Our favorite morsel from the blogs.
Tasting Table's recent list of the 15 best cocktails in San Francisco by Camper English had us nodding our head in agreement, though by the end we couldn't help feeling a little muddled (and not just because we were drinking as we read).
At first we were a little skeptical about the inclusion of so many classic cocktails. The Negroni, Irish Coffee, Pisco Punch ― they're all great cocktails, and all 58 years or older. By comparison, Tasting Table New York's list is made up entirely of new and contemporary-classic cocktails.
Then we realized that the Camper English list is actually a more accurate snapshot of how we drink in San Francisco than we realized, and the contrast with New York's illustrates an opposite-coast difference in style. The Big Apple is moving on from its fascination with 19th-century cocktails and building on that foundation, while the Bay Area is still snuggled deep in history's warm, boozy embrace. S.F.'s three biggest bar openings of the year clearly illustrate that: Comstock Saloon, Bar Agricole, and the Burritt Room all lean on the classics (and do them amazingly well).
With so much ongoing dialogue between bartenders on both coasts, it'll be interesting to see where the trends converge ― and where they'll deviate ― on next year's lists.
SFoodie's series asking some of our favorite San Francisco food people about the dish they just can't celebrate Thanksgiving without.
Perhaps the wonkiest of S.F. coffee geeks, Blue Bottle's James Freeman does Thanksgiving with the aid of gadgets, key elements sourced from Ferry Plaza, and no lack of caffeine. His wife, Caitlin Williams Freeman, was a founder of Miette, and he has a 7-year-old son, Dashiell, named for San Francisco's iconic hard-boiled author.
Freeman: Caitlin and I both had the same recollections, our first Thanksgiving together maybe 6 years ago, literally our first day off that year. It felt so relaxed ― we finally had a chance to sit down and not rush off. Those heritage birds that Prather sells? We got one of those and it was a little one, very gamy: It had really dark meat and was just ... more pungent in a pleasant, meaty way. It was a tightrope to roast it because it was so lean. We've cooked one ever since.
Last year we cooked it on one of those big Weber barbecues. We used a turkey cannon, which looks like something you might find at Good Vibrations, a big tube on a stand. You fill it with the liquid of your choice ― I put sake in last year and gave the turkey a spice rub. It steamed with the sake, and was really sweet, the best our turkey ever turned out.
Here's the shocker about last night's Shmaltz beer and Jewish foods pairing at Saul's Deli: It completely worked. As a deli purist who drinks only Dr. Brown's or plain seltzer with a pastrami sandwich and potato knishes, I was skeptical. Shmaltz's Zak Davis tells me he thinks younger Jews are getting into the craft beer movement, and that events like last night's might help turn them on to old-school deli classics. Conversely, he's hoping that Shmaltz's regular presence on the Saul's beer list will introduce traditionalists to multiple brews.
We started with a sliver of chef Jon Bradbury's house-smoked herring served on a Genesis Ale-poached potato coin, matched with a glass of the same ale. The herring was intensely smoky ― a good thing. Both in potato and liquid form, the crisp ale acted as a palate cleanser, meaning our second and third bites were as thrilling as the first. A hunk of Marin Sun Farms pot roast had a mellow nuttiness thanks to a braise in Messiah Bold Nut Brown Ale, which we drank alongside.
Tonight Mighty hosts this year's Independent Spirits Expo, where distillers and spirits companies get together for a grand tasting. Local favorites include Square One, Charbay, Old World Spirits, St. George Spirits, Craft Distillers, and Essential Spirits, along with other national producers of micro-distilled products.
VIP tickets get you into the event a full two hours early (at 5 p.m.) so you can be done tasting by the time the doors open to the general public. Snacks and music round out the evening. Last's year's event was a lot of fun and packed in a very large selection of spirits.
Don't forget to use the discount code "Yelp" to get $10 off general admission, $15 off VIP entry.
San Francisco Indy Spirits Expo
When: Tonight, Nov. 17, 7-9:30 p.m.
Where: Mighty, 119 Utah (at 15th St.)
Cost: $55 general admission, $75 for VIP tickets; 21 and over only
When Ken Ken Ramen reappears tomorrow night at The Corner, new chef Taka Hori won't be the pop-up's only change. There's now a shio ramen, and the broth recipe has been adjusted with more veggies and a new slow-roasted chasu. Prices remain the same as they were at Panchita's, but with an option to add extra toppings.
We've been following Ken Ken for four months now. We originally delayed reporting on the ramen pop-up by Robert Patterson, Stefan Roesch, and former chef Kenji Miyazaki to avoid triggering a repeat of Ramengate 2010, which also gave us the opportunity to thoroughly sample the short menu and check for consistency.
