Incanto...

After dropping off some shirts to Chef Cosentino, two of my favorite people and I decided to come back in the evening and have some snacks and drinks.

Sweetbreads w/ Buddha Hand



Bone Marrow



Foie, Boudin Noir and Apples



Calfs Fries, Cockscombs and other good bits topped with a fried egg.



Although he playfully dissed Damien's camera, which had us in an uproar, he obliged the three goofy culinary students in posing with us for a photo.

Food Test Dec 2011...

Dan's a professional photographer working in SF that wants to get into food photography and I'm using my culinary school cooking skills for the shoots. We amateurly choose the dish's positioning and props, not always successfully. We rush to utilize natural daylight, so my brownies didn't have a lot of time to cool before cutting. They weren't perfectly square. The chicken was so tender, one leg separated itself from the body, so we couldn't shoot from the top. The challenges are present, but we both work independently and together quite well. I really enjoy working with Dan.

Here's the photos folks...

Baby Arugula, Watermelon Radishes and Blood Orange Salad



Stuffed Poblanos w/ Shrimp, Chorizo, Oaxaca and Cotija cheeses



Basic Roasted Chicken



Double Chocolate Brownies

Carpo's...

Reference to non-locals in the know: Walk in and make a right, you will then find the hidden counter where you order. I can see how locals would be attached to this place. Capros gives the same feeling the luncheon counter at Woolworth's used to give me, it's amazing in a nostalgic sense...it's humdrum in a gastronomy sense.



There was no line when we got here around 5pm on a Saturday summer evening, but the parking lot was definitely packed. It looked totally old school Italian restaurant from the outside, but more like a cafeteria on the inside. Frommers listed that "locals line up out the door for their seafood..." with that statement I sure as hell thought there'd be more than calamari and chips ($9.75) and fish and chips ($9.50) and a shrimp and crab sandwich on the menu.

One of those TGIFridays vibrating coaster pagers are placed in your hand and you're on to the adventure of finding a table. With a hunter green cafeteria tray, napkin dispenser, complimentary bread basket (of multi-grain bread), salt and pepper, there was barely any elbow room at the tables against the back window'ed wall. Hence the reason I gave my cup of ice water the sleeper hold and it went flying onto the floor.



The food was...gratifying. My beer battered fish was way more reminiscent of that heavily battered Chinese deep fried prawn than any fish and chips I've had. It was fried until a DARK golden colour and the cod was nice and moist. Or, it was just jizzing water from its previously frozen existence. There was a side of coleslaw, which I don't normally like, but this one was lightly dressed. I actually ate it. The clam chowder had nice chunks of supple potatoes, nice consistency to the soup and with a few pieces of clams floating about.



It's simple. It's affordable. It's attachment to memories that probably keeps the locals coming back.

2400 Porter St
Soquel, CA 95073

(831) 476-6260

$0.99 Store -- Basmati...

It probably doesn't make sense if you have a spouse and minion spawn to buy a small bag of rice for $1. But, for a gal flying solo...it's the perfect size.

When you're looking for a switch up from beans and rice, Basmati and lentils with a little Madras curry mix is a great alternative. Yes, it's technically beans and rice all over again, but at least it'll wake up that clam-like tongue of yours. I bought the white Basmati, but they also had brown for you health-nutters. Although with less than $5 in my pocket at any given time, I don't have room for health. I need sustenance.

I threw in some chicken legs stewed in tomato sauce.

$0.99 - SoyJoy....

Let's just say that I now know why I haven't seen the ads for Soy Joy in a very very long time. These things are gross. They could never replace Nature Valley bars, which is one of the rumors that was on the street.

The texture is the equivalent to biting into a warm loaf of tofu fresh off the shelf. Oh, with the "flavoring" of fresh raisins and almond. Raisins and almonds my tuchus. If this is what vegetarians and vegans are eating, no wonder everytime I see them they look as if they're about to pass out. Minus the fact they have no energy from the lack of animal flesh.

It was only $0.59. This was definitely a miss.

New Station...

For a long time this was my favorite Chinese food place, especially after a good doin' the grown up session. And for that reason, I kept it a secret. For those who were fortunate enough to find themselves on the opposite side of the table, noshing away with me, they were sworn to shut the fuck up. However, my last visit was so shocking that it left my mouth open long enough for flies to lay their larvae inside of it.



I normally order combo plates for lunch, keeping the traditional Chinese fare for dinner. It's quick and I don't have to sit amongst Sacramento's version of the Chronicles of Riddick; state workers. State workers haunt this place. Since I've eaten here several times, I knew the portions and the flavor wouldn't fail me. I also knew the $5.75 wouldn't fail me. But, when they set down the plate before our eyes, my bottom lip poked out and began to quiver. What I had in front of me was a very generous portion of rice and noodles and five...count them...five little golden laquered nuggets of pork. One dollar per nugget. That seems to be the message they're sending here.



Now, Asian Garden Two is my favorite spot and I'll be sure to let everyone know about New Station.

Asian Garden Two...

Those of you who follow me - I'm making myself sound important here - know I enjoy a good slab of pan roasted foie gras, caramelized baby root vegetables with a port reduction...more than anyone. However, I also have this primordial fat chick instinct to eat cliche Chinese-American food laquered in red gloop.

Especially after doin' the grown up.

With that being said, I'm probably not a good person to heed advice from when it comes to it. I love this place. My nina took me here for lunch and the portions were gargantuan in size and astronomically budget-friendly in price. Steamin' in temperature, fresh, well-seasoned and fucking good, man.



My General Tsao - I know, get off my back - was my expected crunchy little golden nuggets of chicken, tossed with dried maroon charred chilies that give it the heat it deserves. Normally, I would be bent that there was broccoli in my food, but I actually welcome these little trees of nourishment and their strange effects on your BMs. The lunch specials are where you get your choice of fried rice, steamed or chow mein. Egg roll and soup are included, but I could live without those. What I cannot live without is their lunch specials being $4.75. That's right...under $5. And when my favorite taco truck just raised their prices of the burritos from $4 to $5, you better be sure I'm looking for new deals that are both easy on my wallet and delicious in my belly.




8409 Elk Grove Florin Rd
Elk Grove, CA 95624

(916) 681-8318