1. Peter Jamison talked to Iso Rabins about the Health Department's shut-down of the Underground Market, which may be permanent. But the market attracted New York Times coverage! And thousands of people! Uh...
2. Carina Ost interviewed Traci Des Jardins, who didn't win this season of Top Chef Masters, but earned $30K for La Cocina and showed herself a total pro from start to finish. Which, frankly, is just as good as winning the title.
The past 24 hours in gossip, innuendo, and cold hard facts about the San Francisco food scene.
The breakfast line at Dottie's True Blue Cafe is moving to a new location. The Tender reports the "Home of the Infinite Line" is leaving its current space due to a rent increase. The owners haven't decided on a new spot yet, so no telling where the hungry masses will be congregating next.
This one is for the kids: The Feast reports Big Dipper Baby Food is the latest addition to Bernal Heights' 331 Cortland (at Bennington). Celebrating its grand opening tomorrow, the organic baby and toddler food company will toast the occasion with juice for the youngsters and mimosas for the adults.
Eater SF shares a couple of openers: In the East Bay, Phil's Sliders, serving miniburgers made from Marin Sun Farms beef, opened for a few lunch hours today before officially launching tomorrow (2024 Shattuck at University). While no one is sure if Castro's Cafe Sophie, which took over the former Tazza D'Amore space, opened as planned. Mum's the word.
And the curtain will fall on Kitty's at the end of July. Eater SF reports the impending closure of Emeryville's Kitty's is because it lost its cabaret licenses. Maybe this has something to do with the 180-person bar fight earlier this year? There are no plans to reopen, as the owner has decided to move to Brazil.
Most people are familiar with Slow Food, the organization founded by Carlo Petrini in 1986 to encourage a return to traditional foodways and reconnect with the sources of our food. So what if we took the same mentality and applied it to finance and investing?
Slow Money is the product of exactly that thinking, and the Northern California chapter hosted its first Entrepreneur Showcase at Fort Mason Center on Sunday, June 12. Of more than 50 submitted proposals, Slow Money Northern California selected the 12 it felt were the most deserving of airtime in front of potential investors, who registered to attend.
"The time is different in the way of thinking about investment," MC Marco Vangelisti said in his introduction. "Slow Money is about bringing the money down to the soil." In fact, the national organization flowed $4 million to entrepreneurs and causes within the last year; this was the local branch's opportunity to make a difference here.
All of the presenters' projects centered on making positive changes to local food systems, whether converting conventional land to organic farmland, or introducing small farms or fresh markets to underserved urban areas. What follows is a rundown of some of the projects presented.
The Tamale Lady's 58th Birthday
Where: Zeitgeist, 199 Valencia (at Duboce)
When: Tuesday, June 21, 6-10 p.m.
Cost: Free, but buy a few drinks to celebrate
The Rundown: Anyone who frequents the Mission bars is going to run into the Tamale Lady: Virginia Ramos. She's been a bar scene regular long before many bar-goers were legal drinking age. Ramos started selling the tamales 18 years ago to put her kids through college, and has since become a San Francisco late-night staple.
Wheeling her cart of corn-husked tamales (meat and meatless) through the Valencia corridor, bar-goers are never sure where she will show up. But Zeitgeist's beer garden is the place to look if you want one of her warm, homemade tamales at 1 a.m. Here's hoping you don't get kicked out of the festivities!
The Crusta is a lovely choice when you seek something bitter and sweet that packs a huge punch in a tiny glass, a mix of Bulleit rye, Luxardo maraschino liqueur, Royal Combier, lemon juice, and a dash of Fee Brothers bitters. The rye and the Royal Combier (which contains cognac) anchor this drink in grownup territory, but the maraschino liqueur and the sugar-crusted glass make it feel youthful. We're a bit embarrassed to say that we've been to Som Bar numerous times to check out DJs spinning hip-hop and electro (check out the profile of the DJ/owner/cocktail creator on our sister blog All Shook Down) but never bothered to have a drink before trying the Crusta. We now realize what a mistake that was.
Som Bar 2925 16th St. (at South Van Ness), 558-8521
The WaffleMania truck popularized the dense and chewy Liege waffles, which are great. But sometimes SFoodie craves the other Belgian waffles, the light and crispy rectangles from Brussels -- they've got deep pockets that no Eggo can match. So we were ecstatic to find Bloem 'n Sugar, a waffle shop that makes both kinds just a few steps from the Powell BART station.
The name Bloem 'n Sugar is not slang; Bloem means flour in Dutch. The place opened in late April, but is still so new that it wasn't listed in the Westfield directory onsite when we visited. Owners Michael and Ashley Capelle want to bring a taste of their country, so the shop includes everyday items like Belgian Speculoos cookies and Douwe Egberts coffee. The menu is simple: Order a signature waffle combination or make your own. Add toppings for 50 cents each, or for just $2 they'll stuff as much as will fit in the container. A plain waffle ($4 for Liege or Brussels style) is the traditional way.
We wanted the works, so we ordered a Very Berry Belgian ($7.50) loaded with strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberry ice cream, and whipped cream and topped with strawberry syrup and chocolate sauces. After just a few minutes, we were digging into our hot and crisp Brussels waffle. It was simply delicious. Children and those with small appetites can get a mini waffle with two toppings for $1.50.
Bloem 'n Sugar 865 Market at Fifth St. (in Westfield San Francisco Centre), 615-0064
Health inspectors are holding the line on their decision to shut down the popular ForageSF underground food market, insisting in a meeting yesterday with ForageSF founder Iso Rabins that vendors obtain necessary licenses before the market can reopen.
Rabins tells SF Weekly that the meeting with officials from the San Francisco Department of Public Health "didn't go great. Basically what they're saying is that for them to be able to okay the event, I need to bring all the vendors up to code."
On Saturday, inspectors shut down the market. They had previously permitted it -- even though its vendors don't prepare their products in commercial kitchens, as is required by food regulations -- on the rationale that it was a private, "members-only" event. Patrons were able to sign up for a membership online, or pay a $5 fee to enter the market.
Today's notes on national stories, local trends, random tastes, and other bycatch dredged up from the food media.
1. Way to encourage healthy eating, Yoplait. Salon has an essay from Mary Elizabeth Williams on an effed-up Yoplait advertising campaign. In the campaign, a woman goes twitchy at the sight of a cheesecake in the refrigerator, practically pledging to flagellate herself with celery sticks in order to justify a few bites. Eating-disorder groups have shamed Yoplait into pulling the ads. (Video after the jump.)
2. Respect your elders, son. Former SFoodie editor John Birdsall, writing for Chow, takes on fans of the food truck movement for dismissing loncheras, the taco trucks who started the whole damn craze. Case in point: the competitors on the next season of The Great Food Truck Race reality show include not a single Mexican-owned truck.
