Eat, pay, and get out: Hot Food Porn gets all reflective about the kind of restaurant a chef who refused to compromise would open. No distracting bar scene and extra layers of service -- it's a matter of getting potentially douche-y staff the hell out so a chef can focus on cooking, then getting dishes to diners without making them cycle through extraneous hands. What would such a place look like? Hint: Check out HFP's pic homage to Dennis Leary's Canteen.
The eww report: Cooking with the Single Guy checked out Yerba Buena Center for the Arts' Big Idea Party last night, featuring street snacks from Mission Street Food. Pics, descriptions -- only Cooking turned up a bit squeamish about the animal fats in some dishes. What did he like? So-called Blasian Chicken (heavily charred bird over minty bread hunks), sort of. Thanks for the reporting, Cooking -- hope you stopped for pizza on the way home.
From now till July 7, you can upload a video of yourself to a KFC MySpace page. Describe why you're the company's ultimate fan, and you win fast-food chicken for life - more than $13,000 in gift checks. (Of course, start cashing those checks for daily buckets of Extra Crispy, and you might be forced to recalculate your expected life span. Just sayin'.) You'll also have the chance to, according to a company press release, "represent KFC as the next American icon, potentially even appearing in future KFC advertising." Watch out, Jared: Your fat-pants shtick for Subway might soon be eclipsed by some new talent just itching to break out the chicken dance in a future campaign.
Three finalists will be announced July 25. Beginning August 1, the public votes for its favorite. Meanwhile, catch the would-be Colonel killers at MySpace.
| Janine Kahn |
| The tables in the front windows are a nice place to watch the passing parade known as the Haight. |
| Janine Kahn |
| Bar at the front. |
But as we said, we were there for the pizza. The one we sampled -- topped with pesto, cheese, and new red potatoes ($17/large) -- was good. Maybe not ready to take on challenges from the fancy artisanal pizzas around town, but certainly better-than-decent bar food. It had a bready crust from dough made in house, which picked up a touch of smoky char. You can design your own pie ($15 medium, $17 large) with your choice of pesto or tomato sauce, adding ingredients such as pepperoni or mushrooms for $1.50 each. On a chilly day in late spring, it hit the proverbial spot. We would have lingered over an Irish single malt if we didn't have to get back to work. Food pics after the jump.
Martin Macks Restaurant and Bar 1568 Haight (at Clayton), 861-2236.
| Sam's Chowder House lobster roll is coming to S.F. soon |
Orson 508 Fourth St. (at Bryant), 777-1508
Munchies include the pig, grilled, as well as hot dogs, which are shaping up to be the new bacon. You'll get to sample Farr's 4505 hot dogs, Fatted Calf's dogs, and everybody's favorite -- corn dogs. You can bet 4505's fetishlike chicharrones will be lurking in snack bowls, too. Sip an old fashioned made with the bacon-infused bourbon we've been trying to track down, too, or simply wash down all the meaty extravagance with a brewski. Tickets? $30. Get 'em at Brown Paper Tickets. Bloodhound, 1145 Folsom (at Hallam), 6 p.m.
Last week, El Tonayense truck owner Benjamin Santana told the blog Mission Loc@l that, starting this week, his taco wagon will most likely move a block north from its longtime location behind John O'Connell High School on Harrison near 20th St. The proposed new location -- reportedly only some 20 to 40 feet from the spot El Tonayense has occupied for the past 13 years -- is a compromise negotiated with the city's school district, the Board of Supervisors, and concerned parents. Reached by cell phone a few minutes ago, Santana said he was meeting with police at Mission Station and would have details later.
Early this year, Mission Loc@l reported that a 2007 city ordinance denied catering trucks to do business within 1,500 feet of a high school, out of fears that access to, say, tongue and grilled beef tacos would risk making teens pudgy (as if access to Hot Cheetos and biggie sodas wouldn't). Here's what SFoodie's Meredith Brody had to say about the taco kerfuffle back in April:
Let's do lunch:
Dump the tuna on white for something altogether more luscious: SF Weekly food critic Meredith Brody suggests the tombo tuna melt with fontina and roasted tomatoes at Anchor & Hope (83 Minna at First St., 501-9100).
Drink therapy:
Start thinking about which malady you'll cite when you call in sick tomorrow: Epstein-Barr? H1N1? It's Whiskey Wednesday ($5 for a shot and a PBR), on top of $1 drafts and $3 well drinks, at Bender's (806 S. Van Ness at 19th St., 824-1800), 4-7 p.m.
Cop happy-hour specials at Argus Lounge (3187 Mission at Valencia, 824-1447), 4-7 p.m. Stay way longer than you should, and bust out your vintage Janet moves at the '80s dance party with DJ Choice and DJ Squid (starts at 10 p.m.).
