Omni Eater

Menu Mind Games

2010-05-14T22:19:00.000-07:00

Get your diners right where you want them!

What do anchors, bacon, and grandmothers have in common? They're all tactics used to make menus more enticing to diners, of course! The bottom line is the bottom line: You want diners buying food. And you're lucky; before your diners even decide what they're going to order, you're putting an advertisement in their hands– in the form of a menu – pointing them right towards what you want them to order. Or you should be!

Here are 10 tricks of menu psychology that will lead your diners to order what you want them to!

Don't Think in Terms of $$

This is menu psych 101: DO NOT use dollar signs ($$) on your menu. Let's repeat, do not use dollar signs on your menu. It forces diners to focus on the price of the dish rather than on the dishes themselves. Is your menu a list of prices or of meals? We're hoping the latter. Along the same lines, how you price your dish can affect how a diner perceives the quality of the price. For example, at value restaurants such as Applebees or Friendly's, pricing a dish at "9.99" denotes value, but having that same price at a fine dining establishment makes the food sound cheap, and not in a good way. Plus a longer number means more time looking at a number and less on food. In the above example from Rouge Tomate, the restaurant prices dishes in terms of whole dollars.

Columns Kill

One of the best ways to compare numbers is to have them all lined up. So give your diners a break and get them focusing on the food and not the price. Columns force your diners to compare the prices of all your dishes, making them weed out the most expensive rather than focus on the most delicious. However, pricing all your entrees around the same can be a good tactic to prove to your patrons that you are a fairly priced eatery.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

One of the best ways to sell a dish is to have a picture of it. Well, sometimes. If you're dining at T.G.I Friday's, reading a menu that's more like War and Peace than, well, a menu, you're more likely to choose the Cheesy Bacon Cheeseburger, strategically placed in the upper righthand corner and described in the first slot in the menu, than any other dish on the page. Do you really want to read the War and Peace of menus to choose your dish? Or would you rather just go with what looks good? We're guessing the latter. If you're a fine dining restaurant, however, this tactic isn't going to work for you. Could you imagine Le Bec Fin including an image of their coddled duck egg? Probably not. You're instead going to have to focus on your words.

Adjectives, Adjectives, Adjectives

While using simpler copy is certainly a trend, the words you do use must be precise. In a recent New York Times article, Dr Brian Wansink, director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University, found that descriptive labels on menu items increases sales by as much as 27 percent. Phrases like "Coddled Duck Egg" spark interest in diners while "Welfleet Oyster" gives a sense of place in an industry that is now obsessed with knowing where food comes from.

The Anchor and What's Right Next Door

Imagine seeing a $120 entree on a menu. The thought of purchasing that entree might cause you to gag before even getting your meal. Then, as you browse the rest of the menu, $40 an entree seems like a steal! The initial $120 entree is not necessarily being promoted, although some will most likely order it, it's acting as a decoy to make the rest of the menu look like a bargain. Momfuku Noodle Bar recently added caviar as an anchor, as this robustly priced dish is called, to its inexpensive late night fare. In comparison with $10 to $16 entrees, this upwards of $100 side dish seems a bit flashy. But that might be just their point! In this case, the anchor serves not only to make the rest of the menu look like a steal, but it's also that crazy thing that some customer might just order because it's late at night, it's Momofuku, and, hell, why not? (That's a rhetorical question for the rest of us...)

Bracketing

Bracketing is for the same-dish-that-comes-in-two-different-sizes trick. The two sizes prompt the diner to feel a bit worried that the smaller portion might not be enough and reassure them that for less than double the price, they can get twice the amount of food. Deal, right? Well, sort of. If a diner doesn't eat the extra food and doesn't take home a doggy bag, then, both the food and the diner's money are wasted. However, if you're the restaurant, you just made close to double the profit off of that sale, simply by having two sizes.

The Benefit of Boxes

Boxes draw attention to items on a menu. In this case, RN74 draws attention to its small plates that come in just under $10. Considering this lovely, bite-sized price, diners are likely to either order one of these as an afterthought in addition to their entree or three or four of them instead of an entree, all coming in at a greater price than the just an entree.

The Upper Right Hand Corner

Just as with newspapers, the upper right hand corner of a menu is prime real estate. This is the first place a diner's eyes go. Putting something especially enticing there is a good call. In the case above, a slightly larger dish that can be shared (what a deal, right?) has taken hold. You will notice, however, that per person this entree is just a little more expensive; in addition, it doesn't have to cooked to order, so is an easy order to prepare, a slightly better bill for the restaurant, and a deal for the diner.

The Enhancer: Bacon

If the pork loin at RN74 was just a pork loin, chances are diners would glance over it and keep moving to the next item. However, when that pork loin is bacon-wrapped, everything changes. Bacon is still a buzzword for diners — even if we're bored by food flops like bacon ice cream, we are always enticed to see what the tasty, salted pig-part has been paired with this time. In this case, the bacon makes an otherwise boring dish, excites our intrigue and our taste buds — care for some pork wrapped pork? Yes please.

Mothers and Grandmothers

Diners like the names of restaurant family members on a dish on the menu and they especially like the names of mothers and grandmothers — who doesn't like the image of Momma Clara frying your chicken in the back kitchen of Front Porch? Diners like the idea of a secret family recipe being passed down from generation to generation. In Bill Buford's national bestseller Heat, Mario Batali is quoted as saying, "I know it doesn't make sense and I don't understand it. But ... women are better cooks."

Bonus: Throwing It All Out the Door

This menu's a little different you might notice. First, there are no prices. Second, what the heck is "Hay"? And third, the menu is given to diners at the end of the meal, after they've already eaten.

This menu is from Alinea, Grant Achatz's restaurant in Chicago. Achatz is considered one of the leading chefs in molecular gastronomy cuisine; usually when food reaches the tables in Alinea, it has been so manipulated, it no longer resembles in any way the food ingredients that the chef started with. To him, what was the point of a menu at the beginning of the meal? It would just give diners expectations as to what they would be eating and, since the meal is price-fixed, there is no need for diners to choose what they're going to eat. This menu serves as as a souvenir of the meal diners just ate, a poetic, on paper rendition, if you will. So, when your restaurant becomes as successful as Alinea has been and you've turned the culinary world around as much as Grant Achatz has, then you too can go against all rules of menu psychology.

9 Meat Cuts You Shoud Be Eating

2010-04-13T22:22:00.000-07:00

With the recession, customers want cheaper meat. And with the head-to-tail movement, chefs aren’t just cooking prime rib and terderloin, but the neck and shanks of cows, pigs, and ducks everywhere. Whether it’s the recession or the head to tail movement, normally discarded cuts of meat are making a comeback. And it’s about time! How could we and our diners have gone so long without tender beef cheeks on our menus?

Bath Chaps

Originating in the British City of Bath, Bath chaps are taken from the cheek or jaw of a pig and then cured, much in the way that bacon is. Traditionally, it's coated with breadcrumbs and served as a cold meat, tasting much like ham. Chaps, as they are often refereed to, are a very fatty cut so would add delicious depth to less rich foods like seasonal fruits and vegetables. However, in order to not clog the arteries of your patrons, refrain from pairing it with a triple crème or, god forbid, bacon.

photo by Rachel Black

Beef Cheeks

Despite coming from the same part of the animal as Bath chaps, beef cheeks are much leaner cut on a cow and are characteristically rich, dense-fleshed meat with a fine grain. When braised, they become wonderfully tender; consisting of the muscles that cows use to chew, the muscles are well worked when alive.

photo by Stu_Spivack

Neck

Moving down the animal body, chefs looking to stay at the forefront of butcher cuts are moving past the face and onto the neck. Poultry napes do best fried and cooked quickly while larger-animal-necks are similar to shanks and taste most delicious when cooked low and slow. Lamb neck, for example breaks down when braised for a day.

Pig Trotters

As you might be able to gather from the name, pig trotters are what they sound like: Pig’s feet. Keeping with the traditions of soul or Southern cooking, pigs feet are used to remain consistent with the rhetoric of wasting no part of an animal. French, however, also cook a dish called “Pieds de Couchon” which literally translates to feet of pig. Because this cut is literally the hoof of the pig, it’s important to wash thoroughly before cooking. Trotters can be cooked several ways; most commonly, chefs boil them on low heat for several hours in flavored broth or bake them in a bath of butter and breadcrumbs. Either way, trotters are delicious and pair nicely with traditional southern foods like collard greens and black-eyes peas.

photo from goosmurf

Skirt Steak

This cut has been used for awhile as the traditional meat in fajitas, which literally means “belt” in Spanish, but recently it’s had a renaissance in American cuisine. Skirt steak comes from the middle belly section and tends to be long, thin, coarsely textured, and generally more flavorful than most steaks. Because of their course texture, skirt steaks absorbs marinades and sauces better than most cuts and a robust marinade will not easily over power a skirt’s strong flavor.

photo from Stu_Spivack

Beef and Lamb Shank

Taken from the front lower leg of a steer or lamb, this cut it very tough due to the amount of connective tissue. Usually braised or slow cooked, it’s common in soups and stews where it enhances overall flavor. With home-style cooking still all the rage, shin is a great addition to your stews!

Pork Shoulder

Pork shoulder, similar to shank, is great when slow cooked or braised. Pork shoulder is not just the shoulder of the pig but also the whole leg. Because of its fat marbling, it is a very forgiving cut of meat and won’t dry out easily. As a muscle, however, it is best when cooked long, over low heat. One of the most popular and traditional ways of preparing pork shoulder is pulled pork, where the shoulder is braised and then put in the oven for a good portion of an afternoon or morning. The pork will literally fall apart and melt in your patrons’ mouths. Salivating yet?

photo from Marshall Astor - Food Pornographer

Tri Tip

California cut. Newport steak. Sirloin tip. Sirloin butt. Culotte. Bottom sirloin. You get the idea: Tri-tip steak goes by a lot of names. But there are only two of these triangular shaped steaks per cow — one per butt check, if you will. Because it’s at the butt of the animal, it’s not a kosher cut of meat. However, this strongly flavored steak is great for roasting, broiling, or a combination of stove and oven cooking. One thing to beware of is that this steak will get very tough when cooked past medium-rare.

photo from The Infamous Gdub

Oxtail

Oxtail is traditionally the tail of an ox, a castrated steer, and completes the nose to tail movement. Oxtail, like many of the cuts in this article is a tougher, well marbled meat. What makes it different, however, is how close it is to the bone — the meat encircles vertebrae and includes a lot of iron-rich marrow. Because they are so fatty, chefs often cook oxtail ahead, skim the fat off, and reheat to be served.

2010 Food Predictions

2010-01-05T22:29:00.000-08:00

What will the New Year bring to food?

In with the new, out with the old! Happy New Year from Chef's Blade! We've consulted top ranking professionals, reviewed surveys, and used our own know-how to bring you these 10, 2010 food trend predictions! Some predictions stem from 2009 trends while others are totally new; see if you agree with us!

Move Over Celebrity Chefs

Racheal Ray. Paula Dean. Bobby Flay. Anthony Bourdain. Tom Colicchio. These celebrity chefs are household names these days, but with the rise of home cooking food bloggers like Julie Powell of Julie and Julia and Clotilde Dusoulier of Chocolate and Zucchini, maybe we don't want limit ourselves to the outside egos of celebrity chefs. And you know what they say — the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Watch out!

Comfort Food

The trend started in 2009 but shows no signs of slowing down. Last year we fell in love with Southern comfort food and now can't wait to integrate these home-cooked specialties into our own regional cuisines. Plus, you know how southerners believe bigger is always better? That goes for portion size too, which means more delicious, buttery leftovers for tomorrow. Yum!

