I don’t want to give the you the impression that Tracht’s is the only restaurant in our program. It’s just that Chef Michael Poompan gives us the most free food. Earlier today, he invited us to plug our program to about 30 Marriott chefs from all over Southern California, and of course we stayed to sample the lunch. On the menu:

My plate halfway through seconds before I remembered to take a picture. Hungry.

Loch Duart farm-raised Atlantic Salmon from Scotland, gently roasted with an heirloom tomato sauce.  This is a fish with excellent texture that pairs perfectly with the tomatoes.

Roasted Loch Duart Salmon

Seared sashimi quality Yellowtail Kingfish, farm-raised in South Australia, with maybe a dried pepper and remoulade sauce(?).  This melted on my tongue.  So light.  So tasty.

Seared yellowtail

Farmer’s market baby beets. Swiss chard gratin.  Roasted farm fresh potatoes with rutabaga.  Love.

Michael Romine and Andrew Gruel.

And dessert.

Strawberries and cream

For those who follow the growing army of seafood advisory programs, it may surprise you to see so many farm-raised items.  It turns out that Good Farming Practices result in High Quality Seafood.  Who knew?  Well, Cleanfish, for one.  So, to you farm-haters I say: tofu may be making you cranky. Go treat yourself to some good seafood.  Tomorrow, I will talk about aquaculture.  Right now I need a nap.

All of the vegetables came from Sarah Bowman, and all of the seafood was donated by Michael Romine of Cleanfish.