HUKILAU

Picture your happy place. There's a good chance you are visualizing a beach somewhere. Maybe that beach has sand like light brown sugar and soft caressing waves that lap your toes then roll back into a sea of turquoise and cobalt. And maybe there are the sweet and dreamy scents of five-petaled flowers, red clay, and salt mixed in the air by sunshine and long-traveling trade winds. It is a carefree, easy place to be. Now, imagine this happy place in your tummy. Hard to do? Not at Hukilau in San Jose. Hukilau took the flavors, essence, and tradition of the Hawaiian Islands and put it on a menu. To those with Hawaiian roots (whether real or in spirit), it's all the foods that take you back to the islands that you love. Enjoy island inspired dishes or classic Hawaiian favorites like Loco Moco (seasoned beef patties and over easy eggs piled on top of scoops of rice and smothered in gravy), ahi poke (sashimi style tuna salad with green onion, soy, and other seasonings - my favorite especially with a cold bottle of Hinano Tahitian beer), or lau lau (succulent pieces of pork wrapped in taro leaves and steamed to tender perfection). Most dishes are served "local" or "plate lunch" style with the obligatory scoops of rice and mac salad (a.k.a. macaroni salad) -- don't question it, just love it.
Like retro Hawaiiana posters of hula girls dancing on palm tree laden beaches, Hukilau beckons you and saturates your day dreams. Maybe it's one of the lychee flavored umbrella drinks on the menu that calls your name, or if you are like me, it's the Hukilau's special kalua pork cheese fries. Yes, pork-cheese-fries together. That shudder up your spine and the tingle from your salivary glands means that despite all the rational and critical thinking defenses ingrained within the power of your cognitive facilities, you want it; smokey shreds of beef and melted cheese over a gi-normous pile of hot, salty french fries. Again, don't question it, just love it.














In summary, what I would really like to convey is that there is a repose from the stresses of life - the key is finding it. I hope I've helped you a little bit with that goal here.


In the spirit of Aloha, I am expanding I LOVE TO EAT SAN JOSE! to include a restaurant that can also be found in San Francisco and San Jose (and also Honolulu, for that matter).
The restaurant featured in this edition of I LOVE TO EAT SAN JOSE! is located in the heart of San Jose's Japantown on Jackson St. (between N. 5th and N. 6th St.).

EVERGREEN INN & PUB

Are you hungry? Or are you HUNGRY? Evergreen Inn is the temple of the gourmand and just the place to satiate your empty, growling, ready-to-concave-if-you-don't-eat-now hunger. To put the "Evergreen Inn state of mind" into perspective, there are no less than 302 heartily proportioned items on their voluminous menu (not including side orders or beverages). One hundred thirty of those items are dedicated to that special time of day known as breakfast, which at EI is all day. And why not? Especially when you can get eggs with anything: chorizo, chicken fried steak, halibut steak, pork chops, teriyaki steak, Italian sausage, Cajun hot links, corned beef hash, liver, grilled mushrooms, Canadian bacon, or porterhouse steak (TO NAME ONLY A FEW). You can also get eggs any style such as: scrambled with wedge cut potatoes, Spanish style on top of tortillas and beans, Benedict with hash or Canadian bacon and a rich Hollandaise sauce....or my favorite and an EI specialty: the "omelette-souffle."

The largest omelette on record was made in Yokohama, Japan and contained 160,000 eggs. Coming in at a close second in giganticness would be EI's omelette-souffles which are made with 4 extra large eggs and are completely luscious and so super fluffy that I liken the texture and thickness (but not flavor) to memory foam or a tempurpedic mattress. There are no less than 38 variations however, cheese lovers rejoice over the "Cheese Combo Omelette" that features all of the following: American, Swiss, jack, and cheddar. Of course there is the classic Denver omelette (ham, onions, and bell pepper) for the traditionalists or the more funky "Pizza Style Omelette" (Italian sausage, linguica, ham, pepperoni, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, olives, meat sauce, jack, and cheddar cheese) for the hipsters. My all time favorite is the magical "Chili Verde Omelette": succulent chunks of tender pork in green chili sauce all smothered in jack cheese. I call it magical because of its health benefits (chili peppers are high in vitamins and one green chili pepper contains more vitamin C than six oranges) and its curative properties in relation to hangovers. Plus, the chili verde omelete tastes really, really good.