Small Plates

Diners don't want to try just one dish, they want to try as many things as possible. Variety is the spice of life, right? So small plates — which have just recently exploded in popularity — should continue on as a major trend in 2010.

Taste Buds for Latin American Foods

Maybe it's the small plates, maybe it's boredom with Asian and European cuisines, but Latin American cuisine is set to be the trendsetter in 2010 according to Dr. Victor Gielisse, the Associate Vice President of Business Development at the Culinary Institute of America. Latin American cuisine derives influence from Native American, European, Asian, and African cuisine and incorporates ancient grains, such as quinoa, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables, often stewing these foods for hours to create wonderful blends of flavors.

Bang for Your Buck

With 2009, came recession specials, but the hard times still aren’t over so you're going to have to make your diners keep feeling like they're getting the best bang for their buck. But keep in mind that your diners are probably sick and tired of hearing about the recession and may not want their discounts labeled with the R-word. After all, it's been a year already, and what makes that discount special any more?

Twitter, Facebook, and Chef's Blade

The Culinary Institute of America surveyed its readers and they predicted that one of the greatest resources for 2010 would be social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook, and (of course!) Chef's Blade. You won’t be limited to contacting your immediate network, instead you'll be able to reach most of your target audience, excluding the few poor souls that still haven't yet engaged with social media. If you use these tools properly plus be able to learn a lot from your own peers!

Beyond Sustainability

>Sustainability has been a big issue in the restaurant industry for the last few years, but chefs should continue to develop their knowledge of issues involving not only sustainability but also organics, GMOS, and health and wellness. These are all very complicated issues and diners are educated more then ever, so the wise chef will have to be an informed one to be able to answer all his or her diners’ enthusiastic and prying questions.

Guest Experience

Mike Gibbons, the head of the National Restaurant Association, says his number one advice to restaurants is to provide diners with a superior guest experience. While economic recovery is expected, it won't happen overnight and the restaurants that provide the most personal experience will certainly be the ones diners will come back to again and again.

Health Care Reform

This is the biggest thing that could affect your business this year. On one hand, we all want our workers healthy but, on the other, many restaurant owners haven't been paying for their employees' health insurance. Now there's a good chance they will have to. How each restaurant deals with this could cause minor to major changes in the kitchen.

Get Savvy: Smartphones

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know what a smartphone is and you've realized a good majority of your customers are using them. And that's not going to stop anytime soon. How many of your customers say they've found you on Yelp? Hopefully some, because if they aren't, start a profile today. Word of mouth alone isn't going to do it these days and whether you like it or not, people on the go will be using applications and websites such as OpenTable, Yelp, and MenuPages to figure out where they're dining. You had better be there for them to search for, otherwise, you'll just be missing out.

Top Food Trends of 2009

2009-12-27T22:21:00.000-08:00

Food carts were all the rage in 2009. Will they be next year as well?

By the end of 2008, the food industry was bracing itself for the recession to take its toll. Then swine flu hit. And then the Taco Bell chihuahua died. Even as the nation scaled back, people continued to eat out and chefs met their recession-special desires with innovation and creativity. And several meltdowns.

So, as we approach 2010, let's raise our glasses to these top food moments of 2009.

The Foie Gras Debate

As the palate of the United States becomes more sophisticated, Americans are gaining a taste for foie gras just as animals activists are decrying the fatted liver. While this debate has always been around to some extent, this year it most certainly came to a head as celebrity chefs David Chang and Anthony Bourdain spoke out against animal activists and promoted farms that used more humane practices to produce the delicacy.

Black Garlic

Described as indescribable—helpful, right?—black garlic is this year's new flavor arrival that swept both the food industry and the media by storm. Believed to be an ancient food from the Middle East and Asia, where it is popular today, its use goes along with the general trend to return to more traditional food production such as house cured meats, brewed beers, and homemade cheeses. Black garlic itself is fresh garlic that has been fermented for 30 days, which turns it black, giving it its name. How have you used black garlic? Comment below!

Gordon Ramsay Loses It

We're all familiar with the British celebrity chef loosing his cool on his television shows or just in general, but who ever thought the wealthy celebrity chef would be forced to sell off his Los Angeles location as his restaurant profits plummeted close to 90%. Great scott! That is unacceptable Mr. Ramsay!

The Taco Bell Star Chihuahua Dies

Remember the Taco Bell commercials around 1999 where a hyper chihuahua named Gidget went crazy over Taco Bell food? Well, sadly the 15-year-old chihuahua, who was in retirement after her time as the Taco Bell dog, headed up to doggy heaven on July 21 after suffering a massive stroke. May you rest in peace dear Gidget. You and the Taco Bell food you so loved.

Swine Flu

We fell in love with bacon last year and this year bacon got sick. Well, not bacon per se, but the pigs that we raise for bacon. Pigs give us bacon but they also give us H1N1, although bacon, thankfully, won't give us the dreaded swine flu.

Twitter and Chefs

Everyone and their grandmother jumped on Twitter this year and chefs were no exception. Nor were food carts. And restaurants. Chefs tweet about everything from the newest shipment of beef cheeks to the pie recipe they just discovered. Food carts tell us their whereabouts while restaurants announce promotions that you'll only find out if you follow them. We used to think that food was only for eating. Apparently it's for tweeting too!

Are you following me on Twitter? You can @jackyhayward and @JilliIceCream!

Food Carts and Home Cooking

Recession specials were the big trend this year and with them came the food trucks and a return to home-styled cooking. We weren't willing to spend half our salary on fancy restaurant food but we wanted sustenance that would warm our bellies and remind us of times when money wasn't so tight. So formal dining took it down a notch as food made its way to us on wheels, tasting just like mom would have made it.

White House Community Garden

We've been following the Obamas' eating habits since before President Obama took office and we were just as gripped by Michelle Obama planting a victory garden on the White House lawn. Yes, the farm to table movement has also made it to the White House.

Julie and Julia

Julia Child rose to fame in the 1960s. Julie Powell published her first bestseller in 2002. And in 2009 Julie and Julia hit the silver-screen, and the nation was seized by the Julie and Julia craze. Did you know that Julia Child's book Mastering the Art of French Cooking has been published 41 times?

Gourmet Shutters

After nearly 70 years of fine eating, the most recognizable name in food media shuttered. Ruth Reichl was the former editor-in-chief of the magazine and is still promoting her last project as Gourmet's editor: The Gourmet Cookbook.

Are Celebrity Chefs the New Rock Stars?

2009-09-10T22:15:00.000-07:00

“Celebrity chefs are the new rock stars,” Ryan Scott told me as he was prepping for a meal that night in Global Gourmet Catering Company’s kitchen. That day, I talked with Ryan and three of his fellow Season 4 Top Chef contestants—Stephanie Izard, Mark Simmons, and Manuel Trevino—as they prepared a dinner for a very lucky nine guests. The dinner had been an auction prize from the February 28th American Red Cross auction, the proceeds of the which benefited the San Francisco chapter of the American Red Cross.

The new rock stars, eh?

We’ve all watched an episode Top Chef at some point; we’ve picked out our favorite contender, tasted their creations with our eyes, and watched our least favorite contestant edge out our choice contender in a Quick Fire Challenge. But the people we saw on television were characters to us. Sure, we cared about their food. But we were equally interested in their personalities, interactions, and, sometimes, their love affairs.

Could Stephanie Izard, the winner of Season 4, be the new Madonna?

"I certainly feel like I live a rock star life, that's for sure," Stephanie says. "I travel a lot now..." Stephanie is currently working on opening her new restaurant, the Drunken Goat, but is also busy traveling the country speaking to women about her career as a chef and encouraging them to pursue their own culinary dreams.

Hmmm. I’m going to go with a no on Madonna…but maybe there’s a better example; Aimee Mann perhaps?

Manuel Trevino, who is currently working on opening Travertine Restaurant in New York City this month, says, with a pause, “Well, I mean, [being a Top Chef contender] gets the word out about who we are; people want to know what you're up to so, hopefully, it helps." Manuel’s restaurant has yet to open, but it has already received buzz on Eater, the popular restaurant gossip blog, as well as New York Magazine.

In a recent New York Times article, Leah Cohen from Season 5 talked about how her restaurant attracts patrons who are interested in "critiquing [her] character as much as her cooking skills." During Season 5, Cohen shared a clandestine kiss with the eventual winner Hosea Rosenberg, which garnered a lot at attention as the season’s “showmance”. Most Top Chef contestants are young and early in their careers; the media attention they receive from being on a primetime television network is unprecedented for them and an amazing opportunity. Top Chef contestants move from being a chef in some restaurant to a name and a face that the national foodie audience recognizes. Still, it’s frustrating as new patrons come to Top Chef competitors’ restaurants not always just for their culinary creations; as Cohen attests, she became a chef patrons wanted to see, but not totally because of her cooking.

Just as we often become interested in these chefs for more than their cooking, Top Chef alumni are using their fame to promote issues beyond their cooking. Mark Simmons from Season 4 uses his “relationships with local farmers” to promote the “humane” food he serves at Market Place and Table in Brooklyn. Ryan Scott, in addition to running a personal chef and catering company and consulting for a restaurant company in Dubai, is devoting a good chunk of his time to philanthropic pursuits. He works with Meals on Wheels in San Francisco, Make-A-Wish Foundation, the American Heart Association, Share Our Strength, and, obviously, the Red Cross.

In fact, all of these chefs I talked to are taking time out of their busy schedules—Mark and Manuel flew in from New York City and Stephanie from Chicago—to give their time to aid The American Red Cross, an agency they believe in.

Also cooking for this dinner were former contestants (and San Francisco locals) Casey Thompson, Erik Hopfinger, and Jennifer Biesty, each of whom cooked one of the dinner’s seven courses. This dinner for 9 was an item at the Red Cross’s annual auction to raise money for the San Francisco chapter; the auction’s 200 items raised more than $330,000, with the Top Chef dinner alone raising $8,500.* Donna Siegel, the event coordinator for the Red Cross San Francisco, said that these chefs “[lending] their celebrity to [The Red Cross] to help bring awareness about what we do…that’s fantastic.” The Top Chef dinner was one of the most popular auction items.

And, I guess rock stars sort of do the same thing too: Madonna, especially, is known for her philanthropic bent...maybe Stephanie is, after all, the new Madonna.

*The San Francisco chapter of The American Red Cross helps individuals in need every day, be it a family who’s house just burned down or house individuals after an earthquake, theses fund will go to help San Francisco residents when they need help most.

All photos in this article by Zac Frank

COCHON 555 - “5 Pigs, 5 Chefs, 5 Winemakers”

2009-06-08T16:44:00.000-07:00

Yeah. That's right.

And I'm going, thanks to Foodbuzz.

Cochon 555 brings together a group of top San Francisco chefs, who will each prepare a heritage breed hog from head to toe for this competition. Cochon 555 is the only national chef competition promoting heritage pigs and breed diversity. Guests and professional judges will determine a winner based on utilization, presentation and overall best flavor. The winner will be crowned the “Prince of Porc”. Yeah, that's right. In addition, five family-owned wineries will showcase their wines. I think I will be leaving fat and happy.

Couchon 555 started in Atlanta and is now national in scope. Other cities that have participated are New York City, Seattle, and Chicago. This time, the chefs from SF are:

Ravi Kapur, Boulevard
Ryan Farr, 4505 Meats
Nate Appleman, A16/ SPQR
Staffan Terje, Perbacco
Peter McNee, Poggio Trattoria

Could you have a better round up? Anyways, I'm pretty excited about it. And you should be too! As I'll be writing about it, taking pictures of it, and sharing it with you!

Stay tuned!

Chef's Blade

2009-04-07T16:23:00.000-07:00

So, little while ago, I told you that I had started a new job and that I would write about it in posts to come, so here is that post.

