Daily Feed - December 21-31, 2015

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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

December 21-31, 2015

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Thursday, December 31, 2015
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We wigged out:

... over the abundance of fine food and fluids at C&A’s NYE party where we rang in 2016 with a white elephant:

... and other celebratory creatures:

... a fine way to finish out 2015.

-G

Wednesday, December 30, 2015
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Brussels sprouts ($5.50) with bacon lardons and onion were plucky, porky, pongs at Little Gem:

... where a side of spuds ($5.50) was less our thing. Even though the russets were browned, they tasted tired and dry (as though they had been away from the heat source for a while.)

The roasted pork shoulder ($12.00) was good but we were a bit envious of a neighboring, pinker plate of beef.

It’s early days for this counter service corner:

... so we’ll have to return when they hit their stride (and add breakfast and lunch.)

Little Gem
400 Grove St.
San Francisco, CA
415.914.0501

Tuesday, December 29, 2015
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Okay, maybe the boned bass ($34.00):

... at Petit Crenn:

... wasn’t the tidiest presentation - but it wasn’t a big deal to pluck out the residual ribcage as we devoured this delectable dish drizzled with saffron sabayon.

Josey baker bread ($5.00):

... offered sensational support for sopping.

We washed it down with riesling and cider:

... sipped from a ceramic cup.

The omelette ($18.00):

... wasn’t as tender as we had hoped, but it was still a nice roll up of herby huevo.

Our perch at the bar allowed us to peruse a parade of plates:

...like the little gem salad and gougers that will summon us back for more petit portions at this atelier outpost.

Petit Crenn
609 Hayes St.
San Francisco, CA
415.864.1744

Monday, December 28, 2015
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There is so much restaurant crossover among San Francisco, Los Angeles and Portland between Blue Bottles, Blue Stars and Bouchons; borders are being crossed by these branching businesses.

Farmshop:

... cultivates a crowd in Santa Monica, so it may not seem like a logical landing coming directly from LA, but we were in the mood to harvest their culinary crop of braised greens ($8.50):

These wilty wares were tilled with black garlic and mama’s lil peppers making them required ordering.

A mushroom pizza ($19.00):

... with smoked mozzarella, leeks and more of mama’s lil peppers was a lil doughy on the periphery, but still a fine, fired flap.

Pappardelle ($20.00):

... was placating pasta with pesto and lobster with a bit of toast to sop up any relishable residue.

Short rib ($38.00):

... was a blissful brick of beef with a green peppercorn salsa. Most of the carrots were braised to a yielding texture, but there were a couple that were too crunchy to meld with the pleasing polenta washed down with some Unti red on tap.

This friendly farm keeps us planting ourselves at their tables.

Farmshop
2233 Larkspur Landing Circle
Larkspur, CA
415.755.6700

Sunday, December 27, 2015
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We puckered up with the lemon meringue tart ($7.35) at Marla’s new nook at the Ferry Building. A base of buckwheat and chocolate crust cradled this cravable curd tailed with tufts of white whippage.

These new booths bordering the ferry building are a great addition. There is no wait for a Blue Bottle coffee out front, but the interior outlet had a crazy queue for those ignorant of the outdoor option.

Marla’s was a bit of a march across town, so it’s nice to have a centralized outpost at this commuter hub.

Marla Bakery
1 Ferry Building
San Francisco, CA
415.742.4379

Saturday, December 26, 2015
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Raucous reveling with our merry mates made our migration meritorious.

J&K slow cooked a plus-sized pork protrusion to perfection and there was enough food to feed the contented crowd until next Boxing Day.

-G

Friday, December 25, 2015
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We rolled back into town in time to tuck into lunch at Ton Kiang:

... where our sum-tuous, dim-inshment of hunger included some blah soup dumplings ($4.50):

... that were more like tough-skinned meatballs than potion packed pouches.

Shrimp based dumplings included some standard issue:

... pea-packed:

...and chive-charged:

... which were all good, but the fried shrimp balls:

... and salt and pepper prawns ($6.95):

... were too greasy for our tastes.

Chinese broccoli ($10.95):

... and asparagus ($10.50):

... were good greenery and the char siu ($9.50):

... was pleasing pork pursued by ping pongs of sweet sesame balls:

Ton Kiang hits more than it misses and is a swell stop for touching down in town.

Ton Kiang
5821 Geary Blvd.
San Francisco, CA
415.387.8273

Thursday, December 24, 2015
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The salmon and haricot vert salad ($14.00):

... at Sweetsalt was (strangely) green bean-free. It was heavy on the dressing with chunks of grapefruit that weren’t separated and clumped together like a bundle of telephone wire-suspended sneakers. There was a nice crunch from sliced almonds and the salmon was fine, but it didn’t rank as migration-worthy. Maybe the would have been better if it were haricot verité.

My disappointment was diminished by a dark cloud of hazelnut rocher ($6.00):

This sweet slice was filberted with chocolatey whipped cream mortaring meringue into a crisp, creamy, cocao-nutty nugget.

Sweetsalt doesn’t always hit our sweet spot, but they have many munchable morsels.

Sweetsalt
10218 Riverside Dr.
Toluca Lake, CA
818.509.7790

Wednesday, December 23, 2015
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Gjelina has a take away business directly next door to their popular pie hole.

We opted for slices of apple cranberry ($6.88):

... packed under a crumble topping. Their flare for flakiness and balanced bites of sweet and tangy fruit was our kind of after.

This option for the impatient allows immediate access to Gjelina’s wondrous wares.

Gjelina
1427 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice, CA
310.450.1429

Tuesday, December 22, 2015
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When we walked through the fridge door:

... at the back of Greenspan’s Grilled Cheese:

... to go to Maré:

... we made a mental memo to march back to the front for some of their griddled goods.

We sparred with “The Champ” ($9.75):

... which was a punch to the short ribs followed by a jab to the ‘leggio gloved with raisin walnut bread, uppercut with apricot caper puree and dried tomato.

“The Med” ($8.50):

... was a terrain of artichoke, tomato, peppers, avocado and provolone. Both bundles were pleasing parcels of melty munchability sided with salads and perky pots of tangy tomato soup.

Greenspan’s cheese and bread bonding business was a welcome warming warren.

Greenspan’s Grilled Cheese
7461 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA
323.591.0177

Monday, December 21, 2015
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The Blue Room sign:

... summoned us into a primary pigment portal.

This barman told us that this was the backdrop for the famed beer spit scene from Memento.

Perhaps it isn’t coincidental that there are no taps (due to the unpleasant association of loogied liquid) so we went for a couple cold ones and an order of Mexican food from around the corner (since the menu is limited to libations).

A carnitas plate ($7.45):