Okay, so you've chosen to have breakfast and you have narrowed down your selection to a scrumptious omelette-souffle, but hold on to your forks because that's only half of the EI decision tree. Now, you must decide on the sides. First, you have the option of country potatoes, homemade hashbrowns, or grits. What? You've never had grits? Well, you've may have spent your entire life this side of the Mason-Dixon Line, but that does not mean you can't love grits. You'll get a cup of ultra creamy hominy grits so good that one taste and you'll jump up and play the banjo. The country potatoes are no less tasty; onions, green bell pepper, and chunks of skillet crunchy potato. But on second thought, you can never go wrong with the homemade hashbrowns which have the perfect balance tooth-tender and crusty potato shreds.

The potato/grits decision is entirely up to your feeling of the moment but the second decision will require some strategizing. Choice #2 is between toast, biscuit, two buttermilk pancakes, two Swedish pancakes, or biscuits and gravy. Please note that toast includes the secondary choice of white, wheat, sourdough, or English muffin so I usually just avoid the subject of toast. I eliminate the plain biscuit choice all together because I feel that it merges with the choice of biscuits and gravy. I don't think I could be friends with the person who would pick a plain biscuit to a biscuit blanketed in thick n' rich country gravy. If the biscuits and gravy are not calling my name, I then group the buttermilk and Swedish pancake decision together; do I want the comfort of fluffy dessert plate sized buttermilk pancakes or the adventure of pink lingonberry crepes sprinkled with powdered sugar? But again, more choices accumulate as you also have the option of adding a fruit topping to the buttermilk pancakes: blueberry, apple, peach, cherry or strawberry --go for the extra fruit and it may just be the happiest George Washington you ever spent.














Let's take a moment to review our order: an omelette-souffle with (insert your favorite toppings/accoutrements), grits (or country potatoes or hashbrowns), and biscuits and gravy (or pancakes with fruit topping option or Swedish pancakes). I admit the decision making process may expend enough energy to counteract the caloric consumption but if you are feeling overwhelmed, my recommendation would be the waffle sandwich: two eggs, choice of bacon or sausage, and a light, golden, and ever-so-slightly-crunchy waffle. Filled with maple syrup, the waffle wells are deep enough to drown sorrows, guilt, or the occasional small dog.
Still haven't convinced you yet? I may have saved the best reason to try Evergreen Inn for the end of my argument: THE BAR! The Elegant Pub is next door and is connected to the EI dining area. Try getting a scotch and soda before breakfast at your common, blue-roofed, franchised pancake house -- unlikely.

Evergreen Inn has everything you are hungry for and something for anyone (including lighter/smaller portion selections and a great kids menu).

Evergreen Inn is located on the corner of South White Road and Aborn Road in the Save Mart shopping center.

GOMBEI

Comedian Lynne Koplitz has a joke about udon noodles being the favorite food of Manhattanite children. She jests, "Try chicken nuggets, you little freak, like the rest of the country!" My childhood was far from the spoiled city life that Lynne alludes to, however, my favorite food as a kid just so happened to be udon noodles. Specifically, udon from Gombei Japanese Restaurant in San Jose's historic Japan Town.
I distinctly remember sitting in Gombei with my mom before Girl Scouts and sharing a seemingly bottomless bowl of the plump noodles in steaming hot dashi, a mild but flavorful broth. Fast forward, twenty (or so) years later and I am sitting at the very same table with my three year-old daughter. We've ordered kitsune udon, featuring deep fried tofu puffs. My little one calls her favorite food "Spongebob Noodle Soup" because the tofu is yellowish and, well, spongy.
Perhaps our food preferences are freakish but the fact that Gombei has a loyal following of aficionados that continue to clamor for one of the restaurant's tiny, packed tables during the lunch and dinner rush would suggest otherwise. At Gombei, I am always guaranteed something filling and delicious whether it is a big bowl of udon, domburi, or my favorite: the Gombei combination fish -- charbroiled mackerel, panko breaded pork cutlet and potato croquet, rice, salad with miso dressing, and miso soup (also available: Gombei combination chicken -- substitute the makerel for teriyaki chicken). Good food must be consistent and in my decades as a patron, Gombei has unwavered.

