Rock the vote: Yesterday we questioned Sara Deseran's ear-tweaking of Chron critic Michael Bauer for not, well, controlling his man better. To recap: Mrs. Bauer -- aka Michael Murphy -- posted what 7x7's Deseran blasted as an indiscreet tweet about a restaurant (presumably Commis). Murphy hated; Deseran hated on Bauer for (presumably again) hating on Commis (presumably), and also, we guess, for not keeping some pimpish grip on his squeeze's Twitter finger. Get it?
Today, Eater took a step back deployed some critical analysis: "In many ways, this is a new technology (and food media) issue bigger than this particular debate. So, it's probably best to do the only thing logical: put the question to the masses!"
So what do the masses think? As of 5:21 p.m. and 213 votes, it was 65.3 percent in favor of exercising more caution on Twitter, and 34.7 percent for letting people do whatever the hell they like. Roughly, we guess, the same percentage that has issues with Mr. Bauer in general.
The project is said to be financed by developer David Addington, owner of the Warfield, and partner with Foreign Cinema owners Gayle Pirie and John Clark in Show Dogs. Biz Times suggests the restaurant project might give a boost to a measure on the November ballot in San Francisco -- Prop D -- which seeks to revitalize the battered Mid-Market area.
The kitchen team includes veterans of Taqueria Pancho Villa, and the menu offers standard taqueria fare -- tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and salads, plus daily specials. Expect a wine and beer license (The Creamery itself should begin selling wine and beer as early as next week). More photos after the jump.
The Hunger Challenge is a project of local food banks, bloggers (including Cooking with Amy's Amy Sherman, who gave us the heads up), CBS 5 ConsumerWatch reporter Sue Kwon, and recipe developers. Kwon will float cost-effective recipes during the challenge (let's hope they don't include the words "Top Ramen"). Organizers hope to raise awareness and donations -- last year, Tyson Foods donated 200,000 pounds of protein to Bay Area food banks. One fact that leaves us a little breathless: A 20 spot can translate into $180 worth of groceries via the San Francisco Food Bank.
If you feel up for trying the Hunger Challenge for a day, or even the whole week of September 20-26, e-mail HungerChallenge@SFFB.org so organizers can add your experiences to the event blog.
Ingredients for Wild Kitchen meals are foraged the day of the event. Here's the proposed menu in all its wild splendor (naturally, when you're talking day-of sourcing, elements are subject to change):
• Fire-roasted chestnuts (an amuse-bouche)
• Fried smelt with foraged lemon and vanilla fried potatoes with garlic-nasturtium aïoli
• Intermezzo of eucalyptus-huckberry sorbet
• A charcuterie plate of wild boar prosciutto, sweet pickled sea beans, chicken liver pâté, porchetta di testa, and guanciale
• Wild nettle tea
• Poached local albacore tuna with sweet corn, heirloom tomatoes, and tempura fried sea beans
• Corn ice cream with foraged blackberries
Green & Tonic is a startup that works with bar owners to reduce waste and energy use, helping with everything from biodegradable straws to composting -- hey! The G&T firm (gotta say, it's a catchy name) is also into local and sustainable adult bevies. Tomorrow, the Green & Tonic folks are putting on what they're calling a Zerowasted Pub Crawl to the following "green" bars: Doc's Clock, Casanova Lounge, and Elixir. Expect discounted drinks, a green auction, and a sustainable scavenger hunt. It starts at Doc's Clock (2575 Mission at 22nd St.) at 4 p.m., Saturday, September 19, heads to Casanova (527 Valencia at 16th St.) at 5:30, then on to Elixir (3200 16th St. at Guerrero) at 7 p.m. Feel better already? Wait'll you get a few sustainable drinks in you.
Alcohol and dairy as dessert -- well, that's a different matter altogether, something celebratory, quirky, and whimsical. Brooklyn Bowl in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., is a Blue Ribbon-curated BW3s plus pins for the neighborhood's (literally) well-heeled bowlers and semi-ironic sports fans. Its bourbon shakes -- according to Bloomberg, "not too thick...a hint of Nutella with a sweet whiskey sting" -- are 13 bones, pricier than cocktails at Beretta. If you like your sweets spiked, we have similar concoctions closer to home: Sauce's Guinness milkshake (with white chocolate and cream), Rudy's Can't Fail Café's Shakin' Jesse (chocolate ice cream, Guinness, and espresso), and, of course, all sorts of revolving boozy flavors at Humphry Slocombe. So long as you have just one.
The place could also be called Good Morning Vietnam, since it offers Vietnamese spring rolls ($3.95) and five spice-grilled chicken or pork chop over rice ($6.25). China represents via baked rice Hong Kong style ($6.50-$7.50), served with your choice of coconut, tomato, black pepper, or cheese sauces. Pure comfort food -- and workers in those nearby high rises could certainly use some comfort these days.
Hi-Tea does both a brisk lunch business and a second wave, near closing time, at 5:30, when office cube denizens heading for home pick up expertly packaged takeout. Hi-ho BART and Muni.
Hi-Tea 110 Bush (at Battery), 391-3322. Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Sat. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Closed Sun.
Rosner skirts this issue and sticks it -- really sticks it -- to the book, leveling a dizzying parade of charges: Pim wants to be Rachael Ray, except fancier and more than a little elitist. Her book is poorly organized. Her descriptions of the ways foods taste are weak and uninspiring. She hangs her hat on an overused buzzword -- "foodie" -- but clings to "a frustratingly undemocratic definition of what qualifies." Rosner scorches on: "In her list of fifty things that foodies must do in their life, she tosses off decrees with the oblivious nonchalance of a socialite: we aren't granted the title of foodie if we try for a table at El Bulli; we receive that honor only if we manage to actually get one...shouldn't the goal here be finding pleasure in the daily act of sustenance? Being a foodie isn't something you do for show, it's what you are even when no one is looking."
Now, we haven't read the book, so we're just going to hang back, fan at the smoke, and chuckle, but the first comment to Rosner's review begs a semi-fresh question worth paring away from the fray. According to the commenter known only as ~m, "most bloggers shouldn't write anything longer than 500 words" -- presumably meaning that Techamuanvivit should have stuck to the rivers and lakes she was used to. In his or her general expressed sentiment, ~m is probably correct. A blog is often essentially a diary of a person's ongoing relationship with something very broad -- like food, sports, or movies -- or alternately, something very specific -- like Things My Date Really Said Last Night. The blog form doesn't always easily translate to a fully realized, coherent, focused treatise. In addition, a lot of bloggers write as if they're running out of breath. Many would surely love to sling their lifestyles à la Pim. All the same, couldn't it work the other way around too? Isn't blogging in its most evolved state by now some kind of an art form as well? Should even serious scribes with books under their belts and lofty contributing editor positions at respected magazines think twice before starting up a blog just because the kids are doing it? We're not suggesting M.F.K. Fisher would have been a shitty blogger, just wondering if the particular issue isn't to some extent a two-way street.
