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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



 

July 1-8, 2008

 

go to next week's blogs

 

  Tuesday, July 8, 2008
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"You'd better enjoy this because it's the most expensive ice cream cone you will ever have" said a mother to her daughter (who I imagine will require some expensive counseling in the future, that she had also better enjoy.)

Our appreciation of Ici's conical confections did not command a cashflow to calorie comparison to convince us of their creamy, cooling consequence.

We both got their housemade cones ($3.25 each):

... which they hand roll and plug with a small shot of chocolate grout to prevent drips and reinforce their addictive quality. Chubby filled his with blueberry sherbet while I went with the candied pistachio ice cream. While the purple blob was a refreshing, fruity cooler, I was nutty for my pale green, enviable edible. Crunchy, sugar-crusted meats greeted my every bite of this rich kernel concoction.

Our selections today were much more successful than our last visit.

The 'scream line was streamlined:

... as orders were taken by a couple of scooping associates from those further back in the queue. The chilly reward made up for the crowd as well as the psychological torture witnessed during our wait.


Ici Ice Cream
2948 College Ave.
Berkeley, CA
510.665.6054






 

 

  Monday, July 7, 2008
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We asked a matcha maker to make us a matcha today at the two month old Teapod Organic Tea Bar. The owners of this sleek tea spot asked if we wanted our drinks hot, iced or as a latte. I went with the hot ($2.95) while Chubby went wild with a frothy green latte ($3.95):

... when we finished perusing their extensive tea list.

They sell rich, chocolate topped Clare's Squares and a variety of Rustic Bakery cookies including their cocoa nib sticks which we love.

There is currently no food made on site, but they have packaged salads and wraps. We were unaware that chef from Bubba's Diner (across the street) has extensive sushi making experience (from a stint working for a Japanese company.) These skills will be rolled out when Teapod begins their planned Sunday sushi bar sometime in the near future.

The couple who run this new leafatorium, Jaimie and Chris, infuse their place:

... with warmth and we plan to steep by again to check out some of their other offerings.


Teapod Organic Tea Bar
701 San Anselmo Ave.
San Anselmo, CA
415.785.8537

Clare's Squares

Rustic Bakery







 

 

  Sunday, July 6, 2008
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Charles Chocolates makes some delicious meltable morsels and we have been lucky enough to encounter them on many occasions.

Not only do they make child-safe varieties (like their luscious peanut butter filled butterflies):

.. there are also ones that they infuse (and pair) with Teance Tea:

... as well as a parade of fruity, nutty and caramel-filled nuggets. They even make moutho-degradable boxes with edible chocolate artwork – the ultimate in green packaging.

After you spend this week camped out in line for your new iPhone, you will be in the mood for a culinary treat. If you have been shy about visiting the Charles Chocolate Bar:

...there is no better time than next Saturday. You can taste their goods, scope out their new enrobing machine and sync up a different kind of pod to your cereal port.

 

Mark your calendar

Charles Chocolates is having their annual open house on July 12th from 2-7 p.m.

They will have samples of their delectable chocolates and you can have your questions answered by Chuck himself.

The event is free and a 10% discount will be given on purchases made during the event.

Charles Chocolates
6529 Hollis St.
Emeryville, CA
510.652.4412


And if that wasn't enough...

You can't spell "brain freeze" without "free" and this Friday, July 11th (aka 7/11) the convenience store that brought you the Slurpee will be giving them out at snow-charge.

So if you want to scoop up a 7.11oz brightly colored beverage, but don't want to fork over any green, you know what to do.

7-Eleven Stores






 

 

  Saturday, July 5, 2008
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No-Brainer


I'm not sure why
they list sesos on the menu at El Palmar:

... when I have yet to be granted this loberty (cue the organ music), fortunately, they had their weekend special – Barbacoa, which took my mind off greyer matters.

Chubby and I both got barbacoa tacos ($2.00):

The juicy, slow cooked, lamb was generously heaped on tortillas and showered with onions, cilantro and sliced radish. My taco trio also included nicely seasoned tripas ($2.75):

... and lengua ($2.00):

... which stuck out with its tender bud chunks.

Chubby supplemented his trinity with a curious fish taco ($3.25):

... with lettuce and melted Cheddar. While fine, it was odd since it went under the broiler to melt the cheese over the greens. The carnitas ($2.00):

... were good, standard issue swine.

The place was filled with regulars and some moving company guys who had to loosen their weight lifting belts while they filled themselves with low cost, high protein packing material while watching a telenovela on the wall mounted TV.

El Palmar is a fine place to grab a mindless bite but not a place to go for a brainy snack.


El Palmar Restaurant
757 Lincoln Ave.
San Rafael, CA
415.456.5178

 

From today's Bunrab email, Chilebrown writes about the San Francisco Ferry Building Boccalone shop:

Gutenberg,

We were looking for you at the Ferry Plaza. Reverend Biggles, Ms.Goofy and Myself, Chilebrown had a Meat Adventure to check out Boccalone. We bought a meat cup and a sausage. They need to work some kinks out of their service. They were a little unorganized. The Meatcup was stellar.

