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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



 

November 1-10, 2010

 

go to next week's blogs

 

  Wednesday, November 10, 2010
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There was coal in my stalking of pizza for today's lunch at Tony's Coal-fired Pizza & Slice House.

I warmed up with a reheated peperoni slice ($5.00):

... which was okay, but the main event was my meatball sub ($9.00):

... filled with big, juicy, spicy, muscle mounds Marinara'ed together with melty mozzarella and Parmesan in a crusty, toasty roll.

This coal-lessed into a crave-worthy sub-stinance in a casual, tourist-friendly nook:

... complete with an old style 10¢ Coke machine dispensing $3 Mexican Cokes.

This counter service offshoot (of their Tonyier mothership next door) is a quick and peppy stop for a solid sub.



Tony's Coal Fired Pizza & Slice House

1556 Stockton (at Union)
San Francisco, CA
415.835.9888

 

 




 

 

  Tuesday, November 9, 2010
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YouTube ID badges
accessorized many of the munchers at Big Mouth Burgers:

... where I got a Hangover burger ($9.75):

... that overhung the bun with a juicy wad of medium rare beef capped with a fried egg and bacon. The American cheese was a little gluey but this beefy ball was still mouth wideningly worthwhile (but not something I would post on YouTube.)

Big Mouth Burgers
Bayhill Shopping Center
851 Cherry Ave. #19
San Bruno, CA
650.871.7636

 

 

 

Mark your Calendar

Slow roasted pork shoulder and crispy belly with chestnut spaetzle and a 2007 Frederic Esmonin Gevrey-Chambertin sound good? It's part of the Devils Gulch dinner at Jardiniere on November 17th.

Mark Pasternak of Devils Gulch will be on hand to lead diners through this four course feast which wraps up with a larded caramel tart with bacon crumble and a Warre's 10 yr. tawny port.


Devils Gulch Dinner

4 course, prix fixe $75 including wine pairings
November 17th, 7:30-10:00 p.m.
Jardiniere Restaurant
300 Grove St.
San Francisco, CA
415.861.5555







 

 

  Monday, November 8, 2010
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Even when the bar is full, there never seems to be an outrageous wait at Poggio.

We snapped up a couple seats and settled in for squid casings stuffed with house made chorizo ($10.00):

These grilled calimarizo cigars buoyed by butter beans, roasted peppers and polenta were a humidorable helping of relishable, rustic flavors.

A seared pizza ($14.00):

... with broccoli rabe and red onion had more of that house made chorizo (sans squid) melded with mozzarella to sate our circle of snackage.

Sipping red wine and watching Tony the barman flirt with the Sausaladies filled out the evening's epitainment before we relinquished our seats to the next parched patrons.


Poggio Trattoria

777 Bridgeway
Sausalito, CA
415.332.7771

 

 

 

Mark your Calendar

Coco-luxe, Poco Dolce and Amano are a few of the participants in the first annual Fall Chocolate Salon at Fort Mason on November 14th (not to be confused with its mothership the larger, International Salon.) This primer for holiday palates can act as an audition for seasonal gifts or a hedonistic tour through tempting, tempered treats. This morsel menagerie will spotlight bars, bonbons and bites to nibble your way towards knowledge...or just nibble...

2010 Fall Luxury Chocolate Salon
November 14th 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Tickets $20
advance purchase required
Fort Mason
Building A
San Francisco, CA







 

 

  Sunday, November 7, 2010
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After some inspiration
from Michael Ruhlman's website, we hopped over to Bryan's and requested 5 pounds of pork belly. Bryan told us that we would have better luck asking a butcher that supplied restaurants since most butchers get hunks of pork that crop off this midsection.

Before we sped off, we asked the butchers over at the Safeway if they had any and they said that they considered it offal and didn't deal with this cut.

I phoned around and found 4 pounds at Mollie Stone's of all places (where the fish smell prevents us from purchasing in the seafood dept.) but the meat doesn't put us off.

Next time we'll plan ahead and make a San Francisco shopping trip or go to 99 Ranch to find a full five pounds, but today we adjusted the recipe for this quadra poundage of porky potential.

We rubbed our bellies with the spicy mixture:

... and will have to wait until next week to cure our cure-iosity.


