The past 24 hours in gossip, innuendo, and cold hard facts about the San Francisco food scene.
As American as apple pie, grilled cheese, and the Fourth of July is the freedom to sue. Today, Inside Scoop reports, via Courthouse News, that chef Tyler Florence (of Food Network fame and Mill Valley residence) has been sued by what were to be his Bar Florence restaurant-partners. The plaintiffs, Michael and Hani Musleh, claim that after the lease fell though, he moved 13 blocks away and opened a similar restaurant under a different name. Yes, that'd be the Wayfare Tavern. We wonder if Michael and Hani are twins.
Also from Inside Scoop, Sidebar, a SOMA wine tavern, is set to open tonight (112 Seventh St. at Mission, inside the Good Hotel). Grub Street gives a sneak peek at its menu, which includes pub grub staples such as mac 'n' cheese and burgers.
Grub Street reports Little Joe's is on the move again. The Italian restaurant is picking up and moving for the fifth time. Leaving its Fifth Street location, it's set to reopen at 1106 Market in a few weeks.
And also from Grub Street, via The Feast, Spire is denying it's permanently closed. Management partner Roger Lwin, who also oversees (the officially open) Rendezvous Tapas Lounge, is hoping for to reopen in as soon as a month.
Free grub! Specifically, a cup of organic coffee and a pastry from downtown bakery Pan de Mie. Only two days left to get this offer at Munch on Me, a local Groupon-style site launched earlier this year. Currently operating in San Francisco and Berkeley, it hopes to expand to other cities.
According to founder and CEO Jason Wang, Munch is part of a new wave of kinder and gentler daily deal promotion companies that hope to change the sour taste left by its competitors. It does so by charging a lower fee than regular promotion companies, limiting deals to individual dishes, and building long-term relationships with clients. Customers get many offers over time, which stimulates repeat business, such as sampling new menu items at discounted prices. The user experience is similar to other social websites, in which activity earns you points that can be redeemed for food of gifts, attain merit badges and levels (i.e. Newbie, Kindermuncher, Munchkin, etc.) for bragging rights. Munch away!
The modern food landscape is more confusing than ever. Words like "organic," "sustainable," and "all-natural" have been so diluted from overuse and vague definition as to become meaningless. Worse, some communities have little or no access to fresh produce of any kind, irrespective of the virtuousness of its provenance. Should we even be eating what's at the end of the American fork?
Okay, enough with the doom and gloom. There are plenty of folks fighting the good fight -- punching through the barriers of the industrialized food machine and bringing fresh, real food to American plates.
Enter Food Forward, an aspirational new television series whose pilot aired last night at the Goldman Theater in Berkeley's David Brower Center. After a mix and mingle featuring hors d'oeuvres using ingredients sourced by Half Moon Bay's Local FATT (Food Awareness Through Teaching) and eco-conscious tipples from Parducci Wine Cellars and Lagunitas Brewing Company, writer Stett Holbrook and producer Greg Roden spoke of their desire to bring stories of true food heroes to the small screen.
Rendezvous Tapas Lounge has a small but focused cocktail list, with an interesting twist on a traditional mojito. The Rendezvous version mixes Bacardi rum, lime, mint, and simple syrup and is topped with sparkling wine for a fizzy feel. Top Chef Season 6 contestant Mattin Noblia, last spotted at his now-shuttered Iluna Basque restaurant, is providing the small plates at this new spot. Soft-open since May 6, Rendezvous is having its grand opening all weekend with food and drink specials.
Rendezvous 2080 Van Ness (at Pacific), 409-0660
Maybe you've seen Michael Shwe around. He's the dude handing out delicious free bread on Fridays at Philz Coffee on Fourth St. at Berry. Of course, if you're not a terrible person, you're most likely leaving a donation for the bread, which doesn't go into Shwe's pocket. Instead, his business, Proof Baking, donates 100 percent of its profits to New Door Ventures, a nonprofit that partners with local business to give three-month job internships to disconnected local youth. Pretty rad.
Shwe's Friday morning Philz activity raises money and awareness for New Door as well as signing up volunteers and Ally Partners, the business that provide job internships. He also hosts periodic baking classes as fundraisers, and "Open Kitchen Thursdays," where people come to his house and bake Friday's loaves. The revenue from all of these activities goes to New Door, which keeps his books clean and makes donators feel a bit better about gorging on gluten.
Where: The Pasta Shop, 1786 Fourth St., Berkeley, 510-250-6004
When: Sat., June 4, noon-3 p.m.
Cost: Free
The rundown: So it's not actually called EVOO-Fest, but we think the "Third Annual California Extra Virgin Olive Oil Festival" would be catchier if you could announce it like a monster truck rally. Tomorrow in Berkeley, this free celebration will wash you in a bath of the finest local olive oil (figuratively, of course). From 1 to 1:30 p.m. will be a discussion of why California olive oil kicks everyone else in the keister. At 2 is a cooking demonstration on how to saute, poach, confit, and even deep-fry. Throughout the event, you'll have the chance to meet over 10 top-shelf producers and feast hearty at an "olive oil ice cream bar" (!). Rachael Ray would weep tears of pure EVOO.
"Pizza" and "Detroit" aren't words typically thrown together, yet ask any Michigan expats about pizza and they'll instantly wax poetic about the butter-crusted square pies at Buddy's, Cottage Inn, or the sadly departed Mitch's. Still, this SFoodie blogger, who spent his early childhood and college days in the Wolverine State, was surprised to learn that Tony's Pizza Nepolitana was adding a Detroit variety to its already vast repertoire. Weren't eight styles of pizza enough?
To the eye, Tony's "Red Top" pie ($19) had all the characteristics of its Midwest counterparts. As in Detroit, the pizza is delivered to the table in the same square pan it's baked in. The pie is coated with generous amounts of mild white cheddar and brick cheese and topped with a fruity tomato sauce. The purposefully burnt garlic-studded crust was over-the-top crispy around the edges but bready and chewy on the bottom.
Today's notes on national stories, local trends, random tastes, and other bycatch dredged up from the food media. Jonathan Kauffman is out this week, so Jesse Hirsch is filling in on Talking Points. Teamwork!
1. Energy Drinks for Seniors. The Wall Street Journal did a piece on the growing demand for high-octane energy drinks among the 60-plus crowd. Combating the propensity of seniors to nod off by 6 p.m., 5-Hour Energy has started aggressively marketing its product at AARP conferences, using Cliff Clavin as their celeb spokesman. It's like a return to the '80s, when every commercial featured grannies on skateboards with electric guitars.
2. Pregnancy Jitters. Speaking of caffeine, Time discusses a new study that links the stuff to difficulties getting pregnant. The research is far from conclusive, but initial results seem to indicate women who drink less than 50 milligrams of coffee a day (an average cup of coffee has 100) are more likely to achieve a live birth after in-vitro fertilization. The head researcher doesn't want hopeful moms to put too much stock in the study. After all, "our mothers smoked and drank and most of us are mentally intact," she says.
3. Fast Food Jobs in Demand. In a disheartening state-of-the-times piece, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution looks at the hot market for fast food jobs. It's slim pickins for job seekers, and experienced workers with marketable skills are increasingly vying for jobs at McDonald's. The article also makes mention of older workers applying for jobs that are typically thought of as starter positions for teens. Yet another reason 5-Hour Energy sales are spiking.
