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This Girl & That Girl
How are you gonna keep them coming to the
restaurant
after they’ve read the book?
By Patricia Kutza
I was making a beeline for the computer section of my
favorite book store when I got sidetracked in the cookbooks area. Here
publishers duel for your attention with scrumptiously compelling book
jackets that scream ‘stop whatever you are doing and pick me up!’
Dutifully, I obliged and spent the next twenty minutes languishing in
visions of myself serving the perfect Crème Brulee , Coq a Vin or lemon
tartlets to my adoring guests.
Cookbooks have come a long way from the ‘nothing but
the facts’ genre found on my mother’s bookshelf. I wonder if I would have
been quite as harsh on myself (at age fourteen ) for screwing up Coquilles
St. Jacque (why I didn’t think adding the requisite scallops was important
I’ll never know), if I was less focused on the strictly ‘how-to’ of it.
Contemporary cookbooks, with their eclectic mix of recipes and essays, give
you a sense of history or place, a perk to savor even if you don’t manage to
follow the recipe instructions.
 That’s why I felt confident that, instead of buying a
wireless technology book, buying Sondra Bernstein’s The Girl & The Fig
cookbook , while not going to give me a better understanding of the ‘wi-fi’
market, would be well worth the diversion.
I spent the better part of an afternoon cruising its
pleasingly laid out pages. Its book cover contains the sole color photo in
the book. At first I thought this was a strange departure from the norm.
But as I immersed my imagination into the intriguing blends of herbs and
sauces, the salad and side dish options and the dessert ideas, I realized
that, unlike some cookbooks that really need fantastic to carry a
threadbare concept, these recipes can stand very well on their own, thank
you.
I was particularly drawn to the fig-based recipes.
Never a big fig-fancier, I still have a fascination for this fruit since the
first time I saw a fig tree in full-blown production. Its thick,
distinctive leaves and prodigious fruit give fresh meaning to the word
‘abundance.’
Sondra offers a host of fig treats such as fig syrup,
fig compote, fig-based vinaigrette and a prosciutto-wrapped fig dish that I
have already promised to make for a fig-loving friend. The Girl & the Fig’s
signature dish, Grilled Fig Salad with Fig and Port Vinaigrette, was the
one, however, that got this girl to put down the book and forage for its
ingredients at my local market.
Her recipe calls for ‘toasted’ pecans and ‘crisply’
sautéed pancetta. So used to multi-tasking, I picked a particularly
inopportune time to get distracted by C-SPAN, only to get a wake-up call
from my broiler. My pecans were past toasted and my pancetta…well, suffice
it say, it was well into rigor mortis.
Unlike those book lovers who would never want to see
their favorite text committed to the silver screen, I was all too happy, in
the light of my culinary disaster, to visit the site of this book’s
inspiration. I booked a reservation at one of the three The Girl & the Fig
restaurants not far away from me in the heart of the Sonoma Valley. Where
some entrepreneurs have trouble keeping one restaurant afloat, Bernstein
manages to keep three of them thriving. I chose her downtown Sonoma
location.
And I chose one of those impossibly beautiful Spring
nights when the commingling smells of earthy vineyard with star jasmine
intoxicate the senses. Yes, of course, I want to dine outside; I told the
maitre’d. Bring me a slice of the cookbook, I implored him straightaway.
 He got my drift immediately and returned with both the
tart and the sweet versions of the Girl & the Fig martini. I prefer the
tart version. It’s an intriguing mix of flavors that isn’t overpowered by
the vodka component.
 Next I sampled what is aptly named, “The Works.”: an
array of cheese, seasonal fruit, aged sausage and olives. For cheese-lovers
like myself, there may be no more heavenly offering, particularly if you
like to sample what the world has to offer. They offer cheese such as the
Point Reyes Farmstead Original Blue from nearby Point Reyes alongside a
goat’s milk cheese, Tradition Du Berry, from La Vernelle, France. Vermont
Shepherd, made with sheep’s milk, hails from Putney, Vermont.
 And then I was ready for the piece de resistance where
I had met my Waterloo, the Grilled Fig Salad with Fig and Port Vinaigrette.
If I had pulled away earlier from the TV screen, I think I could have made a
decent go of this salad. It’s not rocket science in either the making or
the presentation, just a great combination of sympathetic ingredients tossed
to perfection.
I was torn about which entrée to pick. The Liberty
Duck Confit was calling me, in part because of Bernstein’s cookbook
commentary that if she had her druthers, this entrée would be her Last Meal.
Instead I chose the Seafood Stew, a challenge of sorts since my family is
filled with great “Stew” chefs. I look for ample portions, fresh
ingredients and seasoning that doesn’t muffle the seafood flavors. This
dish didn’t disappoint
 What would a great wine country dinner be like without
wine? I wasn’t about to find out.
Instead I ordered one of their Rhone styled flights, a
trio of Viognier wines. Easy to please, I like to sample different
varietals so I don’t take umbrage to Bernstein’s Rhone-only wine menu that,
undoubtedly, gives Chardonnay and Cabernet-lovers some consternation.
 I left the restaurant eager to try more of the Girl and
the Fig recipes. With their new line of fig products, it’s possible to
jump-start many dishes. Bernstein now markets fig-based vinegar, sauce, jam,
chutney and syrup. I’m determined to get that Grilled Fig Salad down pat,
and as a reward for this feat, will treat myself to their Fig and Port
Vinaigrette, nicely bottled and ready to pour over my perfectly toasted
pecans and crisply sautéed pancetta.
Images courtesy of The Girl and the Fig.
Contact information:
The Girl & The Fig Cookbook
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
$30.00 U.S., $45 Canada
Can be purchased at:
www.amazon.com OR
www.thegirlandthefig.com/
The Girl and the Fig products can also be purchased at
their website (Link above)
OR at their three restaurant locations:
110 West Spain Street, Sonoma CA, 707.938.3634
222 Weller Street, Petaluma, CA, 707.769.0123
13690 Arnold Dr, Glen Ellen, CA 707.938.2130
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