Diving for Scallops on The Channel Islands

Fresh Scallops from The Channel Islands

Mike Skurko

The Channel Islands. I’d been thinking about diving here for years, but just never got around to it. After picking up a book called ‘50 Places to Dive Before You Die,’ I found there was only one dive site in California they recommended and that was The Channel Islands. The book mentions everything from ice diving in Antarctica to cave diving the sonotes of Mexico. From the Maldives to Wakatobi in Indonesia… Yep. Yet only one site in California? I find this amazing and I find this somewhat hard to believe after all the diving I’ve done in San Diego, Monterey and in the kelp beds of the Sonoma coast hunting for abalone and sea urchin… So, Wallin’s Dive shop is arranging a trip out there and I am quickly locked in for a three-night live a board on The Truth, based out of Santa Barbara. Perfect. Now, a bit of research…. They have lobster. They have scallops. Oh, this is going to be excellent! Typically dive boats take me to marine preserves. Beautiful, but you can’t gather anything for dinner. Tragic. I see all kinds of tasty things out there while diving amidst many of my favorite (and unwilling) participants in the Tsukiji Fish Market of Tokyo. All of my years of diving for abalone I have often thought about scallops. Nothing quite as exciting for me than rolling into an excellent restaurant and seeing scallops listed as the specials of the day. Day boat scallops. Diver scallops… Nice. Perfectly pan-fried in butter at Blackbird in Chicago… Memories of Hayashi Tempura of Tokyo and the freshly shucked live scallop held by Saito-san before he smacks it and presents the incredibly fresh scallop, alive and moving in his hand moments before dipping it in batter and then quickly into the oil before it’s served moments later. The best scallop memory of late…
I am thinking of this while loading my dive gear on to The Truth. Will there be scallops? Can I realistically grab some lobster as well? I’ve been told grabbing lobster is not easy. It also requites a separate fee and some additional gear. I opt out and purchase a simple “ocean enhancement” tag, aka the scallop stamp so that I can legally harvest ten scallops per day on our three day dive trip. We are all on the boat the night before our 4am departure. I find my bunk and am soon dreaming of panko and fresh, fresh scallops.
The next day I am up before the dawn and in the galley while the two deck gals begin to prepare our breakfast. It’s dark out there and impossible to see anything outside of the brightly illuminated cabin. I fumble with my new dive computer and it’s one hundred page manual. I was told this computer was “intuitive. “ I am having a hard time believing this. Coffee. I have, of course, brought my own. Pre-ground at home and now steaming in a plastic Melita filter. The smell of morning coffee is one of the best smells I know. That lightly acrid smell the assurance of a warm welcome to the day ahead. The day where I will be gathering scallops among the sea lions and towering kelp beds of the Channel Islands. Nice!
Soon we are well into the day after a full, and surprisingly tasty, meal on The Truth. Our group of divers struggles into wetsuits and dry suits. Tanks are attached to BCs and gear is checked and re-checked. I am in a two piece neoprene wetsuit. It’s a 7mm and is my standard suit for abalone diving. I am a bit concerned that diving with tanks in deeper waters will chill me to the bone. Oh, well… I am stoked! We are at Wilson’s Rock somewhere off the tip of Santa Cruz Island. We drop into the choppy waters. Seems to be a good current at the surface and I wait at the anchor line for my fellow divers to get in the water. They take way too long and I am pulled up and down by the anchor line. Finally we decend and into these jade green waters we go, now breathing bottled air. The sound of the regulator, almost pneumatic, hissing in and out with each breath. Into the fuzzy green depths. Down the anchor line into the waters. Visibility is not great. Certainly not the “upwards of 60 feet…” that the book had promised for this time of year. Nope. It was closer to ten to fifteen. Similar to what I am used to this time of year on The Sonoma Coast in Northern California. Soon I am at the bottom diving with boulders and schools of fish. Sea urchin are everywhere. Incredible. I’d like to bring some ‘uni’ home as well… Still, I am looking for the perfectly camouflaged scallop. Between rocks and, while filter feeding, a mouth of orange should be visible. The idea is to clean them under water with a butter knife. You slice the muscle and the shell opens for a quick cleaning. The deck hands assure me this is “easy” and let me take a kitchen knife from the galley. “Just don’t lose it.” I quickly lose it. Now that I’ve lost my knife I am starting to see scallops everywhere. Similar to hunting for wild mushrooms in the forest there is this magical moment where you really begin to see them everywhere…
I return to the boat with one purple uni, spines moving, and a scallop in it’s shell. This is only the first dive of what will be ten dives around the Channel Islands. I see harbor seals and sea lions and dive with ling cod, vermillion (red) rock fish. There are fish and the towering kelp that rise 70 to 100 feet from the rock bottom to the shimmering surface. It is beautiful here. I am focused on the scallops. After losing one butter knife I go with ‘old faithful,’ my abalone iron, and spend the bulk of my dives with my head under rocks looking for scallops. I don’t find many of them, but when I do, then the challenge of prying them off the rocks begins. It is not easy. Abalone are really pretty easy to pop off the rocks. The only challenge there is that you can only get them while free diving and so, well, you do tend to need to return to the surface quickly. With scallops they are wedged in and even with a tank of air it took a real effort. Each dive. Every dive. I went down there to see cool and beautiful things and to bring back scallops. Some dives I would come up with none and on others maybe two or tree. Back on the deck I would pry them open with skills I learned shucking oysters from Tomales Bay. Careful, very careful… If you slip it is pretty clear that the dive knife will stab into the hand that holds the scallop. The shells are also razor sharp on the inside and I did manage to cut my hands a few times from the shell…
After three days of diving and rooting around the rocks for hours I came home with eleven plump and beautiful scallops. Ahhhh….. Dinner plans with my parents. Dianthe and I roll over to their house with scallops in a zip-lock baggie. I’ve had these so often in restaurants, but never this fresh. Never from scallops I went out to get myself. This is the best. I pan fry some of them in oil with a bit of garlic. The others are breaded in panko and quickly fried in canola oil with a splash of sesame oil. Fresh scallops from the Channel Islands. Rare on the inside and incredibly tasty. It is amazing that it’s taken me this long to get to the Channel Islands off the California Coast. Abalone taste incredible, but these scallops? They are so fresh and so good… I really need to get out there again. I need more scallops!

