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ABOUT ME:

Name: Gutenberg

Location: Somewhere near the Golden Gate Bridge.

Occupation: BRPR (Bunrab public relations.)

 
the BUNRAB blog spot
 

Do you need to answer back? You can send me comments if you want to.

If I want to, I'll post 'em in this very blog.

-Gutenberg



 

October 1-7, 2007

 

go to next week's blogs

 

  Sunday, October 7, 2007
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Fra’Mani’s Salametto Piccante ($17.99 per pound):

... is a dry chorizo with a nice peppery kick.

Pig meat, sea salt, pimenton, wine and garlic are alchemized into a tasty, protein tube.

Delfina-tely worth picking up one if you’re in the ‘nabe of the Bi-Rite Market.


Bi-Rite Market

3639 18th St.
San Francisco, CA
415.241.9760




 

 

  Saturday, October 6, 2007
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I requested my salmon ($10.00):

... “extra rare” from the Rose Pistola stand:

... at the Ferry Building Farmers’ Market. I piped up when my internal fish timer buzzed and the cook kindly pulled it off the grill in its moist, pink, state of perfection and placed it on a bed of arugula, shaved fennel and white beans.

Chubby had to wait a little longer for his albacore sandwich ($10.00):

... which was a bread festival on a plate. Not only was there enough foccacia to fabricate a comfortable futon, this sandwich came with a panzanella (in case he wanted some bread with his bread.) Chubby fished the ‘core out of this sea of starch and he ate his hacked, open-faced lunch.

We usually have a lot of luck with the chow at RP, but I think we will pass up the foccacia-centric fare next time and go for the unencumbered, grilled seafood.

Rose Pistola Stand
San Francisco Ferry Building
Farmers’ Market
San Francisco, CA

 




 

 

  Friday, October 5, 2007
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Happy hour at T-Rex was busy enough that we couldn’t get a barstool:

... so we hopped over to the lounge seating to grab some suds and a quick snack.

Buck a shuck oysters:

... came with cocktail and mignonette sauces. We downed our dozen good-buy valves and followed them with some cocktail riblettes ($5.00):

... which were meaty, fatty, saucy and most of all messy (just what we were in the mood for.)

Nothing earthshaking, just some quick bites while watching a crowd of regulars unwind.

T-Rex Barbeque
1300 Tenth St.
Berkeley, CA
510.527.0099




 

 

  Thursday, October 4, 2007
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A Roman Glad-I-ate-here Restaurant

SPQR is what kids text each other when they are too lazy to input “Senatus Populusque Romanus” (I guess this also helps to reduce their Rome-ing charges.) 

The team behind A16 has kept the alpha and lost the numeric in their latest obscurely named Italian eatery. The name might not roll off the tongue, but if you eat here, you will find superior uses for this appendage. 

We chose five antipasti ($28.00) from the list of tempting cold, hot and fried selections.

Suppli al telefono:

... was a cingular risotto and cheese stuffed handset. A crisp, greaseless case yielded to the requisite phone lines which we ate in a couple anytime minutes.

The pleasantly rough grind of house made, free form sausage:

... had me yearning for an egg to ooze over this (none the less) delicious pancetta and onion boosted, date sweetened rustic presentation.

Although we ordered the green beans with garlic, we received the shelling beans with pork soffritto:

It looked so good that we asked to keep it instead of sending it back for its legumey replacement. The perfectly textured beans enriched with its porky partner was bread soppingly good.

Friarelli peppers:

... were fried in olive oil, finished with salt and served with lemon. This mild, green, simple plate of starters was basic and satisfying.  

The chicken livers:

... may not have had layers of flavorful complexity, but they were appealing in their crisp-crusted, grease-free offalness.

When we ordered the house made pasta carbonara ($12.00):

... the server asked us to choose between spaghetti and rigatoni. We asked her which she reccoed and she said that the rigatoni was the ticket so we went with her suggestion. Spaghetti was delivered and we decided not to send it back. Coarsely grated pecorino melded with eggs and guanciale in this pork-scented fork twister.

The calamari ($17.00):

... was ink-worthy. These tender white squid cigars were cooked to perfection on a beach of chickpeas, capers, rapini and red onions. This dish was re-orderable.

The ordering glitches were easy for us to overlook since we ended up enjoying the swapped out chow, but I hope that this doesn’t become a pattern (if we visit in a pickier mood.)

They used locally sourced ingredients (which explains why they didn’t buy any of Vanna White’s wares) in this Fillmore filling station.



