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ABOUT ME:

Name: Gutenberg

Location: Somewhere near the Golden Gate Bridge.

Occupation: BRPR (Bunrab public relations.)

 
the BUNRAB blog spot
 

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

-Gutenberg



 

February 19-28, 2010

 

go to next week's blogs

 

  Sunday, February 28, 2010
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Bites of brittle bars of Benton’s bacon:

... and drinks got us in the prerequisite porkuliar mood for Cochon555 at the Silverado Resort.

Hogs were not only heritage, they were mer-itage as sweetwaters were shucked by Hog Islanders.

Daniel Hyatt:

... opened Death’s Door vodka with the herbaceous key note of jalapeno and apple juices and laid it to rest with a chive blossom.

Wonderful wines including the 2006 Larkin Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon and Miner Vineyards’ 2006 “The Oracle”:

... propelled us into the matrix of meat in which 5 chefs each went whole hog to create some serious swine dining.

Chris Kostow of Meadowood, Peter Pahk of the Silverado Resort, John Stewart and Duskie Estes of Zazu Restaurant, Dennis Lee of Namu and Devin Knell of The French Laundry all hogged the Spots-light with their culinary renderings.

Toponia Miller and Taylor Boetticher:

... got to carouse before the judges were sequestered, but all of the attendees got to cast ballots for their faves as well. We were particularly impressed with Chef Knell’s fromage de tete:

... and patés, but Ryan’s rynds (aka 4505 Chicharrones) are our pen-ultimate snack. Chef Farr fetched an audience as he sawed his way through a seewine:

... to demonstrate proper porcine puncturing procedure.

There were no hanging chads (unless you count the Newton variety) involved in the voting and this year’s winner was Chef Devin Knell:

...supported by his French Laundry team:


Cochon 555






 

 

  Saturday, February 27, 2010
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We slid up to Weezy’s:

...Grass Fed Shed:

... for some of their slider-sized sandwiches made with Prather Ranch beef patties. I got a B-Rad ($3.00, $4.75 with fries) topped with Tillamook Cheddar and bacon and a “burger in a buttercup” ($2.50) in ‘wich butter lettuce replaced the bread.

The sweet and savory potato fries were cooked in rice bran oil to produce craveable, crispy-laced spud spikes.

Chubby also got the B-Rad as well as an Mmmm burger ($2.50 plus .75¢ for an extra patty):

... this “doublewide” pulled up with two 1/8 pound wheels of beef adorned with tomatoes, onions and condiments from the self serve garnishing station.

We slipped into a couple of sheepskin-lined seats:

... to relish these rations and reflected on our future request for rarer versions on our next visit to this friendly shed of sustenance.

Coffee and breakfast service begin on March 1st when they will also lengthen their biz hours to close at 8 p.m.

 

Weezy’s Grass Fed Shed
621 S Del Ganado
Terra Linda, CA
415.310.6188





 

 

  Friday, February 26, 2010
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I bypassed a pie in favor of a couple slices at Pizza my Heart.

The pepperoni with mushroom combo ($4.00):

... was on the wet side, while the cheese ($3.25):

... was standard issue. This qualified as a heart healthy meal due to the self moderating nature of this double piepass.



Pizza my Heart

140 E. 4th Ave.
San Mateo, CA
650.344.9800





 

 

  Thursday, February 25, 2010
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Fancy China tends to stay in the cupboard, but Everyday Beijing:

... hit the table with a bowl of their beef stew noodle soup ($6.85):

... with a rich, savory broth teeming with a tangle of toothsome house made noodles. This slurp-plus of baby bok choy backed goodness bowled me over as I plate-cated myself with this warming dish.

Everyday Beijing
637 B St.
San Mateo, CA
650.373.7878






 

 

  Wednesday, February 24, 2010
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Sommelier Eugenio Jardim:

... began this evening’s tasting of Portuguese wines with a glass of bubbles from Luis Pato. We enjoyed this sparkling floral arrangement along with an array of appetizers (from Jardiniere’s chef):

... which matched Jardim’s air of casual elegance.

We savored the 2008 Esporao White Reserva:

... as Eugenio discussed the pronunciation barrier that accompanies the varietals from this region. He went on to talk about the trend of varietal-based blinders (that cause customers to skip to the Chardonnay or Cabernet pages of a wine list) and how the same customers who query about percentages in a California Pinot Noir never question the breakdown of a Lafite.

