Are there any actual rock stars?: It's kind of a Manhattan bitch fight, really. But in advance of a Nightline segment ("Butchers: New Rock Stars of the Culinary World") Grub Street New York gets kind of pissy about what it regards a mugging of the original New York mag piece about the sexy-burly world of meat cutters (Grub Street being New York mag's food blog bitch). None of that is totally interesting, except that, in whining, Grub Street scrapes down to the bone our current fascination with guys like Ryan Farr and Nate Appleman. Behold a few of Grub Street's pointers on propagating the butcher-as-Tommy Lee meme:
• Associate the "hotness" of butchers with the breakdown of animal carcasses.
• Mention of tattoos is optional, but definitely perv out on "muscled forearms."
• Get one of the young butchers to say they don't feel like rock stars.
Get it? Long after meat has become a quick-grow commodity about as sexy as a prosthesis, we're sporting major wood for guys who behead animal carcasses -- preferably before our very eyes, Porkapalooza style. The Nightline piece includes this: Josh Ozersky, national restaurant editor at CitySearch.com and a self-professed meat guru, said that people have a gut reaction that draws them to the gore, the blood and the violence of butchering. "Let's face it, there's something very erotic about seeing whole animal carcasses cut up," said Ozersky. Yeah baby.
The study asked nearly 1,700 healthy women (average age: 48) to come clean about their drinking habits. Researchers than performed ultrasounds of their hands. Surprise: beer-drinkers' bones were denser. Why hands? Simple -- the bones in the fingers are usually the first to show signs of osteoporosis, the bone disease that opens the door to fractures.
Women who downed less than a pint on a daily basis (so-called light beer drinkers) had bones just as strong as those in women who were moderate drinkers. What does it mean? Well, even sipping small amounts of suds regularly can make bones healthier. The researchers believe that beer's silicon and phytoestrogens (plant versions of oestrogen) cause the bones of women who imbibe to end up stronger.
Bottoms up to that.
Hackett and Melville, who live in Oakland, looked at various East Bay sites before settling on JLS. "We're going in to what used to be an ice warehouse, built in 1926, with almost 22-foot ceilings," he told us. As for the food, expect vivid flavors from both poles of the hemisphere. "We're calling it a Pan-American kitchen. We want to draw from South American, Central American, Mexican, and also North American food and techniques. We're not trying to be strictly authentic, but always delicious."
Hackett is especially enthusiastic about the local and sustainable ingredients he and Melville have sourced. "We've got local farmers planting special varieties of peppers, chilies, potatoes, and some heirloom beans for us," he said. "And culantro, which is like cilantro but a little heartier." Hackett is expecting big things from the food-hall slated to launch in the Square next June. "We're getting grass-fed beef finished for six weeks on grain from the butcher that will be moving in there, and his organic air-chilled chicken, which is the best I've ever tasted. Rabbit, too."
Hackett's taking a risk. Not only is Bocanova's menu sprawling, he'll continue to oversee the kitchen at MarketBar, where critics (this one included) have found the food to be solid if not always stellar.
| Bunrabs |
| A pre-exile Yoon in 2007. |
A one-time presence on Townsend near Second Street, Seoul on Wheels lost its permit to do business in S.F. late last year -- a misunderstanding, Yoon said, about where her truck was permitted to park. Since January, Yoon's been trying to get Seoul on Wheels running again. Starting Monday -- Tuesday, maybe -- Yoon will park weekdays near the main gates of the Pixar campus (Park Street at San Pablo Avenue) in Emeryville. Expect the classic Seoul on Wheels menu, including the Daniel Burger, a double cheeseburger topped with spicy Korean pork and kimchi. Hours are 10 or 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 or 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The hiatus hasn't been all bad. Yoon said it's given her the chance to develop Korean tacos: flour tortillas filled with one of five proteins plus lettuce, scallions, sweet pickled daikon, Mexican crema, and chile paste. They'll be Seoul on Wheels' offering at the Eat Real Festival in Oakland later this month.
As for Yoon's grand return to the 415? She's hoping to be back sometime this fall. Follow Seoul o Wheels on Twitter to check her progress.
Peruse the posters at the 4505 Web site, but keep in mind that it can be tough to choose. For this blogger, there was something about "Crispity Clouds of Porkaliciousness" that caused it to barely edge out "Frisco Pig Was a Friend of Mine." though "Pork, The Noun" wasn't without its charms. Each poster measures about 14" by 22", and is signed and fingerprinted (in lard) by Farr. Once you place an order, expect a Pay Pal invoice from 4505. The price includes the cost of shipping in a secure mailing tube.
That lard fingerprint is a cool concept. No telling if a picture framer will feel the same way.
Through the end of August, the Grand Café (501 Geary at Taylor) will treat you to a boeuf bourguignon (with pearl onions, mushrooms, and carrots) for $13.50, half the regular price, when you show them your Julie & Julia ticket stub. (Escargots, huitres, and tarte tatin, also glimpsed in the film, available at regular prices.) And if the scenes of Julia's love-in-the-afternoon lunchtime frolics with husband Paul arouse appetites in you that are even more carnal, allow us to remind you that the adjacent Hotel Monaco has rooms for rent.
pickyourown.org
Gayle Okumura Sullivan of Dry Creek Peach and Produce in Healdsburg, one of the last peach farms in all of Northern California, will join Omnivore Books owner Celia Sack in hosting a special tasting of Dry Creek's heirloom yellow and white peaches. They'll also oversee a canning swap of your homemade peach preserves (if you're so inclined with an apron).
Okumura should also be able to give you pointers on what else to do with these beauties, from snappy salsa to tipsy bellinis. The free event takes place on Thursday, September 3rd, from 6 to 7 p.m. at Omnivore Books (3885A Cesar Chavez at Church).
The Theresa and Johnny's site explains the event this way: "We are going for a chef's night out kind of vibe. We are hoping to entice a wide range of cooks, chefs, and other like minded folks to come and cook for you, for us." Expect 10 savory and two sweet dishes next week. Highlights include Not Your Mothers Foil Wrapped Chicken ($5), duck taco with pickled veggies and hoisin aioli ($7), and nine-mushroom ginger soba salad ($8). The peach ice cream for one dessert is reportedly coming from Humphrey Slocombe, and Burnside said she's planning to use custom-made soba and potsticker wrappers.
Guests are asked to pay with cash only; corkage is $5. Profits benefit the Ritter Center (each Night Kitchen will benefit a different nonprofit). Full menu at Theresa & Johnny's.
Looking to get adventurous with your food choices or just gross out your date? We've compiled a list of some of the freakiest foods available, along with the restaurants (and festivals) that serve them. Warning: Don't read this before dinner.