Chef's Blade is a social networking site for professional chefs and the rest of the culinary industry. What does this mean? Well, Chef's Blade has culinary news and food writing coupled with a social networking platform that lets users both comment on the content but also get to know each other. So basically, it's like facebook for chefs and other culinary industry professionals and enthusiasts with news, writing, and quizzes thrown in--our quizzes are much better than facebook's.

What does this make my job? Well, amazing. Basically, I source food and chef related content, write about food, and talk to chefs and culinary industry professionals about their jobs as my job, all the while trying to make this endeavor that I'm really excited about successful...not to shabby, and by not to shabby, I mean, the best job ever.

And so here's my plug: Please join Chef's Blade, if you haven't. I'll make you tasty food if you do :) (YUMZZ...I know even more about tasty food now with this new job...)

(Also, as a little FYI, that is indeed a photo from Katie Kwan of kitchensidecar; she's one our feature writers! Wowzers!)

2009-03-29T09:50:00.000-07:00

So, about two months ago, SF foodie bloggers were a-twitter with the 7X7 article "The Big SF-Eat: 100 Things to Try Before You Die", and, right about now, I finally decided to get my ass in gear and mark off (or rather bolded in this case) the things among the 100 that I had eaten coupled with my often complimentary but sometimes snarky commentary. From here on, I'm going to write intermittent blog entries cataloging the dishes I do try but hadn't tried when this article came out, two of which have already occured...so look for those.

1. Roast chicken and bread salad at Zuni

2. Coffee-rubbed pork shoulder at Range

3. Carnitas taco at La Taqueria

4. Spicy crab and grits at the Front Porch

5. Chasu ramen at Katana-Ya

6. Burger with fries at Slow Club

7. Shaking beef at the Slanted Door

8. Morning bun at Tartine Bakery

9. Tofu soup with kimchi at My Tofu House

10. Baja-style fish tacos at Nick’s Crispy Tacos

11. Pork sugo with pappardelle at Delfina

12. Salt-and-pepper squid at Yuet Lee

13. Soup dumplings at Shanghai House

14. Beef brisket at Memphis Minnie’s

15. Oysters on the half shell at Swan Oyster Depot

16. Katsu curry from Muracci’s Japanese Curry & Grill

17. Tea-leaf salad at Burma Superstar YUMZZZZ!! (always my fav, even if Willi doesn't approve)

18. Salumi misti plate at Perbacco

19. Tuna tartare at Michael Mina

20. Chicken pot pie at Liberty Café

21. Pizza margherita at Pizzeria Delfina

22. Vietnamese roasted pork sandwich at Saigon Sandwich

23. Beer sausage with sauerkraut and grilled onions at Rosamunde Sausage Grill Without the onions and the sauerkraut, me no likey those things...

24. Blue Bell Bitter from the cask at Magnolia Pub

25. Loaf of bread straight out of the oven at Tartine (bonus: sliced while still warm and slathered with Brillat- Savarin cheese from Bi-Rite, down the block) Thank you Katie of kitchensidecar fame

26. A classic gin martini at Bourbon & Branch Maybe I went here to early in the game, but, on my first visit, I found this place snooty and their drinks to sweet, so have never returned.

27. Papaya salad with salty crab at Sai Jai Thai

28. A Gibraltar at Blue Bottle Café I'm actually drinking Blue Bottle french press, as I write...

29. Spaetzle at Suppenküche

30. Laughing Buddha cocktail at Cantina

31. Pan con chocolate with sea salt and olive oil at Laïola

32. Pupusas at Balompie Café #3

33. Prime rib at House of Prime Rib

34. Yellowtail collar at Oyaji

35. Salted-caramel ice cream at Bi-Rite Creamery This was my H-Ween costume, circa 2007, for realz, son.

36. Dry-fried chicken wings at San Tung

37. Rotisserie chicken at Limón Rotisserie

38. French fries at Hayes Street Grill

39. Pierna Enchilada torta at La Torta Gorda

40. Cheeseburger at Taylor’s Automatic Refresher

41. Pho ga at Turtle Tower

42. Fried-shrimp po’boy at Brenda’s French Soul Food

43. Mint julep at Alembic (Just a hop skip and a jump from my apt, this place has some of the tastiest cocktails in the city and is one of those SF endroits you bring visitors to show off that SF is indeed worth the hype.)

44. Cannelé at Boulangerie Bay Bread

45. Galapagos cocktail at Absinthe

46. Chips and salsa at Papalote

47. Ceviche at La Mar Cebichería Peruana

48. Angels on horseback at Anchor & Hope

49. Ginger snaps at Miette

50. Giant pretzel with mustard at The Monk’s Kettle

51. Maccaronara with ricotta salata at A16

52. Fried brussels sprouts at SPQR

53. Garlic soup at Piperade

54. Spiced-chocolate doughnut at Dynamo Donut with a Four Barrel coffee

55. Milk-roasted pork at L’Osteria del Forno

56. Caponatina with burrata at Beretta

57. Goat stew at Kokkari Estiatorio

58. Absinthe daiquiri at Jardinière

59. Huarache with cactus salad at El Huarache Loco (Saturdays at the Alemany farmers market)

60. The Brass Monkey at Little Star Pizza (I just don't get the hype around Little Star...thick crust? Please. Go to Delfina. God.

61. Crab soufflé at Café Jacqueline I would say my most favorite is the chocolate souffle...light and fluffy, chocolaty goodness...now that is something special!

62. Shrimp-and-chive dumplings at Ton Kiang

63. Meatballs with grapes at Aziza

64. Paper masala dosa at Dosa I don't get the hype nor the reason for the long wait about/at this place

65. Crispy eggplant at Jai Yun

66. Pig parts at Incanto Does Bocalone count?

67. Sand dabs at Tadich Grill

68. Irish coffee at the Buena Vista Cafe

69. Licorice parfait at South

70. Omakase menu at Sebo

71. A Fernet at R Bar

72. Arancini at Ducca

73. Popovers with strawberry butterat the Rotunda

74. Corned-beef sandwich with Gruyère at the Sentinel

75. Fried green beans at Coco500 I heart Peter Duyan

76. Chicken hash at Ella’s

77. Eggs benedict on the back patio at Zazie Um, if not, I challenge your SF foodie-hood.

78. Chilaquiles with a fried egg at Pastores

79. Onion strings at Alfred’s Steakhouse

80. Apple fritter at Bob’s Donuts

81. Chicken curry at Punjab Kabab House

82. Fried chickpeas at Piqueo’s

83. Sweet-potato fries with banana catsup at Poleng Lounge

84. A margarita at Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant

85. Pulled-pork sandwich at Roadside BBQ

86. A cheese slice at Arinell Pizza; I mean, who hasn't?

87. Fresh spring rolls at Out the Door

88. Buckwheat crepe and a French cider at Ti Couz The only crepe in SF worth it's weight in flour

89. Lamb schawerma at Truly Mediterranean

90. Slow-cooked egg at Coi

91. Albondigas soup at Mijita

92. Bacon-wrapped hot dog from a cart in the Mission (preferably when you’re drunk)

93. Seven courses of beef at Pagolac

94. Mango with chile, lemon and salt at Doña Tere’s cart (At the corner of 21 and Treat Streets, no phone)

95. 3 a.m. bowl of caldo verde soup at Grubstake

96. Baby-coconut ice cream from Mitchell’s

97. Sesame balls at Yank Sing

98. Basil gimlet at Rye

99. Clam chowder at Hog Island Oyster Co. I don't eat Clam Chowder outside of New England.

100. Cheese course at Gary Danko

VICTORY!!!! (garden)

2009-03-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

So, as of now, this might not be news to everyone, but I wanted to take a brief moment to acknowledge Michelle Obama's breaking ground on the White House Victory Garden, or the White House vegetable garden last Friday, March 20. It was a pretty exciting moment for the Food Movement as we were not only getting a victory garden on the White House lawn, or as close as we're going to get, but it seems we finally have an administration that is in support of reforming our food system. From Tom Vilsack proposing cuts in corn susidies as well breaking ground last month on the the people's garden to the appointment of Kathleen Merrigan, a long supporter of reform of our food system, as the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, it seems, a food revolution is indeed in the air, as the New York Times apply said last weekend.

In the New York Times article Michael Pollan is quoted as saying that the food movement might not be ready to go "prime time". While I do agree, that it seems that in only a few short months, a movement that was once seen, by both itself and the nation, as an underground constituency is taking the hot seat. I would like to remind Pollan, however, that books such as his very own Omnivore's Dilema have educated Americans about what is wrong with our food system, and with rising energy costs and health problems nationally, I believe our nation is in fact ready to reform. To me, it seems that it not just the food activists that are powering this movement, but rather the government and the people themselves.

Also, the layout of White House vegetable garden is pretty amazing; I was sort of drooling over just the picture.

Alice Waters on 60 Minutes

2009-03-17T12:44:00.001-07:00

So, next week my dad is in town, and, as per his suggestion, we're going to Chez Panisse; I couldn't be more excited! I've been once before, about three and half years ago, but after living in California for almost three years (GASP, has it been that long), and know a lot more about Alice's Water's movement as well as having socially met some of the people that work at Chez Panisse, it's going to be a much more special occasion. Over the years, I've also learned a lot about Alice's mission that has made me question some of her dreamy ideals. Is it actually realistic to expect the United States to be fed on natural organic food? While her statement of "Good food is a right, not a privilege" is certainly inspiring, and in some ways true--why doesn't our government subsidize organic permaculture rather than genetically modified corn?--it's a bit unrealistic considering our economic times: People who are loosing their homes, jobs, and life savings aren't really going to care if they are eating cheetos or organic apples, nor, sorry to say, should they. I mean, if my day really sucks, I don't think an organic pink lady apple is going make it all better...maybe some Ben and Jerry's Chubby Hubby might, but I guess, even that is a bit towards to whole food side of things.

Anyways, this dialogue around Alice Waters is, I'm sure, pretty familiar to us all. 60 minutes, however, recently did a piece on her (I think it aired last week) that did show some changing of opinion about Alice, if not a glossing over of some details--that "San Francisco food stall" was in fact Primevera (local SF provider) at the Slow Food nation "Slow Food Served Fast" event, not a "friend of Alice's" who is always in that location...anyways, the excerpt is interesting, so what, and maybe get a little bit jealous of her fireplace right inside her kitchen--did she just poach/fry that egg in a spoon? WANT.

Watch CBS Videos Online

What Foraging, Permaculture, and Dumpster Diving have in common

2009-03-10T21:09:00.000-07:00

So I realize: I've been very, very bad blogger. I'm sorry. But, I have a good reason.
My job has changed (as in my 9-5 one), as many of you know, and I'm now working on a social networking site for professional chefs and other individuals in the cooking industry, which is called Chef's Blade. I'll write more on it later, but the transition has been a twee bit of worky work, and well, it's exciting, but it's made me a bad food blogger.

But, anyways, back to the task at hand: Foraging.

Forage SF has been organizing the Wild Kitchen, which, so far, has been a mini series of foraged meals; the first one they had was Valentine's Day and the last one they had was this past Saturday. Both were amazing amazing and delicious. Foraged food, boiled down to the essentials, is food that has been gathered from naturally-occurring places instead of, say, farms.

Forage SF is a foraged food co-operative, whose goal is to collect foraged foods both from the urban environment – for example, from fruit trees in backyards and sidewalks – but also from the surrounding Bay Area and distribute it to its members. The foraged food movement has grown out of a desire to challenge our dependence on industrial agriculture and to begin using the foods naturally available to us again. For me, what is most interesting about foraged foods is the dialogue it creates with our agricultural system, not to mention the questions it raises concerning what classifies as “foraged”.

