Local hero: Last week, Bill Fujimoto stepped down as manager of Monterey Market, the watershed Berkeley produce biz that supplied deliciousness to Chez Panisse, Quince, and Zuni Café, among others. His departure came after a family disagreement about the direction of the nearly 50-year-old institution. Ex-Chron staffer Carol Ness penned a passionate farewell, viewable at the Ethicurean. A taste: For decades, Bill has cheerfully supported local farmers, even those with just a few crates of ripe stone fruit in the back of a station wagon, and helped dozens more to grow their business. People, people: a moment of silence please?
The other white meat: You didn't really think climate change would mean we'll still all get to go on eating half-pound Wagyu burgers, did you? How about cultivating a taste for jellyfish? Warmer ocean waters mean the things are growing faster than beakless chickens at a Tyson industrial facility. Grist points out the indigestible truth: A jellyfish burger and fries may not seem so appetizing to your average American seafood lover, but the notion isn't too far off. Um, can we get bacon on that?
Yes, we bombarded you with bacon last week, and we simply must carry on the tradition now that chef Lisa Eyherabide of Gitane (6 Claude Lane at Bush) has shared this yummy-sounding Twitter-size recipe with us. Named a 2009 Rising Star Chef by the Chronicle, the French expat trained at a Michelin three-star back home. She's known for infusing her native cuisine with Spanish and Moroccan influences.
Bacon Bon Bons: Hole prunes, mx gtchse w/crm, fill prne, slc bcn thin-wrp prune.Sauce: rdc port .5 +dmglc+cin+anisestar,rdce, saut, wrm-oven, srv w/rdction
Rio, that summertime symbol of seductive oceanfront, languid music, tropical delicacies ... and caipirinhas. If you don't have the dough or the stamina to fly halfway around the world for the real thing, you'll just have to settle for a locally crafted facsimile. Although this sweet, potent, lime-scented concoction seems simple enough to prepare, there are only a few joints hereabouts that mix up a caipirinha evocative of a lazy afternoon in Ipanema. (Lots of places don't muddle the limes violently enough, or don't add enough sugar and ice, or add too much hooch, a grave error.) A fine place to sip this samba-riffic cocktail is Pesce (2227 Polk at Green), which is as famous for its carefully crafted libations as its menu of Italian seafood. A couple of chopped up limes are mashed together with just the right amount of sugar and ice plus a slug of top-shelf Agua Luca cachaça, a sugarcane spirit that is to rum as tequila is to tap water. The crowning touch is a dollop of Veev açai liqueur, which adds a subtle yet bracing hint of lush rain forest berry-osity and is rich in antioxidants to boot (if you're into that sort of thing). After downing one or two of these Brazilian bombshells you'll be flying down to Rio without leaving Polk Street.
Kristin (last name withheld at her request) said that an hour or so after setting up her cart, two police officers approached. One officer asked if she knew she needed a permit to operate. When she said she didn't, Kristin recalled the officer replying, "Consider you know now, and this is your warning. Next time you'll be cited."
She described a bit of confusion about what the warning meant. No ticket was issued, and asked if she had to pack up and go, the officer replied that he wouldn't tell Kristin what to do, but suggested she leave within 30 minutes. She quickly dispensed the last of her soup and left.
