Restaurant Review
23 Jun 2009

Ici Ice Cream – Berkeley

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On the surface, the cities of Berkeley and Beverly Hills have about as much in common as a series of prime numbers. While the former favors intellectualism and green living, the latter embraces superficiality and surgical enhancements. But scratch beneath the surface, say, at a trendy sweets shop, and it’s apparent that these two cities aren’t very different after all—at least when it comes to sugar fixes.

It was way past nine on a Thursday night when The Astronomer and I, along with my gal pal Maria-Elena, arrived on the Ici scene. We had just finished up a solid dinner at Noodle Theory and were in the mood for a cold and sweet treat. As we approached the tiny storefront and saw a line out the door that stretched fifteen deep, I had flashbacks of my visit to Sprinkles in Beverly Hills. Whereas Sprinkles’ patrons donned Ed Hardy and carried small dogs, the ones at Ici seemed to prefer newborns and North Face fleeces.

It’s comforting to know that the premium desserts hype machine is alive and well in 90210 and 94705.

In addition to the eleven flavors of ice cream, sorbet, and sherbet on offer each day, Ici also sells crunchy nut brittles, homemade marshmallows, cookies, meringues, nougat, and caramels. The selection of sweets is splayed along the front counter to tempt impulse shoppers. The marshmallows looked especially delightful, but I kept my eyes on the prize.

There’s a sign on Ici’s door requesting that each person only sample three flavors due to the large crowds, but I couldn’t make a sound decision without trying five. After hemming and hawing over a couple of so-so, not-so-strange flavors, I eventually settled on a scoop of peach-habanero sorbet ($2.85). Cones, which are hand-rolled and filled with chocolate at the tips, go for 75 cents extra.

I’m a big fan of fruity sorbets paired with spicy chilies. The most recent one I sampled at Bugarini Gelato—strawberries with chilies—was a real treat. Ici’s version packed a lot of heat, which was excellent, but wasn’t the least bit refreshing. The sorbet’s texture was oddly dry and dense, which left me desiring a cold glass of water to wash it all down. I’d like to revisit Ici on a day with more bizarro flavor offerings.

Maria-Elena’s orange chocolate bon bon ($1.75) was way better than my sorbet. The bite-sized square of orange-zested vanilla ice cream, hand dipped in bittersweet chocolate, was nothing short of fantastic.

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Ici Ice Cream
2948 College Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94705
Phone: 510-665-6054

Ici Ice Cream on Urbanspoon

Restaurant Review
22 Jun 2009

Noodle Theory – Oakland

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Following college, I moved to Oakland to start my first job. It wasn’t an amazing gig by any means, but it put my econ degree to good use and more importantly, allowed me to start bringing home the bacon. After twenty-two years of spending my mama’s chedda, I was long overdue to make some of my own.

As much as I enjoyed crisscrossing The Bay on BART, running around Lake Merritt, and shopping for produce at the Grand Lake Farmers’ Market, the city that Hammer called home never felt like my own. I blame the weather for my lack of affections—fifty-five degree summers and earmuffs at the ballpark kept me from warming up to the city, literally and figuratively. I bounced out of the East Bay shortly after a year.

Even though Oakland turned out to be a poor fit for me, Maria-Elena and Jess, two of my best friends from my East Bay days, still call it home. The Astronomer and I met up with them at Noodle Theory during our recent jaunt up north. The restaurant came highly recommended to us by Jon, The Gourmet Pig.

Noodle Theory is located in Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood, an idyllic area brimming with great food options. The restaurant is housed in a small wedge of space that seats only twenty-three people. Reservations are not accepted, so our group of four waited fifteen minutes for a table to open up.

While skimming the menu, we nibbled on edamame drizzled with a thick soy glaze and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Louis Kao, chef and owner of Noodle Theory, draws inspiration from Asian cuisines across the globe and local ingredients. The menu is straightforward—noodles with broth, noodles without broth, and a few dumplings and vegetable sides for good measure.

The Astronomer started off with an order of goat cheese wontons served with a soy and vinegar dipping sauce ($7). The Astronomer was hoping that the wontons would be filled with Yunnan goat cheese and was slightly disappointed when he discovered that it was of the American variety. The golden parcels were delivered warm and tasted better than the sum of their parts.

To start, I chose one of the evening’s specials—grilled Hawaiian butterfish in a wasabi cream sauce with a Hijiki seaweed soba noodle salad ($10). I hardly ever order daily specials, especially after reading Heat, but the word “butterfish” proved too alluring to resist. Eaten separately, the noodles and the fish were balanced and well-seasoned. Taken as a whole, it made little sense why these two items were paired together. The slick noodles failed to gel with the fish or its creamy sauce.