During the first dinner I attended, Forage SF gathered the food from a variety of sources. Some of the greens – such as miner’s lettuce, mustard greens, and wild nettles – were growing naturally in the Presidio while other ingredients, like the acorns used in the acorn ice cream, were foraged by local foragers, such as Fe ralKevin. All of these ingredients were noticeably fresher and more flavorful than anything from the Ferry Terminal farmer’s markets. Sad. But maybe I should just "shop" at the park at the end of my block?

Personally, the most exciting aspect of these ingredients is that they grow naturally and without the interference of human cultivation. In addition, foraged foods grow sustainably in that they are part of the natural ecosystem already in place; foraging and consuming wild foods is thus part of the ecosystem itself as long as the consumption is not greater than the wild food supply.Herein, however, lies the catch: It is not possible to feed the world’s population on foraged food. Enter: Agriculture.

Currently, most of our food comes from monocultures, in which farms produce one type of crop over large areas of farmland. While agriculture’s use of monoculture has enabled us to feed our ballooning population, it has also led us to eat only a few food types. In addition, monoculture has caused massive crop failures, such as the Irish Potato famine, due to a crop becoming susceptible to a specific pathogen during a growing season. Permaculture, in comparison, seeks to design man-made systems after nature ecological systems. Polyculture, for example, grows multiple crops on the same agricultural space, mimicking plant ecosystems. While foraging wild foods will never be able to feed our large population, it does remind us of the importance of respecting the rules of the natural ecosystem.

Back to the first foraged dinner: The main course of last weekend’s meal was elk, wild boar, and venison. What I find interesting about foraged meat, besides being totally tasty, is the dialogue around foraged meat. For some foragers, foraged meat must be found already dead, while for others, foraged meat is wild game that has been killed by the forager in its natural habitat, the sum total of hunted animals never offsetting the natural balance of the ecosystem. Thankfully, the meat at this dinner was not found dead, as I’m not sure my almost-always stomach of steel could handle the extra “gaminess” (read: bacteria) that could be found in the prior type of foraged meat.

I want to take a bit of a tangent at this point to talk about freeganism, a new food movement that has arisen in New York out of a desire to “forage” for free food within the urban environment. Freegans “reclaim waste” left by the “capitalist society” from dumpsters outside supermarkets and restaurants (also known as Dumpster Diving), as well as forage for wild foods like mushrooms in city parks. The movement is centered in New York City but, with the recession, it has become more and more popular in other urban areas. To me, eating food out of a Dumpster is strange. It’s not something I would ever do; I like to know where my food comes from and diving into a Dumpster for almost expired milk and eggs doesn’t exactly fulfill my desire to know if the chicken and cows producing my food are treated well. Still, freeganism has a core value I do understand: We, as a population, are wasteful and we don’t always take advantage of the foods that are readily and freely available to us.

For me, the foraged food movement, coupled with permaculture and freeganism, teaches a lot of lessons. As I said at the beginning of this article, the world’s population could not be fed entirely on foraged foods. This does not mean, however, that the population shouldn’t be fed partially on these foods. As our food system has become increasingly complex, it appears we have forgotten that we can grow edible plants in our backyards, our fire escapes, and flower boxes and that food sources such as wild mushrooms, greens, nettles, and other edible wild plants grow naturally in our parks and are there for the free taking.

Foraging, permaculture, and feeganism produce very different food but all challenge us to consume the foods that are available to us and not to waste the foods we have. In addition, wild foods as well as foods grown in polyculture are certainly tastier than our average food source.

I find it hard to fathom, however, that freegan food has anything on wild boar.

PS. Was this post worth the wait?

Sexy Swinging Shelves Never Looked so Good...

2009-02-04T12:34:00.000-08:00

This is a pretty hilarious video by comedians Mike Nichols and Elaine May set on the showroom floor of General Electric refrigerators; and whoever said sex, the 19050s kind, didn't sell?

PETA Makes News Again, This Time for their "Not Fit For TV" Superbowl Ad

2009-02-01T16:39:00.000-08:00

With the Superbowl officially upon us, I thought I would share the PETA ad that was rejected by NBC from the Superbowl because of its not-fit-for-TV sexual nature and for its slanderous objectification of females. The ad is pretty gross, but what is even grosser is that PETA is actually saying their ad was "banned" so that the ad will get more free publicity. NBC told PETA that its ad could air with a few editorial changes and if they paid for the spot; clearly, since the ad time is a few million dollars, PETA wanted the free publicity without the editorial changes.

Whoopi Goldberg also does a pretty hilarious impersonation of the ad on the View; haha. See it here:

PETA Brands Fish, Sea Kittens

2009-01-30T17:21:00.000-08:00

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has attempted to rebrand fish as sea kittens, because kittens are cute and one would never want to eat a kitten (unless you are George Bush). As we overfish our fish and our fish farms become less and less sanitary places, a movement to eat sustainably fished poisson has begun, PETA leading with its sea kitten campaign. But, hold up PETA, kittens don't like water.

Still, PETA's goal to educate fish consumers about the harm their consumption is doing to our underwater friends is well placed. Mark Bittman, in a recent NY Times article, spoke out against how we consume fish. Bittman, always an avid eater of fish and of all things really--considering his NY Times food column and cooking videos--has noticed, as has every person who reads the labels on their fish, that our fish is becoming increasingly raised on farms. As Americans and the world began to increasingly eat fish (global consumption has doubled since 1973, 90 percent of this growth being from developing countries), we also began to over fish the wild populations and had to find a solution to meat the fish consumption demand, which meant farming fish.

This movement to aquaculture, sometimes called the blue revolution, while it superficially stops us from fishing wild fish has us feeding fish with edible food that could be used to feed people; very often, farmed fish are fed smaller foraged, wild fish. What is particularly frustrating about this is that most fish don't convert a high percentage of the food they consume into edible flesh: it takes three kilograms of forage fish to produce one kilogram of farmed salmon, while it take 20 kilograms of forage fish to produce one kilogram of farmed tuna.

There is, however, some "good" aquaculture. China, which accounts for around 70 percent of the world's aquaulture, focuses on herbivorous fish, who consume water plants; this practice, which is often small scale, is not only sustainable but environmentally sound. Industrial aquaculture, on the other hand, is very different. Most fish farms use fish meal, which is made from wild-caught smaller fish, to feed the larger fish; one third of the wold's wild caught fish is reduced to fish meal in addition to a quarter of the wild-caught fish being thrown back, dead, as "bycatch." Considering the inefficiencies of farm raised fish in converting feed mass into human-consumable food mass, using wild-caught fish to raise farmed fish is terribly inefficient. In addition, farm raised fish pollute waters via their fecal waste and degrade the land near to wear they are farmed.

Still, the point is not to stop eating fish all together--sorry PETA, I like it too much and I get grumpy without it. We need to change the fish we eat and the ways we raise fish. Long term, through preservation practices, we can help wild fish populations grow to their original sizes. This means new laws reducing bycatch and regulations on how much fishermen can catch in a certain fishery, a limit which would be a scientifically determined percentage of the harvest. For consumers, this means consuming smaller, more bottom-of-the-food-chain fish, like sardines and anchovies, more frequently, while only consuming more top of the food chain fish, like wild-caught cod and salmon, once a month. Thinking of this another way, we'll be eating tastier wild caught fish while also preserving our ability to eat this fish.

Sorry PETA, your efforts to convince me to stop eating fish by dubbing them sea-kittens has failed, but your heart was in the right place. I'll make sure to only eat wild-caught fish and up my consumption of sardines and anchovies.

Alice Waters didn't vote for 42 years!

2009-01-19T10:41:00.000-08:00

Following up on my post Art. Food. Give. there was an article in the Huffington Post this past week reporting that Alice Waters didn't vote for 42 years! In 1966, when Waters' journalist-activist friend Bob Scheer lost his anti-Vietnam primary challenge to the Democratic establishment's congressman, Waters vowed to not vote again, until this past year when Clinton and Obama came forward as two possible presidential candidates. Waters raised big money for Obama as well as some funds for Clinton and is now hosting a fundraising dinner tonight in honor of Obama's inauguration that will raise money for two D.C. soup kitchens. So, after 42 years of politic abstinence, Waters finally cast a ballot this past November for our President-elect Barack Obama and become a responsible citizen once again. While I do obviously agree with her presidential choice and her food ethos and applaud her for organizing this inauguration event, I think abstaining from voting is a pretty weak way to influence politics. So let's hope that this time, since Waters' choice candidate did get elected, she will continue to vote like I believe a responsible citizen should.

Avedano's Meat Market; Local People, Local Food

2009-01-18T11:27:00.001-08:00

I first read about Avedano's Meat Market in Meatpaper, issue one, I was not only excited about the local people, local food moto, but also, the feminist in me was incredibly proud that three women were hacking apart cows and bringing us Kobe beef steaks. For about a year, I had had the intention of visiting their meet shop in Bernal Heights and I finally did visit the small shop on Cortland Ave last week. At first, I saw many of the staples of local and humanly raised meets, such as Rosie's Chicken, as well as wild Alaskan salmon (the only type of salmon you want to eat), but then, looking closer in the smaller coolers, I was happy to find chicken and pig feet as well as some animal insides not consumed by the average Safeway shopper.

Also, and probably most importantly, the staff was friendly and knowledgeable. They engaged us in conversation about their store, about the meats they had, and enjoyed making jokes about the over sized, plush t-bone steak pillows/toys they had for sale as well. It was fun and tasty; you should visit.

CALL TO ACTION: Under Secretaries of Agriculture

2009-01-06T16:46:00.000-08:00

Last month, Tom Vilsack was chosen by Obama to be the next Secretary of Agriculture. In my response to Vilsack's appointment, I met the decision with slightly mixed feelings. Since then, Food Democracy Now! has launched a new online petition proposing 12 possible individuals to fill the 6 Under Secretaries of Agriculture. It is often said that the Under Secretaries of Ag have a larger impact on the day to day operations of the USDA than the Secretary of Agriculture does; in this manner, these positions are very important. Food Democracy Now! presently has over 60,000 signers of its online petition and is looking to have a total 100,000 in the next ten days. As we look to the Obama administration to make changes in our country, it is important that we stress the importance of reforming our nation's food systems; I thus heartily encourage each and every one of you to sign this petition.

Happy New Year! (yeah meat)

2009-01-05T11:34:00.000-08:00

So, on New Years Eve in New York, I saw this lovely window and thought it was pretty much the best way to bring in the New Year. So, I thought I would share. I was walking with a few friends in the pleasant New Years Eve snow on 52nd street (just west of MoMA) and stopped in my tracks as I saw this beautiful collection of meat in the window of Gallagher's Steakhouse. Gallagher's has been around since 1964 and isbest identified by this signature meat aging room stocked with the best USDA Prime dry aged beef. Yum. Meat. Fucking freezing New Years Eve in New York...must eat more meat to prepare for next year.

Art. Food. Give.

2008-12-27T11:59:00.000-08:00

Add to the list of most sought after inauguration events, Alice Waters will be "cooking" a dinner for 80 people on January 19th; the tickets are $500. We all know, however, that Alice doesn't actually cook herself (way to do your research NYT); she just tastes and tells her cooks if it tastes good. In addition, other renowned chefs, who do actually cook themselves, have also agreed to participate in the event and will be cooking dinners for 20-30 people in homes around DC on the same night. In addition, several arts related guests will be in attendance, including Maya Lin.

The event is called Art. Food. Give. and proceeds will benefit D.C. Central Kitchen and Martha's Table, which both operate soup kitchens and help to run FarmFresh Markets, which gave 17,000 pounds of food to emergency food providers during its first year. In addition, in keeping with Water's rhetoric for locally produced foods, the ingredients for the dinners will come from local and sustainable farms. In addition, Alice Waters' organization of this event is significant considering her role in trying to persuade President-elect Barack Obama and Mrs. Obama to plant a victory garden on the White House front lawn. Her role in "cooking" this inaugural dinner indicates her possible role in shaping food and agricultural policy in years to come. Let's hope at least.