The Tao of Dao was shown in a 2006 Quinta de Cabriz Reserva while raspberries sung in the 2007 Singularis. You can experience Eugenio’s oeno-thusiasm for a song during the Monday night, 3 course, $45 prix fixe dinners at Jardiniere (the cost includes wine pairings.)


Jardiniere
300 Grove St.
San Francisco, CA
415.861.5555


 


 





 

 

  Tuesday, February 23, 2010
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Whenever we get the goat ($9.95):

... at Shalimar, we are extremely careful to pick around all the little bone fragments hidden in this spicy karahi. This order is a no-brainer (the brain masala is an excellent dish by the way) along with a palak paneer ($5.50):

... with a delicious, cumin-get-it serving of spinach and cheese.

The onion kulcha ($2.00):

... is as much a food pusher as a bready bite when we grab a meal at this funky, cash-only, kulcha-ed kitchen.


Shalimar Restaurant

532 Jones St.
San Francisco, CA
415.928.0333


 





 

 

  Monday, February 22, 2010
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I asked the barman at Bourbon & Branch:

... for a whiskey-based cocktail and he introduced me to the Vieux Carré:

This vermouth-ful of Benedictine-buttressed, bitter-bitten beverage over Kold Draft rocks is officially on my rotation as required drinking.


Bourbon & Branch

501 Jones St.
San Francisco, CA
415.346.1735






 

 

  Sunday, February 21, 2010
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Meatpaper’s issue 10 launch party at Pizzaiolo was the epi-curean center of the Bay Area this evening.

Not only did Charlie Hallowell make a waggingly good stuffed Prather Ranch oxtail, but our baloney has a new first name (of 4505) since we tried Ryan Farr’s blood bologna:

We asked Lance Winters about the availability of his new gin but he’s waiting on the California Juniper berry harvest so we pacified ourselves on some of Stephen Singer’s:

... wonderful Baker Lane Rosé and Pinot Noir while catching up on news of an eagerly anticipated eatery down the road in Berkeley.

The muscle behind this publication:

... knows how to throw an amazing party.

 


Meatpaper





 

 

  Saturday, February 20, 2010
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We broke one of our important rules of wine tasting today - arrive early. Our later appearance at the Chronicle Wine Competition Public Tasting yielded a bumper crop of toasted tasters.

This sold out event had us doing spit takes as we squeezed past a staggering number of wine wielders yelling the praises of Robert or Katherine Hall as we hauled through this hall towards the plummy 2007 Quivira Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel:

We tried to crush past the tight clusters in upstairs area, but we hit a brix wall when we couldn’t punch through the cap at this center of all drinking humanity.

There were juice box wines:

... as well as ones targeted at more mature palates:

... during this SF Chronicle delivery of a fully realized wine section.


The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition Public Tasting
Fort Mason
San Francisco, CA





 

 

  Friday, February 19, 2010
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A Maple Bourbon Sour and a clover honey, bitters and lime-splashed Honeysmoke Margarita ($11 each):

... elevated our spirits as we sat down to dinner at Urban Tavern.

The small bites menu ($5 each or 3 for $13) beckoned with warm, pillowy, Gruyere cheese puffs:

... sweet potato fries:

...mini meatballs in bbq sauce:

... and “tato tots”:

... with bits of Hobbs bacon in the tender, tater bellies encased in their golden brown, deep fried shells.

Grilled Caggiano beer sausage ($11.00):

... had a peppery snap to pair with a warm, house made, soft pretzel:

... and whole grain mustard, Cheddar cheese and house made sauerkraut.

Polenta ($15.00) was crisped on the griddle, topped with Parmesan and bordered with Brussels Sprouts, carrots, mushrooms, cauliflower and squash.

A tower of broccolini, carrot and sweet potato puree capped off with moist-fleshed Ling cod ($22.00):

... was hooked together with fried onions in this good Bai.

18 hours of braising resulted in meltingly tender beef short ribs ($22.00):

... in a rich red wine sauce with mashed potatoes, green beans and rainbow colored carrots which we washed down with a peppery 2007 Fort Ross Pinot Noir.

We went up the apples and pears to a caramel sauce covered scoop of butter pecan ice cream in flight over this fruit-packed crisp.

A chocolate enrobed, peanut butter cup was sprinkled with Maldon salt and served with a sensational sea salt brittle and craveable peanut ice cream.

To sweeten the deal even further, five hours of complimentary parking in the Hilton lot are included with dinner to offer additional validation to Chef Colin Duggan’s digable punctuation to San Francisco dining.


Urban Tavern

333 O’Farrell St.
San Francisco, CA
415.923.4400





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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