Thriller: Maybe it's a subconscious acknowledgment that MJ's corpse remains very much on view (word to the MSM and blogosphere: give it a rest), but Weird Vegetables' Kale Daikon took on decomposition today. Her overt impetus? A forgotten bunch of Tuscan kale, gone all limp and yellow in a shopping bag. Daikon takes it as a memento mori, but as something altogether more hopeful, too: The alarming signs of spoiled food -- here in particular the dark, insidious change of color but also the foul smells and transformed textures we associate with foods gone bad -- are at the same time signs of life, but also of death and life intermingling in tiny dramas that play themselves out in our refrigerators and storage shelves, in our forgotten shopping bags. Whoa - and totally lovely.
Hot recipe: As a kid, who didn't form a sense memory of mingled pain and sweetness trying to scarf a Pop Tart hot from the toaster? Earlier this month at SF Appeal, Goodies by Anna rocked a recipe for the homemade version (alas -- no reference to the fragile beauties at Foreign Cinema), with one pretty shocking caveat: The only thing is that you cannot put these in your toaster or it might catch fire! Damn, Goodies!
This Monday, July 6 (just about the time you'll be sick of ribs and corn-on-the-cob), the menu lands in the northern region of Veneto. "Traditionally you find a lot of rich, spiced game meats," Bar Bambino owner Christopher Losa said. "You'll have a soft touch of citrus and cinnamon, a very subtle sort of sweet- and-sour component."
Humphry owner Jake Godby uses lard from Boccalone Salumeria for these. You won't find a crumblier cookie outside the self-serve case at the panaderia -- break one and it shatters into a wrack of breadcrumb-sized pieces. The flavor is delicate, teetering on the edge of not-quite-sweet-enough, with the softest hit of rosemary (we're pretty sure it helps mask any lingering pork-fat taste). Slip one to you favorite lard skeptic (but not a vegetarian -- that'd be straight-up cruel) and behold the transformation.
June's highest-profile closure was 20-year-old Postrio, Wolgang Puck's S.F. outpost in the Prescott Hotel. Puck has plans to renovate, redecorate, reconceive, and relaunch in 2010. Fans of West Portal's Old Krakow, the city's only white-tablecloth Polish place, might be heartened to know it hopes to find a new location. The space that housed City Grill's American comfort food will soon be French-themed Bistro 24, courtesy of Stefano Coppola, owner of both the defunct City and its next-door neighbor Lupa. In the fall, the space that was Jones Roadhouse will see the rise of yet another upscale sports bar. For those who frequented the Inner Sunset's Café Gratitude, you can still be grateful for the Mission (2400 Harrison at 20th St.) and East Bay outposts (1730 Shattuck at Virginia, Berkeley, and 230 Bay Place at Harrison, Oakland). But corporate owner Hershey's is permanently closing iconic SF chocolatier Joseph Schmidt. Oh, well -- win some, lose some. Complete list after the jump.
| Humphry Slocombe's Tin Roof sundae |
| thedieline.com |
