Thursday, September 6, 2007

Anniversary at Flea Street Cafe

Hello, Eat Local Challengers! My blog was featured on the Eat Local Challenge website yesterday, and I'm excited to have some new visitors reading along! Please comment if anything strikes you (I love comments!), and do come back again.

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Three years ago yesterday, Mr.M and I were married, and to celebrate our anniversary, we went to the Flea Street Cafe for dinner. What a great restaurant! With a focus on local, seasonal, sustainable ingredients, it's the perfect choice for an Eat Local Challenger. And with delicious food and friendly service, it would be a great choice for a nice dinner whether you care about the source of your food or not.

From the top of their menu:

For twenty five years, Jesse Cool and the staff of Flea St. Cafe have been committed to using local, organic and seasonal ingredients. Our seafood is chosen with consideration of over-fishing and endangered species. We cook with meat that is raised naturally and humanely, without the use of growth hormones or antibiotics. Our free-range chicken is from Marin Sun Farms in Petaluma. We buy all of our produce and dairy products from local farms and dairies. We are committed to a healthier, more sustainable environment involving all aspects of the food we prepare for you. We honor and respect the hard-working, caring individuals who grow and produce these foods. Their efforts in the field, on ranches or on the fishing boats are transformed in our kitchen. We partner, hand-in-hand to create beautiful, delicious and nurturing food.


For an appetizer, we shared the Crab & Smoked Trout Cake with caper tartar sauce and watercress salad. We dug in before I took a picture, but believe me that it was gorgeous in addition to the wonderfully smoky fish, tart, salty caper, creamy sauce and peppery green flavors. We were also served a dish of seasonal flavors - cucumbers and an eggplant spread that even Mr.M, an eggplant avoider, enjoyed.

We shared two entrees. The first was Coleman Pasture Raised Lamb Two Ways, braised ribletts, grilled loin chop, fig chutney, and saffron wheatberries. Juicy and beautifully seasoned, the lamb chop was just perfect, and a fig and red onion sauce complimented it perfectly. The ribletts were also really tasty, but the chop won out in flavor for me.



Our second entree was Coleman Organic Slow Braised Short Ribs, red wine beet au jus, green beans with blue cheese, heirloom tomato salad, and potato salad. The meat was crisp on the outside and melt-in-your-mouth tender on the inside, rich and juicy, and paired beautifully with the tomatoes and green beans.

We shared a trio of chocolates with a truffle, cake, and mousse. I was already full and just tried a small taste of each. All were delicious, but the truffle was my favorite. I'll try the meyer lemon semi froddo next time. After the rich meal, a tart and fresh dessert would have been a better finish.

All in all, we had a wonderful meal and will definitely return to Flea Street Cafe.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello again. I spotted your blog mention on the eat Local Challenge page today. That is very cool.

Your dinner sounded wonderful and extremely rich. I do not know of any place in my area that serves local and seasonal foods but I would like to find one and go there. The only place that comes close is the cafe at a couple grocery stores that are geared toward the natural and whole foods community.

I hope you have a wonderful local core weekend!

Anonymous said...

Happy anniversary! Your dinner sounds mouthwatering.