This page is my ode to caviar. I asked ChatGPT to write me a poem about caviar. It definitely did a great job capturing what I wanted to convey better than I would have.

Ode to Caviar

Oh, pearls of ocean, dark and bright,
A symphony of salt and light,
A taste of tides, a kiss of brine,
A secret known to tongues divine.

You burst like whispers, rich and rare,
Silken gems beyond compare,
Each bead a story, each bite a thrill,
A dance of luxury, quiet and still.

From spoon to lips, a fleeting song,
A moment brief, but echoes long,
Caviar, delight of seas,
A stolen glimpse of opulence, free.

We are living in a time of peak caviar. Caviar used to have the image of something that only the 1% would consume at fancy parties, but with so many local producers here in the Bay Area (e.g. The Tsar Nicolai, Regiis Ova, The Caviar Co., California Caviar Company, etc.) and elsewhere (e.g. Petrossian), you can find as ingredient or a full caviar presentation on so many menus today, or a shop/restaurant of one of the producers, or just stop by your local Whole Foods and buy some there!

Here is my gallery of dishes that were either a full caviar presentation or the caviar was a main feature of the dish in various restaurants at which we’ve dined.

And here is a gallery of some of the times we’ve had caviar at home. We typically start with a bump to taste the caviar au naturel. We’ve tried a variety of different carriers for the caviar. We started with blinis since that’s the classic way, but, we prefer potato based carriers. So we’ve tried mini latkes, toasted brioche, potato chips, and tater tots. Potato chips are our default carrier since it’s so easy and works well…not too much volume to overpower the caviar, salty, starchy. Toasted brioche is also very easy. Both are easy and delicious options for caviar.

We’ve tried a few different caviar producers. Our current go to is Imperia since it is high quality and more reasonably priced. We’ve often had caviar from The Caviar Co., esp. since we often have lunch at their restaurant in Tiburon when we’re there and they also have an annual event on Caviar Day. We’ve had a lot of Tsar Nicolai since they are ubiquitous. Regiis Ova (from Thomas Keller) is nice for a more premium option (more so than Petrossian in our experience).