Crimped and glazed: At Bay Area Bites, the increasingly excellent Andrew Simmons slices into pie.
Lettuce-leaf conspiracy: Michael Bauer copped to checking out the soft opening of Gussie's Chicken & Waffles last weekend, part of Between Meals' fried chicken roundup yesterday. He even published a pic of his plate, presumably, complete with what appears to be a garnish of ruffly lettuce leaf and orange slice. Very handsome. Now, we're one of the few food blogs in town that refuses to Bauerbash. Sure, we tweak his ear roguishly now and then for something in BM, but we absolutely -- absolutely -- refrain from nailing his man berries to the wall for alleged flaws in judgment. But hey, we went to Gussie's today, and our plate of waffles 'n' wings was completely void of garnishes. Were they a quickly scrapped bit of soft-opening frou-frou? Or did the kitchen know exactly who was sitting in the dining room? Paolo?
| Lone Binky/Flickr |
| It's the summer of Berry Lime Sublime. |
Soooo smooth-ie! This week, in an effort to help consumers get their "summer bliss" back -- by heading to stores, rather than, say, chilling on a beach somewhere -- Jamba Juice has a buy one, get one free special. If only it were that easy to find bliss beneath our summer-pattern fog and clouds....
Print the online coupon and use it at any stand-alone Jamba Juice location before the promo ends this Sunday, August 9 (no Safeway or Von's locations are offering the special) -- a Bay Area store locator link yielded 47 results. Classic Jamba smoothie flavors include Peach Pleasure, Berry Lime Sublime, Caribbean Passion, Mango-A-Go-Go, Citrus Squeeze and its cousin, Orange-A-Peel, and the vaguely porny-sounding Strawberries Wild.
| J. Birdsall |
| Leave your postmodern, New American notions at the host station. |
Probably a good idea, since there's no use even trying to eat the fried wings (a must-order option with the Signature Sweet Potato Waffles, $13.79) with knife and fork, and your fingers end up shiny. The chicken's garlicky from marinating, with a frizzled, seasoned-flour coating, not battered like the Colonel's.
The double stack of thin, sweet potato waffles are stretchy, chewy even -- like, in a good way. They taste like pumpkin pie spice, saltier than you expect. Flooded with syrup (we're guessing simple sugar and water fortified with blackstrap molasses), they begin to seem like thick, caramel-y crepes.
Forget your notions of postmodern, New American, neo-soul, Cali-meets-Harlem chicken and waffles: Gussie's is unapologetically old school.
| Beards (and dogs) are also welcome. |
| JonBauer/Flickr |
| Mon dieu. |
Established by Napoleon in 1802, the Legion is France's highest honor, appointed by the French President himself. It's technically reserved for French nationals only, but foreigners who (in the infallible words of Wikipedia) have served France or "the ideals it upholds" can receive what's known as a distinction of the Legion. Americans who've received it include Dwight Eisenhower and General Douglas MacArthur -- slightly strange company for a friend of Obama and ex-Montessori-school-teacher whose claim to fame started with opening a restaurant for friends in a ramshackle house in downtown Berkeley.
Still, if your bank account isn't so bountiful, you can always take the freebie volunteer route. No guarantee at this late date that you'll get an email response from organizers, but it's worth a try. Just don't pull the lamest volunteer stunt ever -- disappearing when it's time to clean up. Shame on you!
To make the most of the festival, we recommend these four events:
1. Thursday night's Opening Reception at Union Square, $125: See TyFlo and various chefs and bar talent (Brooke Arthur, Martin Cate, Marco Dionysos, Dominic Venegas, Thad Vogler, Carlos Yturria, Neyah White, Reza Esmaili) dish out the goods. Hey, since the reception is sponsored by the San Francisco Chronicle, you may even spot Michael Bauer! Chefs from Chez Papa Resto, Aziza, Pizzeria Zanna Bianca, Corso, Gitane/Café Claude, The Chef's Table, Circa, Butterfly, Absinthe, Poleng Lounge, Midi, RNM, Frances, and the Moss Room will be there.
| Jen Siska |
| The honey-walnut prawns at Mercury Lounge. |
A bridge-and-tunnel bar in SOMA is probably the last place you'd expect to taste well-made food, but that's just what SF Weekly food critic found this week at Mercury Lounge (1582 Folsom at 12th St.). Brody worked her way through a merienda of Filipino-tinged Asian dishes from a chef who spent time in the kitchens of Betelnut and Poleng Lounge. Go before the clubbers in their aviator sunnies and pleated minis show up (or, if you slip in for Sunday brunch, after) and it's possible to dine in relative peace. Find out which dishes had Brody popping later today at SFWeekly.com. Meantime, score a sample clip after the jump.
As of last night, Skenes wasn't ready to unveil Wednesday's opening menu. Expect salads and sandwiches made with seasonal produce and plenty of refined chef's touches.
Last month Skenes, a former chef for the Michael Mina restaurant group, launched a Sunday night prix-fixe at the Stable Café called Saison. Follow updates on Carte415 on Twitter.
