When the ancient Polynesians invented surfing, they often used a paddle to help them navigate. Fast-forward a few millennia, and Stand-Up Paddleboarding, or SUP, finds itself trendy again. Part of its increasing popularity is that standing upright allows surfers to spot waves more easily and thus catch more of them, multiplying the fun factor. Paddling back to the wave becomes less of a strain as well. The ability to cruise along on flat inland water, surveying the sights, is another advantage. Finally, it’s a good core workout. If you’re sold on the idea, schedule an intro SUP lesson, free with board and paddle rental, and you may find yourself riding the waves like a Polynesian king.More
Many of us remember coming home from our elementary schools with freshly glazed pinchpots, cups, or whatever else our young imaginations could conjure up. Saturday mornings at the Randall Museum can bring that memory back, or create a new one for the youngsters. Ceramics make great gifts — especially on Mothers' and Fathers' Day. Hop on board for the Randall's once-weekly class, and for $6 and two weeks to have your work fired and glazed, you'll have all the materials you need.More
December is almost over - the New Year is coming up and everyone is busy drying off from the rain or holiday shopping. Let's take a look at what's happened this month.
B-gals: In different posts, the girls of SFAppeal mingle with the hammered and sweaty in the city's murky taverns. Last week, it was Katie Ann Doze sloughing brain cells in Outer Sunset alky pit Pittsburgh's Pub, apparently to sniff the epic cheese of a jukebox stacked with the Police, Hall & Oates, and Huey Lewis. Doze:
Pittsburgh's is the coolest. With its disemboweled pinball and arcade games, a working fireplace and one rapey, dark wooden booth, it's a bonafide dive bar, like the ones in Oakland. Because of this, my friend and I were only allotted a short amount of time here by our other friend, for fear we'd get too drunk and get into fights, never leave, or be murdered. I think he might have been right with all of the above.
Then on Monday, Ramona Emerson offered up a thesis tinged with bitter about San Franciscans' odd love for theme bars (she calls them "thematic"): Rickhouse, Bloodhound, The Parlor, Bourbon & Branch. Girl got issues:
Suspenders, VESTS!, unfinished wood paneling, lights so dim that you can't see three feet in front of you and the occasional password all perpetuate the myth that San Franciscans can only really enjoy drinking when they think it's the Prohibition, and apparently during the Prohibition it was very dark indoors, and everyone was a badass, because if they drank like a San Franciscan drinks they were pretty much breaking the law 24/7.
Sounds like somebody needs another Old Fashioned. Or maybe not?
A scene from a previous FMC dinner. Honestly, we have no idea who this guy is.
Named for the food restaurant workers sit down to during their shifts, the Family Meal Collective is a new underground (i.e., unpermitted) supperclub by a trio of working and would-be food professionals. Far be it from us to suggest you do anything illegal; we're just happening to note that FMC dinners are unrolling in undisclosed locations on consecutive Sundays this month, on Nov. 15 and 22. Organizers call each prix-fixe a "special communal dining experience": five courses served, um, family style. Course names for Sunday's dinner include a Parsnips and Eggs amuse, followed by Breakfast for Supper (slow-cooked chicken hash with roti, hummus, and quail eggs). The cost: $39, with an optional $13 for drink pairings.
As for the mystery hosts of FMC, we've had e-mail exchanges, and can reveal that they're a collaboration trifecta of a real-life restaurant chef, a self-described connoisseur of food and art, and a wannabe mixologist. Beyond that, our lips are sealed.
To request a spot for either dinner, e-mail info@familymealcollective.com
Curry Up Now: Poaching from established merchants?
In September, the Peninsula city of Burlingame got a spicy taste of taco-truck Indian food via Curry Up Now. But according to a story in the San Mateo County Times, the truck is leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of some of the city's brick-and-mortar merchants, who think it has no place in Burlingame's affluent downtown and want it gone. The Times' Mike Rosenberg reports that owners Akash and Rana Kapoor are complying with a police request to move the Curry Up Now truck 500 feet every 30 minutes.
