It's Food Porn Friday, making this the second food porn Doggy Bag this week. If only online porn at home were merely a two-per-week habit.
Frothy: We kick things off with a scroll through a megapixel love letter to City Beer Store, courtesy of Beer & Nosh -- pics likely to make a man work up a mighty thirst.
What, her car's been in the shop?: Becks & Posh discovers the glories of Kitchenette. Better late than never, wot?
Flavor flashback: Cooking With the Single Guy turns up at Nopa. The food looks just as lovely as it did last time we tasted it.
Fruit fetishist: Food Gal gets so close to a clutch of figs, we had to push our office chair back. Amazing.
Freaky Friday: And finally, Weird Vegetables ' Kale Daikon shares a little something she picked up in New York -- scary carrot homunculi with swollen, cracked-looking legs and tapering penis-like things. Now that we mention it, sounds like a great start to a weekend in San Francisco. Enjoy, everybody.
This year's team includes Philippe Striffeler of the Hotel Nikko, Ty Mahler of Roy's, Scott Whitman of Sushi Ran, Arturo Moscoso from the Inn at Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach, and Damon Bartham of the California Culinary Academy (the CCA has been providing practice kitchens, and will send five of its top students as assistants).
Striffeler told SFoodie that each chef has his own specialty. "I do the appetizers, but also the organization," he said "making sure they're all on time. I'm Swiss, after all!" San Francisco's Asian Chefs Association counts among its members many non-Asians like Striffeler, a veteran of kitchens in Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan, and Vietnam. Ty Mahler of Roy's, who was on the 2007 team, enjoys the camaraderie. "We work together so well," he said. "We break it down, like a French brigade. Scott and I specialize in seafood, but I like doing it all."
| audaciousink.wordpres.com |
| Julia Child: Nicer in the kitchen than she was to gays? |
Like a DVR whose contents never get erased, Blair Bodie's piece is clogged with references to actual episodes. (Blair: Please tell us you have a really good memory, and aren't watching old Tony shows over and over again, like that creepy stalker girl watching that dude in Swimfan.) Now, we know Blair's entry might stir controversy -- technically, she did slightly exceed the 60-word limit we asked for (okay, she exceeded it by a lot). But she's so passionate, so informed, so fascinatingly OCD, we couldn't resist. Forgive us? Please?
Anthony Bourdain is simply the Iggy Pop of the epicurean circuit. He is the anti-celebrity chef who shows sommeliers the superiority of brewmeisters, and elevates meat-on-a-stick to filet mignon status. He doesn't dilly dally with presentation but gets down to the sensuality of food, making Connecticut cheese into food porn and the suckling pig of New Orleans something to be missed in the exotica of Sri Lanka. [Okay, we have no idea what this means.] Tony wastes no time in the kitchen, instead he fulfills all of our wanderlusts by white-water rafting in the Cahama River of New Mexico, cooking food in the geysers of the Azores, and conjuring memories of Lawrence of Arabia while riding on a camel's back in Saudi. While other chefs keep their business on the stove, Bourdain is eating on the right side of the law with CIA agents in Chadwick's of DC, and then showing us the land of gangster chefs going to battle over goose liver, or foie gras if you will, in the Windy City. Basically, Bourdain's eccentric approach to food teaches all how life should be lived: on the cutting edge of simplicity, saturated in the spice of life, and satiated by our tastes. When it comes to this man, I have no reservations.
| J. Birdsall |
| The shrimp salad sandwich: Subtly spiced with pimenton. |
Chef-owner Joshua Skenes thought he was close to rolling out Carte415 (it serves lunch weekdays) nearly three months ago. After enduring weeks of bureaucratic creep, he's done it, just in time to take advantage of peak summer produce. Early Girl tomato gazpacho ($5) had a fiercely concentrated sweetness and vivid textures (including nicely kibble-y croutons). And a salad of Yellow Doll melon and greens with ricotta salata, pistachios, a spritz of Meyer lemon, and vadouvan-spiced oil ($6) was simply the most eerily refined salad you'll eat out of a plastic bowl. Ever.
