Organic Mediterranean meals from an unlikely place
The Mt. Tam Racquet Club in Larkspur might not be the first place you’d think of for an organic Mediterranean meal, but La Meza Mediterranean Fusion Grill is now preparing an extensive menu for pickup and delivery from the club’s newly upgraded kitchen.
Chef Johne Abraham is behind a menu influenced by family recipes, professional experience and world travel.
“I have been cooking since I was 8 years old with my mom in Jerusalem, and have worked in several hotels and restaurants for the past 35 years,” says the Greenbrae resident in a recent phone call. “My menu is like a journey inspired by travel in Greece, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Morocco, where I was exposed to spice combinations that I want to share with the Marin community.”
The menu is divided into starters, salads, rice bowls, platters, wraps, burgers, fries and desserts. Start with house tzatziki and grilled pita or green lemon chicken rice soup with mint. Add wild salmon, shrimp, kofta or lamb, beef or chicken shawarma to Mediterranean, Greek and Caesar salads. There’s a burger made with minced lamb and spices, and another with wild salmon served with pesto aioli. Kebabs come with saffron rice, sumac and sesame cream.
Fries (classic; garlic, butter, parmesan cheese and parsley tossed; sweet potato; and truffle) are manually cut; hummus and falafels are freshly prepared; meats are ground in-house; pistachios are minced with a mortar and pestle for the baklava; and organic dark chocolate is used in the tiramisu. Most menu items have no more than six ingredients.
“I have traveled all around the United States and have very rarely seen fresh gyros,” he says.
“Most of them come frozen, but I use my own leg of lamb and make to order.”
The previous club menu of American and Mexican classics has been refreshed
and remains available in addition to the latest offerings. View both at lameza.com and call 415301-5367 to place takeout orders from 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily for pickup at 1 Larkspur Plaza Drive. Delivery is available from DoorDash and other delivery services.
“If you put your heart and passion in it, people can feel it,” Abrahams says. “Eat healthy, be happy and feel food energy.”
More Super Duper
Have you found yourself hankering for a locally sourced and organically messy Super Duper burger, fries with house dips or Straus Family Creamery organic soft serve shake but are midway between locations in Mill Valley and Novato? Or maybe you’ve made a trip to the Counter in Town Center Corte Madera desiring a similar menu and discovered the restaurant temporarily closed due to the pandemic?
There’s a solution. Super Duper Burgers and Flores
Mexican restaurant, both part of the Back of the House restaurant group, have teamed up to operate a Super Duper out of the Flores kitchen, bringing the number of Marin locations to three.
Find out more about Super Duper and order for pickup at the main Flores entrance at 301 Corte Madera Town Center from noon to 8 p.m. daily at superduperburgers.com. Delivery is available through DoorDash and Caviar.
Cooking classes
Not all of us have gotten a handle on cooking skills that prior to the pandemic felt out of reach, but now that we remain in lockdown and are entering the darker, colder winter months, it’s a great time for virtual cooking classes.
Chef Tony Adams, who founded Mill Valley Pasta Co. during his furlough as director of the cooking school at Cavallo Point, has a slew of new cooking classes on this year’s calendar.
Discover the ease of
making pâte à choux, a versatile pastry dough, and turning it into savory gougères, sweet profiteroles and Parisienne gnocchi on Jan. 17. On Jan. 22, transform flour, eggs, olive oil and salt into pasta all’uovo and form it into various shapes. A kit is offered that includes ingredients and tools for this class if purchased by Jan. 15.
Focus on morning confections on Jan. 23 when Adams will cover granola and fruit jam, and glean from his extensive expertise in making sausage at home on Jan. 24. Close out the month with Instant Pot osso buco on Jan. 26 and gyoza with fillings on Jan. 27 or Feb. 3.
Participants receive a recipe packet, shopping list and equipment list prior to each hour-anda-half class. Prices range from $40 to $60 for a solo participant, $65 to $85 for a couple, or $80 to $110 for a household of three or more.
Chef Adams, instructor at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in
Orlando for more than five years, where he taught more than 4,500 students during his tenure, was twice named best chef instructor by the student body.
In 2018, his interactive five- course private Chef’s Counter Dining Series was listed as one of the eight top must-try chef’s table experiences in the Bay Area by Forbes Travel Guide.
Find class details and shop for products made by Adams, including uniquely shaped organic artisanal pastas; meal kits; spices and blends; jams and preserves, and sauces and condiments at millvalleypasta.com.
Petaluma resident and chef Roberth Sundell, who along with his wife, Andrea, owns the familyfriendly Swedish restaurant Stockhome in Petaluma as well as the temporarily closed Pläj Scandinavian Restaurant
in San Francisco, is on deck at the next Fresh Starts Chef Event at 5 p.m. Feb. 4.
Save the date for his virtual happy hour and soonto-be-announced menu. Tickets, $65, include dinner and sparkling wine from Meadowcroft Wines to consume while watching the live cooking demonstration via Zoom. Purchase access at bit.ly/ FSchefevents or by calling 415-382-3363, extension 243. A follow-up email will provide the link and recipes to download. All proceeds support shelter, housing and training at Homeward Bound of Marin.