It's food porn Wednesday, because, well, that other porn gets tiresome after three or four hours. Okay, maybe five.
Beer & Nosh chronicles a meal at Napa veggie restaurant Ubuntu: Gorg pics, delicious-looking eats, and yoga mats. Of course.
The Daily Feed takes a close-up look at a couple of Mission Pie's berry and stone fruit beauties, with corny puns worthy of the dad who humiliates you in front of friends.
Foodhoe photo-logs a home-cooked Indian feast. Warning: If you're totally tripping on mushrooms right now? Don't look at the pakoras.
Food and the City waxes bitter about last week's kick-off street-food market at Ferry Plaza, but nevertheless files pretty pics of eats from Tacolicius and Namu.
Finally, Stephanie Im of Lick My Spoon (and Bay Area Bites) [hearts] the Cuban sandwiches at Paladar so much she wants to marry them. No, really.
No doubt bacon and potato chips are the two favorite food groups of many a SFoodie reader. Turns out you may soon be able to combine the two, thanks to an emerging street-food vendor named Bill (last name withheld for licensing reasons).
Last Friday, Burrito Justice was on the scene in Dolores Park to snag a bag of Bill's bacon potato chips, on what turned out to be his first foray into vending (he does something that sounds seriously boring for a high-tech company during the day). Bill showed up with a second batch the following Sunday.
Yesterday Bill shared his secrets with SFoodie (steal them and Bill
WILL find you). He slices and fries up ordinary russets in vegetable oil, but with an innovation sure to send a ripple through the hearts of the LDL-unconcerned: He tosses bacon into the oil. When the chips are drained and seasoned, the fried and crumbled bacon joins them, with an extra piece on top. Just for eye candy, as it were."I'm not a cook by trade," Bill said. "I just came up with a recipe I thought was decent. When I went to Dolores Park, it was amazing how it took off. People were literally rushing over to me." Bill told us he may well be out in the Mission again this weekend. Consult his Twitter feed for updates.
Former state senator (and Oakland mayoral candidate) Don Perata was closer to the mark last week when he was quoted saying: "I'll put our top 10 restaurants against the top 10 in San Francisco any day." He didn't list them, apparently. But when Perata's state-leased Dodge Charger was carjacked from under him in Temescal last year, he was mere blocks from Doña Tomas, Pizzaiolo, and Bakesale Betty, three superb Oakland destinations. In 2007, the Doña Tomas owners opened Flora, a New American spot in Uptown, whose neighbors include Luka's Taproom, Ozumo, and the upscale Southern place Pícan.
Last week, we took a look at some of the best gourmet hot dogs to be had in the U.S. But transforming fast food icons into haute-cuisine goodies doesn't end with the wiener. We've rounded up some of our favorite spots that put a gourmet spin on fast food.
| The quarter rack: plush and unctuous. |
The smoked St. Louis ribs ($8 for a quarter slab, about four ribs) were plush and unctuous, clad in a coffee-colored crust and with a subtle smokiness.
| Move over, Little Skillet. |
They're Niman, dry rubbed and smoked 4 ½ hours over hickory. The accompanying barbecue sauce had restrained heat and a tart Tabasco twang. A grilled Hobbs Calabrese link po' boy ($8) was fantastic, thanks to the juxtaposition of soft torpedo, coarse Creole mustard, and long-sweated onions and red peppers.
A serious disappointment: The fried-chicken sandwich ($8). The bird had the restaurant's tasty signature coating -- textural as a popcorn ceiling -- but the flesh was icy cold. Not even vinegary, jalapeño-flecked slaw could warm the thing. And scale-thin Old Bay potato chips ($2) were un-greasy, but, okay, could've used a shake or two more salt and spice.
Look for the courtyard barbecue during Town Hall's usual lunch hours, weekdays 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Oh, and pack a stack of Wet Naps in your man purse. More photos after the jump.
Still haven't seen Food, Inc.? Your procrastination is paying off, for once. Catch a free screening of the startling film -- sponsored nationwide by the burrito chain Chipotle -- on Thursday, July 16, at Embarcadero Center Cinema (One Embarcadero Center) at 7:30 p.m. Get there super early to guarantee yourself a seat; you know how people can be when it comes to free things.
More info on Chipotle's screenings is here, and to get in the spirit before you go to the theater, read SFoodie Editor John Birdsall's conversation with Food, Inc. director Robert Kenner.
Alfred Peet's tea legacy lives on -- in the fridge. Peet was originally from Holland, and grew up in the coffee and tea trade before opening his first store in Berkeley's Gourmet Ghetto in 1966, long before there was such a thing. Now, just in time for S.F.'s fog-shrouded summer, Peet's bottled iced teas have hit the market.
The drinks come in 15-ounce bottles, with flavors that include Snow Leopard, Little Dragon, Jade Green, and Moroccan Mint. Exotic, no? The unsweetened Summer House Citrus
we guzzled was crisp, refreshing, and mellow -- you might just want to add lemon and/or a sweetener of choice. These "all-natural" bottled iced teas are thankfully devoid of any weird sweet or off flavors. And, despite coming off as undersweetened, they contain pure cane sugar in place of high-fructose corn syrup. Cost: $1.59.Get your iced tea drink on at six Peet's locations in San Francisco: 555 Ninth St. at Bryant; 450 Sansome at Clay; 595 Market at Second St.; 1400 Van Ness at Bush; in the Ferry Building; and 3419 California at Laurel. You can also score some at Costco in Mountain View and Novato. A Peet's rep confirmed they'll likely make it to more Costcos soon -- who knows, maybe just in time for the autumnal swelter of September and October.
| Meredith Brody |
| The Outer Sunset cafe offers relief from summer's chill. |
That excellent lévain was put to good use in a big Black Forest ham open-face topped with sweet caramelized onions and N.Y. cheddar ($8), with a cup of celery soup sprinkled with crunchy breadcrumbs ($3 with a sandwich, $6 for a bowl with toast). A slice of cherry-plum pie ($4) was amazing. Co-owner and dessert baker Lana Porcello (with David Muller) often hangs out with baby Leithian, which only adds to Outerlands' quirky but very real charm.
| Meredith Brody |
| Soup and sandwich combo: Hearty. |
The small-plates dinner menu is more ambitious than lunch (the chef, a veteran of Range and Serpentine, told us he wants to stay anonymous). Prices range from $2.50 to $13.50, and the dishes might include corn chowder with roasted peppers and marinated cherry tomatoes, baked macaroni and cheese, and fish stew with a spicy tomato-fennel broth. And we hear the caramelized apple and duck Dutch pancakes, baked eggs, and bacon of Sunday brunch are spectacular.
Outerlands 4001 Judah (at 45th Ave.), 661-6140
Let's do lunch:
Go vivid. Opt for SF Weekly food critic Meredith Brody's picks of tom kha kai (chicken and coconut milk soup) and pad kra prow moo krob (pork belly with basil and sweet peppers) at Lers Ros Thai (730 Larkin at O'Farrell, 931-6917).
Drink therapy:
Tiny bar, huge patio, and the roilingest mass of diversity this side of the Island of Misfit Toys, animated with $3 pints and wells and $5 Bloody Mary pints: El Rio (3158 Mission at César Chavez, 282-3325), 5-9 p.m.
It's pizza and a beer night: $5 cheese pies and $1 off the night's featured beer, or get 'em both for $7 at patio-licious Mars Bar and Restaurant (798 Brannan at Seventh St., 621-6277), 5-9 p.m.
