Excellent ramen– Tori Paitan– savory-umami rich broth from chicken bones with some fermented flavors, with pork and duck chashu and good toothy noodles. The Suntory Premium Malts on tap was good company. Worth waiting in line an hour.
I spent a few hours at the SF Street Food Festival, which is not just any collection of food carts but a fundraiser for La Cocina and showcase for its members (“The mission of La Cocina is to cultivate low income food entrepreneurs as they formalize and grow their businesses by providing affordable commercial kitchen space, industry-specific technical assistance and access to market opportunities.”) This year I tried to eat at “La Cocina member” booths I hadn’t heard of and mostly skip the known-good usual suspects… and dish after dish was delicious. The nine things I put in my mouth are below (I got the “small plate” option at every booth to keep going as long as I could…): ...
Plate of sashimi. Friendly couple who greet me by name even if it’s been 6-12 months. No fuss, no elaborate rolls.
One of the best pasta tastings I’ve had there. The anise-ish tarragon in the beet mezzaluna! The stripes of mint in the tagliatelle with bottarga!
Farewell, San Francisco Beer Week, it’s been good. I made it out all but two nights, and had to work weekdays (sometimes late), but still managed to do well. In numbers: Events attended: 18 Venues: 14 (Gala, Dynamo Donuts, SOMA StrEat Food Park, Social Kitchen, Noc Noc, The Sycamore, Rosamunde, The Willows, CatHead’s BBQ, Triple Voodoo, Pyramid, Sierra Torpedo Room, Faction, Drake’s) Most-visited: The Willows (Colorado, Maine, and San Diego nights) Friends met for a drink: 11 Beers tasted: About 70? Strangest beer: A really spicy (habanero?) beer at Rosamunde whose name I can’t find. Even bringing it near my face made my eyes water. Favorite non-beer discovery: The Dynamo Donut Campari / grapefruit donut– distinctive citrus and bitter flavors, clean, nice sugar balance. I think tart donuts could be the next thing… Biggest Surprise: Biking into an unexpectedly deep puddle (see photos) Field Notes Drink Local notebooks filled: 0.5 Pliny the Youngers: 0 Hangovers: 0 (pacing, food, and water) The week in photos: ...
A chilly, dark evening without plans in a strangely quiet city had me craving the buzz and chatter of a social Italian restaurant. I showed up at La Ciccia (Sardinian) in Noe Valley as they opened and got a spot at the bar. And what a dinner! Out of respect for their “no cameras” sign: Tender, creamy burrata (the best I’ve had) on arugula, with very good olive oil. Freshly-made fettucini (perfect) with tomato ragu, sausage, veal, and olives. ...
I recently had my favorite bowl of ramen in the US, at Ramen Shop in Oakland (edging out Shin Sen Gumi Hakata Ramen): The veggie ramen shown above (“shoyu broth with meyer lemo, chanterelles, salt-cured egg, broccoli di ciccio, shaved carrots, negi, and mizuna”) was very good, and I tend to like shoyu or salt broths over miso broths, but it was the “garlic miso ramen with smoked king salmon, pork belly, shoyu-marinated egg, frisée, gypsy peppers, and shungiku” that blew my mind. Such a rich, creamy, yet not too greasy broth, and noodles with a nice bite. ...
low-key dinner-during-daylight with family and a few friends. various pasta including this green garlic one (and an amazing asparagus ravioli): grilled sardines with perfect asparagus and peas: desserts including a pea leaf panna cotta(!)
Cross-posting from a tour of San Francisco dumpling shops by bike (highlights: pork+chive dumplings with orange curry sauce from Kingdom of Dumpling, and pan-fried pork buns from Dumpling Kitchen).
After a month with almost no starch, the pasta tasting at flour + water seemed appropriate. A friend and I were there for a long, leisurely dinner past 1AM, as the staff were eating post-shift meals and generously not kicking us out. And it was one of the best pasta tastings I’ve had there. Their classic agnolotti dal plin was as good as I remembered, the fava radiatore with quail was soft, delicious, and different with every bite (with a bit of nice acidity from something?), and the combination of lamb, cocoa, and beets really worked. They even humored our hungry eyes with bread to mop up leftover sauce. ...
If I were in town for New Year’s, I would probably do this again:
I filled in at the last minute for a space in an Ad Hoc brunch reservation with friends (this seems to be a running theme for me and Yountville restaurants). It’s a fixed you-don’t-know-what-it-will-be-ahead-of-time menu, and I really lucked out– it hit all sorts of favorite ingredients for me (anise, cured fish, egg yolk, spicy greens, pickles, etc). We started with bagels with good salmon cured with fennel/Pernod(? – I think that’s what she said), fried capers, and a beet and spicy watercress salad. Unfortunately, the bagels were mediocre– a texture more like a dense bread, not chewy or lactic-acid-fermentation flavorful the way a bagel should be. But as vehicles for the salmon and cheese they were fine. ...
The Dandelion Chocolate single-origin bar from Madagascar cacao beans is amazing: bright, with berry and citrus flavors. A+. I like the ingredients list: Cocoa Beans & Cane Sugar. That’s it. This is my new favorite special-occasion chocolate, displacing the Mast Brother Madagascar and the Mast Brothers Maine Sea Salt.
by D at SoW
After working late, I dropped by flour + water on my way home to see if there was a seat at the bar, sat down within 15 minutes, and had one of the better meals I’ve had there: roasted duck breast with chestnut, roasted squash, walnut & pumpkin seed I do like the time of year when chestnuts make an appearance in food. And this dish was phenomenal– juicy, tender duck with a slightly sweet chestnut puree and a lot of mellow, well-blended supporting flavors. ...