Campton Place Restaurant: Truly Fine San Francisco Dining

Campton Place restaurant is one of those places I've read about but never seem to go.  Maybe that's because it's in the Taj Hotel and in an out-of-the-way location on Stockton Street.  However, now that I've been there, return visits are definitely on the horizon!

What finally got Marvelena and me to go there was a special tasting menu at a significantly reduced price offered through OpenTable with five courses.  I'll walk you through the courses and you'll know all you need to know about the menu to decide to go there soon. 

But even before the first course, we were presented with a Chinese soup spoon with a piece of organic cucumber, topped with a scrumptious piece of white sushi dotted with Ponzu sauce.  It was one delicious bite!

Also before the first course a champagne cart was presented by our waiter with three different types of the bubbly, ranging in price from $23-55 per glass.  I’m afraid we had to give that a big pass.  In general, alcohol is expensive here with premium bourbons going for $15/shot and standard ones going for about $11. Better drink at your local pub beforehand.

Now for the food:

•  Course 1:  Summer Salad with Flame-Broiled Shrimp and Mint Yogurt Sauce.  Salad ingredients were succulent and supremely fresh.  Besides the shrimp were white peaches and cucumber and mustard leaves, along with crunchy broiled shallots that brought the dish together completely and added just the right amount of extra flavor and saltiness to the dressing. 

• Course 2:  Butter Poached Maine Lobster with Curry Coconut Cream Sauce.  This is some of the best lobster I've eaten in a long time.  Two of the pieces presented were slightly less cooked than the other two, and each preparation complimented the other nicely.  They were not overpowered at all by the light curry which brought out the seafood flavor. Accompanying the lobster in the large bowl were shaved hearts of palm, snap peas, potato balls, cilantro and a basmati rice crisp.

• Course 3:  Olive Oil Poached Alaskan Halibut with cuttlefish gnocchi and Beans. This was some of the best halibut I've eaten in years, better even than fresh halibut in Alaska. A lot of the reason was the poaching.  The fish was tender and flaky, not overcooked in the slightest. By contrast, the cuttlefish gnocchi had a heavy taste and for me they were definitely the low point of the meal. However, they did not go uneaten and did provide an interesting contrast to the mild halibut.

• Course 4:  Angus Steak with Summer Beans.  By choice, the chef serves this beef medium rare although it was a bit closer to medium than to rare.  That's actually how I like it so no problem there. But, if you want a really red center, go for rare.  The beef is first baked in the oven then sautéed over a hot flame to finish it off. Accompanying the steak were two preparations of summer beans.  One was the whole bean with some spices and slivered hazelnuts.  The other was a pure with different seasonings.  Each was so different from the other that it didn't seem at all like eating the same legume. 

• Course 5: Caramelized sautéed chocolate Cake with sherbet. As good as this sounded, we opted for the cheese course which the chef was kind enough to exchange.  Cheeses were excellent and served with fresh walnut bread. The selection ranged from Oregon to Wisconsin, to France, California and Spain.  I chose the Brillat-Savarin, a triple cream cheese from France, and Petit-Agour, a semi firm cheese from the Pyrenees.  That triple cream cheese is still in my dreams.  Marvelena had a Montenegro goat cheese from Spain and the same Brillat-Savarin, and Petit-Agour.

Based on this meal, Campton Place absolutely deserves its excellent reputation.  We will definitely return, and we may rethink some of our other favorites in the “fine dining” category of San Francisco restaurants. 

Campton Place

415.781.5555 ·

340 Stockton St (between Post St & Campton Pl)

San Francisco, CA

http://www.camptonplacesf.com

Sweeteners and Jon Barry

Two Related Topics

In the next few health posts, I will spend more time talking
about Jon Barry.  He's an interesting guy, and certainly has a
lot of interesting things to say in the field of alternative
health. 

But first, I want to write today about the sweetener, Stevia. 
This is actually a natural sweetener, not like aspartame,
Sweet and Low, or Sucralose varieties of sweeteners.  It is
typically available as an extract and comes from a tropical plant
grown in South America.  Stevia is widely used in South America
and in Asia as a natural sweetenr. 

I've been reading about it for years, and have tried to get a
braille or recorded book of recipes, but to no avail yet. 
However, there are plenty of recipes on the web, and the other
day I convinced Marvelena to try one.  In this case, it was a
peanut butter pie. 

Essentially, this is a fairly typical sort of graham cracker
crust with creamy filling pie.  The main difference is that
instead of any sugar in the whipped cream or filling, stevia
extract is used. 

