Daily Feed - June 11-21, 2010

Check out our other stuff: Yummy Chow | Photo Hutch | Home


	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

June 11-21, 2010

go to next week's blogs

Monday, June 21, 2010
permalink

There's still one BP to be trusted and that's the Blue Plate Restaurant where their refined oils coat birds deliciously.

The chicken thighs ($20.00):

... were upped with legumes and a stash of succotash. Cranberry beans accelerated the pulse of the succulent, well seasoned chicken with an olive infiltrated 'tash and a smoky tomato broth.

House made ricotta paid a curdsy call to cavetelli ($18.00):

... with green garlic. This spliffy pasta lit up with fresh English peas, mint and 'shrooms.

The Blue Plate continues to impact our environment with pristine, homey chow and never makes us feel like small people.

The Blue Plate
3218 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA
415.282.6777

Mark your Calendar

James Beard Foundation honorees, Gary Danko, Traci des Jardins, Emily Luchetti and Craig Stoll will be among the chefs behind this Friday's San Francisco Pride Soirée at 12 Gallagher Lane.

This benefit for amfAR and the James Beard Foundation will be hosted by Anne Kronenberg, Maggie Rizer, Alex Mehran, Susan Ungaro and Denise Hale to add a flavorful dose of activism and glamour.

There will be a VIP reception, tasting soirée and live auction to celebrate the 40th anniversary of San Francisco Pride at this new SOMA gallery.

The San Francisco Pride Soirée
Friday, June 25
VIP $250, GA $100
VIP Reception at 6 p.m.
GA at 7 p.m. - midnight
12 Gallagher Lane
San Francisco, CA
cocktail attire
valet parking provided

Sunday, June 20, 2010
permalink

The line at Fish. took 40 minutes to sink, but once we placed our order at the counter the food took a mere 5 minutes to arrive at our table.

We went with our usual cup of chowder ($5.00):

... which had a balance of bacon, onions, potatoes, celery and clams in this not-too-creamy surfing.

White bass ($23.00):

... was one of this evening's specials and although it verged on overcooked, this sauteed selection was still good over a bowl of mesclun with beets, carrot, radish, jicama and croutons.

Their trout sounded good, but they were out when it was our turn to order so we went with another standard rotation item - Fish and Chips ($23.00):

... with crisp blankets of batter wrapped around halibut chunks with a side of tangy tartar sauce. We doused the dish in malt vinegar so that the fried potatoes could absorb some of the runoff of these golden globs.

This cash-only fishateria lures locals with their waterside dining (which helps to wash away the memory of the queuing at the register.)

Fish. Restaurant
350 Harbor Dr.
Sausalito, CA
415.331.3474

Saturday, June 19, 2010
permalink

The new In N Out Burger is taking shape:

... directly across the parking lot from my lunch destination - Old Port Lobster Shack.

Instead of netting my standard seafood sustenance, I made the (always risky) move of munching on a meal that didn't match the moniker.

My ribs ($14.75):

... were just fine. These porky spokes of spiced baby backs precluded my previous prejudices of this lobster location. I was also pleasantly surprised by the accompanying side of mac and cheese:

... which had creamy elbows under the shoulders of a crisp cheesy crust. Although I would order both again, it would be after I looped back for a lobster roll.

In N Out plans to open their RWC location in August, so it will be a while before the parking lot puffs with animal style enthusiasts. Maybe I'll check out the burger at OPLS to compare.

Old Port Lobster Shack
851 Veterans Blvd.
Redwood City, CA
650.366.2400

Friday, June 18, 2010
permalink

The food police was out busting chops at the Southern Sandwich Co. truck today.

(the audio here isn't terribly intelligible, but it's all in the body language)

This business had all their permits, but there was still some red tape hazing to be endured by these tired entrepreneurs. I was hoping for a freeway chase, but since he didn't have to pull them over, I could enjoy my pig without the smell of burning rubber accompanied by sirens.

This truculent display did not get in the way of my succulent pulled pork with coleslaw ($6.00):

... nos'ed up by smoker emissions and a high performance vinegar sauce. This hit on all ate. The accompanying potato salad was okay, but the hush worthy hushpuppies ($1.00):

... were crisp crusted cornmeal ping pong balls with a spin of onion and tangy mustard sauce - definitely required eating.

Unless the food fuzz commute a sentence, they will continue to park across from Kaiser in Redwood City where Brett and Nathan Niebergall:

... (the former owners of San Francisco's Frisee) roll with some Southern sustenance worth braking for.

Southern Sandwich Co.
check their tweets for where tw'eat.
415.990.4571

Thursday, June 17, 2010
permalink

iPhones and Hapa Ramen at the Ferry Building Farmers' Market have a lot in common. I couldn't order either at 12:15 today.

At least I didn't have to spend much time winding around in the line to find out that although they had pork, veg and broth, they ran out of noodles - making it truly "hapa" ramen.

I rotated over to Roti:

... for some gyrating chicken with a serving of spuds softened in the schmatzy shower flowing from the baking birds. The herb-rubbed clucker ($6.50 for a half chicken):

... possessed parched white meat, but the dark side had a hydrated and flavorful force. The potatoes($3 for a small order) would have been even better with crispy bits, but they were still pleasingly salty.

Eventually my dropped calls to Hapa Ramen will result in a connection, but I'll probably have more luck getting my hands on an iPhone 4.

