A California Tea
San Jose: Before Silicon Valley
If you drive south on 280 freeway,
Gradually the stumbling skyline
Of San Jose lumbers into view–
Thin palm trees, pastel buildings,
Spanish tiles, and the spires of the old
Portuguese church, Five Wounds.
The smell of hot tomato paste
From the Cantadina cannery
Blows warmly in your open window
And is replaced a minute later
By the September stench of asphalt.
This big slow town
Where nothing has ever happened
Except the certain birth and death
Of a million apricots,
The swift wounding of tomatoes in summer
And Portuguese masses–
This big warm town
Somehow homes a million lives
Unseen under the beige haze of summer’s end.
California is truly the Golden State. It has a culture all its own inspired by people who treasure tradition and embrace innovation. It is a place of natural and man-made wonders from the towering redwoods and Yosemite to the Golden Gate Bridge and the old Spanish missions that connect this glorious state from south to north like a string of luminous pearls. California is the home of the film industry and the birthplace of the computer. Owned successively by Spain and Mexico before joining the United States, this multi-cultural paradise is also the place where the Food Revolution began. California Cuisine heralds the return of real food—fresh, natural and simply but elegantly prepared.
Our California Afternoon Tea celebrates the agricultural abundance of the Golden State. Let’s take a real or imaginary road trip on the most beautiful road in the world, Highway One, down the magnificent California coastline from the wine country, past Marin County’s dairy farms, the garlic, artichoke and berry fields of Gilroy, Castroville and Watsonville, to the orange, avocado and pomegranate groves of the sunny south. Along the way we will honor the California farmers, vintners, fisherman and food artisans who have made this menu possible.
A California Haiku Road Trip: San Jose to San Diego
In Watsonville fog, lagoon,
New quinces and sweet peas scent watches
The cool afternoon.
A hawk soars over
moon, Highway 101, passing
fall An artichoke field.
Under the live oak
With his tail feathers fanned, the
Peacock struts and squawks
Pepper trees dangle
Over oranges;the
Loud humming of bees.
In the warm noon air,
A California condor
Soars down the canyon.
Sea gulls at Del Mar
Beach stand with the surfers on
The cold, foggy sand.
Near the still
A great gray heron
A rabbit hop by.
Under the full
Jacaranda blossoms
In hazy twilight.