-G






 

 

  Saturday, November 6, 2010
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An amuse of pork jowl, kabocha squash, miso and scallions:

... was an enticing entrance to our first visit to Ozumo since Alex Morgan became Executive Chef.

The dining room was bustling with dates, birthday gatherings and sushi seekers sitting at the bar.

A warming wave of koji and aka miso ($5.00):

... was tiled with tofu and snippets of seaweed.

A chemistry coarse followed with a tableside tofu preparation ($11.00).

Calcium sulfate was combined with hot water:

... before the introduction of hot Hodo soy milk. This soy-lution was covered and left to softly set before we scooped up coagulations to cover with bonito shavings.

Grated ginger added kick and a daikon salad gave a contrasting crunch to this fun 'fud.

The extensive sake list included a Dewazakura "Dewasansan" Junmai Ginjo to give a floral force to a bouquet of avocado and hamachi ($18.00):

A warm ginger and jalapeno sauce slowly cooked the yellowfin as we plucked off petals of this sensational starter with an added dimension from daikon.

Grilled baby octopus ($13.00):

... got a balanced, bitter counterpoint from grilled radicchio. Chrysanthemum pesto coated the tantalizing tentacles as we ate this eight armed, two fisted dish.

Washu beef ($15.00) wrapped bundles of garlicy, sauteed spinach:

These savory stumps were supported by eggplant and cucumber to create rich, fresh, beefy bites.

We made our way through some marvelous maki ($14.00 - $15.00 each):

... filled with asparagus, tempura shrimp and spicy tuna. The unique combinations included gilding the crab, shrimp and avocado roll with a yuzu aioli which pleasingly partnered with the crisp "Seitoku" Junmail Ginjo sake followed up with Maguro, Aji, Hamachi, Sake and Anago nigiri ($7.00-$9.00 each.)

Perfectly cooked saikyo miso marinated black cod ($28.00):

... qualifies as required eating. This sweet and succulent swimmer sated with a Nishida "Denshu" Tokubetsu Junmai before we tucked into slices of filet mignon ($32.00):

These tender tufts were beefed up by mushrooms and balanced out by bacon wrapped green beans.

We dunked our dessert into molten magma in this Japanese take on chocolate fondue ($12.00). Bananas, apples, strawberries, pineapple, orange, mochi ice cream balls and squares of pound cake:

... took the plunge as we sipped on Kamoizumi "Nigori Ginjo" unfiltered sake from Hiroshima:

This cloud of creamy acidity with a faint sweetness was a fine finish to this feast.

Japanese language instruction is piped into the restrooms allowing us to return to the table with a couple of convincing phrases (which were quickly forgotten) but we do remember that Chef Morgan's hit on Izakaya is our kinda chow.


Ozumo Restaurant
161 Steuart St.
San Francisco, CA
415.882.1333








 

 

  Friday, November 5, 2010
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I popped in
for some papusas ($2.25 each for here, $2.10 to go):

... at America's House:

... where I munched on maize mats middled with pork, cheese and one crammed with a collection of mixed meats.

Cheese usas'ed out of this Salvadoran saucers crispily freshened by a side of spicy slaw:

Two would have been plenty, but I happily masa-cated this triad of warming wads in the dinky dining area of this eclectic eatery featuring a wacky selection of chow (including Italian). I'll have to come back for one of their enticing burgers.



America's House Restaurant

1440 Cary Ave.
San Mateo, CA
650.342.5990







 

 

  Thursday, November 4, 2010
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Meaty sticks stuck to my ribs at House of Kabobs where a combo #3 ($14.95):

... of lamb chunks and koobideh (spiced ground beef) were tender skewers of fire grilled, Halal helpings over saffron rice.

Several saucing agents were available, but I went with the shaker of dried pomegranate which added a fruity tang to the meaty branches while a roasted tomato added a juicy, acidic edge.

A friendly couple staffed this impaling operation:

... populated by local workers purchasing poles of protein at this petite, Persian house of hospitality.


House of Kabobs

161 S. Sunnyvale Ave.
Sunnyvale, CA
408.735.8199

 

 

Mark your Calendar

Go for brogue on November 16th at the Single Malt & Scotch Whisky Extravaganza where you will find over 100 reasons to sample spirits from Scotland, Ireland and Japan. Check out our visit to last year's event to get an idea of the festive vibe of this malty meet up.