Carte415's shrimp salad sandwich (all sandwiches are $8) on Bakers of Paris brioche had a light, pimenton-spiked mayonnaise. Quince jam on the Boccalone charcuterie sandwich knew its place -- it kept a low profile, letting the meats be the focus. A Cowgirl three-cheese sandwich studded with grilled rapini and a cherry tomato relish would have been better hot from a griddle -- at room temp, the toasted bread was slightly leathery. Still, on its third day in business, Carte415 is quietly hawking some deeply satisfying food in an area where you might least expect it. More photos after the jump.
| M. Ladd |
| Circa's Erik Hopfinger, bearing tasty lamb chops. |
At the opening reception for SF Chefs.Food.Wine. in Union Square last night, several attendees were giggling over reports that horns had trumpeted the appearance of Mayor Gavin Newsom minutes earlier. SFoodie spotted Michael Bauer and other Chronicle food and wine staffers chatting up Newsom near the BIG tent's front entrance on Powell Street. Time for a glass of Domaine Chandon, to kick things off, yes?
While the festive and fun Los Compas band played, attendees strolled, sipping (cocktails, wine, or Fiji water) and eating. Some brave dancers later hit the floor to strut their stuff.
Many industry folks were in attendance, including chef Thomas Keller and Laura Cunningham (holding hands for much of the night), cookbook author Joanne Weir, Brock Keeling (SFist), Paolo Lucchesi (Eater SF), chefs Hubert Keller and Jamie Lauren, Patrick Haig (Citysearch), and catering maven Paula LeDuc. Bar stars included Brooke Arthur (her Smoke and Mirrors cocktail knocked us out in the best possible way), Martin Cate, Marco Dionysos, Reza Esmaili, Dominic Venegas, Thad Vogler, Neyah White, and Carlos Yturria.
| M. Ladd |
| Swear to god, these sausages on a stick almost caused a fight. |
Standout nibbles came from Erik Hopfinger of Circa, whose Moroccan-spiced lamb chops with chimichurri were succulent and tender. The scrum for a hot, spiced Eden Farms Pork Sausage with white Friulana polenta from Pizzeria Zanna Bianca almost got SFoodie in a girl fight (hey, we were there first, and had been waiting quite a few minutes).
SFoodie contributor Sam Prestianni may have caught him in a moment of pique
, but 5A5 Steak Lounge consulting chef Marc Vogel got plenty of love from Keller, who reportedly told the chef he liked his mushroom reduction appetizer best. It was flavorful, rich, and delicious. Besides, who are we to argue with Keller?
At Ghost Town Farm, Carpenter waxes enthusiastic about the upcoming Eat Real Festival, while detailing plans for an open house (free, donations accepted) at her farm on August 29. Sounds like chicken-slaughter and fire enthusiasts will have lots to take in on that one. A tour and snacks are included.
| Sam Prestianni |
Great idea: Bring together dozens of the Bay Area's top chefs, winemakers, and mixologists for a Dionysian dream date to spotlight San Francisco as the premier city of epicurean delights. Great causes: Feeding America, Meals on Wheels, the San Francisco Food Bank, and Project Open Hand, all standing to benefit from the inaugural four-day festival's pricey tickets. They range from $40 for late-night dessert and dancing ("Chocolate Enhancement") to $250 for a "Gala Dinner" at Union Square's posh St. Francis ("American Culinary Pioneer Awards"). The essential question: Is it worth it?
At the SF Chefs. Food. Wine. opening ceremony last night, Mayor Gavin Newsom lauded our one-of-a-kind city as a food and drink nirvana where "people come from all over the world" to intoxicate their palates with the city's "diversity, innovation, ... and entrepreneurial spirit." Of course, he was right. There was no shortage of exotic enticements in the spacious tent's various booths, which featured sufficient bite-sized tasties and classy adult beverages to satisfy sophisticated and ravenous gluttons alike.
