Anna "Culinary Hatchet" S.'s Profile

I have been going here for 20+ years.

Always professional, always friendly!

The doctors are always top notch!

They helped me pick a great new frame.

Good calzones baked in wood-fired oven.  Hard to find those around my house.  Nice owner.  Wine list not great but no atypical of this kind of restaurant.

Awlful!

The only choices that they had was:
Salmon - didn't know from where, I'm pretty sure it was farmed*
Red snapper - A over fished species
Fresh water Eel
Shrimp from ?
Yellowtail tuna - clearly gassed, the color was so fake
Hamachi - one pitiful looking piece
Salmon and flying fish roe
Crab - when I asked they said that it was actually krab.  Listed as Crab on the menu.

Furthermore, this looked like exactly the same fish mass made and sold in grocery stores.  Tasted like it too.

The employees had no idea about the origin of any of the fish.  The waiter thought the salmon was local, which, of course, it wasn't as the west coast fishery has collapsed and is closed for the second year in a row.

The employees were nice.  I tipped them accordingly.

*Most salmon are farmed in open pens and cages in coastal waters. Waste from these farms is released directly into the ocean. Parasites and diseases from farmed salmon can spread to wild fish swimming near the farms.  One of the biggest concerns is the amount of food required to raise salmon in farms. It generally takes three pounds of wild fish to grow one pound of farmed salmon.

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Culinary Hatchet

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How anyone can think this place is great is beyond me.

The Zahir's web site calls itself "an extraordinary dining experience,"  only if you have a good imagination.

Nothing special on the menu (which is not as "vast" as what is listed on the web site).  Typical Californian menu fare.

The waiter (I'm guessing the owner's son) was too lazy to check if the salmon was farmed or wild and tried to tell me it was wild Atlantic salmon.  SORRY!!  The Atlantic salmon were over fished and, with rare exceptions, are no longer available commercially.

After I insisted that he confirm with the kitchen it was determined that the salmon was indeed farmed.

The warm walnut salad was mediocre and the dressing too sour.

Oh and I wrote an email to the restaurant about serving farmed salmon (farmed salmon are *very* bad for the environment), but no one responded.

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I purchased 1/4 beef from Holding Ranch about two months ago. I couldn't find anyone else to go in with me on a full carcass.

I selected them after comparing prices at the four closest ranches and talking to each of them on email to find out about their operation.

Prices for a quarter are $5.99/lb cut and wrapped. For a half, the cost is $5.49/lb cut and wrapped and, for a whole, the cost is $4.99/lb.

There was a complete selection of cuts, all wrapped, vacuum sealed, and frozen. The only bones were the shanks, soup bones and ribs. No others. There was no porterhouse with a bone, instead it was cut and packaged separately as the New York and the fillet.

I think it was about 350 lbs in total, with about a third being ground beef. Took up almost exactly a top freezer space.

I'm very happy with the cuts, quality and taste, although you really do need to learn how to cook grass fed beef differently than corn fed.

They also sell into farmer's markets in the bay area. They are good people!

If you want to find others to go in with on locally grown, humanely and sustainably raised beef and other products join this:  http://bamcsa.ning.com

Culinary Hatchet

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