The Single Malt & Scotch Whisky Extravaganza

Tuesday, November 16th, 7-9 p.m.
Tickets $135 per person
21 years +
Jackets preferred, no denim or athletic attire - but kilts are a nice touch...
InterContinental
888 Howard St.
San Francisco, CA






 

 

  Wednesday, November 3, 2010
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There are Minamoto Kitchoan shops in London, Asia and a few in the U.S. with one on Market Street:

... where diminutive desserts are arranged like jewelry:

... in this Japanese bite boutique.

They had us at Duckwards ($2.50):

... with its ovals of sponge cake sandwiched around a cream filling. This meringue-like morsel was a delicate cloud of ducky lightness.

Little bits of apple were suspended in the Benihana Ringo ($4.00):

This bean jelly ball had a citrus and cinnamon scent.

Tsuyaguri ($4.00):

... was a whole chestnut cloaked in chestnut-bean paste. There wasn't a trace of graininess to the smooth, thick, coat around the nut nucleus.

A fish figured Tenkataihei ($3.00):

... had red bean guts filling this upscale cake.

All of our small snacks went easy on the sucrose (making them top notch nibbles.) There are gift assortment boxes for those who don't want to hunt and peck through alien eats, but finding wacky stuff in this delicious display was half the fun.



Minamoto Kitchoan
648 Market St.
San Francisco, CA
415.989.1645

 





 

  Tuesday, November 2, 2010
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I was so intrigued by the Japanese-style Chinese food served at Yu-Raku:

... that I doubled back for some chicken wings ($6.50):

These deep fried flappers were pleasantly peppery, juicy joints followed by spicy pork fried rice ($8.50):

... presented with a soup spoon (which must be the customary method of Japanese-style Chinese food ingestion.) Green onions sprouted from this grain gob smacked with swine. I stomached this staple in a comforting carbohydrate contentment while scanning the room (unsuccessfully) for any diners of a non-Japanese persu-Asian.


Yu-Raku
104 S El Camino Real
San Mateo, CA
650.558.8239

 





 

  Monday, November 1, 2010
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Last night's weening of our hollow stomachs began with cocktails at Zero Zero:

... where the barman's Bruce Hill costume was eerily spot on.

We reveled in fake Bruce's take on a Vieux Carre:

... as well as the holiday appropriate Blood and Sand.

The oku crudo ($12.00):

... over avocado puree sparkled with pomegranate seeds and young fennel. These minty fresh snapper snippets were a sensational seafood starter.

Agnololtti ($14.95):

... plumped with wild nettles got a meatiness from chanterelles with nutty reinforcement from a beurre noisette. These pasta pouches were sealed with a kiss of black garlic.

Radicchio, Gorgonzola and Mozzarella topped a beautifully blistered pizza ($15.00):

... strewn with bacon. The chewy crust was top notch under this cheese and garlic round with a nice bitter bite from the wilted, chicory chunks.

2009 Viansa Barbera was a food and wallet friendly tipple on tap ($7 glass, $18 500 mL, $32 L.)

Chicken thighs ($12.95):

... were boned, dredged in a seasoned sweater and fried to a crisp crusted, moist middled, marvelousness. I think they must have brined these masterful thighs to get a leg up on juiciness. A pool of chili sauce gave an acid angle while strained Straus yogurt with a caraway coercion created a creamy tang that took this chicken home to roost.

Dessert was a bowl of ricotta doughnuts ($4.00):

... which were a haunting homer run of fr-eye balls rolled in cinnamon sugar. These calci-yum cheese orbs were holes of sumptuous parts.

Straus soft serve ($4.95 plus .50¢ for hot fudge) came in black, white or swirl, we went with the chocolate blanketed in hot fudge. This close encounter of the stirred kind was a model mountain in this frozen finale to our tricked out dinner.

Bruce Hill's noughty nook of flour formations is a hospitable haunt where you can scare up some swell chow.


Zero Zero Restaurant

826 Folsom St.
San Francisco, CA
415.348.8800






 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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