Shuna and I met up online, both mutual fans of each other's blog. And when she returned home to the United States (her native home) from London where she had been baking professionally, we moved from the virtual to the real world, specifically New York City! While we're planning to do an interview here for Stir the Pots, for now we're waiting for the time in between both of our work schedules.

Anyway, for the birthday party, Shuna told me to get in early. "The place gets loud," she said. With people or piped in soundtracks, I wondered. Personally, I still don't know why music is needed in restaurants these days. The sound of forks knives and conversation should be the choral background to eating. But... I digress. It's the food we are talking about, and what wonderful tasting food it was... Starting with Shuna's basket of seeded and plain soda breads,and a light,crisp  foccacia. Not the wild yeast formula that I gave her, mind you, but excellent. 

Chef Jonnatan Leiva, who hails from the Bay Area, serves up a farm friendly market oriented menu. He kindly sent us some delicious tasting samplers; a demi-tasse of potato leek soup, and my favorite a simple but flavor filled beet salad with Castelvetrano olives, and burrata. Honestly, I almost ate the whole thing myself!

I could of had the foie gras or some other meat, but I wanted fish. So I ordered a delectable scallop ceviche and some local albacore tuna with sepia in a light ginger broth, it was light and lovely and allowed for some desserts later...

With two eight year old kids, you wonder if they can or will eat what they've ordered. But our young friends had good ideas on food, going for the roasted Bobo chicken and the Painted Hill Farms beef burger with truffled fries.The tuber on tuber frites were such a hit, the uneaten portion went home with our guest who was adamant when instructing the waitstaff to package them. "Truffles are expensive you know", she said!

Our server, sporting a a pierced tongue and a commanding knowledge of the food and wine selection, had me a bit hypnotized. Whether it was her striking looks or the wonderful wine, I found it hard to remember what I had ordered when Shuna came out to say hello and started quizzing me on the menu.

Shuna then let me sneak back into the kitchen to squeeze off a few candid photographs... including her and the restaurant's Sous chef Matthew Wilbur making gnocchi for a wonderful Striped Bass my wife had for dinner.

I would be remiss also if I didn't mention her wonderful desserts that our table literally devoured, leaving us all with a dessert high, I couldn't remember a thing and I didn't get a focused photo, just too busy enjoying it all!

Thanks Shuna!

The other day my niece Rebbecca asked me on Facebook  if I heard about Anthony Bourdain doing a show in Ecuador? "You're kidding," I told her. "I have my Tivo set up to record all his shows."

Knowing he traveled to Ecuador, I couldn't wait! To... see him try some dishes like, cuy,tripa mishqui in Quito, and then encebollado de albacora in Guayaquil. But I wasn't prepared for his visit to Puerto Lopez! Hell that's where I am going this August. My wife and her brothers own a restaurant there called the Blue Water Grill. I have been enlisted to educate and refine her cooks with my gringo methods and techniques!

Maybe this is the big break for this sleepy village or will it be overrun by the tanned and beautiful crowd that Anthony so disdains. In any case, I will be behind the counter cooking, teaching and trying to better my Spanish as well as learn how to make Bolon, the way it is made in Manabi, even though my version with Morbier cheese and Neuski bacon rocks!

Anthony, give me a call if you need a table!

Pre-ferment

First build

Starter:

9g

Flour:

9g

Water:

14g

Second Build

Starter:

32g

Flour:

27g

Water:

42g

Third build

Starter:

100g

Flour:

53g

Water:

56g

Total=209g, return 9g for next bread.

Final Dough:

Flour:

510 (I used 95% White flour, and 5% whole wheat)

Water:

278g

Salt:

12g

Levain:

200g

My levain was fed in approximately 8 hour intervals, and the final dough had about a two hour bulk ferment. The dough was shaped and really took off, I think it must of been perhaps an hour of rising and plop into the fridge. After about 9 hours I baked the loaf in a Creuset pot for a total of 50 minutes, 25 with top at about 470 F, and opened at about 450 for the rest of the baking.

This is going to Susan at wild yeast for Yeastspotting on Friday....

A fun and friendly food, it hits a comfort zone and has so many different toppings as well as shapes. And though I am mad about sourdough, and have had some good success with pizza, I can say yeasted dough isn't that bad either. More key is the heat source that can make or break a the sought-for pie. At home your pizzas will take on that chubby look, pale in comparison to those fluffy charred specimens for which great pizzaiolas are known.

Though the pies cooked in my home kitchen are good, I still wanted to make a pizza at work to genuinely compare to the best; up-skirt, puffed and crisp blackened edges with a bit of pride. In my experience, pizza like bread has parameters, style's and toppings,hydration, etc... but it's a pretty loosely interpreted craft that has re-awakened both amateur bakers and aficionados around the globe. Like the homebakers crafting a loaf, pizza is just an extension or nearby cousin, and worth the investigation. I mean, who doesn't like pizza?