A month before Eat Real takes over Jack London Square like some county fair in a parallel universe, where corn dogs taste like Mangalitsas and kombucha refreshes like Dr. Pepper, organizer Anya Fernald has leaked the festival's manifesto. Well, not leaked so much as posted at Chow.com, where she goes all Four Freedoms, sketching out a basic roster of bullet points essential for what she calls revitalizing and re-energizing American food. First among them: defining, she says, the notion of food craft. Fernald:
"Food craft is the transformation of raw ingredients with techniques that change and build flavor, make foods last longer, and increase the impact of land and place on flavor.
So do beer and pastry go together? We'd say yes. And no, sometimes, but we appreciated the contrasts almost as much as the similarities in Dev's selections. Certain ones created a special alchemy. Floris Apple, a Witbier ale, intensified the caramel notes in a delicate napoleon, for instance, while Samichlaus Helles, a Doppelbock lager, spiced up the apples in a galette. Even when the alchemy didn't happen, Suds and Sweets was a unique educational experience well worth discovering.
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@sfoodieEarlier this month, we reported that Pal's Takeaway would open for lunch on Saturdays, starting July 17. Wrong. Turns out this Saturday ― July 31 ― will see the actual debut of Pal's weekend edition.
To anyone who showed up at the Pal's counter at Tony's Market a couple of Saturdays ago, craving a meatball sandwich: well, by now you've no doubt forgotten the Vallarta super burrito you had to console yourself with. Though we can't vouch for the presence of meatballs, bring your appetite this Saturday and find redemption. But, um, call first.
Pal's Takeaway: Inside Tony's Market, 2751 24th St. (at Hampshire), 203-4911.
Follow us on Twitter: @sfoodie. Contact me at John.Birdsall@SFWeekly.com
According to a July 25 New York Times article, a local clerk named Koichi Hanada came up with the idea 20 years ago to "paint" massive, sprawling pictures using thousands and thousands of rice plants, after his boss begged him to find a way to draw tourists to their sleepy community. He's been quite successful, too. Last year in September, when the rice grows long enough to perfectly render the images, over 170,000 visitors passed through the town of less than 9,000 mostly older residents, causing traffic snares and other difficulties.
Writer Martin Fackler deems the project a distinct cultural creation:
Joining the birthday hawkers: Magic Curry Kart, the don of last summer's street-food explosion, along with Chile Lindo, Sweet Constructions, and a handful of newer vendors (SF Delicious Chef, Mad4Madeleines, Mali Num Num), plus the debut of Mr. Arroz Caldo. And though it's an unconfirmed rumor, the street (well, Twitter and Facebook) is buzzing with the possibility of a production crew for the Travel Channel taping an episode of Appetite for Life. That's the experiential, on the road food show, with Andrew Zimmern serving as a shaven-headed Bourdain-Fieri hybrid, skilled at mugging.
Even if Zimmern ends up feeling like a party crasher, really: What's a birthday party without home movies? The party in Precita goes down Sunday, August 1, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Follow us on Twitter: @sfoodie. Contact me at John.Birdsall@SFWeekly.com
Fri., July 30:
• Feeling a little bit glum that July is ending? Fort Mason Center should be your Friday night dining destination, when Happy Dumplings will be in the house for the roaming mobile food extravaganza Off the Grid parks from 5 pm to 9 pm. There are many other street vendors in addition to Happy's to put a smile on your face, along with a side of music, craft, and soul (no, Aretha Franklin will not be performing -- unfortunately).
Off the Grid: Fort Mason Center, 5-9 p.m.
Sat., July 31:
• In addition to rodeos and XXX conventions, the Cow Palace is now home to one of the Bay Area's newest farmers' markets. Peaches, cherry tomatoes, and eggplant take over the lower lot at Gate D, Saturday mornings through October 16, along with mobile food vendors Chairman Bao, Hapa SF, and Tacos El Ranchito. The Cow Palace might have been built for livestock, but produce owns the parking lot.
Cow Palace Farmers' Market: Lower lot, Gate D, 2600 Geneva (at Carter), Daly City; Sat., 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
The week-old market, slated for Wednesdays through October 27, is organized by Urban Table, a South Bay nonprofit that produces smaller markets in business plazas and city centers. They're behind the North Beach Sunday market, too.
Beginning this weekend though, if all goes to plan, there'll be a little more room for all right next door. The diner/soda fountain is expanding, the long-haired fellow behind the counter told us yesterday afternoon ― taking over digs appropriately formerly inhabited by Candy Kitchen, a lingerie boutique at 2807 24th (it closed last March), and reportedly, way back before time, the actual confectionery wing of St. Francis. Insert jokes about whipped cream, extra nuts, soft bananas, and cherries on top.
St. Francis Fountain: 2801 24th St. (at York), 826-4200.
San Francisco restaurant scene.
At Inside Scoop, Paolo L. reports that Papito (317 Connecticut, 695-0147, www.papitosf.com) should finally open on Friday for dinner. And although Papito comes from Chez Papa owner Jocelyn Bulow, who's brought one of his Papa cooks to run it, Papito is not -- let us repeat, not -- a Nopa/Nopalito copycat. The pitch: a 17-seater serving organic, possibly Oaxaca-focused Mexican food from chef Rodolfo Castellanos Reyes.
Chowhound duchess Melanie W. spots Viva Goa (2420 Lombard, 440-2600, vivagoaindiancuisine.com) in the Marina. The pitch: menu with Indian standards and quite a few dishes unique to Goa, the Southern Indian coastal state.
Another Paolo L. inside scoop: Plum, the Daniel Patterson (Coi)-meets-Jeremy Fox (ex-Ubuntu) mashup, is not due to open in downtown Oakland until this fall. But starting next week, Fox and co. are launching a Monday-night series of weekly preview dinners at Il Cane Rosso. The pitch: four courses for $45 and NO RESERVATIONS, which SFoodie predicts will result in clusterfuck. If you have any strings you can pull to get a table, better start yanking 'em hard.
