June 19, 2011

Locovores




Fresh food in San Louis Obispo’s Big Sky Cafe, 2010.


Yesterday and Today
Himself: We went out in search of one of those rolling walkers with brakes and a seat. We just missed one, darn it. He was really delighted by dinner. Quite noisy after 6pm so won’t do for the Feasters.

Herself: Determined to go to the fair and to walk the fair…economically and sitting down when my hip failed.

WW foods for the day: Just yogurt for breakfast. Lunch half a sandwich and a handful of small green olives. Diet coke. Dinner was another matter. Weekends seem to be my downfall.

Purelandmountain.com offers the latest news from Japan on days he isn’t fighting his local flora and fauna.
Coming home from our last road trip, we stopped in San Luis Obispo and fell into a restaurant featuring local produce. Big Sky Café the menu told us. I’d never heard of such a thing as local produce, yet we loved that the food was remarkably fresh tasting. Ever since I have longed for a bit of that wake-up-my-taste-buds feeling again. A week or so ago, one blogger I read here said she had a delightful meal here in town at a place that featured locally grown produce.

That thoughtful lady left me the name, Terra an American Bistro, and today off we went. (Warning: If you are hungry, vegetarian - tho they have veggie starters and entrées, or dieting, do not read this.)

A light, fresh bread with a perfect crust filled our imaginations while we read our menus….with a gentle humus spread on the side. I tried to be gentle using it. I picked from the three course early tasting menu while the Geezer chose the Pumpkin Raviolis with roasted corn cream, toasted hazelnuts followed by a flat bread pizza entre of the Chicken Fennel Sausage, smoked tomato, and fennel confit, asiago & jack cheeses were on top. He was really pleased with all the new tastes. “A culinary delight” he told me. He finished off his meal with an unneeded but much appreciated Ricota crustless cheesecake.

My apple and poblano chili soup was better than delicious. I will return for just this soup again raving, enthusiastic, and miserable if it is not the soup of the day. The soup was followed by my entre: “Chipotle Skirt Steak, with black beans, pico de gallo, chili, honey glazed potato and red onion quesadilla, field greens, and with avocado crema” gesturally over the top. The steak was perfectly rare, the quesadilla was a little too chili hot, but there were fresh greens on the side gently touched by a balsamic vinaigrette.

I must confess, I was in love. Those two things were quite enough to fill me comfortably.
Desert was tiny and ambrosicial. Lemme tell you. “Mini Flourless Chocolate Cake,
balsamic caramel, topped with real whipped cream, and a piece of real short bread on the side” with a touch of mint. The whipped cream was real, the balsamic caramel was an absolutely new taste, and just then the chef stopped by the table. So I told him how we found him and what we thought of the food. We all smiled. “See you soon,” he said. I didn’t give him the bad news, but I have come home to figure out the Weight Watcher points from that magical meal.

Hmmmmm, how many points would fruit soup be, do you think?

8 comments:

  1. Whatever the calorie count was; it sounds like you both enjoyed a good meal. Even if you have to cut back the rest of the week on WW points; it might have been worth it.

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  2. All of that sounds heavenly. Too bad you didn't take photos of the food!!! I love to eat with my eyes.

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  3. We have a little restaurant near us that features soups every day. A lovely place for lunch. I would like to visit your new find if I lived closer. Meanwhile thanks for the savory comments. Dianne

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  4. Sounds yummy, still on my diet but I have a theory (half baked as most of mine are) that if you eat all the excess calories at one sitting they have less impact than if you supped them at several meals in two or three days. Ha, ha. It's mine and I like it, and I like an occasional meal off the WW.

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  5. Truth of the matter is that what you described is probably fewer calories than 90% of pre-prepared meals. Fresh ingredients and NATURAL ingredients tend to be so much healthier in all aspects.

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  6. Great to have an imaginative place like that for treats.
    'Locally sourced' is a phrase often used in these parts.

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  7. That mini flour-less cake would do me in for sure! But everything sounded perfectly delicious and good for the soul.

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