We're lovin' it: At Mission Loc@l, Armand Emamdjomeh spends an entire day in the neighborhood's Mickey D's, enduring Michael Bolton and an Oreo McFlurry. Emamdjomeh manages to capture the 'hood's flavor in a way we've rarely tasted elsewhere -- jacked up, comforting, ultimately steeped in community in a way the city's higher-rent neighborhoods could never hope to be. Nice job.
Snot easy: We totally know the agony of a slow blog day -- try like hell, you just can't turn up anything to lavish your brilliance on. Like a junky boiling his cottons for the last residue of smack, Chron 's Michael Bauer wrings a reader query about, well, phlegm, into a food blog post. The question: Should you blow boogers at the table, or retreat to the loo? Here's a smidgen of Bauer's reply: If a sneeze creeps up on you, there's little that can be done; you have to deal. However, if you're going to honk and blow, then it might be best to excuse yourself. All that's missing is the Yoda-like subject-verb transposition.
This time, the event rolls out at the Fairmont (950 Mason at California) on Sunday, June 14, at 5 p.m.. Cosentino's taking a bye, so the field's wide open. The contenders? Ravi Kapur, sous chef at Boulevard; the ubiquitous Ryan Farr of 4505 Meats; A16's Nate Appleman; Staffan Terje of Perbacco; and Peter McNee of Poggio in Sausalito. Fatted Calf's Taylor Boetticher, who guest-butchered at a pig roast last month at Bloodhound, will once again demo his take-down skills.
The event's raison d'être is to promote heritage pigs, though a handful of local winemakers will be around to share the spotlight. Tickets are $125, but with a promise of copious amounts of wine and pigmeat, seriously, doesn't it begin to look like a bargain? For rezzies, visit event organizer Taste Network.
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A year ago, Bacar wine director Jay Bordeleau was routinely selling bottles of wine priced at $150 and above, even as high as $250. As you'd imagine, Bourdeleau has seen that traffic jerk to a screeching halt. "Bottom line," Bordeleau told SFoodie, "people are looking for drinking lists, not trophy lists. A number of people are still looking at our red Burgundy list and saying, 'These are great - now let's go back over here,'" Bordeleau said, indicating Bacar's offerings of eclectic reds under $50.
The most severe shrinkage has occurred among business customers, diners who, until last fall, would blithely rack up huge wine tabs and pay courtesy of the company credit card. Wine directors have kissed those buyers goodbye. Even the convention crowds - always important given Bacar's SOMA location - are being cautious. Still, Bordeleau said, he hasn't seen diners abandoning bottles for individual wines by the glass, just seeking lower price points. What the wine director calls the "sweet spot" on the bell curve for bottles is now in the $70-$120 range. "We're still able to sell $18 glasses without too much trouble," Bordeleau said. Sales of dessert wines, however, have fallen off a cliff. As a result, Bacar's wine list has shrunk, though Bordeleau said he's just about ready to start making new additions -- at the lower end.
The address is Sausalito, but tucked away into the Marin Headlands a mile from town, Cavallo Point Lodge isn't the tourist strip you know. Honeymooners and other celebratory types have discovered this place, a renovated Fort Baker outpost just north of the Golden Gate (601 Murray Circle at Kober, Sausalito). But it's managed to retain a secret-hideaway feel, at least for now. The lodge has a knack of feeling farther away than it is, no small point in a climate that values both escape and accessibility (see staycation). The good news? You don't have to stay at the lodge to breathe its rarified air.
Bike over the bridge and stop in for lunch -- the dining room, Murray Circle, is open to the public. Or stop in for a drink at Farley Bar (yep, named for the beloved comic strip by local Phil Frank) and sit out traffic on your way back from Wine Country or some other jaunt up Highway 101. Public spaces are front and center, situated in gorgeously restored former military buildings (think tin ceilings, wood-slat floors, and big porches with rocking chairs) with views of the city and the bay.
Being a fan of Chris Cosentino's regular menu at Incanto, we were unable to resist the first dinner of his special summer-long Cucina Povera prix-fixe dinner series, a tribute to the poverty-inspired dishes of Italy's various regions, offered Sunday and Monday nights -- especially when we noted the bargain price, $30 for three courses, and only $9 more for a paired two-wine flight. The first meal, from Lazio in central Italy (bordered by famous culinary neighbors Tuscany and Umbria), seemed homey and inviting: spaghetti cacio e pepe, lamb stew, jam tart.
| MSF's take on PB&J: Pork belly and jicama |
Here's our verdict on breakfast at Little Skillet (330 Ritch at Townsend), which the neo-soul takeaway joint in SOMA began offering just about two hours ago. The breakfast po'boy with scrambled eggs, squares of smoky bacon, tangy cheddar, and herbs: Fantastic. The floury, ciabatta-like bun was soft as ass cheek, the eggs
tender, and the remarkably sweet-smoky bacon carried the whole thing into daily-habit-that'll-give you-a-big-old-paunch glory. Only bummer: The house-made BBQ chips on the side, which tasted a bit like tired fry oil. Thumbnail-sized butterscoth biscuit bites sprinkled with coarse Maldon salt were winners, too. Way to nail breakfast, Little Skillet guys!Wednesdays in June, the restaurant is offering themed prix-fixe dinners sure to confound categorization even further. The first, tonight, is Japanese (Sone grew up there). First course: Kurobuta pork cooked shabu-shabu style and presented in a salad, followed by gomuku sushi (chirashi from Kansai province -- sushi rice topped with five ingredients, gomuku meaning five). The meal ends with sake ice cream parfait. Price is $55 including beverage parings, in this case two junmai ginjo sakes and a nigori. Considering the cost of a regular meal at superluxe Ame, that's a deal.
Let's do lunch:
Dude -- you're in the Sunset, and you're seriously thinking about grabbing a sandwich? Pathetic. Do as SF Weekly food critic Meredith Brody does: Head to South Sea Seafood Village (1420 Irving at 15th Ave, 665-8210) and order salt and pepper squid and spicy scallops.
Drink therapy:
Wallow in beer culture in an atmosphere a tad classier (okay, a lot classier) than your typical Lower Haight suds saloon, while avoiding hock. Church Key (1402 Grant at Green, 963-1713) offers a nightly $2 option.
Chances are you've gotten all hammered here and busted out your vocal stylings at the piano. This time, resolve to focus on the happy hour specials at Martuni's (4 Valencia at Market, 241-0205).
