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.
For someone who lives in the downtown corridor — all right, the Tenderloin — the idea of going to Ocean Beach for pizza is rife with potential pratfalls: high Uber fares, lengthy Muni trips, ever-present fog, jet lag.
The island trend of Hawaiian-style poke, or raw fish/seafood dressed with a variety of sauces and fresh toppings, has been kicking around the West Coast mainland for a while, particularly in Los Angeles, where its lean protein-rich nature is a big hit with the diet and camera conscious.
The Hing Lung breakfast destined for immortality ― via PBS reruns.
Our favorite morsel from the blogs.
Not-so-secret breakfast:Last February, S.F. blogger Foodhoe detailed breakfast jook at Hing Lung in North Beach. Credit the reach of blogland: a year later, Rick Sebak ― a TV producer from Pittsburgh PBS station WQED ― reached out, asking Foodhoe to become guide for an episode of its upcoming morning food in America series, Breakfast Special. Read a description of the filming at Foodhoe's Foraging ― like, read it in Foodhoe's brilliant photos. Salted pork bone jook with boiled peanuts, ox tongue fried doughnut, dried shrimp rolls: Why, they're enough to make you want to devote yourself to breakfast all day.
PostedByBrian Yaeger
on Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 5:14 PM
Who says you only drink beer on Purim?
As a sort of pre-Passover party, local brewing company Shmaltz is taking over tonight at Coda Jazz and Supper Club, which hosts Live City Revue every Monday. A mishmash of irreverent music and theater is already par for the course. At tonight's Jewish Soul Food beer dinner, don't expect a neutral kosher ― parve ― course among the classic New York dishes paired with a few He'Brews.
In a highly unlikely intentional move, instead of 10 plagues, there will be 10 plates, all à la carte. Among the unkosher ― traif ― offerings, diners can choose small plates like chickpea and fava bean soup with smoked hamhocks braised in Shmaltz Genesis Ale, bacon-wrapped sweetbreads with wild mushrooms and pearl onions in a Messiah Bold Ale reduction, or the chopped Petaluma chicken livers with Shmaltz cracklins, or entrees such as crispy Marin pork belly with Jerusalem artichoke purée and bay scallops.
Hayes Valley's shuttered Essencia (pictured) will become the new home of an expanded Roland's Bakery.
When it closed in Lower Haight last month following a landlord disagreement, Roland's Bakery left uncertainty in its wake. Would owner Philip Roland and the building owner ever make nice? Turns out the answer is no. Roland's in the Lower Haight is closed for good. But Roland? He and partner Jennifer Westmoreland have rolled down the hill to Hayes Valley. Roland, Westmoreland, and two new partners hope to roll out Terra Bakery and Cafe featuring Roland's in mid-April at 401 Gough (at Hayes), ex- home of Essencia. There'll be a similar offering of bagels and other baked goods, along with an expanded café menu, including dinner, with beer and wine. "All though [sic] the other place is a bummer," Westmoreland said via e-mail, "this next shop will definitely be an upgrade and will allow Roland and myself to have days off. Yay!!! So kind of a blessing in disguise." Yay indeed.
As a daily windup to the Weekly's Best of S.F. 2010 on May 19, we've teased out 92 of our favorite local dishes that taste like here.
Number 41: Franklin's Teleme
Teleme is Northern California's other indigenous cheese (the first is Monterey Jack). A certain mystery clings to its origins, the way fog hugs the Bolinas shoreline. Some say 19th century cheese makers were attempting to make feta ― if so, they failed. Spectacularly. At the hands of 30-year cheese maker Franklin Peluso (whose grandfather is said to have developed it), Teleme has a bright tang and delicately elastic texture as satisfying to eat as softened shortbread dough. "It has a milkiness and a creaminess in the same bite," says San Francisco cheese writer Laura Werlin. "It has the best texture of any cheese I've ever had in my life." That's saying something.
The state of Mijita's tiled main counter last week.
