Wasting pitches and top creations

"Caesar IS home."

Decompressing from the postseason and a terrific baseball season, I recall vivid snatches of conversations; the handful of times during the postseason that Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington lamented that his pitchers have not yet learned how to waste a pitch, a shortcoming that eventually cost them a world championship as big hits by Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, John Jay and most importantly, David Freese would all come on two-strike pitches; standing near the visitor's dugout with Jim Leyland, listening to him talk baseball, the uncomfortable eye on Mark McGwire during the World Series as he stood by the batting cage, one Paul Bunyan and now, forever disgraced, the smallest man on Earth; listening to CC Sabathia try to tell me down at Tropicana Field that The Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a "great movie."




Boulevard: A candidate for contraction?

 The ground rules suggest, also, for the true growth of the gastronomic pusuits, caution must fall secondary to daring. The great restaurants _ Bob's (Ft. Worth, Texas), Nobu 57 (New York City), Oishii Boston (Boston), and the great Boulevard (San Francisco)  _ cannot become the reliable anchors they are. Relying on the old standbys will lend itself to laziness and complacency, the two great foes of creativity, the great foes of progress. We may have to say goodbye.




Nieman Rib chop with mushroom risotto cake, Boulevard, SF

 

Therefore, certain restaurants will have to be voluntarily retired in favor of new pursuits, new adventures, new risk, and hopefully, new rewards. It will be a difficult list, one for another day. Today, however, is for celebration of some of the best creations of 2011:

Strawberry shortcake with caramel kettle corn, Ten01, Portland, OR



Crab and Tuna Tower, Met Bar, Dallas




Lobster with fried clams and light wasabi sauce, The Spiced Pear, Newport, RI




Dohyo (Tuna Tartare with avocado, scallion and caviar), Ozumo



There will be difficult choices to make, especially in San Francisco where Ozumo (161 Steuart Street. http://www.ozumo.com/) will be hard to say goodbye to. It is consistently excellent, artfully executed both on the plate and aesthetically, a haven also, for the beautiful people (if you happen to like beautiful people). However, we know what Ozumo can do. We know it's there. That will have to be enough.

Civilizations may rise and fall, but Fang will never be contracted...

However, Fang (660 Howard Street. http://www.fangrestaurant.com/) will never be on any Carpaccio contraction list. Not only is it an original staple of my time in San Francisco, dating back to the first House of Nanking visit in October 1991, not only is it the meeting place for the SF HB+Brian Murphy lunch, but it is simply too good to be willfully ignored.