So, how was it?  Did it taste exactly like sugar?  In all
fairness, I'd say not exactly.  ALso, I might use a little less
stevia because in extract form, it's REALLY sweet, 300 times the
sweetness of sugar.  To me, it had a slightly cloying taste but
nothing like the bitter, to me totally objectionable, aftertaste
of artificial sweeteners.  The taste was good enough that it is
absolutely worth trying other recipes and experimenting with the
amount of stevia.  In fact, as I copied down this recipe for the
blog posting, I have noticed that Marvelena misremembered the
stevia amounts and we added over twice as much as the recipe
calls for.  No wonder I was thinking of reducing it! 

Buying stevia isn't too difficult.  Locally, it can be found
readily at Rainbow Grocery and Trader Jo's. 

For the adventuresome, here is the recipe Marvelena used.

Peanutbutter Pie with Stevia
Serving Size: 1 slice • Total Servings: 8

Ingredients
1 cup (8 oz.) heavy cream
¼ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. stevia extract
4 oz. Neufchâtel cream cheese, softened
½ cup smooth natural peanut butter
3/4 tsp. stevia extract
1 prepared chocolate cookie pie crust (preferably Arrowhead
     Mills brand because it has no hydrogenated oils or refined sugar)

Method

1.  Beat heavy cream, vanilla and stevia extract until stiff
peaks form. Set aside.

2.  Fold cream cheese and peanut butter in
large mixing bowl.  Using an electric  mixer,  beat at medium
until well blended.

3.  Add the 3/4 tsp. stevia extract and whipped cream > mixture
to the peanut butter/cheese mixture. Beat until smooth.

4.  Place filling into pie crust and cover. Refrigerate or
freeze for at least 2 hours. Prior to serving,  if frozen,
defrost on counter for about 30 minutes.

Now, back to Jon Barry.  He is a formulator of a variety of
natural health products.  I have been studying one in particular
because it is claimed to reduce blood sugar greatly and decrease
the body's resistance to insulin.  Looking around his website,
http://www.jonbarry.com I ran across a fascinating article on
stevia.  It also discusses the major commercial sweeteners used
as sugar replacements.  Truly fascinating reading.  His summary
statement will give a flavor of where he's coming from: 

"One has to wonder why aspartame, sucralose, and high fructose
corn syrup -- all with proven major negative health effects --
are approved by regulatory agencies in the US, Canada, and Europe
and are currently in widespread use; whereas stevia is not. Not
to be cynical, but perhaps the companies behind aspartame,
sucralose, and high fructose corn syrup (G.D. Searle, Royal DSM,
Tate and Lyle, and ADM) have a political clout that small
independent stevia producers cannot muster for a non-patentable
natural sweetener. "

He also discusses an attempt by Cellestial Seasonings to use
Stevia in a brand of tea.  The FDA came down on them very hard
for that.  Thus, his final comment:

"Guys, as long as you approve aspartame, sucralose, and high
fructose corn syrup as healthy and refuse to allow stevia to be
used, calling it unsafe, despite all reasonable evidence to the
contrary, you will have no credibility among thinking people. It
is tantamount to an open admission that approval has nothing to
do with safety -- only what's bought and paid for."

Read the full discussion at:

The Stevia Shibbotleth: Baseline's Alternative Health Newsletter
http://www.jonbarron.org/diabetes-program/10-08-2007.php

A Mission Street Stylish Restaurant

RN74 Wine Bar 

A word that people don't tend to use when describing Mission
Street is "classy".  That is not to say that Mission doesn't have
its fare share of nice places to drink and dine.  But, it's no
match for parts of Market, Powell and so many other famous San
Francisco streets.

RN74 appears to be setting a different pace for the MIssion and
Front Street area however.  Last Friday, Marvelena and I got a
cab and went down to try out this newest creation of Michael
Mina's and team.  No sooner had the cab come to the curb in front
of the restaurant than a doorman was opening the taxi doors and
welcoming us to the restaurant.  We were surprised to say the
least.  Once inside, the attentiveness of the staff continued
unabated the entire evening. 

Eating at a Michael Mina restaurant is going to be a treat; that
pretty much goes without saying.  RN74 is no exception.  Their
menu has plenty of great seafood, meat and vegetarian selections.

I began dinner with the Grilled Monterey Bay Sardines, $14,
served with pieces of cauliflower, capers, cellery and balsamic
vinegar.  The serving size was huge, 8 whole sardines with heads
and tails, and quite frankly, it was a little much for me.  The
quality was phenomenal, but it was just more sardine than I'd
expected.  Any real sardine lover would be happy.

Marvelena began with the Sauteed Pork Belly and Stuffed Squash
Blossom, $16, served with heirloom tomatoes, bacon, basil, and
lemongrass.  She spared me one bite, and I'll have this if it's
available on our next visit.  The flavors blended beautifully and
the meat was cooked just right.

Then, we shared a final apetizer, the grilled quail, $15.  It
came with mission figs, cipollini onions, and a light sauce.  I
didn't particularly notice the accompaniments, but this is
probably because the quail was so delicious that they either
didn't matter or worked so well that it all just fit together.

