texasmesquite

Out and about: Why I love Jan Birnbaum’s food and his spirit! Tuesday, 01 April 2008
MichaelChiarello.com
Y’all know I love Jan Birnbaum , my chef friend who has appeared as a guest on my shows since the very beginning in 2000. He’s a N’awlins chef, originally cooking with Paul Prudhomme, and was a neighboring restaurateur here in the Napa Valley, with his restaurant Catahoula. And his food is no-holding-back, bigger than big flavors and, wow, what he does with roasted meats!!


But he’s outdone himself this time. I just had a mind-bending meal at his latest gig, The Epic Roasthouse in San Francisco, on the Embarcadero. The spectacular views of the SF Bay are matched toe to toe with the “hug your arse” booths (they practically massage you while you sit, they’re so good) and the spectacular wine service. But once again, with Jan, the food is the big hero and I’ll be there often to continue tasting my way through all his tasty dishes.

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I guess if only one thing good came out of the '89 (earth) quake it was the recovery of the Embarcadero. Once seedy abandoned bay ports shadowed by the ugly Embarcadero fwy (remember that?); once the quake hit and weakened the fwy overpass, after much debate (why?) the fwy was torn down. This opened up the row of ports which made up the embarcadero. After revitalization, it is now one of the desinations of S.F. with markets, shops, walkways, restaurants all on the Bay.

All Bay Area residents remember where they were when the quake hit. I was working (yeah, right). I was watching the start of the '89 Bay World Series: our Giants vs. those other guys (Athletics). Never forget: I invited a couple of gals in who were stuck in snarled traffic (street lights were out up and down the Bay) for some refreshment with us (OK, they were cute). We watched news coverage of the quake. Unfortunately one of the gals lived in the apt. building which was ablaze in the Marina district. She literally sat and watched her place burn to the ground on TV. We were so sad for her.

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This Old Blue is from Napa, too!