The Cheap Date - Lunch for under $5

Not all food is expensive. Some food is quite cheap and tasty. Lunch for under $5 is not an easy thing to pull off. Really, it is a challenge. There are some options and I am going to find them any place I can from S.F. to Santa Cruz and back. OK, sometimes I will need to spend a bit more than $5 for lunch, but there is no way this will be elevated beyond the budget breaking $10 lunch. Sometimes these lunches will need to forgo a beverage or a side order. There will, most likely, never be anything for dessert. Sorry, but if you are looking for a cheap lunch you do not get to order the crème brule and an espresso. Nope. Sorry, this is all about getting a decent mid-day meal for as little as possible. Yes, if only this article were based on the street foods of Hanoi. Yes, I know you can get multiple courses and dessert. I know. If we were in Tokyo we’d simple eat onigiri or bento box snacks and get some incredibly sweet canned coffee… Or, for that matter we could get a bowl of udon noodles at just about any major (and some minor) train stations… Sadly we are not in Japan or Vietnam. We are in California and, so help, me there are lunches out there for under $5. Good ones.
So, I am in Boulder Creek., The Santa Cruz Mountain town, with not terribly many dining options. There are, however, some good options for the cheap lunch. The photo is of a deli sandwich from Johnny’s Supermarket. Yes, this fine meal did in fact cost a bit more that $5, but still at $5.49 with tax this is a fine meal. In fact, I have found you can even split one of these and still feel quite satisfied that you’ve had a decent meal. (and you will still have a bit left over in the collective budget for an Arizona Ice Tea (tall can’s are .99 cents) and a bag of BBQ chips (another .99 cents)
The sandwich of choice at Johnny’s is a smoked turkey with provolone cheese and the works. I like everything on these but NO mayo. Pickles, mustard, peppers…. Also, a very nice touch is to ask for bacon as an additional meat treat. Gives a perfect crunchy feel to what otherwise might be soft bites of turkey and bread. Always best to get this one on sour dough bread. Not sure why this works so well to accompany the yellow mustard, but it is a perfect fit. Do not stray from this regimen…
So, if you are in Boulder Creek (en route to Santa Cruz on the scenic redwood highway) be sure to pop into Johnny’s for a sandwich. Yes, I know it’ll cost a bit more than $5, but it is unquestionably one of the tasty meal options around here and you can, and should, take your sandwich down to the river and marvel at the jade green waters and towering trees. Ahh… so, nice to have a meal with a view. You can’t beat it. Hop in your car and make it happen!

