Mission Loc@l's Heather Smith probes the conduit that runs directly from Straus Family Creamery in West Marin to the Mission ― Straus supplies the shocking amount of yogurt and/or ice cream base that churns the flavor engines at Bi-Rite Creamery, Xanath, and Humphry Slocombe. Smith breaks it down:
Straus is ubiquitous in the local ice cream market in part because until recently it was the only organic ice cream base available here. ... Ice cream base is not rocket science. It's basically ... cream, milk and sugar. But California health code is strict when it comes to dairy and to foods that are adored by small children, and so only high-end restaurants risk making their own. They do this either by proving that they sell less than 2,500 gallons a year or via the more expedient method of stashing their ice cream maker in the back of a cupboard when they see the health inspector coming.Interesting fact: Because the base can't be heated again, Bi-Rite, for instance, has to infuse it with various flavors without benefit of heat, explains Bi-Rite's Anne Walker. And getting the texture right is challenging. Though not, perhaps, as challenging as enduring the Sunday-afternoon queue on 18th Street.
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Feely says the Camel Cart is the brainchild of a La Victoria cook called Firas (he prefers not to give his last name) who excels in Middle Eastern food. He's planning to serve musakhan, a Palestinean dish of roast chicken on flatbread, at Outside In 7 on Sept. 20. Surely this calls for a water cart to follow?
coming across the these logos from the 1920s through the 1940s, like Thomas
and Sons Jewelers or Nancy and Sons. So we put Sons and Daughters
together.
How did the restaurant come about?
Matt: Teague and I met in culinary school. He graduated, while I
dropped out and moved away from San Francisco. I traveled and worked at a
lot of different spots ― Colorado, New York, Las Vegas, Europe ― but
we stayed in touch throughout the process. One day, we decided that we
still liked each other and wanted to try to make it happen. I moved back
here about a year ago, and all the pieces fell into place at the right
time.
They are two guys in their 20s with cooking-school hubris and modest résumés -- stints as private chefs, European internships, Moriarty's sous-chef position at Grégoire in Berkeley -- yet their cooking has a polish many long-timers never achieve. Like most chefs working in this vein, they've taught themselves about techniques like spherification (putting a liquid into round shapes) and sous-vide (cooking at low temperatures in vacuum-sealed bags) by studying cookbooks from restaurants like Alinea and the Fat Duck and by befriending the staff from Le Sanctuaire, the nearby molecular-gastronomy supply store.Read the review. Then scroll through Kauffman's extra-credit Q and A with chefs Matt McNamara and Teague Moriarty.
Consider it a soft launch for Rud ― he'll be serving tuna tataki sliders from a tent this week: seared fish served up with Asian slaw and wasabi aïoli, on mini sesame rolls a Chinese bakery is making for him. Rud is currently having a 1969 Airstream trailer retrofitted, and says he has a permanent S.F. location lined up. He hopes to launch for real in five weeks.
In addition to ramen, Saiwaii's one-page menu lists many appetizers, a few salads, half a dozen donburi bowls, and some Americanized sushi rolls, prepared by sushi chef Yoshi Fujita, former owner of the defunct Yo's Sushi Club in Bernal.
The basic ramen bowl (choice of miso, shio, shoyu, or tonkotsu broths, $7.95) includes chasu, menma, nori, kikurage mushrooms, and chopped green onions. You can customize with a half soft-boiled egg, or more veggie options ($1 each), as well as additional chasu ($2) and pork belly ($3). If you like a lot of toppings, things can add up fast. If you're feeling hungry, a side of donburi is available for $3-$4 more, though we opted to add ramen toppings rather than filling up with a bowl of rice.
Delfina's Craig Stoll, Bi-Rite's Sam Mogannam, and other Mission business owners organized a huge party two summers ago that took over 18th Street and spilled into Dolores Park. The free event was swarmed by people who ordered brick chicken, corn, beer, ice cream, and a grand display of spit-roasted pig. It was a one-day event, but took months to plan, thus the decision to make the block party a biannual event. It happens again this Saturday, Aug. 28.
Changes from the first party include craft beer from the San Francisco Brewers Guild, headed up by Magnolia's Dave McLean, whom Mogannam tells SFoodie is "a rock star." There will be an assortment of porcine eats, for sure, including porcetta from Stoll's crew and suckling pig carnitas by Regalito. Kasa, La Cocina, Out the Door, Earl's Organic Produce, and Unti Vineyards will also be part of the fest. All proceeds go to the Women's Building, BuenDia Family School, and Pie Ranch.
SFoodie: When did the brewery switch to brewing all organic and how important is that for the final product?
Dobel: We became certified organic by the CCOF in 2007. Honestly, brewing with organic ingredients does not improve, nor does it deteriorate, the quality of our beers. The satisfaction lies more in knowing that large portions of agricultural land somewhere in North America are pesticide free and the surrounding water is purer due to our purchasing power.
How does Locavore Ale turn that up to 11? Will any of the other beers switch over to California-grown materials?
Locavore is a step in the right direction of tightening the loop for ingredients. Again, we use our organic purchasing power to support a local farmer with his organic barley production. He has a lot depending on this first batch of ale to see if this can work economically. That being said, Linden Street has expressed interest, and most likely other organic breweries (Bison, Butte Creek, Uncommon Brewers, Ukiah, Eel River) would prefer to use local organic malt, rather than Canadian or European malt. This also includes locally grown hops from Hops-Meister farms.
Give us nine months. We'll get our napkins and bibs ready, and hope a Mission stop is on the cheeseburger truck's itinerary.