Why WASPs should never try a Jewish Christmas

2008-12-25T20:00:00.001-08:00

This, my friends, is what I ate for Christmas dinner. My parents decided to do the whole Christmas thing differently this year. Usually, in an effort to not cook two dinners at home, we spend Christmas Eve dinner at an inn-type place and have good ol' New England cuisine. Most often, it's overpriced and almost never as good as the meal we cook the next night. So, realizing how ridiculous it is to spend so much money on not such great food, the parents decided that this year, we would spend Christmas Eve at home cooking and do Christmas Jew-style. We spent the morning opening presents and doing our usual big Christmas morning breakfast, and, when this was all done, went to a movie. All great so far. Once the movie was over, however, we went to a Chinese/all-types-of-Asian-food restaurant, and the day just went down hill from there.

As I have had pretty adverse reactions to Chinese food and MSG in my lifetime (ie. face blowing up and dizzy spells) I decided to go with something I knew I liked and that was going to be simple: sushi. So I picked out the Maki triad, whose description on the menu read something along the lines of yellow tail, tuna, and salmon maki rolls decorated with festive rice paper. Festive decoration, that could be good, right? It's Christmas, after all. Um yeah, bad idea. That description apparently meant this lovely (read, utterly horrible) entree pictured above where the seaweed had been replaced with Easter colored rice paper. As much as these cheery colors would be lovely decoration for "festive" Easter eggs, I by no means wanted to consume them, especially on Christmas. What? Are we celebrating Christ's death before he's even out of the manger yet? And for serious, Christmas is my most favorite day of the year and I consume this? Um, gross. And um, I have indigestion now too. Chinese restaurants should not try to do all Asian cuisine. It doesn't work.

Anyways, so no Jewish Christmas for me next year. I'll eat left overs.

And, just for the record, this is not meant to be insulting an any way to any religion. Please forgive me if I have offended any of you.

Ruminations on Christmas Cookies

2008-12-25T09:20:00.000-08:00

So this Christmas, my lovely roommate and I decided to get our bake on just a bit. Our bake on as well as our drink on, evidenced by the Knob Creek in the background of this photo. (Actually that second bit is a joke; I can't drink bourbon with a straight face for the life of me.) Anyways, the five batches of cookies we baked required a disgusting amount of butter, somewhere north of 12 sticks; I'm not going to say exactly how many north as many of the readers of this blog ate the cookies we baked. Sorry for those of you who have hereditary tendencies towards high cholesterol.

The two cookie types I baked were white bark balls and chocolate chip cookies, which would eventually have white chocolate covering and fleur de sel topping respectively. In the above photo, the initial batters are sitting in the fridge to cool down for their respective times.

After the bark ball batter (love the alliteration) had cooled in the fridge for 24 hours, I took the balls out one by one and covered them each with melted white chocolate. I would like to point out at this time the smaller than normal "sheets" of wax paper I used; I realized around 8:45 at night that we didn't have any wax paper left. By 9 I was out the door, only to find that almost every grocery store in Cole Valley/Upper Haight/Ashbury Heights was closed or didn't sell wax paper. As a last resort, I went to the wine shop just off the Carl and Cole intersection, and asked the man behind the counter, "I know this is a long shot, but do you have any wax paper?" To which he responded, "You mean something like this?" as he pulled out the used backs of UPS labels. "Well, yes I responded. But a few more. I'm baking cookies." The wine merchant then proceeded to take the UPS labels off all the wax covered backs he had and said, "I don't care, it's just UPS that's paying for it." Ha. A man after my own heart...and a man that allowed me to finish baking my white bark balls.

And here they are, the finished product! On some of them, I sprinkled little mint crumbles, which made for nice decoration.

And so now, back to my chocolate chip cookies. So after, 72 hours of refrigeration, I took the batter out, made little golf ball sized balls, sprinkled salt atop each ball, and put them into the oven at 350.

And here, my friends, is the glorious results of possibly the most delicious chocolate chip cookies you have ever tasted. For serious. Especially when they were fresh out of the oven. I would like you all to pay note to how the chocolate chips melt into the batter itself. The recipe I used called for dark chocolate disks rather than chocolate chips so the chocolate morsels have a larger surface area and thus exposure to heat so they melt that extra little bit. YUM! And the salt on top makes these by far the most complex (in a good way) chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten.

My lovely roommate Nikki took a different approach to her baking and baked two types of cookies that were rolled out and cut with cookies cutters as well as a batch of oatmeal, cranberry, white chocolate cookies that I unfortunately didn't get any pictures of. In any event, above is pictured her sugar cookies just about to go into the oven.

Here are her sugar cookies just after they have left the oven and are cooling. Please note the delightful golden brown edges that are evidence of a perfectly cooked sugar cookie.

So every year around Christmas time, there is an onslaught of sweets and other tooth rotting treats, some of which are delicious and some of which (like say fruit cake) are horrible, but in the end, all of it looks good. So after Nikki's and my little adventure in cookie baking, I think the point of Christmas cookies isn't if they actually taste good or not (although, all of ours were amazing, of course) but if they look good.

Case in point.

Tom Vilsack to be Secretary of Agriculture

2008-12-18T18:42:00.000-08:00

Over the last few weeks, there has been much buzz over and speculation about who President-elect Barack Obama would choose as the next Secretary of Agriculture; yesterday, Obama choose Tom Vilsack, a two-term governor of Iowa. To be blunt, I'm not pleased, but my opposition is a bit more nuanced than total rejection.

Leading up to Obama's choice for Secretary of Agriculture, an online letter had been circulating that encouraged the Obama administration to choose an Agricultural Secretary committed to reform, or, appropriately dubbed, change. Leaders in sustainable agriculture, such as Michael Pollan and Alice Waters, stepped forward to speak about their ideas on the role for the next Secretary of Agriculture. Pollan specifically suggested the position's title be changed to Secretary of Food to reflect the changes in our food system since the position was first created, when the majority of Americans were farmers, in comparison to now, when our system is based upon enterprise farms using machinery for farm labor. It is no longer our agricultural system we need to protect but rather the food these enterprises create for Americans to consume. All this advocacy and excitement created an air of hope for change.

Tom Vilsack is not the choice for change. He is from Iowa, a state focused on corn; he is part of the very system that is the problem in our food chain. Corn is a problem for a lot of reasons. Both Obama and Vilsack are supporters of using ethanol as a way to reduce our dependence on foreign oil; while using ethanol does reduce our use of foreign oil, it also raises the cost of corn (most ethanol in the US is made from corn), which in turn raises the cost of food as so much of our food includes corn and corn bi-products. Corn-based ethanol is also not a sustainable energy source in comparison with other bio-fuels such as sugar cane ethanol. In addition, corn farmers currently receive large subsidies to raise corn, which has led our agriculture system to become a mono culture and the majority of our food to be processed corn bi-products, due to the surplus corn produced. Nutritionally, this means Americans are not eating a diversity of foods, which leads Americans to not consume the diversity of nutrients their bodies require. This diet based on corn bi-products also means Americans are eating unhealthy corn bi-products such as hi fructose corn syrup; most of Americans health problems can be traced back to their unhealthy, corn-based diet. And again, I will say corn is a problem for many reasons.

Being from Iowa and a supporter of ethanol, it is quite probable that Tom Vilsack will be more of the same. Obama's choice of Vilsack is also considered a thank you to Iowa for the state's support of Obama in the election. To be fair, however, as Michael Pollan commented in this morning's interview of NPR Morning Edition, Vilsack has suggested caps on corn farmers subsidies and supports more food production on a local level. In addition, it is important to acknowledge Obama's choice for Secretary of Energy, Seven Chu, who is considered an early leader in alternative energy and, importantly, is opposed to ethanol as an alternative fuel. It is thus possible that Valsack's support of corn-based ethanol will be trumped by the Nobel prize winning Chu's opposition. I believe Pollan's statement of being "cautiously hopeful" is a good one.

And yes, the picture above is indeed of Tom Vilsack, our future Agricultural Secretary.

Tao Cafe does Thanksgiving-stylin' dessert

2008-11-30T23:15:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I went to Tao Cafe and enjoyed a pleasant meal with friends. Nothing special, but tasty and across the street from Lone Palm. What was stupendous, however, was the special pumpkin creme brule, served in a pumpkin! This choice of serving vessel was not only pleasant to look at but was also tasty to eat as the creme brule had been baked in the pumpkin thus making the sides of the pumpkin soft enough to eat. The added pumpkin to the already tasty dessert gave each bight an awesome texture and interesting flavor. The coconut ice cream is also a must :)

The Anti-Restaurants, Bay Area Style

2008-11-30T22:26:00.000-08:00

In a recent New York Times, I read an article about the underground eating clubs, which I only vaguely knew about before. These "anti-restaurants", as dubbed by the New York Times, work to challenge the way we eat food. The eating club highlighted in the NYT article invited eaters, mostly from Brooklyn, up to a farm town 30 minutes outside of Ithaca, NY for an all day affair that began with butchering a boar at an ungodly pre-brunch hour and ended with a six course meal. Throughout the day, the participants learned how to make pasta, use hydrocolloids to make fluid gels, and improved their knife skills, strengthening the farm to table connection.

When I read this article, I got incredibly excited about the idea of these eating clubs and signed up for the listserve of the Bay Area based Ghetto Gourmet and two Sundays ago I participated in my first underground eating experience. I went with three friends and a tasty bottle of Honig wine to the address we were emailed two days before the event, just to add to the mystic. Each dinner the Ghetto Gourmet does is at a different location, which on one hand adds to the adventure and mystery of it, but on the other stops the organizers from getting in trouble with the food and wine board. Anyways, upon entering a stranger's home and taking our shoes off, we were greated by the host and told to take a seat at oneof the low lying tables around which the other guests were already sitting indian style.

At our table were several other guests already, and we began chatting with one woman from Minneapolis and a 20 year old tween from Westchester, NY along with some other folks. Eventually the food started coming out. The first course was a beet salad with a light vinaigrette. The second and third were a spicy pumpkin broth based soup and a polish chicken dish, respectively and dessert were thin, crepe-like pancakes with rose petal syrup (yes, with rose petals still in the syrup--the chef for the night had picked the petals from his in-laws bush and put them in simple syrup a few weeks before). All were tasty, but truthfully nothing really wowed me.

What was amazing and wonderful though was the random people you meet while sitting at your table. Half way through the meal, the tables were switched up and you were at a table with entirely new people. It was a wonderful experience talking to total strangers about their lives, about how they got to San Francisco and this underground meal, and about the meal itself. What was anti-restaurant about this meal was the deliberate strengthening of the community formed over the meal; at the end of the night, I ended up driving a couple home, along with the three other people I already had in my car.

More on the Aviary System for Raising Chickens

2008-11-18T08:44:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago, on Tuesday November 4, Proposition 2 passed in the state of California, making one of the first state wide steps towards positive reform of our food system. I thought I would take this opportunity to explain more in depth the aviary system for raising chickens I had mentioned in November 3rd's post.

As I stated in my last posting, the basic premise of the aviary system is a multi-level chicken coup in which the same amount of space on a farm is converted into more area for chickens via the addition of floors; think of it as an apartment building for chickens. The aviary system, however, is a little more complicated. One of the main problems with the way chickens are presently raised now is waste disposal. In an aviary coup, there are specific aisles designated for litter. These areas are cleaned via a manure belt, which eliminates the problem of sickness due to feces (god, that would stink...bad joke; couldn't resist.) In addition, aviary coups are equipped with soft nesting areas that reduce the cracking of eggs.