Sociale - Pacific Heights, S.F.

I have been to Sociale once for dinner and twice now for lunch. The food and service have been consistently excellent.

Most recently I was at Sociale for lunch. I had an heirloom tomato salad with thinly sliced basil and the flank steak and fries. Simple food, prepared elegantly and flawlessly. The actual cut of meat was outstanding and it was lovingly prepared medium rare. Simple food is always a great opportunity to rate a restaurant. It really amazes me that it is possible to ruin a good cut of steak. Yet, I have seen this done. Or, possibly a worse offense. Is to ruthlessly overcook a really bad cut of steak. The first and only time I ate at Scopazzi’s in Boulder Creek they had some terrible hack burn the outside of a C grade New York steak leaving the inside raw. Was that intentional? Did the cook hate his/her job and every single person eating at the restaurant? I can only hope so as that might have explained the terrible meal I had there… Oh, well. Now, I am comfortably seated in the outside brick patio of Sociale. An oasis of calm in the busy shopping hub of Sacramento Street. A place where one can effortlessly spent two thousand dollars on a single pair of sheets with terribly high tread count. An impossible area to find parking for a car and an excellent place to negotiate terms for custom cabinets to be designed and installed. It was never an area of the city where I spent too much time. Now, I know there is a small gem of a restaurant I may come more often…
So, the food. The heirloom salad was perfect. Luscious, velvet heirlooms. Two varietals, both valentine red. A simple oil and balsamic dressing and the aforementioned thinly sliced basil. Complaints? Well… I grow tomatoes and typically eat them right off the vine. So? My tomatoes never, ever see the inside of my refrigerator. Ever. So, these were slightly chilled. Hard to say if this is simply a personal preference, but I would like my heirlooms at room temperature. Is that feasible? Possibly not in a commercial restaurant. The steak? Well, there are no other ways to describe a perfect steak. It was absolute perfection. Drop whatever you are doing. Put away your iPhone, iPad or laptop and boogie on over to Sociale. A perfect meal awaits.
The wine? On my first visit I had a Bareberra d’ Asti. A bottle of unquestionably the best Barberra I have ever had. A pity I don’t have my tasting notes within easy reach. You’ll find the staff is very well versed in their wine list and can help guide you to ensure a perfect pairing with your meal. On the following two lunches I had a single glass of Barollo and on the next visit a Chiantti. Both wines were picked by the waiter to pair with my meal. Both choices were spot on excellent. (my general rule of thumb is to always defer to your wait staff if you are not very familiar with the wine list)
The scene? Quiet, calm luxury. A late lunch ensures some opportunity to relax in the Zen like calm of Sociale. The wait staff seems perfectly timed checking in only as needed to ensure your meal is without a hitch.
So, yes. I will be coming again and again. Sociale has been consistently excellent. Three separate meals and three opportunities to enjoy fine dining in a plush setting. Go there and you will be very happy you did. Try and find parking in the immediate vicinity and you will not be very happy. I would recommend you take a taxi or ideally a Vespa Piaggo. Or a Lambretta 200 for that matter… Italian scooters and food generally pair nicely…

airline food? still terrible after all these years...

