl and walk around tastings, proved to be one of the best editions of Hospice yet. But let’s forget for the moment about tasting superb old and new world wines from syrah & co: what I was most excited about was the chance to stop off at El Lugarcito in King City .

(Above: Upon walking into El Lugarcito, I was greeted by this giant piñata of a can of Corona. Stuffed with tetra-paks of beer, that might just make one hell of a party favor.)

King City is the approximate midpoint of the Salinas Valley, California’s coastal breadbasket (vegetable basket is probably more accurate), which is notable for connections to John Steinbeck, the surreal giant billboard people dotting the roadside and, more recently, the 2006 outbreak of E. coli in some of the spinach grown in the valley.

My friend Max first told me about El Lugarcito–a Michoacan restaurant specializing in seafood–after stumbling upon the place a few years ago. Specifically he raved about the tostada de pulpo, or octopus tostada. Now dusty King City, with its scents of rubber, cabbage and broccoli, doesn’t really seem like a destination for fresh, succulent octopus; but if you catch the wind at the right time of day you’ll notice a feathering of cool seaside air. This of course is California’s legendary diurnal shift, where the ocean breezes chill down the state’s fiery interior to allow for, among other things, the cultivation of winegrapes. It’s also a subtle reminder that the ocean isn’t really so far away.

I sat down to a basket of fresh chips and homemade salsa (above) and then eagerly tucked into the mounds of fresh octopus, shredded lettuce and sliced avocado heaped generously on to a crispy, crunchy tostada (below). Yum.

*King City is also a notorious speed trap, so should you find yourself along this stretch of 101, do yourself a favor and slow down for some octopus.

I couldn’t resist that title, sorry.

Maybe it’s because I grew up in the southern Californian auto business, but I’ve always had a place in my heart for classic Japanese cars. I even drive one, the 1976 Datsun 280 ZX seen below pulled off to side of highway 128 in Anderson Valley.

Anyway, the New York Times ran an interesting little article on the increasing collectibility of old Datsuns/Nissans (read it here). While I would love to own a 1972 240 Z, my little ‘76 is pretty damn reliable, to say nothing of being quite fast. It’s also yellow. We won’t speak of gas mileage.

(There’s also a nifty slideshow at the NYT showing a few cherry Datsuns from over the years.)

Changing the subject from my wine country getaway mobile to something more vinous, over at Wine & Spirits you’ll find a series of short profiles and tasting notes on wines featured at Josh Greene’s seminar on biodynamics and natural wine at this year’s VinItaly. The seminar itself was lively and fun, and the audience–including some representatives of the Italian edition of Vanity Fair–really dug the proceedings. Anyway, the post will be updated Wednesday and Friday to include all 8 wineries from the presentation. Read the first batch here.

Lastly, my friend and colleague Peter Liem has been profiled by Tom Wark over at Fermentation (thanks for the shout out, Peter!). For those of you not familiar with Tom’s Bloggerview feature, it’s a somewhat regularly updated collection of profiles of the many bloggers posting in the eno blogosphere. I’ve found many a distraction here, and I’m sure you will too.

(Above: The Golden Gate Bridge and entrance to San Francisco Bay as seen from the Marin Headlands.)

I snapped this picture about a year ago during a long ride on a day much like this past Saturday–no big container ships this time, although my friend and I did see a beautifully restored B-17 Flying Fortress soaring over the SF Bay (turns out it was on tour; info about this particular plane can be found here).

I love riding in the Marin Headlands, easily one of the best cures for the doldrums I can think of. Now, if only I had a helmet-mounted video camera, I’d record the fantastic downhill that’s the reward for reaching the summit. But wait, someone beat me to it. Oh well, have a look–it’s a great ride.

Anyway, I had every intention of posting all these links on Friday but an afternoon of glorious sunshine–and a call from a friend saying he was holding down the end of a picnic table in the beer garden at Zeitgeist–convinced me that I had better things to do with my time than sit in front of a computer screen.

Mario Batali thinks California pizza sucks

And you know, he’s about 90% right. I’d rank Pizzaiolo, Pizzeria Delfina, A16, Arinell’s, Tony’s and Mozza (Batali’s LA restaurant in partnership with Joe Bastianich and Nancy Silverton) as serious counterpoints to his argument as outlined in Wired’s homage to New York pizza. Still the piece is a fun read although what it’s doing in a tech-culture magazine is beyond me. Oh wait, now I get it.

I love taco trucks!

