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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



 

January 1-8, 2010

 

go to next week's blogs

 

  Friday, January 8, 2010
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The Depot Café at the San Carlos Caltrain station:

... is a choo-ing training ground for basic chow. Framed memo-rail-bilia line the walls:

... which surround a dining compartment where I chugged through some standard diner coffee with a pancake "sandwich" ($6.95):

Couplings of flapjacks, bacon and egg yolks (that runnied precisely on time) were full fare carboost that got me on track.


The Depot Café
599 El Camino Real
San Carlos, CA
650.595.0555

 

 

We got a message from our pal Biggles about yesterday's
Produce Market lunch stop:

Dear Gutenberg,

Oh, silly bunnies. One doesn't visit a greasy spoon or trucker eatery and order a salad. You gotta check the menu for for the country fried steak breakfast or hot turkey sammich lunch. Then something deep fried with a bacon burger with cheese. Oh yeah baby!

xo, Biggles


Gutenberg replies:


Dear Biggles,

Normally that would be my greasy spoon M.O., but I was lulled into a false sense of security by a good looking non-Cobb salad at the table next to me. Also, Hogan's is located in a produce market, so they had to have good lettuce, avocados and tomatoes, right?

Wrong. Next time I take your advice and go straight for the chicken-fried cheesesteak and sauteed Velveeta pudding.

-G

 



 

 

  Thursday, January 7, 2010
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A Bunreader wrote in with some South Bay tips including a hidden spot at the Produce Mart where forklifters fill up.

Hogan's Cafe is in this hulking hub of perishable procurement. There were plenty of locals tanking up at the bar while I tucked in to a Cobb salad ($9.50):

The ingredients were a little tired with an overcooked egg and flabby bacon, but the chunks of chick were okay while the lentil soup ($2.50):

... tasted mainly of salt. A passing Philly Cheesesteak looked like a better bet. 

The walls are coated with photos of sports figures in this funky, greasy spoon with friendly service.

 


Hogans Cafe
155 Terminal Ct.
South San Francisco, CA
650.583.2293


 



 

 

  Wednesday, January 6, 2010
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Hope springrolls eternal when pulling off the 101 to ping over for some Chinese chow:

San Rafael's Mandarin and out is a dumpling dugout where we grabbed a quick helping of won ton soup ($6.25):

The meat was packed a little denser than I prefer in the noodle sheathed 'tons in this button mushroom dominated soup.

Broccoli with oyster sauce ($8.75):

... was cooked slightly more than I prefer, but it was a good counterpoint to the salt and pepper spareribs ($9.95):

... which were fried shards of pepper dressed pork. Although nothing was a reorder, it was all fine belly balast in a warehousey setting.



Ping's
817 West Francisco Blvd.
San Rafael, CA
415.1638

 

 

 

Mark your Calendar

The Bollito Misto ($19.00) at Poggio is a once a year treat. On February 2nd through 6th, Chef Peter McNee will prepare platters of this Piedmontese protein trimmed with sauces, potatoes and mostarda. Brisket, tongue, oxtail, capon, and house made cotechino are carved tableside during this dinner that is worth a special trip across the bridge.


Porchetta is also back on the menu Monday nights with sausage-stuffed Devil's Gulch Ranch pig. They have kept last year's price ($16.00) but are serving it with Iacopi Farm butter beans (instead of the Great Northerns used last year.)


Poggio Trattoria
777 Bridgeway
Sausalito, CA
415.332.7771


 



 

 

  Tuesday, January 5, 2010
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We found flour foundations rather than a multiple maize mats under the chicken or beef offerings during Taco Tuesday at Maria Maria:

At a buck each, they made for fine belly ballast at the bar, but don’t expect a truck-style version, these were more like Chevy’s (but a splash of their caliente salsa accelerated their flavor.)


Maria Maria
Taco Tuesday
651 E. Blithedale Ave.
Mill Valley, CA
415.381.1070

 



 

 

  Monday, January 4, 2010
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A crisp skinned, cube of pork belly ($12.50):

... lounged on a butter bean bed at Il Cane Rosso.

These well defined abs were the result of the chef exercising good gut instincts with marbled Marin Sun Farms midsection.

Iocopi Farms legumes provided a beany backboard for this handsome hog hunk that made us sit up and take notice.

The Beef Tagliata sandwich ($9.00):

... was a hefty helping of sliced moo-meat rounded up in a roll with its breaderen of caramelized onions, Cheddar and aioli. This cylinder hit on all ate but it was lapped by its abdominant antecedent.

A 500ml pitcher of Zin ($15.00):

... was the perfect portion of red as we rested our dogs before hopping over to Boccalone for some more consporcuous consumption in the Ferry Building.


Il Cane Rosso
1 Ferry Building
San Francisco, CA
415.391.7599


 



 

 

  Sunday, January 3, 2010
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The Sunday afternoon scene at the fish counter at 99 Ranch:

... is a combination of Chinese cooks, Gospel singing Dungeness crab lovers and the rest of us who just want to grab some grub for supper.

I always examine the plastic bag-lined boots of the mongers and think about their logged hours as they subdue seafood for their flood of followers.

We got to break out the Ad Hoc cookbook along with the salt crust on our bass:

... which was a task made scaleable by this gutsy group who prepped our fish.

So far we are loving the doable recipes in this home-style tome.


Ad Hoc at Home



99 Ranch





 

 

  Saturday, January 2, 2010
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The Sunny Side Café has strolled beyond Solano Avenue to branch out with an additional location in Berkeley.

We shared a tasting menu for two ($27.00). This included side order sizes of many of their menu items including the “prairie dog”:

... which was an egg fried in a hole grain bread with a bed of vegetables buried under a cross of bacon. A tangle of wild mushrooms, fingerling potatoes, broccoli and dino kale poked out from this wholesome dish.

Poppy seed French toast bathed in apple-cranberry sauce:

... and a Chai pancake:

... pleasantly proceeded a housemade patty of pork sausage crowned with a perfectly poached egg enrobed in Hollandaise:

... which we washed down with the accompanying mimosa and orange juice:

We also got a Croque Monsieur ($9.95):

... which didn’t use ham as a subtle flavoring agent (the way you might find in a Parisian café) Golden Gate pork took center stage in an Emmenthal-ated, bechamel-bedecked sandwich.

This counter service, environmentally conscious, well-priced eatery seems particularly well suited to its new base near an entrance to the UC Berkeley campus. They have a bunch of “low carbon emission” and tofu dishes to cater to the local likes at this hub of orange slice garnished homey chow.


The Sunny Side Café

2136 Oxford St.
Berkeley, CA
510.845.9900





 

 

  Friday, January 1, 2010
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2009 flew by chop chop with lots of butchery:

Meatpaper Party

Bloodhound Party

Cochon 555

Primal Napa

...restaurant openings:

Frances


Starbelly

...fine dining:

French Laundry

...as well as horrific helpings:

Café Gratitude

 

We sampled serious sushi:

Sebo

...high-caliber hamburgers:

Mission Burger

...groovy grilled cheese:

Grilled Cheese Grill

...and cool casual cuisine:

Carte 415


Mission St Food

We checked out the chow in the South Bay:

Wakuriya

...as well as points further South.:


There were lots of excellent events:

Pebble Beach

Star Chefs


Chocolate Salon

...where we whet our whistles:

WhiskyFest

...and heeded to our hedonism:

French Laundry Holiday Party

We were sorry to see so many food businesses take a hit this year, but here’s hopin' 2010 dishes up great food and an economy that is easier to swallow.

Happy New Year!


-G

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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