The following is a snippet I sent to United Airlines earlier today as part of a recent survey. I hope they can improve, really I do. I have had some terrible food on flights and the majority of them have been on United Airlines. (keep in mind that I was actually trying to be nice here. Not trying to get anyone fired here. Nope. Just want them to know that, yes, they have failed me. OK, some background here. I flew to New York recently on a first class ticket on United P.S. ("Premium Service") I flew on a first class ticket and used 'miles' for my ticket. The P.S. Flights were a big deal when they came out. This was over a decade ago now, but the concept (a good one) was to offer real class on domestic flights. Service that might rival that of an international flight. I have flown in economy, business and first on these flights over the years and have had varying degrees of service and food. Generally the flight attendants have been great and the food, though hot, lacking in luster. OK. So, what do I expect? Well, a first class round trip ticket would have cost me $7,000. Yes. That is a lot of money. So? Well, if I paid $7,000 in cash I would damn good and well expect a decent dinner. I was hungry. The food? Well, it wasn't great. No, in fact it was miserable. Upon returning to SFO and getting home I was somewhat delighted to see an on-line survey had been sent to my e-mail address. Wondering if this tree falls in United's forest will there be sound? Will anyone hear my plea for help? Hard to say...

From the first area on the United Airlines Survey asking for "other comments."
the meal on the flight was pretty bad. the vegetables were over cooked. terribly over cooked. the chicken was a bit tough and flavorless. i would prefer a well made cold sandwich to a hot meal that comes out after too long getting re-heated. simple, fresh food will always trump a failed attempt at a hot meal. this is not always the case on your flights. the japanese 'washoku' bento box that is available on the flights to narita is consistently excellent. i always look forward to those... also have fond memories of some of the food service between narita and bangkok. a dish with shrimp comes to mind... but, on this flight the food was not good. perhaps this is consistent with other p.s. flights. generally the food is a notch better on international flights in general.
From the second area that pertains to “food quality on your recent flight:”
i think i went over this earlier. the meal was bad. i have had much better food on united flights. this one was what i would have once called 'standard airline' food. in fact, it was just about on par with some average to poor meals i have had sitting in economy. in first class i would consider this a real insult and can only hope you can avoid over cooking the living daylights out of the veggies on future p.s. flights. my yams were cooked to the point where they had the texture of cubes of mushy potato. yeah, that was a bad one. i was, however, starving and i did finish my meal. the food on the return flight was much better, but the veggies were still cooked to the point of no return. keep the meals simple, flavorful and never re-heat until the food goes limp. it really bothers me and i am certain others feel the same way on this issue. i fly a lot. on a singapore airlines flight (in business class) from sfo to bali and back i had amazing food and a delightful time pre-selecting meals on -line. i know this may not be possible on domestic hops, but somehow they seem to really nail the in-flight food experience. consider their approach and you'll find me booking more flights on united soon.

Not Another Burrito!