"The appearance of the new Curry Up Now food truck in downtown Burlingame ... has irked some restaurateurs and business leaders who pay high rents in the area," Rosenberg writes. "City officials and police, meanwhile, have begun fielding complaints and investigating the legality and rules surrounding lunch trucks, and they may ask the owner to move to an industrial area near the Bay."
The Kapoors argue they're not stealing business away from anybody. Rosenberg reports that Akash Kapoor reckons some 20 to 30 percent of diners come from dozens of miles away -- visitors who are likely to patronize Burlingame's brick and mortar shops. Customers can keep up with Curry Up Now's shifting whereabouts through tweets, some that list its GPS coordinates.
A planned meeting with city officials, business leaders, and the Kapoors might result in Curry Up Now having to move out of downtown. Read an interview with Akash Kapoor from early October on Cyrus Farivar's California Taco Trucks blog.
Pastries from Sandbox show polished French technique.
UPDATE Nov. 13: The new target launch date is Dec. 1, plus read an expanded list of cafe's selling Sandbox morning pastries here.
Sunday is the expected launch date for Sandbox (835 Cortland at Gates), the long-awaited Bernal bakery and sandwich café from ex-Slanted Door pastry chef Mutsumi Takehara and husband Mike Bradford. Can't wait till then? You can get a taste of Takehara's quietly accomplished breakfast pastries at The Creamery (685 Fourth St. at Townsend).
Born in Japan, Takehara trained at La Farine in Oakland before moving on to a brief stint at Chez Panisse and longer gigs at Rubicon and, of course, The Slanted Door. Judging from the croissants and Danish ($2 each) in The Creamery's case, La Farine's traditional aims and polished French technique seem to have exercised a big influence on the pastry chef's style. Though Takehara is expected to play with Asian flavors at Sandbox, don't expect mind-tweaking combinations or into-the-void juxtapositions.
Indeed, Takehara might be S.F.'s anti-Villavelazquez. Her airy croissants exude a kind of phantom butteriness, the blueberry Danish a disciplined focus on sweet-tart fruit. Scones -- like the blackberry one pictured above -- feel a bit looser, more informal. The thing we like best among Sandbox's morning line? The small muffins - especially the bran, with its tender and elastic crumb, and its dark distillation of molasses-y sweetness. Banana's good, too.
PostedByMary Ladd
on Thu, Nov 12, 2009 at 12:20 PM
Blue Chair Fruit Company
Get ready to cock your pinky and get all air-kissy. Tonight, artisan jam maker Blue Chair Fruit is celebrating high tea from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Paul Mahder Gallery (3378 Sacramento at Walnut) in Presidio Heights. The free event offers a chance to sample food in an artsy setting. Dip and nibble oh-so delicately on three jam and marmalade pairings, with three different scones by chef Afreen Wahad of local catering company Cuisine Afreen. Puerh tea will be served. You can also learn about Blue Chair owner Rachel Saunders' preserving process, with -- natch -- plenty of jams and gift bags for sale.
Think of it as getting permission to drink 20 percent more.
The November blitz is coming, and it won't be wearing a Dallas Cowboys jersey. The yearly Bi-Rite Market Wine Blitz is an oakier, more elegant affair. Today through Sunday at 9 p.m. (and again from Dec. 10 through Dec. 13), the store is offering 20 percent off on all case purchases of wine. Time to stock up on, say, Fanucchi Trousseau Gris or Robert Sinskey Merlot for your winter bacchanals. And if you don't want to brave Muni with all those bottles, Bi-Rite will deliver -- for free -- anywhere in San Francisco. Questions? E-mail Trac@BiRiteMarket.com, or call 241-9760.
PostedByTamara Palmer
on Thu, Nov 12, 2009 at 10:30 AM
thexocolatebar.com
Chocolate Mayan calendar by local artisan the Xocolate Bar.
