How did you start your retail business?
I was in the shared commercial space for about a year. Then my good friend Chris Beerman started using the kitchen for Bento 415, his lunch takeout business. He was just planning on doing delivery, but the kitchen had this random storage area with frontage, and we thought, let's see if the landlord will rent us this space to sell Chris's lunch boxes and my baked goods. We ran that from November 2009 to May 2010. It was awesome ― both of our businesses blew up.
SFoodie: On your blog, Hot Food Porn, you've been really outspoken about how the kind of California bistro cooking at places like Chez Panisse or Zuni just doesn't interest you, or younger chefs like you. Do you still feel that way now that you're in charge of a café kitchen?
Lau: It's not quite like that. It's that I feel that in this wonderful city, I love, love, love that style of cooking, I'm a big fan of some of those restaurants, I feel the there are enough of them out there that do that job unbelievably well: Range, Nopa, Boulevard. It doesn't make sense to have another one out there. There's other frontiers out there. The important part to say is that while I love that style of cooking ― I love classic French ― it really becomes this idea of trying to do different things, making things interesting, more primal, a little more tongue in cheek, having fun with items. I've tried to get some of their influence ― certain restaurants that do this Guitar Hero thing with primal meat, these guys out there that know what they want and don't care if it's over the top, don't fall under the pressure to conform.
The sheer number of wines that fit this description can be overwhelming, sometimes expensive, and not always rewarding. As much as the Cakebreads, Duckhorns, and Sancerres of the world delight the palate, they tend to depress the wallet. But there are alternatives to shelling out $25-$50 dollars a bottle to beat the heat. Take Runquist winemaker Jeff Runquist's second label, McManis, which offers several varietals of exceptional quality.
McManis' 2009 Viognier is just the ticket for watching the Giants this Sunday afternoon, or for enjoying a bottle (or five) with friends on the patio. Coming in at a price point less than $10, it edges out the competition with crisp apricot and floral notes, and ripe citrus that seamlessly mingles with expressive acids and subtle minerals. It's 100 percent stainless-steel fermented, with a vibrant acidity that's an ideal complement to much of the food we eat in this city with guiltless abandon: Thai, Chinese, even sushi. Plus it's among the few wines that could enhance Indian food, without serving as a vehicle merely for quelling spice.
Next Monday, 18 Reasons is collaborating with foodie art collective OPENrestaurant for the first installment of a two-part curing workshop, focusing on Mediterranean pickles. After marinating your brains in artist Jen Smith's quirkily named 8-minute conceptual short film "Oh I Limp Concise Sadism!" you'll get hands on and make a variety of Mediterranean-themed pickles, including cured lemons, capers, and fennel. These pickles, as well as salt-cured fish that will be made at a second event on Nov. 3, will be used at OPENrestaurant's upcoming event OPENwater, Nov. 13-14 (location TBD). OPENwater will explore issues around water usage and access in the Bay Area, with two seated dinners, lectures, workshops, and artist installations.
that have forced the blooming of S.F.'s street-food scene and quirky
pop-up restaurants. There's less demand for high-ticket pastries, fewer
bistros with high-profile pastry chefs, and less money to open elaborate
pastry shops. So a new crop of bakers are rediscovering what we all
knew as teenagers: When you don't have enough money to go anywhere or
buy anything, there's a world of creative things you can do.
A general-admission ticket, available online, will get you full access to the food fest. VIP ticket holders will get into special food and wine tastings and receive a take-home gift bag. Part of the proceeds from DISH go to Streetsmart 4 Kids, a nonprofit that channels money raised by restaurants to local programs serving homeless youth.
This morning Vegansaurus passed along a microlending plea for Cinnaholic, the vegan cinnamon roll bakery that cranked up its ovens just two months ago in Berkeley. Owners Shannon and Florian Radke are seeking to raise $5,000 by Sunday through gift certificates redeemable in December ― certificates that'll realize a 15 percent bump-up in value.
"We initially bought some equipment at the beginning of the year that wasn't right, and with the return back and forth it ended up costing more than we've budgeted for," Shannon Radke tells SFoodie. The bill, she says, is coming at the same time as Cinnaholic's business license renewal. And rent. And payroll.
This year's event picks up on the Whole Beast trend ("feathered, finned, or hoofed"), with tableside carving a feature of the meat course. Tickets are available for $75 for the reception that starts at 5:30, or $200 for the reception and supper. There will be a drawing for the Year of Dining Out raffle, as well as an auction, and talk from rice farmer Greg Massa of Massa Organics.
Then there's the launch of the Onigilly Japanese food cart in Justin Herman Plaza ― part of Rec and Park's mobile vending initiative ― with a roll-out menu of teriyaki chicken topped with spicy sesame seeds, vegan-friendly marinated eggplant, hijiki salad, and pickled carrots. Skeptical of Rec and Park's plan to allow food vendors in Dolores Park? Here's your chance to experience what street carts on the public commons feel like ― though, granted, you'll be experiencing it at Justin Herman with the dress-shirted and the high-heeled, rather then the Dolores throngs in jeggings and American Apparel v-neck tees.
Pal's Takeaway: Inside Tony's Market, 2751 24th St. (at Hampshire), 203-4911;11 a.m. till they sell out.
Onigilly: Justin Herman Plaza, Market and Embarcadero; Mon.-Sat., 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Follow us on Twitter: @sfoodie. Contact me at John.Birdsall@SFWeekly.com
San Francisco restaurant scene.