Official opening date for the Public House/Mijita twins in the old Acme Chophouse spot at AT&T Park is April 9, date of the Giants regular season home opener against Atlanta. Does that indicate the project is off track? Not really, said Liz Einbinder, publicist for Traci Des Jardins. "The plan was always to be open by or on opening day," she said. Last Friday, Des Jardins' fancy Jardinière started stoking ballpark fever by offering a preview of the Public House burger, and it sounds strictly from artisanal: Marin Sun Farms grassfed beef, with avocado, bacon, and Grafton cheddar, next to house-made pickles and hand-cut Kennebec fries. The burger's available at the Jardinière bar and J Lounge, from now till, well, maybe always. And if you're thinking that Public House/Mijita is opening its doors for the first time on the day tens of thousands of baseball fans descend on AT&T, you're crazier than Giants' closer Brian Wilson. Check back for word on unofficial soft opening dates.
We're not sure what exactly Crazy Sushi in the Mission means by putting a "Black Imagine Woman" roll on its menu. Is there something about the combination of crab meat, avocado, and eel that honors African American culture? We're suspecting, and reluctantly, the maki is rolled in black tobiko.... Oh, we're not sure we want to imagine what the sushi chefs might be imagining.
The 2,500-square-foot-space (here in its earlier incarnation) is still under construction.
Noe Valley SF is reporting that Patxi's is headed for the old Mi Lindo Yucatan location at 4042 24th St. (at Noe), shuttered since September. NVSF's scan of ABC applications revealed a liquor license file last Wednesday. "The 2500 square foot space is still under heavy construction, but will certainly be big enough for the restaurant/pizzeria," reckons the neighborhood blog. Oh, and in case you might be thinking Patxi's is the first flowering of the Bevan Dufty-sparked lifting of the restaurant cap in Noe Valley, think again (it's replacing an existing eatery). Patxi's seems to be on a growth jag; the Marina location of the Hayes Valley standby opened last October.
PostedByMary Ladd
on Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 11:52 AM
M. Ladd
Fog City's burger and garlic fries: Not ready for the Hall of Fame.
Fog City Pub & Café (hereafter known as FCPC) opened a week ago Saturday in the old Ritz Camera spot at 1 Hallidie Plaza, nestled above the Powell BART station. "We've had some lunch rushes," a cashier named Marlena told SFoodie late last week when asked about business. Friday's lunch crowd consisted of casually dressed folks (tourists maybe), sports fans throwing a lot of "dude!" talk at the bar, and blue collar guys, March Madness enthusiasts taking in games on one of three giant-screen TVs. If your team was losing, you could bop to '70s classics by James Brown and Kool & the Gang.
FCPC offers salads, deep-fry goods (fries with or without garlic, onion rings, and eventually calamari), and hot and cold sandwiches on the menu from 11 a.m. on. The FCPC cheeseburger ($8.50) had some things going for it: namely, a toasted bun and nicely seasoned organic beef, even though the patty'd been overcooked and its lettuce leaf had turned brown. Garlic fries ($2.25) delivered only a muffled punch. They were all signs FCPC isn't exactly ready for Hall of Fame status ― but at least the retro tunes were hot. Hours and location after the jump.
Not surprisingly, many of the Bay Area semifinalists for the restaurant awards made it into the finals ― not only proof that the cooking here is superb, but that our restaurants are so prominent on the national scene. We were a little surprised by a couple of the names: Jeremy Fox's departure from Ubuntu didn't kill his chances, for which we're glad. And we join Sara Deseran at 7x7 in raising our eyebrows at Frances making it onto this list after being only open such a short time, since judges must have eaten at every restaurant they vote for ― that's a lot of quick flights to S.F.
A few hometown writers were named in the finals for the cookbook, journalism, and blog awards, and our heart always swells to see how many alt-weekly writers make it onto these lists. The awards will be presented in New York in two succeeding ceremonies May 2 and May 3.
Congratulations to all! Bay Area winners after the jump:
On Saturday morning, early birds scheming on Outstanding in the Field tickets got snagged in an unruly shrub of technical difficulties. The release was postponed until next Saturday, March 27. Events scheduled May 1 through July 31 will go on sale at 9 a.m. Events scheduled from Aug. 1 through Dec. 5 will go on sale at 11 a.m.
In the meantime, the operation announced a few more tour dates ― some real doozies, we think. On Saturday, May 22, Flour + Water's Thomas McNaughton will spin dough at a Marin County farm location yet to be named. On Friday, Ilan Hall of The Gorbels in L.A. (and the winner of Top Chef's second season) will cook at Sage Mountain Farm in Temecula, Calif. Dates, locations, and chefs are subject to change, so keep checking the site.
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.'"
