While the Basque restaurant (see yesterday's post) felt like stepping back into the old world, the next night's restaurant felt like fast-forwarding into a beach vacation. We were treated to dinner at Pismo's Coastal Grill, and a treat it was.
Inside the door, a huge wood boat is draped upside down from the rafters. The catch of the day lay sprawled on slabs of granite and marble and nestled in mounds of ice just waiting for the next diner to order.
We were more than impressed by this guy's skill as he deftly filleted fish after fish. You could tell this wasn't his first day on the job.
Oh yum! I ordered giant pan-seared sea scallops and crab cakes with creamy polenta and arugula. The scallops were the largest I've ever seen and were so tender they practically melted in my mouth like butter.
David across the table from me ordered the Iron Pot Cioppino, a specialty at Pismo's. He said it was good to the last drop as he sopped up every trace of moisture from the sides and bottom of the kettle.
The perfect finale to the night was dessert. I can't remember what this was called, however it was a little bit of heaven. Fried banana bread, candied walnuts dipped in dark chocolate, creamy vanilla ice cream, sauteed bananas, and peanut-butter candy topping with a rich custard drizzle...I can't recommend it enough! If you ever get to go, ask for the banana bread dessert. It's so very good and you'll be so glad you did.
Bon Appétit!
Let me begin with a public service announcement - when someone asks for suggestions on which appetizers to order, you might want to suggest a few ideas and not leave it up to others with more adventurous palets and iron-clad stomachs to decide.
That said, some of the best parts of traveling are skipping past the fast food joints and national chains and discovering where the locals dine, where you get totally unique tastes and flavors in only that particular restaurant and nowhere else. There's a little Basque restaurant in Fresno that's exactly one of those wonderful local places.
After hearing mention from several people about "the little Basque place" we knew we had to find it and see if the food was really as amazing as the mouth-watering stories we'd been told. Deciding on an entree wasn't easy. There were so many really yummy options. Finding the perfect sides and appetizers, however, proved interesting. Someone spied the pickled tongue and the rest was history.
This same someone ordered not one, not two, but three plates of pickled cow's tongue! Oh my. I knew I'd have to try it. No one would let me live it down if I didn't. The plates came out and were passed with much anticipation and trepidation down and around the table. No one seemed to want to take very much and it seemed everyone rather hoped the others would take more but didn't want to say anything.
Oh yeah. That's my plate. And yes, that's pickled tongue sitting there on my plate next to my fork, staring back at me, daring me to take the first bold bite. *gulp* The night stood still right then and there as each one of us went around the table and sampled the tongue, cheering on the others one by one. I didn't really know what to expect, however I didn't think it would be that cold or that slimy. I think I might have involuntarily shuddered when I swallowed and discovered the faded gray color of the tongue directly correlated with a texture I can't even begin to adequately describe. Now that I've eaten it fair and square once, I definitely know this was my first, last and only time to sample that particular specialty.
The last time I got to do this, I was seven. My sister and a couple of our distant cousins were there too. All this came rushing back a couple weeks ago when I was in Fresno for meetings and the World Ag Expo. A few of my fellow coworkers and I escaped one evening and went on an adventure to find the juiciest, freshest, sweetest oranges around, picked straight from the tree. This isn't something you can do where I'm from so it's definitely a treat.
Another coworker kindly led us to her family's orange orchard. She showed us how to properly pick oranges and let us wander the rows admiring all the trees. For country kids like us from the Midwest, Pacific Northwest, and Great Lakes areas used to seeing corn, soybeans, and treefruit like apples, this was a special treat. Right to left, front to back, as far as we could see - all we could see were oranges. Yum!
Sure, you've seen oranges in the grocery store. You've probably even seen photos of orange trees. But have you ever seen the underside of an orange tree? I got to, and just in case you're curious what the view's like, I took a photo for ya. Cool, huh?
Our expert guide showed us section after section of orange trees. Each section (called a "block") was a different variety, and ripens at different times. We decided we'd looked around enough and wanted to sample the wares to see if fruit ripe off the tree really does taste better than what we can buy back home.
Kristen showed us the proper way to eat oranges in the orchard. First, take a large jack knife out of your truck kept just for this occasion and cut the top and bottom off.
Then cut generous wedges out of the orange and share with your good friends waiting patiently nearby.
Then watch as your friends enjoy the sweetest, juiciest, yummiest oranges they've ever eaten and try to stay clean as the juice drips down their hands and arms. Good luck trying to keep up slicing more wedges 'cause these friends are going to want more, and fast!
Dusk fell much too quickly and we knew we'd better pack up and head back into town.
Kristen and her family were super generous and let us pick a couple buckets full of oranges and tangerines to take back and enjoy in the meeting room the next few days. By the end of the week, there weren't many oranges left so we divvied those up and each took a few home.
If you get the opportunity to visit an orange orchard, do! You'll be amazed by how great oranges taste straight off the tree.
This is what the World Ag Expo in Tulare, California looks like...in February, no less. Notice anything peculiar? No? Well, you must be from a warmer climate than I am because February in the Midwest means we're still blanketed with plenty of the white stuff and it's not going anywhere anytime soon.
This combine was pretty cool. I took a photo in case Dad wants to get one.
Now, is it just me, or is everyone in CA really super nice, because most of the booths we passed had friendly coffee stations just like this one.
Probably the most sobering display was this one which shows the world population in 1400 AD on the left, 1900AD in the middle, and projected world population in only 40 years on the right. Pretty amazing to think how much responsibility agriculture has to ensure all of these people will have enough food on decreasing farm land.
While all of this was pretty cool, I'll tell you all about my most favorite discovery of the entire World Ag Expo tomorrow.