This weekend's Holiday Chocolate Show will host nearly 30 local independent confectioners, and should prove to be a good spot for scoring some thoughtful and beautiful holiday gifts, taking a snapshot of the range of ideas and presentations bubbling up in the Bay Area, or just sampling yourself silly on freebies.
In a list of high-quality vendors that our extensive research has found are pretty much all worth a nibble, there are a few stand outs: Emeryville's Charles Chocolates for triple chocolate almonds, Scotts Valley's Chocolate Visions for thick bars, Berkeley's the Xocolate Bar for edible (and sometimes erotic) art, Oakland's Coco Delice for peanut butter bonbons, and S.F.'s Neo Cocoa for classic truffles. Hit these up first before the pickin's get slim.
The cacao-fueled adventure takes place this Saturday, Nov. 14, from noon to 5 p.m. at Herbst Pavilion (99 Marina, in Fort Mason Center). Tickets are $21 ($11 children); get more info and purchase tickets at the official site.
PostedByMary Ladd
on Thu, Nov 12, 2009 at 10:20 AM
Zingerman's
Console yourself with bacon. Lots and lots of bacon.
Bad news, bacon fans, or at least a mixed bag. Due to a medical emergency, writer-gourmand-shop owner Ari Weinzweig cannot travel. Meaning he won't be at The Pasta Shop in Oakland (5655 College at Shafter) tonight to sign copies of his new bacon tome, Zingerman's Guide to Better Bacon: Stories of Pork Bellies, Hush Puppies, Rock 'n' Roll and Bacon Fat Mayonnaise (Zingerman's Press, $29.99). The Pasta Shop is still putting on a free bacon tasting from 4 to 6 p.m., however, and can arrange to have the author inscribe books. Or just wait till Jan. 16, when Weinzweig is due to appear at Omnivore Books (3885A Cesar Chavez at Church).
PostedByTamara Palmer
on Thu, Nov 12, 2009 at 9:31 AM
bookcellarinc.com
Just don't put turkey in the cupcakes, okay?
Iron Cupcake San Francisco is in a savory state of mind right now. Last month's bout took on the theme of Oktoberfest, and this month the attention turns to the even broader challenge of representing Thanksgiving in cupcake form.
There's still plenty of time to brainstorm ideas for this competition, which takes place Monday, Nov. 23, at 7 p.m. at Leland Tea Company (1416 Bush at Polk). Bakers need to preregister by the 22nd and will get in free. It's five bucks for the rest of us, but that includes a house tea to drink and copious amounts of what's sure to be an interesting array of cupcakes.
While the organizers do list turkey in their list of suggested
ingredients, we implore you to avoid the bird altogether. That's just
The upscale steakhouse is being axed -- er, cleavered.
The Chronicle's Michael Bauer reported on his blog last night that Acme Chophouse (24 Willie Mays Plaza at AT&T Park) is closing December 31. Rumors have been swirling for at least a year about the upscale steakhouse that emphasizes sustainable sourcing. Managing chef-partner Traci Des Jardins cited the difficulty of filling 330 seats during baseball's off season. Baseball fans (and others) will still be able to get their food and drink on at the AT&T Park anchor restaurant, thanks to a more casual concept that will replace Acme sometime next year. Acme head chef Thom Fox will stay on for the new venture -- earlier, he tweeted to Edible San Francisco that "We will still keep true to all things that we believe. Source, cook & serve good, clean & just food."
Sub Pop recording artists 'clipping.' brought their brand of noise-driven experimental hip hop to the closing night of 2016's San Francisco Electronic Music Fest this past Sunday. The packed Brava Theater hosted an initially seated crowd that ended the night jumping and dancing against the front of the stage. The trio performed a set focused on their recently released Sci-Fi Horror concept album, 'Splendor & Misery', then delved into their dancier and more aggressive back catalogue, and recent single 'Wriggle'.
Opening performances included local experimental electronic duo 'Tujurikkuja' and computer music artist 'Madalyn Merkey.'"