Please Tell Me There is More to Mexican Cuisine Than This….
Where are the high-end Mexican restaurants? I have, for better or worse, become somewhat of an expert on the burrito offerings of San Francisco. Back in the day it was the only meal I could find that was in the $3 price range and was always more than I could eat. I have fond memories of Pancho Villa on 16th. The place always had a huge line and there was a uniformed security guard at the door. I always found this amusing because the only other place where there is a security guard at an establishment that I like is the Me & Ro Jewelry Store on Elizabeth Street in Manhattan. You walk into Me & Ro and the first person you meet is a very kind and very large black man in a suit with dark sunglasses. Past him and behind display cases shimmering with silver, gold and platinum are the pretty and substantially smaller sales people. Sure, I get it. There are criminals out there who might consider a ‘smash and grab.’ The menacing security dude is there to remind them that stealing is not only wrong, it will get your ass beat. So, security guards at jewelry stores make sense. In Hong Kong these guys were generally Sikh’s and they all had shotguns. I guess it takes a bit more to remind the Hong Kong shopper that payment is strictly cash or credit card… So, security at a taqueria? This still makes me smile. I wait in line. I order. I grab that burrito and bag of chips, load up on salsa and freshly sliced white onions and cilantro and race out the door? Hmm… It is a cash business. Perhaps it is armed robbery they prevent with these burrito guards. But everything there costs under five bucks. What do you get when you rob the till? $5,000 in singles? Probably. You would need a pillowcase to make good your escape.
So, I have been eating at Mexican restaurants all over the Bay Area for well over a couple of decades now. People who travel frequently to Mexico assure me that “these places are not authentic.” OK. I believe them because the tenpura in America is as similar to the real version in Japan as an octopus is to a wildebeest. Sure. I am told “In Mexico a burrito never has rice and beans in it.” Perhaps this is true. What I want to know is pretty simple based on my experience eating at these non-authentic places in the U.S. Where is the high-end Mexican fare? There has to be more to it than fast food. I can only hope that Vicente Fox and his wife take the bullet proof limo out to a sweet little white table cloth place that makes authentic food so damn good it would make me weep. If only I knew how to find food like this in America. Hey, maybe there isn’t any. I am OK with that. There certainly isn’t any decent tenpura in this country. The only real sushi that I’ve had in America is at Kurumazushi on 47th in Manhattan. (For the record I am open to being proven wrong here. Really. But let’s be clear on this: Real sushi is not made with cream cheese and macadamia nuts)
So, my gentle readers I offer you a challenge. Prove me wrong. This is the official challenge: Find me an incredible Mexican Restaurant someplace in the Bay Area. I am talking authentic. I am talking nice. Really nice. No plastic forks. No wax paper cups of Horchata. I want something that is region specific. Food that is authentic and hails from a place in Mexico that it like the Tuscany of Mexico. I want that place to be a reasonable driving distance from the Santa Cruz Mountains. By this I mean I need to be able to get there and back within the requisite 1.5 hours that it takes to get me to S.F.


I want an exceptional Mexican dinner! Help me find it.

Tomatoes - The Darling Children of my summer Crop

Summer Produce and the ongoing abundance of Tomatoes
Well, I’ve gone over this before. I have a lot of tomatoes and at some point I will be cooking them into pasta sauce. Until then? Well, they are perfectly ripe and incredibly tasty so they are factoring into just about every meal. Here is how it works:
Breakfast? Toasted bagels with cream cheese or humus served with thick slices of deep purple or red tomatoes. Yesterday morning I got up and began the morning ritual of wandering around the potted tomato plants. It seems every day now there are more and more ripe ones. For a while it seemed there were nothing but green tomatoes out there and this was cause for concern. Disease, bugs or lack of direct sunlight? (I am told it is bad form to cut your neighbors oak trees down to better facilitate your farming needs.) But? Today, like yesterday I see new tomatoes coming up with color. The purple cherry tomatoes look amazing today. Yesterday the cluster in question was mostly green with only a hint of purple. Today some of the Japanese Trifiele are also getting softer to the touch and ripening with more color. The striped green ones, the “Green Sausage” tomatoes are still a bit firm. I’ve been checking on them daily now to ensure I don’t miss the perfect window of ripeness. Green heirloom tomatoes are, at least for me, a bit perplexing. They do not change color. Green, yet perfectly ripe. A quandary. I study them and continue hoping to be given a sign. Today? We’ll see.
So, yes. Sliced tomatoes with the breakfast bagels. Last night at a BBQ up on the ridge top I tossed a mixed salad of tiny motzerrela balls, a double fistful of mixed basil and six or seven kinds of tomatoes. Large and small… all of them into the mix. It was a mini-caprese salad and it worked out well.
Sliced on a hamburger? Lovely. Can you eat them three meals a day? Well, sure. For a while and then you begin to realize that you can’t eat them all. No need to panic here. Give them to your neighbors. This act of goodwill could earn you points which you might later redeem for transgressions such as loud late night parties with death metal blaring from your sound system. They do taste better than any that you can buy at the store. Yes, I am a proud parent of my tomatoes and am happy to report that the house heirloom tomatoes here in The Santa Cruz Mountains are most certainly on the honor roll. They are better by virtue of their rollicking diversity and their attention to detail. These are some precocious tomatoes. If they had arms they would play the violin. They would be fluent in Cantonese and Dutch. These tomatoes are exceptional. Really.
So, keep eating them. Give them away and, any chance you get be sure to brag about them. Tomatoes are incredibly fun. They are a lifestyle and not just some wacky hobby.