The winning dish of the evening was The Astronomer’s udon noodles with grilled Niman Ranch beef in a coconut lime curry broth ($12). Every element of the dish, from the udon to the beef to the broth, was spectacular. The noodles had the most addicting bite, while the Thai-inspired broth of coconut milk and satay paste brought about a pleasantly tangy spice. The tenderly grilled beef was just gravy, baby. This bowl of noodle soup was the complete package.

For my main, I ordered another item off of the specials menu—pan roasted miso marinated black cod served with garlic shanghai noodles ($16). As was the case with my appetizer, the fish and the noodles didn’t play very nicely together, although they were both fine on their own. In retrospect, I should’ve stuck to the menu mainstays rather than venture into specials territory.

“The theory here is comfort food, pan-Asian-California style. And it works,” writes Carol Ness of the San Francisco Chronicle. To that I’d like to add a caveat—stick to the regular menu and you’ll be as good as gold.

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Noodle Theory
6099 Claremont Avenue
Oakland, CA 94618
Phone: 510-595-6988

Recipe
21 Jun 2009

Berry and Meringue Layer Cake

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Whereas I grew up eating celebratory cakes purchased from a French bakery or Baskin Robbins, The Astronomer’s family always made theirs from scratch. Four years ago, when The Astronomer turned 21, he had to whip up his own birthday cake because I didn’t know how to preheat an oven or cream together butter and sugar. Much has changed these past couple of years…

To celebrate The Astronomer’s 25th birthday, I wanted to make an extravagant layer cake with berries galore and crunchy meringues. Since there wasn’t one recipe that encompassed all of the elements I desired, I drew inspiration from a number of different sources. The sponge cake base came courtesy of Martha Stewart—I added fresh lemon zest to brighten up the flavor profile. The strawberry mousse filling and whipped cream frosting recipes came from Andrea Nguyen of Viet World Kitchen and Asian Dumpling Tips. The idea to dot the cake’s insides and outsides with itty bitty meringue cookies came from the Berry Blossom Cake of Susina Bakery in Beverly Hills.

For sponge cake

  • Unsalted butter, for pan
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
  • 1 cup cornstarch
  • 8 large eggs, separated
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cup sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • Zest of two lemons

For filling

  • 1/2 cup orange liqueur (Grand Marnier, Cointreau, or Triple Sec)
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
  • 1 pint strawberries
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream, chilled
  • Berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries)
  • Vanilla meringues (I used Trader Joe’s Very Mini Vanilla Meringues)

For frosting

  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Make sponge cake

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-inch-round baking pans. Line the pans with parchment paper, and spread butter over the parchment paper. Flour the pans and set aside. In a small bowl, sift together the flour and cornstarch; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg yolks, vanilla, lemon zest, and 1 cup sugar on high speed until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. Transfer the egg-yolk mixture to a large bowl. Wash and dry the mixer bowl and the whisk attachment.

Combine egg whites and salt in the mixer bowl, and beat on medium speed until whites hold soft peaks, about three minutes. With mixer running, slowly add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Continue beating until stiff and glossy, about 2 minutes.

Fold the egg-white mixture into the egg-yolk mixture. In three additions, fold the reserved flour mixture into this new mixture. Transfer the batter to prepared pans, and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Bake until a cake tester inserted into middle comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool; turn out cake, and wrap it in plastic wrap until ready to use.

Make filling (strawberry mousse)

Pour two tablespoons of orange liqueur in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Set aside.

Wash and pat the strawberries dry with a dish towel. Hull and cut the berries into small pieces about the size of your thumbnail–enough to make a brimming cup. Set aside the remaining strawberries for garnish.

Put the strawberries in a small skillet and add the sugar, stirring to combine. Heat over medium heat, stirring just until the sugar has melted. Remove from the heat and add the liquor, stirring, until the gelatin has dissolved. Pour into a mixing bowl and set aside to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.

While the strawberry mixture cools, whip the 1/2 cup cream using a stand mixer or hand-held mixer until soft peaks form. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Make frosting

For the frosting, combine the 1 1/2 cups cream, sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Then whip using a stand mixer or hand-held mixer until just shy of stiff. Lift up the beaters and nice peaks should form, clinging onto the beaters nicely. Refrigerate the cream until ready to use.

Assembling the cake

Finish the strawberry mousse by combining the strawberry mixture with the 1/2 cup of whipped cream; a rubber spatula is a great tool to use.

Place one of the cakes on a cake stand or platter and brush with three tablespoons of orange liqueur. Then  spread the strawberry mousse on top.

Add additional berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries) and meringues in between mousse.

Place the second layer on top and brush with orange liquor. Then frost the cake with the 1 1/2 cups of whipped cream. Use an offset spatula to help you achieve nice straight/level surfaces. Decorate with berries and meringues.

When satisfied, refrigerate the cake for 10 to 15 minutes. The cake can be decorated up to three hours in advance. Serve with the remaining berries on the side.

Happy birthday Vernon! To many, many more.

And just for kicks, check out how we celebrated The Astronomer’s 24th in Vietnam.