Gombei has multiple locations: Menlo Park (on El Camino), Santa Clara (on Homestead), and Gombei Bento in Sunnyvale (on Maude Ave.)
My favorite Gombei location, and the location featured in this installment of I LOVE to eat San Jose, is in San Jose's historic Japan Town (on E. Jackson St.).

PIZZA MARIA

It is 18" x 13" rectangle of ecstasy: cheese, garlic, onion, Italian sausage, pepperoni, artichoke, and bell pepper -- a.k.a. the Sicilian style, thick crust "Pizza Venecia" from Pizza Maria. I've mentally calculated how many Pizza Maria Sicilian pizzas it would take to make a king size mattress pad because sometimes I like to imagine rolling around on that huge expanse of cheese and toppings like a puppy in the sunshine. (The answer, by the way is 26.)
The Pizza Venecia is always a crowd pleasing favorite, whether it is ordered in the Sicilian style or in its round, thin crust form. However, picking my single favorite specialty pizza from the Pizza Maria menu is an impossibility. Each of the ten carefully crafted listed pies have their own personality.
My second favorite Pizza Maria fantasy (the first being the rolling around on the gigantic pizza mattress) is being the official P.M. Pizza Sommelier. Tell me who, when, and where you will be eating your pizza and I'll pair you with your perfect pie:

• Ladies night with Johnny Depp movies and a romantic Pinot Grigio? Might I suggest the Pizza di Roma: rich creamy ricotta juxtaposed with salty, sharp Romano and sweet onions.
• Poker night and a Heineken baby keg? If the buy in is less than $20, Pizza di Piedimonte: old world Italian salami and olives. If the buy in is more than $20, Pizza di Napoli: spicy pepperoni, mushrooms, meaty mounds of itallian sausage, and fresh garlic for bluff prevention.
  
• First date with a pilates instructor who also volunteers at the Marine Mammal Center and it's a warm spring day? No problem, your second date prospects will be improved by the Pizza di Calabria: fresh spinach, feta cheese, and fresh tomatoes.
  
• What about a regular Wednesday night (b.t.w. Pizza Maria is closed Tuesdays) with the kids and eight hours of stored American Idol on the TiVo? My super pizza sommelier sense goes into overdrive; for the kids, Sicilian crust "create your own" with pineapple and pepperoni, and for you, a medium thin crust "create your own" with pesto, artichoke hearts, ham, and capers.
  

The truth is everyone has their "go-to" neighborhood pizza place and theoretically, one could go to said neighborhood pizza place and ask for the same ingredients that make a Pizza Venezia (or any other pizza from P.M.) But, the theory is only good on paper. To help demonstrate this catastrophe, please allow me to present the following analogy: buttermilk marinated, slow fried chicken and golden, buttery waffles from Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles recreated with Tyson's chicken fingers and Eggos. Because chances are, your regular pizza place maybe convenient and good but compared to Pizza Maria, it's just not good enough and you should NEVER sacrifice convenience for great pizza.
Besides my obvious writing limitations (grammar, punctuation, and spelling), I'm also limited in fully conveying the wonderment that is a Pizza Maria pizza. I don't know if I have completely captured the intent of this recommendation and so, as a last attempt, I will offer this final anecdote: A while ago, my husband and I were moving and trying to save some cash so we didn't want to hire professional movers or rent a truck. No one likes to get that call asking for moving day help but given the promise of Pizza Maria pizza, we had nine friends and three pick-up trucks at our disposal on a bright, beautiful, early Saturday. It's the power of the pizza.

Pizza Maria is located on the corner of Toyon Ave and McKee Road.

