You can get your kinky caffeine fix at Wicked Grounds again! LiveSOMA reports the cafe, which serves as a major hub of the local BDSM community, reopened over the weekend. If you'll remember, it initially closed in October because of financial issues, but at last there's a place to get coffee in a dog bowl again.
Third times a charm: LiveSOMA also shares Palio Caffe opened its third location today (163 Second St.at Natoma). Hopefully they'll stick, as it's the third restaurant to move into the space in the last three years.
KGO let us know that Ms. Tablehopper has taken to airwaves. Marcia Gagliardi will host "You Gotta Eat This" every Tuesday. We'll tune in.
Another record store will transform into a restaurant. Grub Street and SFist discovered that Force of Habit, whose the owner died suddenly in July, will not stay in the vinyl world. A new restaurant, 20 Spot, is slated to move into the corner space. No word yet on when the music will stop or the pending restaurant's cuisine or timeline for opening.
Dottie's True Blue Cafe is readying to reopen in its new -- quite a bit larger -- SOMA space before the end of the week. Inside Scoop notes the menu will remain the same. Hopefully the size of the place will help quell the line, but we're not betting on it.
The block-long, eclectic stretch of Clement between the inner and outer shopping anchors of the street, will welcome Chomp & Swig. Grub Street reveals they'll move in to the recently shuttered Cafe Mereb space. No word yet on what we'll be chomping or swigging.
If looking for 7,000 square feet in the heart of North Beach, you're in luck! Piazza Market has shuttered, according to Inside Scoop. The gaudy Italian buffet-and-wine-store, which opened in 2008, closed to focus on their catering business.
This past Sunday, Dine About Town -- San Francisco's annual dining promotion -- reappeared, with participating restaurants offering $17.95 lunches and $34.95 three-course dinners from now through January 31.
Along with the usual restaurants barely staving off senescence (hello, Tommy Toy's) and Union Square places that most locals have never set foot in, a few new-ish restaurants -- Bisou, Bottle Cap, Claudine, Cupola, Jasper's Corner Tap, Trace, Txoko -- are participating.
And there are a number of interesting meals to be had among the more established restaurants. This morning, SFoodie reviewed all the menus posted on the Dine About Town website this morning. Here are the seven that looked the most appealing:
What: Kulinarya: A Filipino Culinary Showdown
Where: Carnelian by the Bay
When: Sat., January 21, 3-8 p.m.
Cost: Free
The rundown: Six Filipino-American chefs will compete in a cook-off and you'll be in the audience, tasting their delicious dishes. SFoodie's Jun Belen went last year, and had a hell-of a time. He wrote, "The friendly cookoff proved to be a virtual Filipino fiesta, showcasing the best of the Bay Area's burgeoning Filipino cuisine." Alright!
This year, the competing chefs are Arlene Nuñez, Jerrick Figueroa, Gloria Ramos, Albert Rivera, Kristela Mendoza, and Tim Luym. The chefs are divided into amateur and professional divisions, so that seasoned pros don't completely dominate the newbies. However, culinary delights come from both camps, so don't count out the young ones. The event starts at 3 p.m., with the Amateur Division Cook-off at 4 p.m., professional at 6 p.m., and the Awards Ceremony at 7:45 p.m.
It's free, but seating is limited. RSVP to reserve seats. For food tasting showcase, coupons are available at $20 per pack.
For coffee roasters, it's common, if not necessary, to send a staff member to what has been deemed "origin" -- the coffee's producing country -- to sample and learn about the coffee they might soon purchase.
While we have no specific opinion on McInerney's advice or expertise, if you want to start drinking more Riesling, we thought we'd find you some. Besides, most wine writers like an excuse to write more about Riesling (or Sherry, or any of a host of other under-appreciated wines for that matter), and Riesling is one of the great friends of hard to pair foods, like vegetables and our local crab.
Of course, as always, our mission (as we've chosen to accept it) is to find you local wines for $40 or less that stand out in story, style or substance. Here are two Rieslings in that spirit.
Wine: Trefethen 2010 Dry Riesling
Notes: Very pleasant and approachable with crisp, but not overwhelming, acidity. Notes of fresh citrus dominated by lemon and lime. Light petrol on the nose only modestly carries through to the mouth. Bracingly dry with only the lemon zest of sweetness that is implied, but not actual. The finish lifts from your tongue in dry waves like the glimmers of heat off a dessert asphalt road.
Sells For: $18.99 (At K&L) Drinks Like: $30
Where to score it: Falletti Foods, K&L, Jug Shop, Marina Supermarket and Andronico's.
Wine: Smith-Madrone 2010 Riesling
In a fickle landscape for food businesses, many cupcake shops have opened in recent years in San Francisco -- and, happily, they continue to stick around. While not every innovation regarding the dessert has worked out in practice (cupcake and wine pairings should be banned), there's still a clear demand.
SFoodie is a tough customer when it comes to cupcakes. We are not on a diet. We are not lured or fooled by a sky-high swirl of frosting. And we're not swayed by sprinkles, though we do have an appreciation for the occasional edible glitter. Attention must be paid to the cake itself, ideally with a not-too-dense crumb (how the inside looks, not what falls off it). You'd probably not be shocked to know how many places make that an afterthought.
Here are our 10 favorite current spots for cupcakes:
Mere seconds before the "Shit X says" meme goes the way of the Pomplamoose cover, the irreverent coffee-culture bloggers at Sprudge.com have made a "Shit Baristas Say" video, filmed at Four Barrel and starring Ian Hunter Anderson, one of its actual, genuine baristas.
