Chef's Crab Fest at Bistro Boudin, Fisherman's Wharf, SF.

Bistro Boudin and Glodow Nead were kind enough to invite me to a special media dinner previewing crab season at Boudin.

We started off the evening with a little tour of the vast Bistro Boudin space (upstairs) at Fisherman's Wharf. Among other attractions, they have a neat Boudin museum and private banquet room. You can schedule to tour the museum and bakery here.

The Boudin bakers must have so much fun with these creations.

The main dining room. I love all of the dark beams and openness.

We were seated in a cozy private table in the Buena Vista Carneros Tasting Room, which was perfect for our event.

Chef Misael Reyes with Casey Shaughnessy-Gray of Glodow Nead. Chef Reyes, who is originally from El Salvador, was once Francis Ford Coppola's personal chef. He is also the only non-family keeper of Francis Ford Coppola's mother's recipe book--very cool.

Chef Reyes and prepared a lovely, crab-centric menu for us that was nicely paired by Sam, the Buena Vista Carneros Tasting Room manager.

Dungeness Crab Louis - Fresh Picked DUngeness Crab with Deviled Eggs, Avocado, Bibb Lettuce, Asparagus, RIpe Tomatoes & Louis Dressing.

Paired with 2008 Condes de Albarei Albarino

The crab was fresh, light and delicious. It went perfectly with the slightly tangy Louis (Thousand Island) dressing and mix of vegetables.

Dungeness Crab Mac & Cheese - Aged Vermont Cheddar Cheese, Fresh Cream & Freshly Picked Dungeness Crab with Buttered Soughdough Breadcrumbs

Paired with 2007 Buena Vista Carneros Chardonnay

Light, creamy and delicious. The crab wasn't overwhelming, but was present and, most importantly, the mac & cheese wasn't too salty or greasy. I happen to particularly love mac & cheese with shell pasta, too.

Soughdough Tortilla Taco - Fresh Dungeness Crab with Avocado, Red & Green Cabbage, Cilantro, Crema Fresca, Pico de Gallo & Roasted Tomato Salsa

Paired with 2008 Sagelands Riesling

Boudin's twist on fish tacos? A soughdough tortilla, of course! What a fantastic and fantastically Boudin idea! The tortillas were great, especially since I'm not typically a huge fan of corn tortillas. The crab was, of course, wonderful although they also offer fish tacos on their menu. The Roasted Tomato Salsa could have used a little more kick though--it was a little bland for my taste. The wine was my favorite wine of the evening though, and, more than the others, really enhanced the flavors in this dish.

Here is a photo of the full-sized portion of the Sourdough Tortilla Tacos. Thank goodness they cut down the portions for our dinner--even with our portions I walked out absolutely stuffed!

Cioppino - Dungeness Crab, Shrimp, Calamari, Mussels & Fish Simmered in a Spicy Saffron-Tomato Broth

Paired with 2007 XYZIN Zinfandel

What a beautiful dish. The calamari and mussels were just divine. They were cooked perfectly. My shrimp was a bit overcooked, but other than that, I really loved this dish. The crab was fresh and succulent and the broth--oh goodness, the broth! I loved the broth, especially with the toasty sourdough garlic bread.

The full-sized portion. Again, such beautiful presentation.

Left to right: Casey of Glodow Nead; Jason and Lizzie of ABC 7Live; Scott of Bistro Boudin; Susannah of YumSugar; Alison of Glodow Nead; Steven of the Nob Hill Gazette and myself.

I had to get a shot of all of us with our crab bibs on! What a fabulous group of people to enjoy a wonderful evening of food and wine with. It was lovely meeting you all.

Trio of Creme Brulee - Double Vanilla with Wafer Cookies; Peanut Butter with Ginger Snaps; Bittersweet Chocolate with Manjari Wafer.

Paired with 2007 King Estates Pinot Gris Vin Glace

What can I say.. I love dessert and I love modern creme brulees! I was already completely stuffed, but couldn't help myself! The peanut butter and dark chocolate were my favorite--so lovely.

A nice little cappuccino to finish off the evening. I only wish I wasn't too full to finish it!

Scott Shuttleworth, a managing partner at Bistro Boudin, and fabulous co-host this evening. Scott was a generous to provide each of us with a Boudin tote filled with all sorts of goodies--very classy.

I really love this tote. I'm going to cary it everywhere.

This limited Boudin baseball cap isn't even available in the gift shop!

Buena Vista Carneros 2007 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

A crab, of course! This is surprisingly soft, too. And as much as I love dungeness crab, I think I'm really going to enjoy this soughdough crab, too!

Bistro Boudin, Glodow Nead, Buena Vista, Casey, Alison, Scott, Chef Reyes and Sam, thank you all so much for such a lovely evening. Cheers to crab season!

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