Say wha?: Behold our roundup of the most confounding recent snippets from S.F. bloggers. Naturally, we've freed these WTF wonders from anything even vaguely distracting -- like context. For that, broseph, you'll have to click.
--Meghan Laslocky at Bay Area Bites
--tenderblogois at Tenderblog
Think last night's burrito made you sick? Even the worst food poisoning from the grubbiest taqueria is nothing compared to what might happen if you chow down on these really deadly foods.
In case 22-ounce bottles of beer brewed with six malts, six hops, and an alcohol content of 6.66 percent (get it?) isn't quite enough to get your personal freak on, consider this: For Freaktoberfest, Schmaltz has laid on an appearance by the Hubba Hubba Revue. Comedy! Striptease! Variety acts! No less an authority than SF Weekly named Hubba Hubba 2009's Best Burlesque Revue, featuring Bunny Pistol, Pin Key Lee, Sid Scenic, and Honey Lawless.
So make sure you're over 21 and bring money. Five bucks gets you in the door; inside, you'll get $1 off pints of Schmaltz's Coney Island Lager, and find $5 bottles of Coney Island Human Blockhead. Get freaky, people.
Born and bred in Pleasant Hill in the East Bay, Fulk worked as a prep cook at LMNO in Oakland (now defunct), did catering for the California Shakespeare Festival in Orinda, then crossed the continent to work as a chef on a farm in upstate New York for a summer. "Every chef wants to make it in New York," Fulk told SFoodie. He considers himself lucky to have landed at Trestle on Tenth, a Swiss-influenced New American restaurant in Chelsea.
The goateed chef, who never won a single challenge, thinks Top Chef's judging process is grueling. "It's very long and very nuanced. Even in a restaurant review, you don't get a dish broken down like that. Listening to people say 'you suck' 10 different ways." He even had something good to say about this season's bête noire, Robin. "Throw her some props, she's had a successful restaurant, which I haven't." But his courtliness vanished when it came to Padma: "I'm sure she's a lovely person, but I don't really want her at my dinner party."
Dosa's Spicy Sweet Scallops
Yield: Two servings
4 tablespoons maple syrup (preferably organic)
1 ½ teaspoons lime juice (more to taste)
4 Thai chiles, finely chopped
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 sprigs cilantro, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for the bell pepper
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
6 scallops
Salt and pepper to taste
Microgreens for garnishing
In an acknowledgment, perhaps, that some 2009 festival-goers were frustrated by long food lines and sold-out vendors, Coss said that, instead of offering food on just Saturday and Sunday, next year's vendors would be hawking food on Friday, too. An estimated 70,000 showed up for this year's three-day event in August, which organizers deemed a success. And a blueprint -- with relatively minor tweaks -- for next year's festival. "We want more food, we want more days of food, and we really want to celebrate food craft," Coss said. The only other significant difference from 2009 is that the Jack London Square market is expected be operational by next summer, so JLS Partners will be in charge of the Eat Real Market. A reformatted Eat Real Fest Web site goes live tomorrow. Meanwhile, vendor applications are already available for download at the current site.
This spectacular meal-closer was ostensibly invented by Jules Alciatore of Antoine's restaurant back in the 1890s, but we prefer to believe it was first concocted half a century earlier by one Dominique Youx, who was not only privateer Jean Lafitte's top lieutenant, he was the philosopher who first came up with the adage "Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker" (albeit in French). Whatever its culinary heritage, the drink has concluded many a swellegant New Orleans supper for well over a century. And if you can't raise the funds for a trip to Galatoire's or Antoine's, you can wow your friends by preparing it at your next dinner party.
Traditionalists might want to invest in a special copper brûlot bowl, but a chafing dish works just fine. Remove the peel from two oranges and two lemons in long unbroken spirals. Stud each peel with three whole cloves. Muddle together six lumps of sugar and a cinnamon stick in a chafing dish over low heat. Add the studded citrus peel, a cup of brandy, and 2 ounces curaçao. Step back and ignite the brandy, stirring everything together with a long-handled ladle and (this is the showbiz part) lifting the peel so the liquid fire drips down the spirals. Slowly add a quart of good strong Creole coffee and continue stirring until the flames die. Serve this thick, sweet, spicy brew in demitasse cups with plenty of Sid Catlett, Irma Thomas, Terence Blanchard, and Champion Jack Dupree.