THAI LOVERS

Are you a "last-minute lovebird", a "spontaneous suitor", a "way-late wooer", or a "procrastinating paramour"? Not to worry, the game is not in the planning, it's in the passion. If you have all the intention but not the time then this special holiday installment of I LOVE to eat San Jose is for you!
Here is my choice for a particularly appropriate Valentine's Day restaurant: Thai Lovers.
Thai food is one of my favorite food groups (other important groups being: meat, sugar, salad, fried, and finger) thus, I have several Thai food places tucked away around town so that there's always a spicy Pad Kee Mao within reach. (Much the same way a foodoholic may stash Hostess Snowballs in her bedroom, car, place of work, and maybe the public library.) Thai Lover's happens to be my #1 Thai food place: everything on the menu is fantastic, the service is friendly, and you can order online. So, it's great for a Valentine's night out or for tawdry take-out. Try a bedroom picnic where you and your love interest can feed each other Thai Lover's saucy selections while wearing silky pajamas. Here are some thematic suggestions off their amazing menu:

1. Thai Lover's Sexy Leg: ( a deep fried drumstick served with sweet Thai sauce) Tell your babykins that this dish was named after her (or him).

2. Thai Lover's Special Tom Kha: (a coconut milk and chicken soup infused with aromatic lemongrass and lime leaf) You and your sweetiepie can pretend you are castaways on a deserted island as you eat this soup (as it is served at the restaurant) out of a whole young coconut.

3. Tigerwood Favorite Rad Na: (flat rice noodles in a brown gravy with choice of meat, I usually choose the beef) Fitting if you and your pookums were trading sleazy text messages all day.

4. Eggplants Green Curry Pad Pra-Ram: (eggplants, bell peppers, sweet basil, choice of meat, and a fabulous green curry sauce) This one is not actually in line with my Valentine's Day theme, it's just good and I wanted to include it on the list.

5. Sweet Sticky Rice and Mango: (At the restaurant they serve a coconut dessert with your meal but I like to order this anyway, because I can never resist sweet sticky rice or mango) It's sticky and juicy all at the same time -- not to mention fun to eat with your fingers. Any further direction is best left to the imagination and performed at home.

Even if you are going solo this Valentine's Day, don't shy away from Thai Lovers. Order as spicy as you can handle (even if that is mild). The natural capsaicin will raise your endorphins and oxytocin levels; your cheeks will flush and you may sweat a little...and I guarantee you will feel all the biochemistry of actually being in love without all the drama.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Thai Lovers is located on Piedmont Road (near Penetencia Creek Road and across the street from SJFD Fire Station #19)

MEXICO BAKERY (a.k.a. BAKERY MEXICO)

"Torta! Torta! Torta!" I can hear the cries now. The call that awakens the sleeping giant of hunger in my belly. A monstrous appetite that can only be appeased by something equally as fierce = la torta Cubana. Let's walk through this together (hold my hand because it's earth-shattering):
1. Fresh baked bolillo (Mexican-style sandwich roll)
2. mayonnaise
3. a hot dog
4. ham
5. chorizo
6. a fried egg
7. queso (a.k.a cheese, for those who took French in high school)
8. fresh sliced tomato
9. jalapenos
10. avocado
11. tomato
Were you counting along? Because that's 11 major ingredients....in a hot sandwich! Three of which are meats (four if you count the fried egg as a protein). And yes, they are considered separate meats even though they came from the same animal. That fact that you even make that contemplation is in itself OUTSTANDING!
I'm sorry to all of those who have delicate sensibilities and are turned off by the daunting task (which has to be enormous) of calculating the calories and fat grams and ratios thereof. I do admit that after I eat a torta Cubana de Bakery Mexico, I am often overcome by waves of guilt and feel a need to take a shower...but then again, most of the best things in life provoke that very same reaction. Still, if la Cubana is too much to handle there are other traditional tortas on "lighter" side. A torta milanesa (my second choice), which includes crispy-breadcrumby-crusty slices of pork.
I acknowledge that the more "seasoned" (pun painfully intended) eaters may have already tried a torta Cubana and maybe even have your own little hole-in-the-wall or taco truck that serves them. What makes Mexico Bakery different are the ingredients: super fresh, super delicious, and super generously proportioned. (The above photo is only 1/2 of the actual serving size.) My favorite part, the avocado, is plentiful, creamy, and perfectly ripe in its deliciousness. I could go on about each individual ingredient but seeing as there are a lot of them, I'll just give another quick nod to the bread: not just the vehicle for the fillings, it's like the patina on the Rodin and lends to the aura and the authenticity of the entire experience. (Hello?! The bread has to be the best part this is "Mexico BAKERY.")
Speaking of good things that are baked, you can find a lot of them here. Specifically, the pan dulce which literally means "sweet bread." The term actually encompasses a huge array of pastry like items that will flirt with your olfactory senses in the parking lot and then greet your eyes like a lost lover from their 20 foot long display case as you walk in the door. I admit, although I have tried, I have not tasted them all. The main reason for my failure is that each time I go to Mexico Bakery, there's something new.
However, here is one Mexico Bakery pan dulce, that I am forever faithful to and shall attest my undying love for: the polvoron. A big crumbly cookie that basically has four ingredients: sugar, shortening, flour, and food coloring (usually electric bright pink and/or yellow). Anyone who has clocked significant hours in kitchen (or at the table) knows that when the ingredient list is short, the outcome is highly dependent on quality and skill. Mexico bakery gets it right, not powdery, not gritty, not greasy, and you can't taste the flour or the shortening; just perfectly, mouth-meltingly tender and sweet. I dream about these cookies. I imagine that in my heaven the clouds are made out of electric pink Mexico Bakery polvorones.