Ken Ken's original Panchita's menu had a choice of miso, shoyu, spicy miso, and a miso vegetarian ramen for $11. Meals started with a complimentary dish of chile-garlic edamame, boiled soybean pods tossed with sautéed minced garlic and sambal ― a tasty appetizer popular in Southern California and on the East Coast.
Thanks to SFoodie contributor Luis Chong for figuring out that pop-up maverick Ken Ken Ramen returns to the Mission tomorrow night for a beta-launch reappearance at its new Thursday location: The Corner.
In July, Ken Ken partners Robert Patterson, Stefan Roesch, and Kenji Miyazaki began popping up Mondays at Panchita's #3 on 22nd Street in the Mission, an arrangement that ended in September after a landlord dispute. [For a taste of the original Ken Ken at Panchita's, check out Luis Chong's review.] Ken Ken's return isn't without changes. First, Miyazaki has decided to stay on the sidelines for now ― he's still on good terms with the partners, Patterson tells SFoodie, and he could decide to come back any time. Until he does, Taka Hori will stand in as Ken Ken's ramen master (he'll continue on as sushi chef at Rocketfish).
Other changes: Ken Ken's dropping the vegetarian ramen temporarily (it might even be back as soon as next time), and adding shio ramen to its previous roster of shoyu, miso, and spicy miso. "Some people wanted corn with the miso, maybe even a stronger miso taste," Patterson says. Add instead of the shredded pork that was Ken Ken's signature, tomorrow they'll go with a more traditional chasu. "Taka Hori is from Fukuoka, in the south of Japan," Patterson explains. "That's where tonkotsu base comes from."
SFoodie's
series asking some of our favorite San Francisco food people about the
dish they just can't celebrate Thanksgiving without.
Knowing that Roger Feely, aka Soul Cocina, has traveled and worked all over, SFoodie suspected that, when we interviewed him about his essential Thanksgiving dish, it wouldn't be candied yams with marshmallows.
Feely: I don't really celebrate Thanksgiving on a huge scale. I'm into
traditions, but not really into the source of the holiday. But I often
celebrate Thanksgiving with family, and they demand turkey. Since I don't
like roasting turkey, I make something different. It's like the
anti-turkey.
The dish I make the most offten is relleno negro, a dark turkey mole
from the Yucatan. It's a bunch of charred chiles ― moritos, chiles
negros, puyas ― with charred seeds and nuts that are ground to make a
really dark mole. I make it with a turkey stock, and then it's basically
a thick turkey soup.
The Board of Supervisors yesterday unanimously passed legislation that streamlines rules for mobile vending, making it easier and cheaper to be a legal street-food vendor in San Francisco. At the Tuesday meeting, the Supes took up rules changes that in past weeks were approved by both the Planning Commission and the City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee, reforming rules for sales on both public and private property and making getting a permit less expensive over the long haul.
Supervisor Bevan Dufty had sponsored the legislation, which shifts the responsibility fo regulating street food from police to the Department of Public Works. "Ultimately this is about San Francisco having more understandable and thoughtful rules and regulations of mobile vending," Dufty said at yesterday's meeting. He called S.F. a "city of dynamic cuisines and opportunities," and expressed confidence that the streamlined rules would better reflect that.
Following the recent release of its kombucha extract, Lev's Probiotics of Treasure Island has just introduced two types of kombucha vinegar. Made with aged green tea kombucha, it's available in original and hibiscus varieties. The price point ($12) puts it below the cost of the extract ($16), though both are smarter general buys than bottled drinks.
In addition to working well on salads, the vinegar also does nicely in a pinch when you don't have extract or a bottled kombucha drink, whether doing shots of it warrior-style or adding a tad to some other beverage. Our next experiment: using it to make quick pickled vegetables. A leap forward for culture.
After a ripple in price negotiations, fishermen's associations gave crabbers the go-ahead to drop their pots early Tuesday - the first local Dungeness will begin showing up on restaurant menus and in some shops later today. In terms of size and quality, though, early reports suggest the crabs aren't quite at their peak development.
MFM Seafood's Tom Worthington says the crabbers he works with are reporting that the Central California coast might be days away from yielding optimal crustaceans. "They're getting a ton of crabs per pull, but a large percentage of them are soft-shell crabs," Worthington says - as many as 30 percent. "They're throwing a lot of them back in." Nevertheless, Worthington says, there should be an abundance of crabs landing Thursday. By Thanksgiving, Worthington says, local Dungeness should be fully fleshed out and fat.
Follow us on Twitter: @sfoodie. Contact me at John.Birdsall@SFWeekly.com
