For starters, we'd go with this little tasting menu of sustainable food wisdom from Change.org: Five Foods You Should Avoid in 2010. We're not taking issue with all of what's included, exactly, just wondering if any of it is particularly helpful. Apart from some contrarian bellows from the likes of Bourdain (who, when he's not on the job, probably eats more like Alice Waters than he prefers to let on), we don't believe we've seen a whole lot of food people advocating their comrades fry up orange roughy, eat hormone-laced roast chickens, or savor Chilean strawberries in December. And foie gras? That's an issue perpetually ripe for discussion, but if only the wealthiest people in the world get to eat it, is it really worth lumping in with factory farms and high-fructose corn syrup, calorie sources for plebes?
Maybe our years in the Bay Area have given us a case of cultural amnesia, but we can't imagine anyone anywhere inclined to make a point of reading Change.org's list would feel particularly enlightened, especially since 2009 saw more people in more places get into eating as activism. Perhaps if it'd been published in the Weekly Standard or yelped into a microphone by Bill O'Reilly -- then that'd be news.
In lieu of the boozy hangover fighters you're used to, Piccino is offering up bread, eggs, and cheese in killer incarnations to start 2010 right.
In what's arguably a gesture of pure gluttony and celebration, owner Sher Rogat is topping pizzas with Sonoma foie today. "We're pulling out all the stops for New Year's," she told us. "I've never done a pizza with foie on it before, but I figure, why not?"
But while the foie is an extravagant gesture worthy of the holiday, a hangover toughest adversary might be Piccino's Salciccia, a pizza bianco topped with sausage made in house from Marin Sun Farms pork. Vegetarians might want to choose the Funghi, a mushroom-topped foe made more lethal with an oozing cap of deadly Bellwether Crescenza. Arm either with two freshly cracked Soul Food Farm egg bombs, and your hangover will no doubt head for the hills before the second course.Hangover killer numero duo is Piccino's free-form bread pudding, bearing possible seasonal weapons like persimmon and caramelized onions, maybe even pancetta. A microplaned snowfall of fresh Parmesan and a side of dressed bitter greens distract from the richness. Rogat suggests deploying a fresh citrus mimosa to go with either or both of these, an echo of last night's bubbly with a cheerful twist. We could get used to this.
Piccino 801 22nd St. (at Tennessee), 824-4224
You're at the threshold of another year of eating: Don't squander the moment on indifferent diner scrambles or -- god forbid -- the Starbucks muffin.
Instead, get yourself to Brenda's for a taste of New Year's luck, Southern style: black-eyed peas, collards, and corn bread (a special for the holiday). It'll be crowded for sure (face the fact that you'll send plenty of wait time on the pavement out front), but guess what: You'll be among your homies, fellow foodies with a keen sense of what to eat when.
And do us a favor? Once you are seated, savor every mouthful.
Brenda's French Soul Food 652 Polk (at Eddy), 345-8100