The big advantage of aviary systems is the amount of space they provide per bird. In a paper published in Poultry Science in 1998, the effects on bone characteristics of raising chickens in cages or in aviary chicken coups is compared and the results show that chickens raised in an aviary system have stronger bones. In the aviary system, chickens have the ability to flap their wings, walk, and perch as well as other dynamic and static activities, which all increase bone strength and thus the chickens' health. In addition, there is some correlation between bone strength and calcium depletion in egg shells. Because much of the opposition to Prop 2 focused around hens laying eggs, it is interesting to realize that the aviary system would likely reduce the amount of egg breakage both by the soft nesting areas as well as by increasing the strength of the egg shells themselves. Of course, installing an aviary system will require an initial capital investment and it has been shown that there will be a brief pause in egg laying due to the stress of moving the chickens from one place to another. All in all, however, the aviary system will improve the lives of our chickens and improve the quality of the chickens and eggs that we eat. A feel good proposition, yes?

Prop 2: A Little Pre-Election Day Advice...

2008-11-03T09:16:00.000-08:00

As we head into election day tomorrow, I thought I should write about Proposition 2, a bill designed to stop cruel and inhumane treatment of animals, specifically regulating the conditions under and spaces in which farm animals are raised in California. One of the significant things to keep in mind with this California bill is that California comparatively produces less pork and beef than it does chickens, so much of the debate for this bill is around the treatment of chickens. When I first heard about this proposition, I immediately jumped to the opinion that I was going to vote yes on Prop 2, but read a few opinions that have made me think a little more about this decision.

In the most recent Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA) news bulletin, the feature article addresses Prop 2, specifically asking the Saturday farmer's market's egg producers their thoughts on the proposition, and the farmer's were surprisingly divided. Steve Mahrt of Pataluma Farms is against Prop 2 as he believes it is a well-intentioned bill but bad for business. Pataluma Farms produces both cage-free and caged chickens and is a small farming operation in the North Bay. What made me think twice about Mahrt's comment about this proposition being bad for business is that he is not part of a large, industrial farm, but rather a small, family operated one that serves the local community. Mahrt continued that Prop 2 would likely raise the cost of producing eggs by more than the 1 or 2 cents Yes! on Prop 2 suggests, and feels that long term this would mean that eggs would be shipped into California from other US states as well as Mexico. For me, this idea is a problem as shipping eggs that could be produced locally over long distances is not sustainable and would also negate the good of this bill if eggs were just produced elsewhere where the laws are different.

CUESA's feature article also presented the opinion of another farmer who is in favor of Prop 2 and who brought up a lot of good points to Mahrt's opinions. Nigel Walker of Eatwell Farms is an outspoken advocate of Prop2, believing it is a "modest measure" that will require caged chickens to go from having a space of 2/3 a sheet of letter sized paper to two sheets of letter sized paper. When listening Walker's opinion, it is important to realize that his farm will not be directly affected as Eatwell Farms raises 3,000 free range laying hens that roost in mobile coops that are moved every 2-3 weeks. In this manner, his chickens have space indoors as well as the freedom to go outside their coops to forage for food. Walker, however, does mention some creative solutions to Mahrt's concerns, saying that European egg producers, after a similar bill was passed in Europe, switched to an aviary system, where multiple levels of habitat are available, but the overall density of the house is the same. In this manner, chickens would have more room, but the farmer would still be able to produce the same amount of eggs per square foot of land.

In addition, it is important to realize that California is often considered to establish the beginnings of many, more progressive, national movements. It is thus conceivable that with a Prop 2 California victory, this law will ripple through the rest of the country. This would thus mean that it would likely not be cheaper to produce California's eggs out of state, but likely to continue producing them in state, in more humane conditions long term. In this manner, Mahrt's concerns about Prop 2 are both, for the most part, solved.

If you were wondering, I am voting yes on Prop 2, and I do strongly encourage you to do the same. With this blog posting, I simply wanted to present both sides of this bill. While Steve Mahrt's concerns with Prop 2 are valid and important to consider, I believe the long term goal as well as affects of the bill are significant and incredibly beneficial to our food system. Proposition 2 is a step in the right direction to reform the policy around the production of our food.

They Eat Food in London too...

2008-10-30T16:35:00.001-07:00

Here is a sampling of my food photographs in London; the food both in London and in Berlin focused a lot on meat, and has made me very happy to be back in my vegetable and fruit friendly San Francisco.
New British cuisine seeks to reinvent traditional British foods (read meat and potatoes) to become something along the lines of haut cuisine intended to rival French Cuisine. Needless to say, um, it doesn't quite rival French Cuisine, but it was better than bangers and mash with a side of mushy peas. Photographed here, is liver (I think) covered in Japanese breadcrumbs.

So this I believe is London's attempt at "healthy" "California-style" nouriture. It was good, but well, not amazing. It sort of felt like beginner vegetarian cuisine. Still, it was nice to see vegetables on the menu :)

One thing that I thought was terribly cool were these wooden "sustainability" spoons, personally dubbed as such. While our corn spoons are nice and might not have a woody taste, our dependability on corn is not exactly the best for the world food economy. So, way to go Europe!

So, this is the top of the tastiest hot chocolate I have had to date. I believe it cost over 5 American dollars, but was well worth it. The top was frothy foam and the bottom consisted of a rich chocolate/milk mixture that still had some of the chalky texture of good chocolate.

Brixton Market dubbed as both the "whole cow market" and the "smelly fish market". Both definitions are true.

Whole cows...with cow hooves in background.

These pretty fish weren't the smelliest, but sure were lovely to look at...

Dried catfish carcasses. There were three types of dried catfish, each used as different spices and these did smell a bit fowl.

One of my most favorite fall plants is squash, specifically butternut squash. Here is a photo of a meal of butternut squash and mushroom pasta I made for my friends Phil and Tamara.

These are Cornish Pastries. They are quite the tasty buggers, but were initially designed for mine workers rather than fancy London-ites. The crust was intended for mine workers to hold onto the pastry as they ate down, the pastry containing all the parts of a complete meal, from vegetables and potatoes to meat at the bottom. At the end, they threw out the crust. Today, the crust is the best part :)

Dim Sum, London style! (sorry, SF is till better...)

Beautiful cupcakes in Covent Garden.

A surprise farmer's market in Central London...

A funny little sign that I thought was good to end this posting on...

Berlin Essen! (Berlin food!)

2008-10-19T15:48:00.000-07:00

Writing from London (writing that sort of makes me sound like a slightly fabulous world traveller...) after having spent the last five days in Berlin. I had an amazing time in Germany and have so many stories and photos to share, but, before I get to those, I thought I would quickly post a survey of photos of the food I ate while in Berlin. There were some amazing markets, tasty restaurants, and lovely meals shared with new friends. So, here is just a sampling:

Bulk olive oil AND liquor; take that Rainbow Grocery!

First night in Berlin and feeling a little nostalgic for San Francisco, so I went to Dolores for a buritto.

While note quite a burrito from El Feralido, it was tasty in its own right. Also, please note that I was reading "Tale of the City" while eating my meal. ha ha.

Amazing mushrooms at the Wednesday farmer's market.

Big, juicy raspberries...2 euros a box! damn. Take that Ferry Terminal Market.

Really delicious pasta with truffles and saffron; first full meal with my Israeli friends Matan and Noa!

Tasty souffle with mango sauce...

Turkish Market; swoon!

They even clip off the thorns for you!

prickly pears....

Grape leaves, not wrapped over rice and cheese...

There was an impressive selection of fish across the market...

Feta never looked so good...I also bought some amazing, clear, yes clear, honey that will go os so very tastily with Bodega Bay feta upon return to the Bay.

Kepern means caper, and yes, they are huge.

Dragon fruit was 2 euros for 2; at Rainbow it's $20 for on. Dear god. I wish I could take fruit across international boarders outside the EU.

Before.

After.

So, I'm sorry I've been bad about updating my blog...

2008-10-09T22:37:00.000-07:00

But my dear roommate Nikki showed me a hilarious food related video tonight that I wanted to share :) So, here it is:

Here is another video, not related to food, but to Elijah Wood, that is also pretty great...

pretty hilarious, yes?

Anyways, I'm leaving for London and Berlin Saturday night and am going to do my best to write a blog with some culinary porn while I am happily traveling.

The Omnivore's top 100

2008-10-01T12:23:00.000-07:00

This list was sent to me by Daniela and Danish; it's pretty broad diversity of omnivorous foods :)

Copy the list, bold the ones you have eaten.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (Um, gross!)
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst (will be having that in Berlin!)
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill (this is where I draw the line...)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers (squash blossoms!)
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

South Park: My favorite lunch spot and its garden truck

2008-09-23T10:08:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I spend most of my lunches in South Park. It's a wonderful spot, not only for it being a green enclave in cement covered SOMA but for the subtle characters that populate the parks benches every day. In any event, there is pickup truck parked at almost all times on the north side of South Park, right in front of South Park Cafe, whose back section is always filled with plants: flowering, leafy, and fruiting (tomatoes!). I'm not really sure why this truck is there and filled with greenery; the plants don't appear for sale and there is no marking indicating how pedestrians should treat this garden in this public space. I am going to guess, however, that the placement of these potted plants could be using the possibly unused space of the back of a pickup to produce food as well as reducing the trucks CO2 emissions. How sweet. Is this possibly some green art installation/victory garden of sorts? Or is it simply intended to add a view to South Park's already pretty park setting?

I tried to do some research on the internet and found nothing on the truck, but did find a cool historical photograph of my favorite park. In any event, does anyone know the true role of this mini truck garden? Thanks.

Park(ing) Day in San Francisco

2008-09-22T11:34:00.000-07:00

This past Friday was national Park(ing) Day, which is an annual, national event centered in San Francisco where artists, land use designers, activists, and citizens collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spaces into "PARK(ing)" spaces, ie. temporary public parks. REBAR, an interdisciplinary collaborative group of artists, designers, and activists in San Francisco has been organizing Park(ing) Day since 2005 and now collaborates with The Trust for Public Land to create this day long event.

The idea of Park(ing) Day comes from a desire to encourage more public land and works through a "loop hole" in the law regarding metered parking spaces. In November 2005, REBAR rolled out grass sod across a downtown San Francisco, metered parking spot and placed a bench for sitting a a tree for shade on the grass, creating a temporary public park. There is not stipulation in the law that specifies what the object must be that "rents" the metered parking spot for the hour, thus allowing sod and parking benches to take up these parking spaces as long as the meter is filled. The artists/activists of REBAR wanted to comment on dichotomy between the amount of outdoor space dedicated to the private vehicle (70%) and the amount of space dedicated to public park spaces (only a fraction of that) in densely populated, downtown areas. Since Park(ing) Day 2005, the event as grown not only in the city of San Francisco to include close to 50 registered park(ing) spaces but across the country to close to 100 cities.

McCall Design Group, the architecture firm where my friend Emily works, designed one of these parking spaces specifically considering water conservation, by using permeable surface materials (substitutes for asphalt) that would allow water to be recycled back into the watershed system. Their parking space specifically exhibited the various permeable surface materials possible, including bricks that hold gravel so as to stop the gravel from leaving your driveway, as well as several types of plants whose roots halt erosion but don't require being watered as they are native plants, thus decreasing the amount of water we use. A lot of other exciting projects took place as well as a "Jay and Michael's Wedding Day" park at Scott and Waller in celebration of the legalization of gay marriage.

In addition, my dad sent me an Economist article yesterday about San Francisco's new plan for managing public parking spaces, which will include sensors to determine where free spots are open as well as the ability to pay meters by credit card and spots whose cost varies with the hour depending for the depand for parking at that time. The idea behind this program is to ease the move of traffic in congested areas by decreasing the number of people havig to circle to find parking rather than simply looking in a database, which will decrease the carbon dioxide emissions in two ways: one, by decresing the amount of time to find a parking spot, and two by decreasing conjestion caused by people looking for parking.

