Luigi's

Luigi’s in Bakersfield

Luigi’s just celebrated their 100^th anniversary in October, 2010.  There is a reason they have been in business for 100 years.  They provide a fun atmosphere, excellent food and great value.  Betty and I went there for lunch today, Saturday.  We got there at 11:30 AM and there was already a long wait.  Don’t let the wait scare you off.  People are waiting inside, outside and in the market.  Betty and I went to the market adjacent to the restaurant and bar.

Luigi’’s Italian market is an experience in itself.  The market has one of the best wine stores in town.  Also in the market are grocery and gift items from Italy, awesome deli food, imported meats and cheese, catering trays and restaurant entrees.  The walk-in wine cellar is full of premium wine from Napa, Italy and Paso Robles.  Outside the cellar in the market are cases lined up and stacked around.  I like that there is so much wine it’s hard to find a place for it all.  One of the owners offered her expertise.  She is a certified Sommelier and has a passion for Italian wine.  I told her that I know Gino and that we are waiting to be seated for lunch.  She knows of the long wait.  There are a dozen or more people waiting out on the sidewalk, plus all the people waiting in the restaurant and bar.  Betty asked if we could buy a bottle and drink it while we waited.  She helped pick out her favorite Chianti Classico, opened it and poured 2 glasses for us. 

Cruising the market with a glass of wine really makes the wait a pleasure.  There were samples of imported cheese out to accompany the wine also.  Eventually, we took the bottle and glasses and went to the outside patio bar.  They had basketball on HD TV and were pouring lots of beer and bloody Marys.  It was a lovely wait in the patio.  Partly cloudy skies, fresh snow in the mountains, seeing and smelling all the great food was enjoyable.

After an hour and 20 minutes, they called us for a table.  So we gathered our glasses and what was left of the wine and went inside.  In case you haven’t been to Luigi’s, they start you out with a French roll, 2 slices of cheese, and Italian salami, a pepperoncini and carrot stick.  I order a side of pickled tongue and made a sandwich.  On the patio I observed the ribs and halibut specials.  Everything looks so good it’s hard to decide what to order.  Betty had the pastrami sandwich and I had the pasta bolonese with hot Italian sausage (and my pickled tongue sandwich). 

Betty’s pastrami sandwich was piled high with lean meat and melted cheese in a soft roll.  My pasta included 2 sausages.  I asked for extra sauce which came right away.   The food is great and I always see someone I know or meet someone new.  Luigi’s is a Bakersfield classic dining experience that should be enjoyed several times a year.  And the market is the best place in town to find great wine. 

 Luigi’s is a 4 star experience.  Maybe I’ll see you there.

Pyrenees Basque Restaurant

Pyrenees  Basque Restaurant – Bakersfield, CA

What is the best Basque Restaurant in Bakersfield?  Or, what is my favorite Basque Restaurant in Bakersfield?

I’ve tried them all, multiple times.  I made my 3^rd or 4^th visit to Pyrenees last night (Thursday).  I heard of the nightly dinner specials.  And Thursday night is New York steak and Ravioli.  I ate in the bar where the darling bartender put on the L.A. Kings hockey game for me.  Since I was dining solo, this seemed more enjoyable than sitting alone in the back dining room.

The restaurant is about a hundred years old.  And the bar is about 30 ft. long.  The foot rail along the bar looks like lead pipe and has holes worn along the top where people’s feet have worn through.  The beer is kept cold in an old ice box with a big heavy door behind the bar.  And the floors are old wood planks.  The dining room in back is a series on long tables.  Only a hand full of diners there last night. 

I ordered the steak and ravioli special and a glass of Wild Horse Cab.  The soup, bread, salsa and beans come out first, typical of a Bakersfield Basque experience.  The soup for one was served in a bowl too large for one.  It was watery and had less body and flavor than Noriega or Benji’s.  Noriega and Benji’s have the best soup.  And the salsa had too much garlic and onions in it for my taste.  My salsa is better. 

My salsa recipe:  One large can of diced tomatoes, ½ white onion diced, 3 or 4 jalapenos (roasted on the stove top), a small hand full cilantro, Pulse in a food processor to the chunkiness of your choice.

The salad, pickled tongue, marinated vegetables came next after a pleasant wait while I enjoyed the game.   I ordered some blue cheese to go with the salad and bread.  I like buttered French bread with a couple slices of pickled tongue and a spoon of salsa on it.  I did not care for the salad as much as I do at the other Basque restaurants.  The pickled tongue was good though.  But the creamy sauce that Benji’s puts on their tongue makes it my favorite.

Sometime it’s hard to hold back and save room for the entrées when Basque dining.  But I did save room for the ravioli.  It was served with fries and a small dish of canned corn.  It had a nice tomato based sauce on it and was good with more bread and butter. 

The New York steak was served at the end.  It was about 12 oz. and I had ordered it with blue cheese topping.  It was a nice steak about ¾” thick, seasoned well and juicy.  I would have to say it’s a better steak than the ones served on Tuesday night at Noriega Hotel.  I really like the blue cheese topping.  It was creamed and added after the steak was cooked.  I ordered a 2^nd glass of cab with the steak.  The Wild Horse is a safe bet when ordering wine in a restaurant.  It’s always good and reasonably priced.

Would you believe me if I told you that the dinner was only $12.95 (plus 0.50 for the side of blue cheese).  The wine was reasonable as the bill totaled $21-$22. The steak was good, but the soup and salad are such an integral part of the dinner,  that I have to give the other Basque restaurants a higher rating. 

