Sweet home California

I am back in London after a two week trip to California and, like any visit home, it was packed with as many family and friend visits possible: gatherings of warmth and comfort made tangible in the beloved, familiar foods consumed together. Meals and food consumed my two week stay; it was just a matter of where and with who I experienced each meal.

My trip began in Newport Beach with my Dad, Jo, and sister Sarah. Walks on the beach and around the posh, relaxing O.C. outdoor malls were complemented by the Mexican food and margaritas of Avila's El Ranchito and the organic/comfort food of Pacific Whey. Any trip to Newport wouldn't be complete without a frozen chocolate covered banana from The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and an evening stroll around old town Laguna Beach. With morning June gloom dissipating into enough afternoon sunshine to warm the salty Pacific air and sedate me completely, it was the perfect Newport experience.

Back in Pasadena, a trip to the Saturday farmer's market at PHS with my mom reminded me of why

I love California so much: the incredible variety and quality of fruit and veg grown in the state year round. The timing of my trip home couldn't have been better planned, with the last week of cherries and strawberries and the beginning of peach season allowing me to buy the perfect fruits for my Father's Day presents. As I strolled lazily through the stalls with my arm around my mom, sampling apricots and tomatoes, the sound, smell, and feel of the market bustle around us encapsulated all of home for me.

Fully equipped with fruit, I set about another activity that encapsulates home for me: making pies! A cherry one for dad and a strawberry rhubarb one for Bob meant Father's Day was going to be delicious! Could I eat two different pies on the same Sunday? Of course! It's Father's Day, a day created for eating pie! [I also made a peach pie because peeling peaches and eating the perfect peach pie is the ultimate therapy for me...the sweet fragrance, the juice running down my arms, the satisfaction of effortlessly pulling the skin off a perfectly ripe peach, the tangy-sweet warm peach flavor against flaky pie crust...this is what I hope the afterlife consists of.] The day's food opulence was completed with an experiment from the recent issue of Bon Appetit: grilled yogurt-marinated leg of lamb! If you have a grill, make this! It's well worth the effort!

A girls sleepover at Dad and Jo's house with my nieces meant more heart warming memories punctuated with two more great meals. For dinner we had an entertaining, live action, Japanese-California meal at Shogun (I've never had so much fun-and made such a mess-than with Sydney sitting next to me eating with chopsticks!). The next morning the girls and I made heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast. Early morning. Pajamas. Heart pancakes. Playing Pocahontas. Life doesn't get any better.

A three day trip north to the Bay Area to visit my brother and his family provided more sustenence for both my body and spirit. My mom and Bob have discovered many hidden gem wineries in Santa Ynez and Paso Robles so we stopped on the way up at Calcereous, after lunch at Thomas Hill Organics in downtown Paso. My mom's plum salad with cherries, avocado, pine nuts, pea shoots, and a warm duck vinaigrette was visionary and locally sourced from the restaurant's garden/farm. Way to go California; this chef/food anthropologist is impressed. With after-lunch vistas over the valley coupled with an outstanding flight of wine, I was reminded yet again of the bounty, beauty, and breathtaking bliss of California.

The Northern California visit was completed with good Mexican food and of course, an early Sunday breakfast at the one and only Jodie's Restaurant in Albany. Here's his Eggs Royston:

Jodie's will always be my home away from home as it was where I first learned about food and the power food has to create and sustain a community. My time at Jodie's inspired me to pursue a life dedicated to food and continues to inspire me in my pursuits today. Good things don't change, they only get better. [If you live within a 2 hours drive of Jodie's, I highly recommend checking it out. It's worth the drive and the possible long wait. Jodie's is a reminder to slow down and enjoy the simple pleasures of a good life.] So, 'Hurry up and take your time.'

On the drive back south to Los Angeles we fulfilled one last food requirement of the trip: the classic California burger of In N Out. While I'm not a huge meat eater, there's no denying that America does burgers right and my time in London has confirmed that. No one does the classic burger better in California than In N Out, the 1950s burger stand that remains unchanged and unfaltering in freshness and quality. Don't forget to add grilled onions and ask for 'animal style' on your burgers (and on your fries if you're hard core).

Finally there is the one place that I dream about and salivate for everyday I am in London, the place I made sure to start and end my visit home: Margarita's, my regular Mexican restaurant. My family and I have been going here for about a decade and my parents continue to go every week for Taco Tuesday. Other than my mom's cooking, there is no other food that tastes more like home than Margarita's.

My trip home was a trip of celebration, celebrating my loved ones who I had not seen in nearly a year. Meals embodied my life before I left for England and in turn, each bite became a bite of celebration and gratitude for my life and the people in it. It often takes a departure from what is familiar to realize just how wonderful and good the familiar is. This trip reminded me of California's abundance of incredible and diverse food offerings/experiences, as well as the abundance of love in my life. There really is no place like home.

Disclaimer: I don't usually add hyperlinks on my blog entries because I don't believe in blog advertisement, but I've included a plethora of links in this post solely to round out your comprehension of all these wonderful food experiences. There is not enough space in this post to capture the wonder of some of my favorite California eateries, so please do click on the links for the full experience.