If you’re not already reading Jonathan Gold’s award-winning food writing for the LA Weekly, then I suggest starting out with this wonderful article on hunting down the best taco trucks in Los Angeles (and therefore arguably the best taco trucks in the world–where else would the car and Latino cultures mash up so perfectly?).

Taco trucks are dear to me, and while I’ve got a my favorites here in San Francisco, I urge you to hit the comments section with your favorite taco truck in the Bay Area (and beyond).

Meanwhile, I’ll be in LA later in May for the Wine & Spirits Hot Picks event, and in my downtime I plan on seeking a few of these trucks out.

Those Pesky Wine Writers

Like many in the wine world, I took the widely circulated report of remarks made recently by Jancis Robinson with a hulking grain of salt. Actually, make that a salty, puckering Muscadet. Anyway, two interesting comments here from Ray Isle at Food & Wine (go here) and Jim Gordon at Wine Enthusiast (go here).

OMG–it’s Prince covering Radiohead!!!!!

Forgive me this internet indulgence, but I just had to share. During the encore to what was apparently a kick-ass set at this past weekend’s Coachella festival, Prince played Radiohead’s song “Creep”. Well-worth a listen/watch (although the sound quality kinda sucks, sorry. Bootleg video and all If this doesn’t work, try searching on You Tube before it gets taken down)

Besides this picture, which I thought captured a certain attitude towards the well-reported Montalcino scandal at this year’s VinItaly, one of the things I came away with from the event was the excitement many growers and winemakers feel towards their 2007 wines. You can read a brief report I wrote about tasting wines from this vintage at VinItaly over at Wine & Spirits.

…Etc.

Maybe it’s because I had an excellent yoga class earlier tonight, but I’m suddenly in a mood to recalibrate a few things in my life. Starting with my palate. Although that’s more of a work excuse than anything else. After a long break from tasting wine at Wine & Spirits, I’m about to start regular panel tastings again tomorrow. And here in San Francisco, that means all North American wine, all the time.

For various reasons, I’ve had a long break in what is normally a long and intense tasting stretch (the most recent tasting cycle pushed 1,000 by my most recent count, if not more). Thank god that number is spread out over several weeks and not, as shown by Jamie Goode over at his blog, concentrated into the two grueling weeks of the International Wine Challenge in London. (Jamie, btw, I’m available to judge next year.)

As part of that long break, I’ve been drinking mostly European wine (and of that, mostly Italian), and without going into the details, it’s been quite lovely. Tonight though, I wanted something from California, and taking that theme further, I wanted zinfandel. Not my usual choice, I know, but I think I might be a closet zin lover, a log cabin member of ZAP, as it were (kidding).

But what I pulled out of the cellar wasn’t entirely zin, and damned if it doesn’t taste downright Mediterranean. Once upon a time I was a member of Ridge’s ATP (ATP=Advance Tasting Program) and I have a delicious collection of Ridge wines as a result. I opened one of these–a 2000 Mazzoni Home Ranch–this evening. According to a history on Ridge’s site, one Giuseppe Mazzoni and his brother-in-law Abramo Trusendi (who was apparently all of 14) arrived in California from Italy in 1898 and began working at the Italian Swiss Colony in Asti, Sonoma County. Long story short, they eventually bought land in Alexander Valley and planted a vineyard of ‘mixed blacks’ there: zinfandel, carignane, petite sirah and a slew of other such grapes. Ridge has made wine from this vineyard since 1996. This bottle of 2000–which is almost done, sadly–is tasting great, all fresh red berry and red plum fruit, with snappy acidity. Delicious, and perfect with tonight’s impromptu pasta tossed with roast purple cauliflower, pine nuts and capers. And a little pancetta for kicks.

So there, palate recalibrated.

I snapped this picture of the infamous “No Barrique, No Berlusconi” bottle during a visit with Maria Teresa Mascarello at Bartolo Mascarello’s winery in Barolo two weeks ago.* It was out on the table in the homey room at the front of the winery where Maria Teresa receives visitors, a quiet yet poignant political statement in advance of the Italian elections. Well, those elections happened over the weekend and, I’m sorry to say, Berlusconi has been returned to power. As this article in today’s New York Times points out, he was able to do so in part because of the support of the Lega Nord, or Northern League.

I don’t really want to get into the Lega Nord’s rather xenophobic politics*, but I will share this photo of two of the party’s recent campaign posters–several of which I saw plastered around Verona wile visiting the city for VinItaly:

(Photo credit: via Willy or Won’t He?)

