The third estate: Call her the Judith Miller of the gutter food press (and believe us, we'd know). In yesterday's Yummy Letter ex-Chron Inside Scoop reporter GraceAnne Walden related what happens when you play spoiler to a TV food show. Last week Walden casually revealed the winner -- or so she was told by a reliable source -- of Bravo's Top Chef Masters. Since then it's been nothing but tsouris from PR hacks, with speculation on Walden's part that she may be hauled before a judge to finger her Deep Throat (which, frankly, sounds kind of pervy). As for the chef Walden's source revealed as the winner? A certain Chicago chef whose name rhymes with "Payless." But you didn't hear it from us.
Terminator: Take out your Coogi sweater and poof up your shoulderpads -- tonight is the last supper for the restaurant Postrio, which survived 20 years only to, um, fail. At Between Meals, Chron's Michael Bauer gets all Greatest Generation, reliving the glory days of blini and smoked salmon and Chinese duck with hoisin cherry sauce, basking in the glamour of owner Wolfgang Puck, the Austrian canned-soup and frozen-pizza maestro himself (he's in town for Postrio's wake). See ya.
Crushpad (2573 Third St. at 22nd St.) is hosting an open house on Saturday, June 20, 2-6 p.m. Crushpad's Dogpatch warehouse space has become something of a meeting place to talk about and make all sorts of neighborhood wines. For Saturday's event, barrel tastings and El Tonayense tacos have been promised, along with the chance, in Crushpad's words, to "meet our winemakers." (SFoodie has found them to be a friendly, engaging lot.) Reserve your spot now, online or at 864-4232.
On Sunday, Slow Food San Francisco's Golden Glass event takes over the Fort Mason Festival Pavilion, 2-6 p.m. Drink in the most sustainable and terroir-expressive way possible, eh? Tickets are $20-$60. Winemakers and proprietors will be on hand to talk shop. Of course there will be eats -- the event is slated to be "complemented by culinary delights from the Bay Area's top restaurants and artisan producers," and will benefit Slow Food San Francisco's Slow Food in School programs. Try saying that backwards after your eighth taste.
Name: Emily Wines (yeah, that's really her birth name)
Age: 36
Current gig: Sommelier, Fifth Floor (12 Fourth St. at Market), a Kimpton Hotels restaurant.
Past life: A self-described wine-rabid waiter at Jardinière.
Queer heroes: "I've always looked up to Traci Des Jardins [of Jardinière] -- she's someone who's always been very out at the same time that she's been a great chef. In the wine world there's Vivien Gay [founder of Vinum Global, a Berkeley-based wine sales and marketing company]."
On the challenges of being out: "I have dealt with things -- sometimes in restaurants there are certainly challenges that can arise with the Latino culture, but we have such a zero-tolerance policy here [at Kimpton], that anytime that comes up it gets nipped in the bud pretty quickly. I'm a little less out at food and wine functions, but I've always been fairly open about the rest of my life."
On working at Ground Zero for gay: "It's awesome, especially in the last year, the number of people coming in because they'd just gotten married or were celebrating their anniversary. I'm always aware of how privileged I am to be in the city where that's the case."
refers to the Klamath Basin, which encompasses areas in Northern California and Southern Oregon, as the "Western Everglades." The organization's Web site reports that there are
still salmon species exclusive to that river system and details why
energy must be put into restoring the area into a sustainable ecosystem.
We'll get a rare chance to taste salmon from there as Native American Tribes of the Klamath Basin join SalmonAid (the latter's motto: "Restore rivers, recover salmon, rebuild jobs") for a traditional tribal salmon bake at Ocean Beach this Friday, June 19. The festivities start at 6 p.m., and the star of the show -- Yurok fishermen-caught Klamath salmon -- will be served at 6:30.
The free Ocean Beach event is a special kick off to the two-day SalmonAid Festival,
held on June 20-21 from noon to 7 p.m. in Oakland's Jack London Square.
Admission is also free, though there will be a sustainable menu for
purchase, including a Saigon salmon sandwich, a halibut Reuben, and
Mediterranean stuffed sardines. (Thanks to Edible San Francisco for the tip.)
Mission Pie definitely faces hurdles in moving its savory foods -- you can't blame customers who show up looking for the better-known sweeties: fruit pies, muffins, tarts, galettes, and scones. Salad sales have been slow, acknowledged co-owner Krystin Rubin, proudly showing off a tasty spinach-mushroom quiche with a touch of smoked paprika. Still, Rubin said she hopes more folks choose, say, the occasional quinoa-corn-cucumber salad.
For its part, SFoodie swooned over a Niman Ranch tamale pie made with polenta, something not on Mission Pie's current rotation. In that case, make it a slice o' quiche. And, of course, a side of sweet banana cream pie, please.
Yesterday, Chron's Chuck Nevius reported that the city's Real Estate Division was allowing the vendors to stay, but only for a year, followed by an uncertain future. But John Updike, the Division's assistant director, told SFoodie that food sellers will be able to file for a two-year extension when the original contracts expire next summer.
The vendor controversy surrounding the Saturday and Sunday Alemany markets erupted two weeks ago, when the Real Estate Division released results of its Request for Proposal (RFP). Last week, Eater SF described the RFP's system for scoring prepared food vendors. According to Updike, the RFP's impetus was a mandate from the state's Department of Agriculture a year ago stipulating that, for health reasons, cooked-food vendors couldn't be situated among produce vendors as in the past, but were required to move to an area previously reserved for parking. But because parking was already scarce at the popular Saturday food market, the city decided to cut the number of vendors from nearly two dozen down to approximately 15.
Flavors range from the traditionally pleasing to the experimental, from Dutch chocolate and Mexican vanilla bean to saffron and orange-pomegranate sherbet. On a recent visit, the strawberry was creamy, fruity, smooth, and balanced, while chocolate-mint had just enough minty oomph to keep us licking. And after shelling out almost three bones for one admittedly hearty scoop of ice cream, the signs hyping free organic cocoa and powdered cinnamon toppings seemed practically generous.
Holland-Toll joined Lark Creek as executive chef in August 2007. She previously worked under Jan Birnbaum at the now-defunct Catahoula in Calistoga, and in S.F. at Fifth Floor and Acme Chophouse. The chef told SFoodie by email that it would take a little time for Ducca's menu to reflect her influence. In late April, Corbo announced his intentions to leave Ducca, reportedly for an unnamed restaurant set to open in the fall.