Chilebrown


Gutenberg replies:


Dear Chilebrown,

I'm not shocked that there were kinks on a Saturday (since they opened so recently) but at least you were rewarded for any wackiness with some salted porky goods. We love those meatcups too – after you eat the contents they make excellent party hats.

-G






 

 

  Friday, July 4, 2008
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The Fourth of July is bad for dogs. They either have a fireworks freak out, are put on doggie downers. Our local pharmacist tells us that she fills some pet tranks for the fourth but the she is filling massive numbers of canine antidepressants year round.

Perhaps Americans contribute to their sad state by devouring the other kind of dog in record quantities compounded by the media madness surrounding this frank frenzy.

We mourned Kobayashi's wurst performance (which knocked him out of the running for first place in Nathan's annual eating competition) by having tube steaks in his honor.

The Fatted Calf makes their knockwurst:

... from Marin Sun Farm's cows and pigs. If you want to change the first name of your sandwich meat to something a little less industrial, you should check out this haute dog . This fully cooked meat mass is a wiener winner (as is Joey "Jaws" Chestnut the new dog chomping champ.)


The Fatted Calf Charcuterie

The Oxbow Public Market
644 C First St.
Napa, CA
707.256.3684






 

 

  Thursday, July 3, 2008
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The easiest way to start a fight is to discuss sex, religion, politics or barbeque. No wiggle room is permitted in the minds or ribs of those involved. The finer points of conflict are often rooted in regional wars and family pride. We are actually a little more wiggly than most when discussing piggy matters. All that matters to us is whether it tastes good or not.

We decided to make a bbq pit stop on our way to The Fatted Calf as a warm up for tomorrow's grill activities. BarBersQ is located in a mall:

... that wouldn't draw your attention except for that meaty aroma wafting from their business.

Chubby got a combo ($18.95) of baby back ribs:

... and beef brisket:

This plate of smoky, tender meat had a heap of crunchy, lightly dressed coleslaw and some crispy onion bits.

We asked about the selection of sauces and were told that it included hot and mild bbq sauce, a pepper vinaigrette and ketchup. We asked if the hot lived up to its name and were told that they had an super hot version that was available by request only – of course you know what we had to do.

After sampling all of the reddening agents, we determined that the extra hot sauce was our favorite, it had a nice vinegar and pepper balance but strangely, none of these liquids were high on the Scoville scale. The special sauce was pleasing but induced no smoky discharge from our ears.

Once the ribs and brisket were given a drink of this pepper potion, they realized their meaty potential.

The half Fulton Valley Farm chicken ($15.95):

... also benefited from the hot stuff. This tender, flavorful bird was cooked to a juicy doneness with crispy bits of skin and served alongside some bacon infused collard greens.

This smoke station is not for those expecting an ice cream scoop of church bazaar potato salad and some Kilpatrick's bread, it's barbeque with a dining slant and lots of room for argument for those purists.



Barbers Q

3900 D Bel Aire Plaza
Napa, CA
707.224.6600






 

 

  Wednesday, July 2, 2008
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Our hunger light was illuminated so we dashed over to Le Garage for some board in their dining room.

A few things have changed since our last rotations. They added dinner service and menu items including a kobe burger ($15.00):

This heiferty half pound of cow was topped with grilled onions, Morbier cheese, tomato and lettuce and shoehorned into ciabatta. A haystack of fries came with a pot of aioli for spud snacking between bites of this flavorful, beefy bun.

The smoked salmon tarte flambee ($9.00):

... was on the opposite end of the dining spectrum from the burger – it was more of a "ladies lunch." A crisp, thin crust was topped with fish, crisscrossed with crème fraiche and dotted with capery punctuation. This Alsatian sensation quickly made a migration due to its limited ration.

This casual, dockside eatery doesn’t have umbrellas for their outdoor seating, but the indoor area opens out to the deck via their big, roll-up garage door.

One nice feature of this waterside bistro is that it isn't overrun by tourists who seem to race to the main drag.


Le Garage Bistro
85 Liberty Ship Way
Sausalito, CA
415. 332.5625





 

 

  Tuesday, July 1, 2008
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We made a pit stop at Frog Hollow Farm in the Ferry Building and were glad to see a word of caution on display:

We had been stoned by them in the past and know to pro-seed with care, but it's good to see this kernel of truth on display for the un-pip-pared.

As we perused the fruity offerings, we were told that the crostadas ($4.50):

... were still warm from the oven. These peach and cherry hot pockets were surprisingly, pit-free with sweet and nicely acidic fuzz fruit and halved cherries encased in rough puff pastry:

We have found that their smaller tartlets tend to tip too heavily on the doughy side for our tastes, but this hand held pie filled with their froggy fruit was just peachy by us.


Frog Hollow Farm

San Francisco Ferry Building
888.779.4511





 

 

 


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