For our main courses, Marvelena had the mushroom risotto and I
had the Liberty Farm duck breast.  The dishes were completely
different from one another, but both were excellent. 

There's lots more that could be said about the menu and the
service.  However, I'm hoping that some others will chime in
here.  It was all excellent and an experience I highly recommend
and intend to repeat.  Finally, they appear to have a Sunday Prix
Fix menu and the one posted on their website right now sure looks
tempting.

RN74
301 Mission St
San Francisco, CA 94105
Tel: 415.543.7474

Limiting the Symptoms of Diabetes: Product 7

Cinnamon (Cinnulin)

One of the most heavily promoted potential curative natural
products for diabetes these days has to be cinnamon.  There have
been countless articles in the general press.  More than one
company has been formed for the sole purpose of creating a
cinnamon extract for use by people with diabetes.  One company
even made it onto a U.S. stock exchange, so great has been the
evidence for cinnamon's positive effects.  In an article about
this company, the following was written: 
"It is working to commercialize an incredible breakthrough in
diabetes care from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  The
company is benefiting from ten years of federally-sponsored
research valued at over $10 million." 
Kolber, Jonathan "Mega-Profits in Breakthrough Diabetes
Treatment", Emerging Capital Report November, 2007 Agora
Financial. 

Also from Kolber's article: "The results from the Agricultural
Research Service were profound. Sixty people with diabetes — 30
men and 30 women — were given 1, 3 or 6 grams of cinnamon or a
placebo daily. This lasted for 60 days. All three levels of
cinnamon reduced glucose levels (18–29%), triglyceride (23–30%),
LDL cholesterol (7–27%) and total cholesterol (12–26%). The
placebo groups showed no change.  Unlike anything else on the
market, this cinnamon compound improves the efficiency of
insulin. This results in lower blood sugar levels. Best of all,
it apparently does this without side effects.  Amazingly, this
compound not only normalizes blood sugar levels when taken
orally, but also appears to remain active for up to two weeks
following its discontinuance."

Webmd is less excited about the use of cinnamon for people with
diabetes.  They site studies that show its effectiveness and
indicate others do not.  http://diabetes.webmd.com/cinnamon-and-benefits-for-diabetes

A Google search certainly turns up many studies that support
cinnamon as a product that makes a difference.  First, there is
the research cited by Kolber as quoted above. 
http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/issues/Issue_306/cinnamondiabcare.pdf. 
Many other sites also extoll cinnamon's virtues.

However, a 2008 article by John R. White discusses and cites
other
research that doesn't appear to have the same findings.  He also
expresses concern about other possible risks associated with
cinnamon.  See his article in Diabetes Health
http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2008/12/25/5703/cinnamon-should-it-be-taken-as-a-diabetes-medication/
In particular, he discusses two studies that would appear
to refute or at least do not duplicate the findings from the 2003
study in the U.S.  At the Mayo Clinic website, one will find an
even more pessimistic treatment of the topic: 
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diabetes/AN00939.

This certainly is not the end of the story, however.  New
research is now under way at the University of Ca, Santa Barbara
and other research has recently been completed in Pakistan that
appears to validate the original 2003 study showing the benefits
of cinnamon.  It will be another 6-9 months before this new
research is completed and it certainly will be interesting to
know the results.  For details, see
http://heartspring.net/diabetes_cinnamon.html

In the meantime, considerable work has been done to create viable
cinnamon extracts.  The company mentioned above is just one
example.  Walgreens, Amazon and CVS all sell tablets containing
an extract. 

Cinnulin is a cinnamon extract that has received some
particularly serious attention.  This registered product is a
concentrated, water-soluble extract, created from the bark of the
Cinnamomum burmannii tree. The extract is processed to contain
concentrated double-linked Type-A polymers that are a
characteristic of unprocessed cinnamon.  About 250 mg of Cinnulin
PF is recommended two times daily before meals. See
http://www.dietspotlight.com/cinnulin-pf-review/.

According to Cinnulin's manufacturer, Integrity Nutritionals,
"Cinnulin PF is a proprietary water soluble extract of Cinnamomum
burmannii. The proprietary extraction process helps filter out
toxins found in whole cinnamon, and "it is the only extract
standardized for doubly linked Type-A Polymers, specifically
tetramers and trimers shown in clinical research to have a host
of health benefits, particularly those related to Metabolic
Syndrome. In a recent study, (Ziegenfuss, et al 2007) 83% of
those given the active Type A Polymers experienced a significant
decrease in fasting blood sugar (about an 8% drop), compared to
only 33% in the placebo group. Moreover, subjects additionally
showed statistically lower body fat, enhanced lean body mass,
lower systolic blood pressure and saw improvements in various
antioxidant measures."  THere is a lot of good information at
this website, and it's well worth a look: 
http://www.cinnulin.com/more_info.html.