On what Slow Food actually means...

2008-09-19T11:24:00.001-07:00

Leading up to Slow Food Nation I was often asked what "Slow Food" actually means. Each time, I found myself answering the question a bit differently depending on to whom I was talking; at first, I thought this was probably due to my not having a clear sense of the movement, but I think now that my various answers were pretty close to the movement's reality. Slow Food has a lot of meanings and origins, which is okay and pretty appropriate, as all these meanings lead to the same resolution of "better" food. The various definitions of what "better" means are why the movement has so many meanings.

Slow Food's motto is good, clean, and fair food. More specifically this mean, that the food we eat should taste good; the this food should be produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment, animal welfare, nor our health; and that food producers should receive fair compensation for their work. In a talk that I attended during the Slow Food Nation weekend, aptly called "Slow Food Nation",Wendell Berry, Vandana Shiva, Michael Pollan, Alice Waters, Eric Schlosser, and Carlo Petrini discussed what Slow Food meant, each speaker bringing a unique perspective on the matter.

Of the speakers, I thought Vadana Shiva brought the most thoughtful perspective to what slow food meant. She spoke most about the Slow Food movement in the context of the greater world food economy, about places were people do not receive the proper nutrition because of the way food systems are set up. Her most important conclusion was to not encourage developing countries to emulate the US food system but to continue to educate citizens on how to produce their own food so as not to become dependant upon other countries for food and to also continue to produce food locally. In addition, as I stated in an earlier blog post, she made the astute statement that the biggest obstacle to the slow food movement is fashion.

In addition, the statement that the slow food movement is a leaderless movement was made, which I also find very true and very interesting. Slow food is, for obvious reasons, a local movement. Much of what slow food strives for is that food be produced locally, which makes it as clean as possibly, often as good as possible (I mean, has anyone had a Haas avocado from South America taste as good as the ones grown here?), and also easiest to determine if the workers have been treated fairly. It's interesting, however, to consider how a movement without a clear leader has gained such an impressive following via grassroots organization.

Overall, I think that much of how an individual perceives slow food is dependant on where an individual lives. In the Bay Area, for example we mostly focus on good as much of our food is clean and fair (ie local with fairly paid labor). Also, there is a lot of culture developed around food here; from restaurants to farmer's markets to food magazines to underground eating clubs, a lot of time has been spent developing a culture around meals. Since moving to San Francisco, I can't remember having even stepped into a fast food chain restaurant for even a bathroom while I have also developed a digestive reaction to any fried food. In the Bay Area we thus have the luxury to reinstate the culture of eating meals communally as well as redefining what this culture is; in this manner, when I talk to someone from the Bay Area about what Slow Food is, I might focus on the cultural redevelopment of eating that is occurring with the slow food movement, but if I'm talking to a friend from Philadelphia who love cheese steaks I might talk about slow food being the opposite of fast food, and give a general overview of how in a "slow" meal you are more connected with the entire production of your food from seed to plate, thus standing in contrast to a fast food meal where you only really participate in the ordering of a grey meat patty. gross.

The Slow Food Taste Pavilions: a Glutonous Display of Food

2008-09-16T23:45:00.001-07:00

One of the other events I participated in during Slow Food Nation was the Taste Pavilions. My ticket for this event was a whopping $58 after getting a discount from the original $65 via the Whole Foods discount. When my friend Lora and I arrived at Fort Mason, where the Taste Pavilions were being held, however, we were taken aback by the abundant display of delicious foods and suddenly realized that our $58 was money well spent.

The organizers of Slow Food Nation convinced local architects to create designs to convert one of the Fort Mason warehouses into a series of food specific rooms or "pavilions" where visitors can taste and learn about artisan versions of their favorite foods. Taste wise, my favorite of all of the pavilions was, by far, the ice cream pavilion. There were two "flights" of ice cream scoops, and I chose the Dark Chocolate, Olive Oil, and Fresh Blueberry flight, which was most definitely the best of the flights. The chocolate was creaming and wonderfully flavorful, the olive oil subtlety sweet and extra creamy with the fat of the oil, and the blueberry actually tasted like blueberries--what a concept!

My other favorite pavilions were the Olive Oil, Chocolate, Fish, and Wine, each for different reasons. The Olive Oil pavilion was in my opinion the best designed of the pavilions: the designers used everyday construction materials such as orange netting, raw wood, and crates to create a beautifully lit space that truly transported you away from the rest of the pavilions. More specifically, the front of the pavilion was occupied by a tasting station while the back of the space was equipped with an educational space where trained olive oil experts told about how to properly taste olive oil, which is a process reasonably similar to wine tasting, just involving smaller tastes (I mean, would you really want to drink a glass of olive oil in one sitting?). This pairing of spaces made it nice to go back to the tasting part of the pavilion so that you could taste each olive oil, knowing which undertones to look for. The chocolate pavilion was great because of the variety of tasting they gave you; it was also interesting how the flavors of each chocolate changed as you ate the other pieces, your taste pallet changing with each bite of chocolate. The wine pavilion, while not a wonderfully designed space, was wonderfully fun to go to with my friend Lora who can look at an absurdly long wine list and pick out the most expensive bottles to try, and boy, were some of them amazing. The fish was also a delicious stop for the creativity of each dish and was especially tasty after the disappointing charcuterie pavilion.

And so yes, the charcuterie was very disappointing. While the prosciutto we had was tasty, but it's pretty hard to have prosciutto not be tasty. We were also given beef jerky (really?) and something that resembled pate, but wasn't. Each were fine, but none had any wow factor. Charcuterie truly was a pavilion with so much potential (just off the top of my head, why no lardo?) that was totally not taken advantage of, while also in the midst of other pavilions that were totally pushing the envelop of their respective food products.

One of the most fun parts of the night, however, was are mistaken crashing of the employee party. After the official ending of the Taste Pavilions at 9, people congregated outside the event in front of the beer pavilion, and Lora and I thought it appropriate to join them. Eventually, it went on past 10 and a lot of people had left, and those remaining started to ask us which pavilion we had worked in. After enough people asked us, we realized we were in fact crashing the staff party, which was more than fine with the good natured foodies. The great part about the party was that all the beer, bread, and opened bottles of wine not used during the event were now being given out for free for all to take, which we might have taken advantage of just a bit.

Relating this back to the Slow Food movement as a whole, Slow Food is often criticized for being an exclusive or bougie movement; due to the expensive price of the ticket for the pavilions, this point is valid. While it was a wonderful experience to taste such delicious food, the polished designs of the pavilions, the high end food products, and the well dressed visitors seemed a little removed from some of the movement's "roots". On the other hand, having such a celebration of food brings delicious food and the necessary steps to obtain this food (good, clean, fair being the moto of the slow food movement) to the attention of a greater public than it would have otherwise. In this manner, it is great that it is more prevelent to be a conscientious food consumer but I would agree with one of the speakers I saw in a panel during the weekend (which will be the subject of my next posting) who said that one of the greatest obstacles to the movement is fashion. As fashions change and flux, we do not want the slow food movement to be a fad that will simply pass with time.

Also, I should mention that Alice Waters was there. She signed my ticket. Swoon.

The Victory Garden in Civic Center Plaza

2008-09-10T11:29:00.000-07:00

I want to devote this post to the Victory Garden in Civic Center Plaza, which I find to be the greatest contribution Slow Food Nation had to San Francisco as a whole. Victory gardens, also known as war gardens or food gardens for defense, first came about during World Wars I and II as a response to the pressure on the food system brought on by the war efforts. These gardens produced food (vegetables, fruits, herbs, and livestock) and were planted at private residents as well as in public spaces-- Eleanor Roosevelt raised sheep on the White House front lawn in 1943. These victory gardens produced up to 40% of the food consumed nationally and helped to lower the cost of produce, thus allowing funds that would have been spent on food to advance the war effort in other areas.

The victory garden planted in front of the San Francisco Civic Center was funded by the City of San Francisco and redefines the "victory"

used in the gardens of WWI and WWII;

this garden, as well as other present victory gardens, was developed to increase urban sustainability. In the context of our food systems being stretched across longer and longer distances, the San Francisco Civic Center Victory Garden encourages SF residents to look increasingly local for their food supply. The resulting garden in Civic Center plaza was also aesthetically pleasing and biologically diverse. The circular beds included many local plants, included some rumored poison oak, as well as plants that have become staples of our California diet. In addition, a compost display could be found at the back, encouraging visitors to continue to reuse their food.

The San Francisco victory garden is also part of a larger movement of victory gardens that are encouraging citizens to look locally for their food. Additionally, there is a petition circulating to encourage the next president of the United States to plant a victory garden on the White House Lawn, hearkening back to Eleanor Roosevelt's time. Coupled with this movement, there is a growing network of people campaigning for the creation of edible landscapes, be it on the White House lawn or in your very own backyard.

In any event, the Victory Garden on City Hall's lawn was by far the most visible and accessible part of Slow Food Nation. San Francisco Mayor, Gavin Newsom was also affected by having the front lawn of his office become an edible landscape and is now working on developing San Francisco's first food policy, to be released in the next several months. While trying to feed the entire city, including public schoolchildren, homeless people, jail inmates, and hospital patients with an all organic, locally grown diet via public funds seems a bit financially unrealistic, the thought to start working towards creating the infrastructure to produce our food locally is a great one.

Also, watch Roger Dorion's "Eat the View" video, his campaign to the next United States President to make the White House lawn a victory garden:

Seagull Eats Pigeon! WHAT?

2008-09-02T10:37:00.001-07:00

While this weekend was filled with glutenous consumption of gourmet food, thoughtful considerations of the origins of this food, and brainstorming for solutions, I saw a Seagull tearing apart a pigeon when I was leaving Saturday's events. It seemed a little odd, and my friend Kenneth remarked that he didn't think that it was natural for Seagulls, or all birds for that matter, to eat other birds. Well, sadly, after my Google search revealed that this has happened before, not only with Seagulls but with Pelicans, and instead of a dead Pigeon, it was a live one. Still, however, Kenneth was right: Pigeons are not part of a Seagulls' natural diet. In any event, the video is a little crazy, and I think the location of the occurrence right in front of the Slow Food Victory Garden is sort of entertaining.

On the Eve of Slow Food Nation!

2008-08-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

Well, sort of the eve, for me at least...

The first day of Slow Food Nation was officially today, but I am attending my first event tomorrow. Much hoopla in the city and my own personal excitement has led up to this event, giving me heightened expectations and some mixed feelings. Visitors have to pay for most events and many are rather pricey with a lot of them having already sold out. While their selling out and the proceedings going to the international Slow Food nonprofit is exciting, it does seem a little exclusive to have so many of the events at seemingly cost prohibitive prices. I know I have written about how it is good that a bourgeois culture is adopting many of the slow food concepts into their lifestyles, but I do think having the celebration of the slow food movement being costly to the individual is a bit contradictory, or has the potential to be at least.

I don't want to say too much, however, before I attend my events. My first stop tomorrow will be volunteering at CUESA (not exactly SFN sanctioned, but in the same vain), and then to the victory garden, followed by the Slow Food talk at 4 pm. On Sunday, I'm going to be going to the Sunday night taste pavilion with a possible jaunt at the Slow Food Rocks concert, but we'll see. Next week, I will have plenty to write about I am sure!

The Ice Cream Man!