The one on the left is fairly obvious (”Enough with taxes, enough with Rome”). It’s the poster on the right that has me the most disturbed, with the image of an American Indian and the phrase “Loro non hanno potuto mettere regole all’immigrazione, ora vivono nelle riserve!” Loosely translated it reads “They didn’t have immigration laws and now they live on reservations!”.

Wouch.

The contrast between this poster and Mascarello’s bottle couldn’t be more clear (and, perhaps, this might give American readers a hint of the context in which Mascarello created this label in the first place). Note to Maria Teresa: it might be time to release another round of “No Barrique No Berlusconi” bottles…

*See my earlier post about the collapse of Prodi’s government (which brought about this early election in the first place), and a mention of Mascarello’s famous label.

*By way of background, Wikipedia has a succinct article on the Lega Nord here.

Today’s the Olympic torch relay here in San Francisco. The city has already played host to anti-China protests over the course of the past week, everything from a massive rally at the Civic Center to the daredevil antics of three protesters who scaled the cables of the Golden Gate Bridge to hang Free Tibet banners.

Following the disruptions in both London and Paris over the weekend, San Francisco authorities are locking down the route. You can follow the action at SFGate and the SFist. At present, it’s possible to hear and see helicopters from the Mid-Market part of town. Action!

There’s been plenty of chatter over the recent ’scandal’ in Montalcino, and you’ll find ongoing coverage of saga at VinoWire as well as a tidy write up by Eric Asimov at the Pour.

For a thorough look at today’s Brunello, and possibly a backgrounder to recent concerns, check out this excerpt from an article by David Lynch published in the April 2008 issue of Wine & Spirits. You should also be able to find the issue on newstands.

Update 4/23/08: The New York Times published a comprehensive report on the Montalcino scandal. You can read the informative article here.

I have an article in today’s Chronicle on Italian amari–one of my favorite, favorite things to drink.

Had the deadline been a little later, I might have included the amazing Kloster Bitter from Abbazia di Novacella (yes, it’s made by monks), which is made from small pine cones harvested from tiny brush pines that grow around 2,400 feet in Alto Adige. But sadly I had no idea it existed until yesterday when I tasted it here at VinItaly.

You can read my amaro aritcle here.

Simon and I were joined by the Third Degree last Saturday in Golden Park for some serious picnic action. Food spread: a garlicy saucisson, St. Marcellin, crusty bread. Washed it all down with a couple bottles of ‘06 Willamette Valley pinot gris (which to me is looking like a lovely vintage for Oregon gris) while sprawled out on my favorite grassy knoll in the park.

Afterwards we headed over to the Conservatory of Flowers, surly one of the best kept secrets in San Francisco. This stunning Victorian greenhouse is located conveniently near the Stanyan/Fell Street entrance to Golden Gate Park, just off MLK Drive. The Third Degree and I remember a ramshackle building and broken panes of glass from about when we both moved here, but thankfully the Conservatory was restored to its 19th century splendor a few years ago.

Here are some pictures from our visit:

It’s hard to beat a sunny day in Golden Gate Park.

The entrance to the Conservatory of Flowers. The Conservatory opened in 1879 and it is the oldest public conservatory of its kind in North America.

Parts of the Conservatory are off limits, but not to worry: The USDA has got your back!

One current exhibition features Penjing, or Chinese miniature landscapes with exquisitely carved landscapes and tiny cultivated plants and mosses.

Lots of educational signage at the Conservatory. At its heart, the Conservatory is rather sexually explicit.

There was also a butterfly exhibit where we were able to see the pollinators hard at work.

I’m not so sure that this large cockroach was doing any pollinating…eeww!

Orchids: A study in temptation.

Once the sun set, we stumbled home to Hayes Valley for a bite to eat. Not feeling entirely ready for bed, Simon and I walked over to Jardinère where we sat at the bar for fried olives and some exceptional Sherry that sommelier Eugenio Jardim insisted we try. Now I love Sherry but for some reason it’s something I don’t drink very often–and I now plan to change that immediately. Both the Gutierrez Colosia “Elcano” Fino from Puerto de Santa Maria and the Dios Baco Imperial 20 Year Amontillado (V.O.S.) from Jerez de la Frontera were exceptional. Dry, salty and crisp, they matched the olives perfectly.

I’d never heard of these Sherries before, but they’re available at the Spanish Table in Berkeley (Spanish Table also has stores in Mill Valley and Seattle). Of course, you could also try them at Jardinère. Just don’t miss the olives.