Integrity Nutritionals has the following to say about their
research:  "Integral to this commitment is a Creative Research
and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) Department of Human Nutrition. At USDA,
Integrity's Director of Research, Bolin Qin, MD, PhD,
collaborates with world-renowned researchers. Dr. Qin specializes
in investigating the bio mechanisms of cinnamon and also screens
novel proprietary ingredients in-vitro and in-vivo as a preface
to human clinical trials performed at eminent universities and
contract research organizations aligned with Integrity. Our
Vision ] Our vision is to be a raw material supplier dedicated to
integrity, quality, dependability and service." See
http://www.integritynut.com/quality-and-commitment/research-driven

It's hard to know where all this discussion leads.  Personally,
it seems to me like enough reputable people have done some very
intriguing research in the area that shows success. 
Fortunately, research continues to try and sort out what does
work and what seems not to work in certain studies.  People are
just not going to form whole research and development companies
based on their personal hopes or beliefs.  And yet when it comes
to cinnamon and diabetes, they have formed such companies.  This
certainly seems to suggest there is much more here than
superstition.

I have made a couple of futile attempts to increase use of
cinnamon significantly in my diet.  Unfortunately, those attempts
have been completely undisciplined and short-lived.  We are such
a pill-swallowing bunch of people in the U.S., and I guess I'm
very affected by that.  Maybe I'll go back to eating cinnamon
now, because of all the elements written about in the seven I
chose for this particular series, cinnamon seems to hold the most
promise as a single aid in ameliorating the effects of diabetes.

Disclaimer:  The information contained in this and all other blog
postings is provided for informational purposes only, and is not
intended to convey medical advice or to substitute for advice
from your own physician.

This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug
Administration and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or
prevent any disease. Consult a physician before taking any
nutritional supplement.

 

Limiting the Symptoms of Diabetes: Product 6

It is suggested that Bitter Melon helps support healthy blood
sugar levels with compounds called charantin and momordicin.  It
is further suggested that bitter melon helps maintain a normal
level of triglycerides and cholesterol in the liver and blood. 
A member of the squash family, bitter melon is considered the
most bitter of vegetables.  It is native to South China and green
in color.  Bitter melon is claimed to be very high in quinine
though Wikipedia disputes this, and has been considered for
centuries to help fight against malaria in Asian countries. 
Rich in iron, bitter melon has twice the beta carotene of
broccoli, twice the calcium of spinach, twice the potassium of
bananas, and contains vitamins C and B 1 to 3, phosphorus and
good dietary fiber. It is believed to be good for the liver and
has been proven by western scientists to contain insulin, act as
an anti-tumor agent, and inhibit HIV-1 infection.  For a very fun
article amplifying these points, giving recipes and discussing
lots of other interesting things, see
http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/features/bitterm.html ]

Besides China, bitter melon can be found in India, Southeast
Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.  In Panama, bitter melon leaves
are boiled and the tea is used to treat both malaria and
diabetes.  According to Wikipedia, A recent scientific study at
the Jawaharlal Institute
of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, India, has
proved that bitter melon increases insulin sensitivity.  Also, in
2007, the Philippine Department of Health issued a circular
stating that bitter melon, as a scientifically validated
herbal medicinal plant, can lower elevated blood sugar levels.
The study revealed that a 100 milligram per kilo dose per day is
comparable to 2.5 milligrams of the anti-diabetes drug
Glibenclamide  taken twice per day.  Medicinal bitter Melon is
commonly sold under the trade name Charantia and widely marketed
throughout the world today.  The treatment given bitter melon in
Wikipedia is well worth reading and can be found at: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitter_melon ]

Two studies can be found at clinicaltrials.gov.  One involves
Metabolic Syndrome and has been completed.  The other is under
way and directly addresses the effects of bitter melon on
people with Type 2 diabetes.  See
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?term=bitter+melon.

There are many sources for bitter melon products.  One is 
http://www.herbalprovider.com/bitter-melon.html.  Herbal Provider
is inexpensive and right now has 60 caplets with 660 mg bitter
melon for $15.95 except it is on sale at the time of this writing
for $9.95.  It is also possible to purchase bitter melon for as
much as $53 for a 3-bottle pack of 250 mg for 60 capsules, see
http://www.ayurvediccure.com/bittergourd.htm.

Of the various possibilities I've researched in the past several
days, bitter melon has one of the more convincing stories to go
with it as far as web research is concerned.  It's very tempting
to consider using it.  There seems to be quite a bit of
convincing evidence that it really can help cure the effects of
diabetes as a natural nonpharmaceutical remedy.

Disclaimer:  The information contained in this and all other blog
postings is provided for informational purposes only, and is not
intended to convey medical advice or to substitute for advice
from your own physician.

This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug
Administration and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or
prevent any disease. Consult a physician before taking any
nutritional supplement.