P.S. The cakes at Mexico Bakery are equally divine.

Mexico Bakery is located on Story Road in San Jose (between White Rd. and Capitol Expy. in the Home Depot shopping center)

ANTIPASTOS'

Three words:
1. BEST
2. CIOPPINO
3. EVER!

What? You don't know what cioppino is? My heart cries for you. Imagine for a moment, succulent scallops the size of jumbo marshmallows, buttery-tender salmon chunks, clams that could be confused for precious gemstones, and monstrous hunks of prime dungenous crab all swimming together in a delicately tomatoed broth that sings of garlic and Italian spices. When I crave it, I not only want to eat it, I want to inject it into my veins and have it course through my entire body. WAIT! I almost forgot, how could I....the shrimp, the size of your ear, with the shell on so that the broth is trapped under the scale-like membrane encompassing the sweet flesh of the shrimpmeat inside. The only way to eat the shrimp is to suck out the broth with the urgency and necessity of an asthmatic on an inhaler, then you peel it and devour it. Let's go back to the dungenous crab....I'm talking shell-on here too: claws and legs and body, enchanted by the broth much the same way as the shrimp so that you must crack it with your teeth (think of that lobster scene with Daryl Hannah in 1984's Splash). The juice runs down your face and chin and you could not be happier. It's pretty awesome.
I love cioppino and there's good cioppino out there. I know because if I see it on the menu anywhere, I must order it. I've had $40.00 bowls and "fusion" bowls (cioppino served with udon noodles)...but nothing compares to the quart size deli container of Antipastos' cioppino. My absolute favorite.

I would end here but the cioppino is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Antipastos' has tons more to offer. I don't even know if the cioppino is what they are particularly known for, it just so happens to be my favorite. Most of the floor space is dedicated to a market specializing in tasty Italian imports and a meat/deli counter. Grab an order slip and customize your own made-to-order-freshest-ingredient sandwich (I suggest the sourdough bread) or veer to the west side of the establishment to the hot counter where you can order the cioppino or from daily offerings like eggplant parm, prime rib (on Thursdays), or homemade fresh ravioli. Plates (that can be eaten there on quaint but limited tables), except pasta dishes, come with bread and butter, penne pasta in marinara, vegetables (or double pasta), and a side salad. Be warned though, you need to know whether you want tomato and bacon on your side salad and what dressing (I suggest creamy Italian) otherwise you might meet who is affectionately known as "The Pasta Nazi". Just like classic Seinfeldian lore, he's a guy with attitude that adds to the character of the entire experience. I'm not sure of the Past Nazi's real name, but he looks like if James Taylor and Michael Gross from Family Ties had a surly baby. I've heard he's gotten better and nicer but either way it's worth it.

Antipastos' is located on McKee Road (near Toyon Ave. Road) in San Jose.