Tucos

If you frequent Tucos, chances are you've seen this distiguished, silver-haired gentleman, and his wife, sitting at table at Tucos with several opened, partially drunk bottles of wine in front of him- he's not drinking them so much as tasting and evaluating them.  That's Dr. Manning, perhaps the most passionate wine afficionado I've ever met (and an all around great guy). 

Recently Dr. Manning had to undergo some pretty heavy medical things and we've all been praying for him at Tucos.  Rumor has it that he went home today and chances are we'll soon be seeing him seated at Tucos with a whole bunch more open bottles....

We wish you a super speedy recovery JaRue!!!

It's official, 2009 will be closed to all commercial king salmon fishing- again.  We've all been reading about the economy, the layoffs, the furloughs, the bailouts.  Imagine a two year furlough with little or no bailout- that's what our local salmon fishermen are going through as they brace for yet another year without work. 

"Many of the little guys won't make it through a second year of closure.  For us, we have a retirement (from a previous career) to carry us.  If it weren't for that (and the small fish distribution business that we operate) we wouldn't make it either", says Larry Mayamuro, our local source for California king salmon.

The local king salmon population faced a disasterous fall runover this past year due to a triple whammy of factors: fresh water being diverted to cities from the delta, poor ocean conditions causing poor food source (crill) for the small salmon fry when they go to the open ocean, and a large proportion of hatchery fish which increases the salmon's vulnerability since the hatchery fish tend to migrate at the same time (and as a result are exposed to the same poor conditions) versus wild fish that migrate at different times throughout the run (and might find better conditions depending on the time they migrate).

As for the prospects for 2010, Larry says it looks like it will be a good season. "The salmon are very resilient. In 1983 we went through a similar situation only to see a record catch in 1988".  Hang in there Larry (and all of the Califonia king almon fisherman), we can't wait for 2010 to put our local king salmon back on the menu at Tucos!

The Sac Bee's service comments on Tucos got me thinking on a bigger scale- about folks going out to dinner, the role service plays, and where we weigh in. When folks go out what are they looking for? I see two basic camps: 1) need to get something in my stomach (grab-n-go), 2) let's go enjoy ourselves (full service). We'll spend our time in this article focusing on #2.

"Let's go enjoy ourselves"- I can't think of a better measure of enjoyment than fun.  The more fun something is, the more one enjoys it. So how do we define fun at Tucos?  Great company. Feeling very comfortable and relaxed. A belly-rolling, out of control laugh. Lots of flirting and storytelling. Food and beverages that delight. A mind that's totally stimulated experiencing new things that are slightly outside of the comfort zone. Time that has passed oh so quickly. People all around you also doing the same. Leaving feeling like you want to go home and make passionate love to your partner.  I think that pretty well frames our view of fun.

Notice what's missing in our definition of fun?  Stuffy, polished, impersonal attitudes.  Food creations designed to impress you with their sheer creativity and aesthetics and at the same remind you how distant you are from our greatness. A quiet, cerebral encounter with dressed-to-impress people all around you.  Proper etiquette that is so proper that you are in full etiquette mode for fear of offending others or embarrassing yourself.  I imagine there are some folks out there that crave this type of experience (and they pay out the nose for it).  But as for me, no thanks.

Except for the disappointing service comments, the review we recently received in the Sac Bee is the single best review I've ever read for any restaurant in any paper (and I've been reading reviews in the SF Chronicle, LA Times, and NY Times every week for the past two years).  The review begins with the title "On the Road to Greatness".The place is described as "a magical place", the food is described as "ranging from good to great to ridiculously wonderful". A review just doesn't get any better than that, and guess what, as objectively as I can be, I totally agree- including the service comments.  There were some basic, unacceptable failures on our part, and a little bit of structure and discipline was missing....my bad..  This has been corrected and I'm extremely pleased with how we've been doing since.

Thanks Blair for taking the time to check us out.  We're so pleased with the review!

It was a very difficult task to plan a New Year's Eve Dinner menu this year.  The thought even crossed my mind that maybe folks were really not in the mood to celebrate.  Gasoline prices hit $4 a gallon, the housing market foreclosure crisis, bank crisis, US auto industry crisis, local & state goverment budget deficits, and on and on. 

But then I thought wait a minute,  it's a beautiful day out there and we're surrounded by the ones we love.  The best things in life are free. We've been through tough times before- these things are cyclical, meaning that soon enough, we'll figure out how to fix things and then we'll get back to our super optimistic selves again. 

So with that in mind, I've come up with a soulful evening- much like a Norman Rockwell painting, to celebrate the things that matter most- our planet, our nation, our family, our friends, and our spirit.  Things very worthwhile celebrating!  If you're curious how this translates into menu, here it is:

On Arrival:

A Shot of Tucos' Mulled Wine

Wild Mushroom Hash Cake

Soup:

A Shot of Cream of Penn Cove Mussels

Salad:

Apple & Bacon Salad with Watercress & Fresh Goat Cheese Dressing

Entrée:

(Choice of)

Pasture-Raised Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine Sauce, Mashed Root Vegetables, Twice-Cooked Veggies

Seafood Risotto

Dessert:

Sweet Potato Pie with Whipped Cream