Hayes Street Grill - S.F.

Hayes Street Grill
I’ve always loved this place and try to go there whenever possible.. Simple perfection on most days. It is in Hayes Valley, an area of San Francisco I have never really loved. Too close to the projects and yet still filled with crazy high end boutiques. It would be like Hunters Point with Tiffanys and a Gucci shop. It just seems strange. An ex-girlfriend of mine had her windows smashed twice in a month when I lived in the Lower Haight, spitting distance from those same mean spirited housing projects that are close by here… Ah, well. Regardless there are many fine places in Hayes Valley these days and the waiter at the Hayes Street Grill told me that the grill had been in it’s present location for over thirty years.
So, yes. Exceptional food and clearly catering to the theater and opera crowd based on the framed photos on the walls and the mention in the menu of ordering and timeframes for the opera. Typically I get grilled fish when I am here, but just for fun I had a look at the menu prior to coming over today. Soft shell crabs? Served both in a modified BLT, “Chesapeake Bay Soft Shell Crab BLT with Hobbs Bacon, Bill's Tomatoes, Cole Slaw.” Also available “Chesapeake Bay Soft Shell Crabs Meuniere, Watercress, French Fries.” Soft shell crab is a seasonal delight that should never, under any circumstance be missed. No. Never. A pity they are not as local as our Dungeness crab, but they are so incredible that, similar to sand dabs, when they are in season you must get them. They are always that good.
So, I ordered the Soft Shell Crabs Neuniere. The place was fairly crowded and yet, magically, Hideko and my dishes were served up quickly. She got the Yellow Tail. (billed on the menu as “wild hamachi.” No complaints from either of us. The food was absolutely perfect. Pan fried soft shell crab in a bed of water cress and a side of their signature French fries? Ah, very nice. I asked the waiter about options beyond ketsup for the fries. He suggested a peanut dipping sauce. Clearly house made and with only a nod and a hint to it’s Thai roots this sauce was dark brown and amazingly rich. A glass of the Honig Sauvenan Blac the perfect crisp accompaniment to the meal.
Issues? Ah, yes. The service was excellent. The food was excellent. Somehow I managed to through a wild card to the hostess by asking her to get me change for a bill. I had paid in cash, but was still shy of the requisite tip. Paid cash for the bill and then had a bill changed. Seemed pretty simple to me. After saying goodbye to the waiter and chatting with the hostess who graciously made change for me I parted ways with Hideko. From there I walked a block down the street looking at shiny pretty things in the windows of the shops still savoring the incredible soft shell crabs… “Sir, excuse me sir.” I am seldom approached by strangers in the street calling me “Sir!” I looked to find the charming hostess who, apparently confused, wanted to know if I had, in fact, paid my bill. Did she think…? What? Well, yes. I had indeed paid my bill. I also tipped the waiter with the bills that she had provided. Confused? Not me. I explained. She retreated back down the road. How odd. Is cash such an unusual manner of settling a bill that it can totally unhinge the hostess at the Hayes Street Grill? I think that is clearly the case. Did the waiter not get his tip? Did he pocket the entire amount I had paid? Or perhaps a better question: Did she apologize after realizing it was her error? No, she didn’t.
So? The food was good. The service was great. I have a lot of choices when eating lunch in S.F. and this kind of mistake is inexcusable. Yep. Get it together people.