Today in gossip, innuendo, and cold hard facts about the San Francisco restaurant scene.
Loosen your tie: Inspired by food trucks, reports Inside Scoop, Zaré at Fly Trap's Hoss Zaré is planning to go casual at lunch via Zaré's Grill and Grain. The pitch: ash (Persian soups), wraps with fillings like pickled anchovies and broccoli rabe, and grain-based salads in Zaré's restaurant at 606 Folsom (at Second St.). Rollout date: April 13.
Phoenix rising: Inside Scoop catches the name of the place planned for the old Bambuddha Lounge space in the Phoenix Hotel at 601 Eddy (at Larkin): Chambers Eat + Drink. The pitch: Gitane-y design and self-described innovative California cuisine from ex-Mission Beach Café guy Trevor Ogden. Due date is mid-May.
SFoodie's countdown of our 92 favorite things to eat and drink in San Francisco, 2011 edition.
I was a kid growing up down the Peninsula, spending summers with my grandpa at the Bay Meadows racetrack, getting coached in how to bet a trifecta or where to find the three-fingered guy who seemed to know which fillies were running hot that day. Afterwards, he'd take me to Swensen's for ice cream. Together we'd lick cones, closed up in grandpa's caramel-colored Caprice, the one with the dashboard tinted pale amber with nicotine. I liked Rocky Road.
Earle Swensen opened his first ice cream shop on Russian Hill in 1948. By 1964, Swensen began franchising his concept, five years after Richard Campana started working at the Hyde Street original. Swensen passed away in 1996, and Campana bought the shop nearly three years later, though the Swensen's chain had transferred to a company with far deeper pockets. Nowadays it's owned by IFI, a franchising corporation based in Canada, near Toronto. President and CEO Aaron Serruya tells me the Swensen's name has faded in North America, where there are only 30 shops, but worldwide it's thriving, with a total of 410. "In certain markets in Asia we're the McDonald's of the country," Serruya says. "We have a higher average gross in Singapore than any other chain." Go figure.
The Russian Hill original, meanwhile, is one of the few shops still run semi-independently (Richard Campana still owns it), one of only 10 Swensen's worldwide allowed to make its ice cream on site, using Earle Swensen's original recipes. "You're chocolate lovers there in San Francisco," Serruya says, and I imagine him poring over a spreadsheet of raw cone-sale data. "Huh," I say, thinking about that Rocky Road. "I guess we are."
In fact, it's two other chocolate flavors I'm drawn to these days.
You read them here, now find out who in the hell they are: We give you the diverse group of men and women who cover the local food and drink scene for you on SFoodie.
Name: Lou Bustamante
Beat: Spirits and cocktails
Lou is a man about town. He's friendly with many of San Francisco's "it" bartenders, chefs, and general glitterati. His resumé boasts stints at Cowgirl Creamery, La Farine Bakery, and St. George Distillery. His savvy about the city's complex, ever-evolving cocktail scene is bested only by his well-culled knowledge of food and spirits. To me, the new kid on the block, Lou's street cred was a little unnerving. I needn't have worried ― it took five minutes to realize he's an easy-mannered, approachable chap, the consummate "guy you want to get a beer with" (or in our case, Pimm's Cup and pork sliders).
Shored up from the North Beach lights at dim and stylish 15 Romolo, I shared some QT with this former graphic designer and learned all about his long road to SFoodie. By the time Lou had to catch his ferry to Vallejo, there remained hours of untold stories.
Jesse: How did you first get into spirits?
Lou: Years ago, I was one of those punks who drinks to get drunk and wasn't really concerned what I was drinking. As I grew up, I really wanted to get into wine but my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) didn't enjoy drinking wine. Cracking open a full bottle of wine meant drinking the full bottle, which I just wasn't prepared to do. Then a friend of mine who was really into bourbon said, "Oh, you should try this." Soon enough, I had started a small bourbon collection.
When did you first turn your love of food and drink into a paid gig?
I was part of the whole "dot-bomb" phenomenon. When that bubble burst, I could have kept trying to scratch out a living in the software field, bouncing from lily pad to sinking lily pad; this was not appealing. I figured that if I was going to be miserable and poor, I might as well pursue something that I love ― food.
SF Underground Market
Where: Public Works, 161 Erie (at Mission), 701-9500
When: Sat., Mar. 26, 11 a.m.-2 a.m.
Cost: $5, $10 after 11 p.m.
The rundown: All the vendors sold out at the last forageSF Underground Night Market, so it's no shocker they're doing it again. The first segment is take-home crafties for the early-to-bed crowd, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Then things gradually evolve (or devolve, depending on your perspective) into a late-night oom-checka oom-checka scene, with hot foods and a nightclub feel. And what about that price hike after 11 p.m.? By that time of night, they assume you're tipsy enough to spend large. See a complete list of Saturday's vendors at forageSF.
