RESTAURANT REVIEW choose from six different breads, twelve meats (includes tuna or egg salad), and six cheeses. Standard garnish includes lettuce, tomato, red onion, cucumber, mayonnaise and mustard; avocado and/ or bacon can be added to any sandwich for an upcharge. Kensington Fine Foods also offers a nice selection of homemade salads made daily from all-fresh ingredients. Available salads include, but are not limited to, Classic Potato, Egg, Tuna, Green Bean, Pasta, and Roasted Beets. On the day I visited, they also had Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Quinoa Salad. Calamari salad is also available, but is sourced from Montery Fish Market. All of the standard salads on the menu are available every day; however, due to the freshness, high quality, and excellent value, most salads are extremely popular and often sell out before day’s end. When Larry and I eventually returned to KFF, around 5:30 PM, both Javier and Conlan were again busy serving customers who were lined up in no particular order to pick up food for dinner. Rotisserie chickens and ribs were selling fast, as were the freshly made salads. A few customers were selecting fresh meats or seafood, but prepared foods seemed to be most popular—a most convenient option for those on their way home from work who don’t feel like cooking. On Thursdays, KFF offers Buttermilk Fried Chicken as a dinner special, available 32 MARKETPLACECONTRACOSTA.COM JUNE 2017 after 3:00 PM. The chicken is sold by the piece and is served with freshly made cornbread, and customers can buy as few or as many pieces as they want. The fried chicken also seemed to be a popular option with many of the customers that afternoon. Since there was not an option to sample any of the foods on site, Larry generously prepared two bags of foods to go so that my family and I could enjoy them that evening. You cannot imagine the wonderful aromas that wafted through my car as I drove home! And everything tasted just as wonderful as it smelled! My husband and I both ate the fried chicken and cornbread with a side of Scalloped Potatoes, which had also been freshly prepared and simply required reheating. The chicken was fried to a crisp golden brown, had a nicely seasoned coating, and was juicy and delicious. The scalloped potatoes were excellent—rich and creamy and quite flavorful. The corn bread was the best I’ve eaten in a very long time— moist, with a hint of sweetness that made it very pleasing to me (even when I ate the leftovers a couple of days later!) In another of the “to go” boxes, I was delighted to find half of a meat loaf, an item prepared daily at KFF, prepared by Javier using his own special recipe! I added a slice of meat loaf to my plate, along with a portion of the corkscrew pasta salad with slices of artichoke hearts and other yummy ingredients that made it delicious! (My daughter ate the rest of this the following day and immediately wanted more!) The meat loaf was a favorite of mine—dense, moist, with excellent seasoning and a red ketchup or tomato sauce on top. My other favorite of the evening was the roasted Brussel sprouts which were lightly seasoned and cooked to the perfect tenderness. Larry had also sent home pints of each of the two soups of the day--Curry Lentil with Lamb, and Thai Coconut with Chicken. I was so full that the soups had to wait for another day, though I managed a small taste of each that evening. The Curry Lentil was thick, rich and meaty, while the Thai Coconut was more of a creamy broth. Both had excellent flavor! Informationally, KFF prepares approximately 20 fresh soup recipes on a rotating basis, and occasionally introduces new soup recipes to gauge customer feedback. Larry invited me to return the next day during the lunch hours so that he could give me samples of some of their sandwiches. Once again, his generosity prevailed, and I took home another veritable feast of no less than 6 specialty sandwiches, 1 Panini, Green Bean Salad, a whole rotisserie chicken and spare ribs. I cannot possibly describe how great all the food was, but will share about a couple of my favorites. Being a huge rib fan, I claimed the spare ribs for myself, and thoroughly enjoyed them! Each was long and meaty, moist and tender, and had a flavorful seasoning. Other favorites included the Cobb Sandwich, made with fresh turkey, bleu cheese, and bacon; the Crabcake Sandwich on a bed of crunchy slaw with a Chipotle Remoulade sauce; and the Pastrami Rueben Panini. The crabcakes are made on-site using fresh seasonal crabmeat, and can also be purchased individually to take home and cook. The Reuben Panini may just be the best I’ve ever had! This grilled sandwich was chock full of tender, flavorful pastrami; sauerkraut, and oozed melted swiss cheese, served on fresh rye bread. This hearty sandwich is one that I would definitely order again! Other specialty sandwiches we tried included the Smoked Salmon; Smoked Turkey; Vegetarian; and Steak. All sandwiches are made to order on fresh ACME bread, using all fresh ingredients. Two of the dressings used on some of the specialty sandwiches, Lemon-Caper Aioli and Basil Pesto, are also freshly made at KFF, and are available for purchase in take-out containers. I am simply amazed at how three people prepare so many delightful foods; Grilled Reuben Sandwich 285 Arlington Avenue, Kensington (located inside Young’s Market) | (510) 526-9858 | KensingtonFineFoods.com
Contra Costa Marketplace - June 2017
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