Down and out in Rockridge: Living out his Heat dreams, Sac Bee editorial writer Stuart Leavenworth trades in an English degree for a French apron -- he's in the midst of a six-month apprenticeship at Oakland's Oliveto. His most trenchant takeaway so far? Restaurant food is made by humans: There is no "magic" to preparing superlative food. The artistry that arrives on your plate at the best restaurants is not prepared by Houdini. As a 15-year veteran of restaurants, we can roger that. Plus kitchen work makes your hands really, really smelly. Don't give up that corner office at the Bee, Stu.
Glutton for punishment: Why are reality food shows so hella bad, and why do we love them? Cooking with the Single Guy ponders that very question, vowing to blog and twitter his way through every yawn-inspiring minute of The Next Food Network Star, which starts tonight. QUICK! Who won last year? Exactly. And for the next 10 weeks, we get to see people scramble, judges choke on poorly made food, and if it's anything like last season -- a lot of tears! (I saw a preview of tonight's episode and one girl was already crying.) Hate to harsh, dude, but maybe immersing yourself in food TV is why you're still single?
| Doug Zimmerman |
| Magic Curry Kart is a fixture of the new vendor scene. |
The Mission's underground street-food scene is hot. Last month the San Francisco Chronicle mentioned the phenomenon, and even the LA Times' travel blog took a look. Street food has captured the imagination of city residents eager for a taste of the latest food trend with a whiff of the subversive. But while the street-food party is gaining momentum, fueled by what seem like weekly Twitter alerts about new vendors, there's a potential buzz-kill lurking: the law.
What's the likelihood that city authorities will stage a crackdown on scofflaw entrepreneurs, especially in the face of mainstream buzz? Conversations with officials from both the police and Health Department suggest that while the city doesn't currently seem to have much appetite for busts of vendors like Curtis the Crème Brulee Guy, Cookie Wag, or Amuse Bouche, the possibilities for future action - like the weekend police action that caused the Sexy Soup Lady to pack it up and move on -- are real.
| Street-food vendor Sexy Soup Lady was reportedly shut down by police on Linda Street Friday night. |
Richard Lee, the city's director of Health Regulatory Programs, told SFoodie that action against unlicensed vendors will almost always come from the police. "Anytime we see or know about a violation, we report it to the police," said Lee. The Health Department has some two dozen inspectors crisscrossing the city to perform inspections of restaurants and other permitted facilities. When they notice a street vendor they suspect of being unlicensed, procedure calls for them to alert the cops. But Lee also told SFoodie that his department has been following suspected unlicensed vendors' on Twitter to determine when and where they'd be setting up for business.
Getting the proper permits for pushcart food sales can be prohibitively pricey for street vendors. The Department of Public Health requires applicants to submit for a permit to operate, a sanitation certificate, and a fire marshall application. The fee for a pushcart on private property costs $737, on top of an environmental health application fee of $298. That's easily beyond the reach of both the latest wave of sellers and of those with a history of selling tamales and other snacks to the day laborers who cluster on César Chavez and nearby streets.
Clement Restaurant 621 Clement (at Eighth Ave.), 752-9520.
It is if convenience is your chief value. Spud, which began its grocery delivery business in Vancouver more than a dozen years ago, launched locally in January 2008, before the proliferation of city farmers' markets (we count eight, with at least one more planned for July). Spud's highly customizable program allows you to put together an a la carte box of organic produce, delivered right to your door. You can also get staples like butter, milk, and bread, and even a few prepared foods (there's a 5 percent discount on standing orders).
Prices are pretty good when you consider that you have to do nothing more than point and click to accomplish your week's grocery shopping. A quart of Clover organic milk is $3.59 and you can get a head of organic butter lettuce for $2.55. The company is carbon neutral, meaning, in this case, it purchases carbon credits from My Climate to offset emissions it can't avoid in running this huge, er, industrial operation. My Climate then puts this money to use for projects that reduce the use of fossil fuels and promote the use of renewable energy sources, many in developing countries.
| Best Team Uniform winners Wig in a Box |
The main attraction? Restaurateur and Food Network star Bobby Flay, slated to demo a burger, onion rings, and milk shake. The event promises an odd balance of Food Network hosts strong on personality juxtaposed with purely local talent bringing serious culinary chops. So at the Serious Eats stage (named for Levine's blog), cotton-candy-haired, man-jewelry-sportin' TV host Guy Fieri is scheduled to demonstrate "Hong Kong Noodles," followed by A16's Nate Appleman in a meatball demo.
Cops were kinda cool (warning, no fine)...seemed like they were called by Linda St. residents. Have to find a new spot... StealthSoupCart.;)
In a subesquent tweet, Sexy Soup Lady's repeated her interest in finding new venues for doing business:
Free The Soup! will find new locations... stay tuned!
SFoodie left a phone message for Kristin, but hadn't heard back as of this posting