Reservations: Not necessary, but you'll need to sign up for a free membership
China Basin, the South Beach office complex at 185 Berry that lost a Specialty's Cafe last month is preparing to fill the void with focaccia. Make that Focaccia with a capital F, the FiDi bakery and cafe now readying its second location at 455 Market (at First St.). Focaccia owners David Davari and Amir Akbari are hoping to launch the Market Street branch in about two weeks. The one at China Basin, near AT&T Park, will open in stages, Akbari tells SFoodie, as the former Specialty's is renovated and expanded. The first stage should start in a week or so, when Focaccia starts selling breakfast pastries, Caffe Umbria coffee, and cold lunches from a temporary space. The completed cafe should roll out sometime in the fall. The original Focaccia, at 119 Sacramento (at Drumm), opened in 1993.
Meanwhile, 185 Berry has been hosting daily food-truck minipods (JapaCurry, Senor Sisig, Little Green Cyclo, Brass Knuckle, and more) since Specialty's departed. They'll disappear once Focaccia starts selling, says Richard Hayes, vice president of leasing for McCarthy Cook, the company that manages China Basin. "The tenants love it, they absolutely love it," Hayes says about the trucks. "It's interesting, because nobody seems to miss the [Specialty's] salads."
Follow us on Twitter: @sfoodie, and like us on Facebook. Contact me at John.Birdsall@SFWeekly.com
Rum, Rum History, and Rum Cocktails
Where: Ferry Building, North Arcade
When: Sat., Mar. 26, 2-4 p.m.
Cost: $50
The rundown: In the U.S., rum has been like soccer and the metric system ― something the rest of the world did. All that is changing, thanks in part to the tiki revival led by bars like Smuggler's Cove. Still, sugarcane spirits can quickly leave the novice nonplussed. To help make sense of it all, CUESA is hosting a rum cocktail class with bartenders Scott Beattie (Spoonbar) and Dominic Venegas (Appleton Rum). They'll cover the basics with a discussion on rum production, regional differences, history, and application in tasty cocktails.
Expect to build a thirst with the hands-on portion of the class, combining Beatie's farm-to-glass style with Venegas's tiki applications. Expect instruction, cocktails, and a recipe booklet with a range of classics, from the Dark 'n Stormy, Mojito, and Mai Tai to rum-based Manhattans and Old Fashioneds.
Tickets available through Eventbrite
Dominique Crenn was born in France but has been working in American restaurants for nigh on two decades. As I was finishing up this week's review of Atelier Crenn, I talked to Crenn about her experience opening a restaurant in Indonesia, the farm she works with, and the meaning of the restaurant's tagline.
SFoodie: How did you come to be the chef of Luce?
Crenn: I came to the U.S. in the 1990s. I worked all around, including at Stars, and in 1996, I became the chef of Yoyo Bistro, which used to be Elka. During my one-year tenure there, I met a lot of French chefs at the time. They introduced me to the Intercontinental, which invited me to open a restaurant in the Jakarta property. The thing was, since Indonesia is a Muslim country, they wanted me, as a woman chef, to build an all-woman brigade in the kitchen. It was a challenge! I struggled to build a team with just women, but that was one of the best experiences. I was there for a year, until the the 1998 civil war.
Then I went to Los Angeles, but I kept in touch with a few people at the Intercontinental. In the summer of 2007, the hotel came to L.A. and asked me if I was interested in opening their restaurant in S.F. Of course, San Francisco is not my home town, but I'm attached to it. I feel very lucky to be here.
I always wanted to open a small place. I almost leased a property in Jack London Square, but 11 months ago, PlumpJack became available. It felt like it was the right space.
The Craft Brewers Conference ― an annual event that starts today ― is a time to rejoice. Spring is in the air, and brewers from around the world converge in one place for four days of boozy revelry.
Unfortunately, spring is off to a rainy start here, and you have to be in the beer industry to attend the conference. Never fear! SFoodie is here with your guide to crashing the festivities. S.F. is welcoming the conference to town for the first time, and you'll have ample opportunity to hobnob with industry vets at numerous public gatherings around town and across the bay. Enjoy a brew with your favorite celebrity brewer at these events:
Wed., Mar. 23:
Deschutes Beer Tasting
Where: Beer Revolution, 464 Third St. (at Broadway) Oakland, 510-452-2337
When: 6 p.m. on
Cost: Pay per drink
What: The beer revolutionaries are dishing up 20 taps of Deschutes brews, including multiple vintages of the coveted Abyss Imperial Stout. Look for an appearance of Old Woody, Deschutes' enormous mobile draft system. Think of a bookmobile, but shaped like a barrel and sporting numerous taps...
Source:
Middle East Market, 2054 San Pablo (at University), Berkeley, 510-704-8800.
Price: $3
Toast-appropriateness: not for the toaster ― but great when rewarmed in the oven for a few minutes.