SPQR Restaurant
1911 Fillmore St.
San Francisco, CA
415.771.7779




 

 

  Wednesday, October 3, 2007
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A shot in the Arm

All those needles at Alinea reminded me to get my flu shot today:

...(especially after flying with a bunch of sneezing people with under-developed mouth covering skillz.)

In lieu of a post injection lollipop (I am deeply resentful that medical professionals consider me too old - and now all I get is the stick with no carrot.)

The candy-less injection technician asked “are you allergic to eggs?” before implanting my arm with her chicken-fetus-brewed germy cocktail. Of course, my mind was then implanted with the Homery thought of: “mmmm, eggs…”

I filled my sneeze hole at Table Café with a scrambled egg, smoked salmon and green onion filled dosa ($9.50):

These virus-free eggs in a blanket were served with spiced pear chutney and apple, ginger, onion relish but my savory food tube required no additional adornment.

Equator coffee immunized me against lethargy as I shot out the door after another satisfying meal at Table.


Table Café

1167 Magnolia Ave.
Larkspur, CA
415.461.6787





 

 

  Tuesday, October 2, 2007
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Alinea, Alinea, we went to Alinea
Because of a taa-tooed lady
They have ways to grow your torso
One more course-oh, even moreso
Alinea Alinea we went to Alinea
Alinea the king of taboos
Gastronomy fused with the molecule
Instead of a plate, it’s a metal tool
Nitrogen frozen or sea kelp stew
You can eat a lot at Alinea

Chubby and I had a great dinner (that he will write up when his molecules realign), which reminded us of our dinners at The Fat Duck (with it’s magical slight of tongue) as well as The French Laundry with its playfully targeted flavors.

Check out this Guinness beer blanket with a mini picnic of broccoli prepared 3 ways – fried, pureed, and ribbonized. Short ribs, candied peanuts, cilantro sprouts, whole grain mustard and pink peppercorns seasoned this beef and veg dish:

The scent of hyacinth blossoms and orange peel were awakened by a stream of hot water:

In the center of this floral tea rested a bowl of butter-poached lobster in a lobster custard strewn with parsnip. An acupuncture-style pin held a cube of orange pate de fruit which we treated ourselves to during this aroma-lobster therapy. This treatment proved successful, but my HMO refused to cover this treatment.

At the end of the meal, we were presented with this printout of what we ate:

The placement of each circle represents the sweetness of the dish (the sweeter the food; the more the bubble edges to the right) the variations of size and shade relate to the portion and flavor intensity.
           
They have all sorts of custom made dining implements and we loved that this feast for the senses included the (often neglected) sense of humor. It was definitely worth the detour to come to Chicago for this meal.

Alinea Restaurant
1723 North Halstead
Chicago, IL
312.867.0110

Want to see a review of an entire meal at Alinea? Chubby's got one in YUMMY CHOW.

 

From today’s Bunrab email, Deborah writes about our dogs at the Haus:

Hi Gutenberg:

I am a former Chicagoan and the ONLY thing I miss about that city are the hotdogs..A Vienna brand dog (essential), steamed to snapping skin perfection, on a poppyseed bun , garnished with mustard, tomato, onion, pickle relish, and sport peppers. If you know of an establishment in SF that can deliver such a dog, please tell me where it is.

Deborah


Gutenberg replies:

Dear Deborah,

It was a Vienna brand dog on our Chicago style tube steak done just as you described. I haven’t had a concoction like this in S.F. but would love to hear if anyone else has.

-G




 

 

  Monday, October 1, 2007
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We got to the Milwaukee Art Museum in time to see the wings open:

Seriously cool. And speaking of seriously cool, here’s an example of Midwest hospitality: We were discussing the intricacies of frozen custard with a fellow (at the hummus and beer party). He said that everyone uses the same machine and overall there is little variation but there is one establishment that stands head and shoulders above the rest, Leon’s. We thanked him for his advice, but said we would have to put it on the list for next time due to our scheduling constraints. This morning as we prepared hit the road, he presented us a cold case:

... packed with an assortment of delicious, creamy, worth-every-calorie goodness. We love Milwaukians.

It has been about a gagillion years since we’ve taken a train in America, but we decided to trust Amtrack:

... rather than fly or drive to the windy city. Chicago should consider changing their “windy” title – it’s neither sexy or descriptive in an appealing way. Maybe they should change their tag line to “the fiberglass trendsetter city.” I remember when Chicago was the only place with a fiberglass sculpture franchise. Those glass fed cows seemed to greet you at every turn. Then there was Berlin with all those bears and of course, home sweet home with those hearts. Is it civic pride or the fiberglass industry offering kickbacks for city mascots? Ed Jew was not available for comment.


-G





 

 

 


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