To answer the question at the top of the page, my favorite Basque restaurant in Bakersfield is Benji’s.  With Noriega Hotel coming in a close second, depending on what they are serving on any given night. 

Joseph's Italian Restaurant, Bakersfield

Joseph’s Italian Restaurant, Bakersfield, Ca

My Friend Nick was in town from Calgary helping with some vessel work at the shop.  It’s nice to have someone to out with when Betty is hosting a class at home on Thursday night.  We went to Joseph’s Italian Restaurant on F Street.  Joseph’s is a 30 year Bakersfield establishment.  I remember first going there for lunch when the Unocal offices were across the street.  Nick and I walked in and were seated right away.  It’s a small restaurant with only about 15 tables.  We got a booth along the far wall.  The bench seat was kind of weird.  I sat down and sank down so that the table was chest high.  I felt like I was in a high chair.  OK, no big deal, nothing to get upset about.

Then I notice the woman in charge.  You can always tell who the boss is.  And she looked a lot like the owner of Sorella’s .  When she came by the table to check on things, I asked her if she was related to the lady that owns sorells’s.   And that she bears a striking resemblance.  She said, “thank you, she is my aunt”.  I asked her about Joseph’s and she said her father started the restaurant 30 years ago when he moved to Bakersfield from Boston.  She took it over a few years ago.  It’s a nice family restaurant with a 30 year history. 

Nick and I wanted a bottle of wine.  There is not a wine list.  The limited wine available on the menu is Inglenook.  That will not do for me.  I would rather have Coke with dinner.  Nick was insistent.  And there was a small folded cardboard ad on the table for an Italian imported red table wine.  The ad said it was ruby red in color and fruity and stuff.  And it was only $16 per bottle.  Well, that can be good and bad.  We ordered a bottle and hoped for the best.  The wine was a nice red table wine and well worth the $16.  I was remembering one time when Betty, Lia, her boyfriend and I went to Josephs and I brought a bottle of Le Cuvier Bat Cuvee.  I was telling Nick how great that wine was.  And like other great Le Cuvier wines, it’s gone and no longer available. 

The waiter brought the wine and a large basket of fresh soft bread.  Nick ordered the Capellini Neopolitan.   I asked about the sauce and the waiter said it comes with a butter lemon sauce.  I ordered the manicotti with marinara sauce.  As the waiter was walking away with our order, another waiter delivered food the table across the aisle from us.   Nick and I both noticed the steak special, rib eye Caruso.  Nick and I both said at the same time, “waiter.  Wait a minute.  I want to change my order”. 

The rib eye Caruso was amazing.  The 16 – 18 oz. steak was cut a full inch thick, topped with sautéed mushrooms, little slices of ham and 3 or 4 large shrimp sautéed in garlic butter.  A half of baked potato was on the side.  And a full dish of spaghetti and marinara sauce was served for each of us.  My steak was cooked to medium rare and was juicy and flavorful.  I was not even temped to add salt or steak sauce.  The mushrooms on top were sliced in half so they were bite size.  The shrimp were large and garlic-buttery with the tail on.  The ham did not really add much.  The steak was so flavorful the ham went pretty much unnoticed.  The baked potato was hot and actually fully cooked.  You know how a baked potato is sometimes still hard?  I hate that.  The waiter brought sour cream and the butter was already on the table.  A little parmesan cheese sprinkled on top added some extra flavor.  The marinara sauce on the spaghetti was a little light.  But it was tomatoey and made classic spaghetti and red sauce.  Oh yeah, it comes with a small antipasti salad or soup.   

I interrupt this blog for a wine update:  I am now enjoying a Rotta 2003 Estate Zinfandel, Giubbini Vinyard, paired with sliced salami and Tillamook sharp cheddar cheese, topped with a tomato pesto.   The wine is great.  But I have to warn you that I believe that I have a special bottling from this winery.  About a year ago I was wine tasting at Le Cuvier with my friends, Mike and Evan.  We arranged for a barrel tasting with the winemaker at Le cuvier.  It was a very special private tasting and the Le Cuvier wine was, as usual, spectacular.  We did, however, make the mistake of going to other wineries with the hopes of finding other great wines.  Other friends have recommended Rotta Zinfandel to me and the winery is on Vineyard Drive in Paso, so we went there.  I have made this mistake many times and keep getting the same result.  Isn’t that the definition of insane?  I have not enjoyed any wine tasting after tasting at Le Cuvier.  The Rotta we tasted at the winery tasting room was not drinkable to us.   So when I was digging around in the wine cabinet and found the Rotta Zin, I thought, this is contaminating the “goods”.  Well, it turned out that the Rotta Zinfandel I had was very enjoyable.  I credit the quality to the 2003 vintage, estate fruit and Giubbini Vineyard.  If you can find one of these, you should buy it on my recommendation.  Fat chance.  Maybe their newer Estate Zins are OK.  Let me know if you try one.    

The rib eye steak at Joseph’s was really good.  I totally enjoyed each juicy bite, the mushrooms and shrimp.  The tiramisu at Joseph’s is some of the best around.  I like it because it’s not too heavy. It has 2 layers of cake in it so the cheese and cream is not too dominate. 

By the way, Joseph’s is known for the calzones.  They are huge.  Like an extra large pizza folded in half.  I give Joseph’s a solid 3 star rating.  I should compare the rib eye steak and shrimp at Sorella’s.