SAVORY – VEGETARIAN • There are a number of Burmese gems in SF (see last month’s Top Tastes), but I’ve been getting my lunch lately at a little alley Burmese restaurant that’s quite tasty: Yellow Pa Taut. Traditional Tea Leaf or Ginger Salad ($9.95 each) are treated well here (ask for the Ginger Salad without dried shrimps if you’re a… Read more →
“…all really interesting people – sportsman, explorers, musicians, scientists, vagabonds and writers – were vitally interested in good things to eat and drink; cared for exotic and intriguing ways of composing them. Diplomats and colonial officials were pungent gourmets.” – Charles H. Baker, Jr., “The Gentleman’s Companion” Is it just me or does it seem like despite the state of… Read more →
(Upon discovering champagne): “Come quickly! For I am drinking in the stars.”– Dom Perignon Let’s go ahead and give the whole spread at Pican’s Kentucky Derby Party in Oakland a nod. Hard-pressed to pick from the all-you-can-eat (and drink – Mint Juleps) menu: it might be Louisiana Crawfish Toasts, signature Buttermilk Fried Chicken (in wing form), super-smoky Ham Biscuits with… Read more →
Mission Beach Cafe 198 Guerrero Street (at 14th) San Francisco, CA 94103 415-861-0198 www.missionbeachcafesf.com I’ve long loved Mission Beach Cafe for Blue Bottle Coffee (perfect cappuccinos and espressos), some of SF’s best pastries and a rockin’ brunch. With Thomas Martinez back, now as Executive Chef (age 22 and already this good? Watch out!), the dinner menu is also a journey… Read more →
Eating is highly subjective, and the man who accepts say-so in youth will wind up in bad and overtouted restaurants in middle age, ordering what the maitre d’hotel suggests.”– A.J. Liebling, “Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris”, 1962 I can barely keep up with all the amazing tastes this month. So, narrowing it down… BREAKFAST • Nothing like Chicken &… Read more →
As always, a taste-rich month in my city. Visited old favorites like Tommy’s for champion margaritas, Little Delhi’s savory Indian in the Tenderloin (glad they now have chaat on the menu), brunch and cocktails at classy, retro Presidio Social Club, hit-the-spot cheeseburgers at Sam’s, and Pho Ga at Turtle Tower. Then there’s new spots that didn’t quite grab me upon… Read more →
“We… became aware that we have higher quality conversations at restaurants than at home. It’s as though we rise to the occasion by selecting worthwhile, less mundane subjects to discuss when eating out…” – Mimi Sheraton, “Eating My Words: An Appetite for Life” SAVORY – VEGETARIAN Since Inner Richmond’s classic Clementine was taken over last year by chef of the… Read more →
BROKEN RECORD 1166 Geneva Avenue (between Edinburgh and Naples Streets) San Francisco, CA 94112 415-963-1713 http://brokenrecordsf.com If you can’t hang with dive bars or aren’t willing to venture into the far reaches of the Excelsior, Broken Record may stay off your radar. But you’d be the one missing out. Parking is easy, so why not? Go, and you may, like… Read more →
BREAKFAST Since the Meetinghouse closed years ago, I’ve been a sad girl – not only because it was a supreme SF brunch spot, but because Joanna Karlinsky’s biscuits are about the best I’ve ever put in my mouth (and that includes my visits to the South!) Thank you, Joanna, for bringing your buttery biscuits to us at one more location besides the… Read more →
VEGETARIAN If it was on a regular menu, I’d dive again into the (lightly) Buttermilk Fried Cauliflower, warm and dipped in Roasted Carrot Aioli ($5), that creative chef (and pork master – have you had his Chicharrones?) Ryan Farr cooked up last month at Mission Street Food’s brilliant, one-shot only Thursday night dinners at Lung Shan. Berkeley’s Taste of Africa… Read more →