Culinary Adventures with Camilla

While the boys are away (thanks, Nonni !), Mommy and Daddy will play. Earlier this week we headed to Il Grillo  for a date night last night because  La Balena  had no open tables, according to their online reservations. No matter. We love both spots. La Balena tops our favorite restaurant list for a few of different reasons: (1) we adore the owners, Anna and Emanuele; (2) Chef Brad Briske is a culinary genius; and (3) it doesn't matter what you order, it's going to be amazing. La Balena is our pick for celebrations -  my 40th ,  Easter lunch ,  capodanno , and more - and for delectable, romantic meals. But I'm glad they were booked because we had a fabulous, low-key dinner at Il Grillo and got to chat with Jay who gave us the scoop on what day of the week to come back. It's the day that Brad plays with ingredients and tests out things for the menu. Ummmm...yeah...count us in! We started off with the octopus carpaccio plate. You can click to read t...

Having friends in the food world is awfully fun. For the 4th of July we headed down to the beach for Chef Brad Briske's - from La Balena and Il Grillo - annual pig roast. We have never made it to the shindig, but made a point to clear our calendar this year when we heard it was happening. Not. Going. To. Miss. It. This. Year - we swore! So happy we didn't. Out came salads, wine, beer...and more to accompany the pig and coal-roasted bread. We brought some Lemon-Cricket Squares as an homage to the new restaurant. I'll post that recipe soon. But while the sun set over the Pacific, we relaxed on the beach with friends and great food. Happy 4th of July.

Click to read  my blogpost for Edible Monterey Bay  about Carmel's newest restaurant,  Il Grillo . We headed back there last night for a prix fixe dinner. It was a fantastic way to end a truly maddening week. For the dinner, we could choose one of the carpaccio plates, a soup or salad, one of their mix-and-match pasta combinations, and a dessert. Making a choice was agonizing. See! The boys read the menu over and over and over before deciding. We started with wine and Italian sodas. In very authentic enoteca style, you just pick red or white. There are no labels, there is no talk of varietals. Just red. Or white. Naturally, I picked red.  For our carpaccio selections, we had two plates of the octopus, watermelon, onion, chili oil, lemon, and mint. We tried the porchetta, summer melon, padron peppers, onion, anchovy, and colatura aioli. D ordered the halibut, cucumber, pole beans, capers, basil, and Schoch yogurt. Last time all...

If you've been following my blog, you probably know that I have a pretty hefty foodie crush on Chef Brad Briske of La Balena Carmel . It's our special occasion restaurant and we actively seek out any event at which he's cooking. So, when I noticed that he was cooking at the  MEarth  Sustainable Chef Dinner - so close to Fathers' Day - I bought tickets and used it as a slightly belated celebration for my Love and my Dad. Brad is truly impressive. Just amazing. Not only is he an incredible chef, but he is passionate about his craft and generously shares his wealth of knowledge and vast experience. He's also patient and kind. One example: he didn't mind having my boys underfoot at this week's MEarth's dinner.  Grazie mille , Brad. Tanja Roos shared that typically they receive menus ahead of time from the visiting chefs. Here she demonstrates how she followed Brad around with a pen and paper in the few hours ahead of the event to handwrite the m...

Some kids have a favorite musician or athlete. Mine has a favorite chef. What a treat to help Chef Brad Briske of La BalenaCarmel pick some things for the MEarth Sustainable Chef Dinner this week. The Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf was thrilled...and he was chuckling to himself about some menu secret. They picked onions, garlic, borage, amaranth, peppers, and more! Then, on the day of the dinner, D helped Anna pick nasturium blossoms... It's so neat to see something go straight from the garden to the plate.

Crì-crì-crì! Chi è che mi chiama? — disse Pinocchio tutto impaurito. Sono io! Le Avventure di Pinocchio , Carlo Collodi Click to read my blogpost for Edible Monterey Bay about Carmel's newest restaurant, Il Grillo . In the meantime, I will tempt you with some photos of Chef Brad Briske's gorgeous - and delicious - carpaccio plates!