Roli Roti
various locations

Wednesday, June 16, 2010
permalink

The StarChefs Rising Stars Revue pulled a constellation of talent into orbit at Ghirardelli Square:

... this evening where chefs demonstrated the astrophysics of their extraterrestrial eats such as Matthew Accarrino's:

... exploration of inner-space with his bone marrow sfomatino:

Parallel galaxies of pork and pea provided a dining duality in Chef Thomas McNaughton's ravioli:

These Flour + Water:

... packets with a flash of horseradish and a creamy sauce gyrated with flavorful flourishes that was unApollo-getic in its mission to marvel.

Gastronaut Scott Nishiyama lit up his sunchoke salad with grated frozen foie gras and cashew puree:

... while Aziza's:

...Louis Maldonado's constellation of caviar, strawberries and marinated bass was celestial with crispy rice:

Pastry Chef Catherine Schimenti's:

... weightless apricot mousse hit my zero G spot with cherries, lemon verbena, and a cherry sorbet:

Sarah Valor added altitude with her wine pairings while Brian MacGregor:

... and Erick Castro:

... brought tang to the tipple at this showcase of chefs who are outstanding in their magnetic field.

StarChefs
Rising Stars Revue
Ghirardelli Square
San Francisco, CA

Tuesday, June 15, 2010
permalink

Sitting on the deck of Picco Restaurant with a bottle of sparkling wine was an al freshing way to enjoy a warm Marin evening.

This shared plat-ateria stays on our rotation with cravable creations like hamachi crudo ($11.95):

... perched on a pile of bashed broad beans with a kiss of mint and kick of jalapeno. They vary the supporting cast of this fava-rite fish plate keeping it seasonal.

Mesquite-grilled zukes ($6.50):

... were dotted with dill yogurt and a stripe of harissa heat. We were keen on these 'cchini.

Spaghetti ($16.50):

... had crispy bits of breadcrumbs to contrast with the noodley nest of dente dough and tender gulf shrimp tangled with paper thin slices of garlic with a spicy tomato rapini sauce.

The Alaskan halibut ($26.95):

... was cooked perfectly and 'but-tressed with bacon-boosted corn, favas and aleppo pepper in this 'buttery assembly. We were so wacky about this A+ seafood that we ordered another round after we tackled this serving.

Although they make excellent desserts at Picco, the tractor beam of the chocolate dipped, chocolate cones pulled us next door in their Pizzeria. We easily endured envious gazes from sidewalkers without sundaes from this soft serve center.

Picco Restaurant
320 Magnolia Ave.
Larkspur, CA
415.924.0300

Monday, June 14, 2010
permalink

A quick dash to Dish for unleavened lumps:

... and cold coffee proved to be a good idea. The banana, chocolate walnut muffin ($1.95) was a nice nutty nub, but the scone ($1.95):

... outshone the fruity, chocolate chip-studded stump. A thin crust of coarse sugar grains added crunch to this currant-spotted, wedge. We hydrated our carbos with glasses of iced Equator coffee which were worth circumventing the city for - complex, cooling and caffeinated.

Now that the mania from their opening has settled down, we'll have to return of another meal.

Dish Restaurant
507 Miller Ave.
Sausalito, CA
415.388.3474

Sunday, June 13, 2010
permalink

We sipped Sauvignon Blanc:

... on the patio of Brick and Bottle during today's open house (introducing all the locals to the answer to whether Izzy? or Izzy not?) We love the change uncorked by this new Scott Howard venue which recently replaced Izzy's Restaurant where they are now dishing up tasty tucker at petit price points.

This was the first time we have seen the stylish Andrew Freeman without a tie (!) as he and his team:

... got into Marin-casual mode for this neighborly hob nob.

Brick and Bottle
55 Tamal Vista Blvd.
Corte Madera, CA
415.924.3366

Saturday, June 12, 2010
permalink

We grabbed a couple pints of Green Flash IPA at the recently opened Mill Valley Beerworks.

This hearty helping of hops helped ease our disappointment when we discovered that their house brew won't be available until July.

The "hand rolled pretzel" with a mustard dipping sauce ($4.00):

... was the sort of thing that we would get if we saw them coming straight from the oven. It was okay cold, but I could imagine this being better without the loafing around.

The "pub lunch" ($9.00):

... was described as Cheddar, chorizo and pickles, but they discovered that they were out of sausage so they offered to either give us back some dough or comp us a beer. We went with the beer and were rewarded with a bottle of Guldenberg Belgian Abbey:

Eggs were visibly overboiled, the slice of cheese was sweaty and discolored from sitting out and the tomatoes were anemic. You can see where they want to go with this, but we'll give them a while to get established and come back to see if they stabilize their snackage situation.

They have an impressive list of bottles in addition to tapping into some sensational suds.

The owners aim to produce beers in a Danish-Belgian style similar to Mikkeller.

We are anxious to check out their house brews next month in this inviting beer hall.

Mill Valley Beerworks
173 Throckmorton Ave.
Mill Valley, CA
415.336.3596

Friday, June 11, 2010
permalink

My counter seat at Big Joe's Café:

... bordered the kitchen which was churning out chow for the locals. Guys from a demolition crew were doing a job on their homey helpings as I dug into my cheeseburger ($8.29):