2008-08-27T12:12:00.000-07:00

About two years ago, I had my first run in with the Ice Cream Man at a concert in SF, and it was a totally glorious surprise. The Ice Cream Man travels around the country giving free ice cream away to individuals, because "it makes people happy." The funding for this venture comes from advertisers, sponsors, advertisers, and promotions, and, to date, Matt Allen, the founder, and his crew have given away 125,000 treats. Yesterday, I had my second time with Matt Allen, the founder of Ice Cream Man, and the experience could not have been more splendid.

I love ice cream; my first job was in an ice cream shop and after two years of free ice cream and ten pounds gained, I still loved the creamy, icy goodness. Partly nostalgic and partly glutenous, my love of ice cream lives on, my favorite spot in SF being Bi-Rite Creamery where I will often suggest meeting for an after work cone to replace the after work drink.

Yesterday was a beautiful day in South Park, and, after enjoying a tasty chicken and blue cheese salad from South Park Cafe, the Ice Cream Man arrived at 1:30 pm and my friend Peter and I joined the line of South Park techies and Current employees. I got an ice cream sandwich while Peter for one of those cones things with the chocolate on top. On such a hot day, it was so lovely to cool off with those cool, creamy bights; this coupled with the novel surprise of free ice cream at my usual lunch spot, I left my lunch hour a very happy camper. Ice Cream Man, you make my day.

Foraging for Blackberries

2008-08-25T11:14:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I made a trip with my friends Katie, Liz, and Arianna to Russian River where we were also joined by our friend's Lisa, Brad, and Sarah. After a trip to the SF Ferry Terminal Market, we only spent a night at Lisa's newly renovated family home, but the food was delicious. While Saturday's dinner was scrumptious, I specifically want to talk about the wild blackberries we picked Sunday morning for breakfast.
Sunday morning we all woke up all in the mood for pancakes, specifically stone crushed oat pancakes with fresh fruit on top. We had some white peaches from the farmer's market that had gotten a little mushed during the car ride up, so were sliced into tasty morsels. Lisa, having been coming to this same place for her life, remembered the blackberry bushes around the corner from her house and suggested we pick some. Bringing a bowl, we reached through the prickly, vine-like bushes to reach the sweetest blackberries I had ever tasted. When they were especially ripe and delicious, they would crumble in your hands as you took them off, which I wasn't able to resist eating rather than putting in the bowl. Every once in a while, I grabbed a not so ripe one, which was reminiscent of the blackberries we are used to buying in stores. Also, the prickers on the vines surround the berries grabbed me a few times, which left a few small scratches on my arms and legs and one larger one on my sandal clad toe (it now bears a band-aid).I have also just finished the foraging section of Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma and felt quite the satisfaction about gathering my own food as he felt. I also felt a great connection with what I was about to eat, feeling that I was in fact responsible for each of those tasty bites I took.
In any event, fresh blackberries on top of stone crushed oatmeal pancakes was a wonderful beginning to a Sunday morning.

Eliason's Waterfalls

2008-08-21T14:07:00.000-07:00

I think this will be my first post unrelated to food but I wanted to write about Olafur Eliason's waterfalls I saw on my most recent trip to New York. Olafur Eliason is one of my most favorite artists; his recent exhibition at the SFMOMA, which traveled to the New York MoMA, amazed me. I had always been interested in the concepts behind Eliason's work, but walking through the once white walled gallery spaces turned misting, stone chamber totally took my breath away as my imagination went wild. I loved these pieces when I saw them in person for the illusions they created in spaces that I had once thought were so controlled; after my initial wonder, I then attempted to decipher how in fact he did make the temperature of the SFMOMA gallery suddenly drop 10 degrees when walking between rooms.

With my love for Eliason's work in mind, I sadly did not love these waterfalls. A lot of what I love about Eliason's work is his ability to make the seemingly impossible happen in the strangest of places, ie. making a soft mist descend for the ceiling of the SFMOMA gallery, a place where one isn't even allowed to drink water from a bottle. I had also been terribly excited for the waterfalls since the New York Sun covered the projected installation this past January and I thus realize my expectations were a little high. The waterfalls, in contrast with the image in the NY Sun article, were constructed of scaffolding with water pouring off of one side. At night, I realize, the waterfalls are illuminated from behind and the scaffolding seems to disappear, but when I saw the waterfalls during the day, the advent of having a mettle structure coming out of the east river was a little less amazing than having mist indoors. So, in this manner, the first aspect I love about Eliason's work, the sheer miracles he creates in the oddest of places, was missing.

On the other hand, the second aspect of his work I enjoy, the construction behind his work, was
pretty amazing, although not unnecessarily visible at first glance. One of the challenges of constructing the waterfalls was the location in the New York's East River, where natural aquatic life must be taken into consideration. In this manner, the team behind the construction of the waterfalls used a material permeable to water but with holes too small for aquatic life to move through to create a basin from which water was pumped. Obviously, the materials and technology for creating such a basin were not already created as this request was unprecedented. What I thus find interesting about Eliason's East River installation is the creative sourcing of materials that had to go into the creation of these waterfalls.

Here also are two videos of the waterfalls; in the first one, you can the Pier 35 waterfall, while in the second, I scan between the Pier 35 waterfall and the Brooklyn Bridge waterfall, finally landing on my friend Danish who visited the waterfalls with me.

It's as if the NYT was reading my mind...

2008-08-20T09:53:00.000-07:00

In today's NYTimes, April Dembosky writes about P.S.1's Public Farm 1, which I wrote about my posting yesterday. The article, entitled Fun on the Farm Down Home in Long Island City, discusses in more depth P.S.1's weekly Warm Up event and the interactions that occurs between the visitors and the urban farm during these happenings. A few things I learned while reading the article that I wish I had known while I was visiting is that you can actually pick the plants and lay on the grass filled cylinders. When I went on a quiet Friday afternoon with my friend Danish, we were frequently the only people walking around the structure. I think with more people filling up the space, visitors begin to naturally experiment. With only a few people in the space, one is conscious of being outside an art institution and our trained sense to not touch "art" prevails. If only I had known, I could have actually eaten those strawberries! Thanks NYT for the follow up...

P.F.1

2008-08-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

On a recent trip to New York, I visited my ever favorite art space, P.S.1, excited to see this summer's courtyard installation. This year, the architecture project chosen for the MoMA/P.S.1 Young Architects Program was WORK Architecture's P.F.1. P.F.1, standing for Public Farm 1, is an urban farm space constructed of large cardboard tubes that form a v-shaped plat form that dips in the middle around a central pool. The top surface of the structure acts as a working farm, producing produce and plants that are used in P.S.1's cafe as well as sold at an "absurdly local" farmer's market right in front of of P.S.1's entrance. The structure as also built totally of recycled materials, is powered 100% by solar power, and utilizes rain water for irrigation, bringing together sustainable agriculture with sustainable construction.

In addition, P.F.1 includes a small chicken coop as well as some fun interactive features. I particularly like the chicken coop; it smelled clean and had lots of space per chicken, obviously standing in stark contrast to any industrial farming chicken coop--these were happy chickens! There were also recordings of farm noises, such as cows mooing and sheep baaing, which were probably intended for little kids judging by how low they were to the grown, but were pretty darn enjoyable to play with during a Friday afternoon.

What I really liked about this project is how it makes principles of sustainable agriculture not only accessible in an urban environment, but visually engaging. In addition, I like that during the Saturdays of the summer season, New York's hipsters will be gathering in the quirky urban/agricultural space during Warm Up, making sustainable agriculture just a little bit cooler. So, if you're in New York at some point before September 15th, I would suggest visiting this rather nifty Urban Farm! Maybe you'll catch little kids swimming in the pool like I did...which I thought was a little strange, even if it was hot...

Another reason to know where you meat comes from...this video is just a little bit disturbing...

2008-08-18T16:23:00.000-07:00

This is a video just sent to me by a friend Juliet who works at Current. It's pretty gruesome and horrible. I thought about how the woman, an environmental consultant from Chino, who drove by the facility every day, was so surprised that with 5 full time inspectors, employees trained to not abuse cattle, and external and internal audits that this abuse still occurred at this meat plant. It makes you think about how at Polyface farm you, the consumer, can look right into Polyface's chicken slaughtering area and how Joel Salatin declared this a greater guarantee of clean meat. This just goes to prove he's probably right...

My Birthday: 25 years of eating to celebrate...

2008-08-08T17:54:00.000-07:00

About a week and a half ago, I turned 25 and had a gathering with tasty food consumables coupled with many bottles of wine. The theme was to Crayola colors and so I tried to have the most colorful food as possible. I also had a few special ingredients with which to play, namely a block of honeycomb from Turkey, courtesy of Nikki and Emily, and some truffled honey, courtesy of Katie. Honeycomb lends the sweetness of honey to whatever its added but with the additional crunch and visual of the comb, while truffled honey has a unique sweet flavor with strong truffle undertones, which is generally hard to explain unless you have tried it.

For the honey comb, I wanted to add it to something that had some salty/savory flavors but that would be complimented by the sweet flavor. I quickly thought of a goat cheese and fruit combination and decided on using strawberries and figs as the fruits. The resulting bite was not only deliciously tasty and interestingly textured but was visually enticing.

Truffled honey, in comparison with the honeycomb, has a much more complex sweet and savory taste; in this particular truffled honey, the truffle flavor is especially strong and thus must be paired with something with an equally robust flavor so as to not overpower. I recently went to the new restaurant Uva Enoteca on Haight street and ordered a cheese plate; their suggested pairing for the mild blue cheese we ordered was their truffled honey. I am not a lover of blue cheese--most of the time I feel the strong flavor punches the back of my throat and makes me want to choke. Paired with truffled honey, however, the blue cheese bight was nicely softened and the robust truffle flavor was cut by the acidity of the cheese. I thus decided to pair Katie's truffled honey with a soft, not too strong blue cheese and placed this combination on red and green endive, which also created a pleasant visual pattern.

I also experimented with frying squash blossoms, but the batter didn't have enough seasoning in it, so the flavor was a little disappointing. I think next time I will add some salt to the batter as well as some truffle oil; I think I might also try to experiment with stuffing them with different cheeses. A few others bites were served as well: a grilled fig and prosciutto crostini; an "Asian" avocado dip (basically if you add sesame oil and soy sauce to something, Epicurious.com writers will call it Asian); a bacon and cumin topped pear; as well as a slew of others thing you would have enjoyed if you had been there.

Too bad for you if you weren't.

Flavor Tripping: not quite as trippy as expected

2008-08-05T15:29:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I, along with many other readers, read the NY Times article about the miracle fruit that causes flavor tripping and have been pretty captivated by the idea for the last few months. After eating a piece of miracle fruit, one's taste buds are rewired for an hour or so rendering sour flavors sweet. Yesterday, San Francisco had its very own flavor tripping event, and I bought my ticket as soon as I heard.

So, after several months of dreaming of the miracle fruit and its miraculous affects, my expectations were reasonably high and were only heightened when I got there and the line reached the end of the block. After reaching the frontSo, after several months of dreaming of the (which didn't take very long as my very nice friend Peter had gotten there earlier and had done the waiting for the both of us), I was given a little, purple poach containing the fruit and instructions to swirl the fruit in my mouth for at least one minute but preferably two. While I was moving the fruit pulp around my mouth, a felt a slight tingling sensation across my tongue which resulted in something that felt like a partial numbing. Believing that I had begun tripping, I went straight for the bitter citrus, lemons and limes, and, well, they tasted like candy. The sensation of seeing something you have always known to be tart and bitter, even when sweetened, and tasting it as being totally sweet with very little hint of the usual bitterness, was totally bizarre! After this, however, the craziness of the effect was much less extreme. Grapefruits and pineapples simply tasted extra sweet and delicious while many other things, such as salad dressing and unsweetened cranberry juice, were hard to even gauge how much their taste had changed, without knowing exactly how they had tasted before.

There were, however, a few things whose tastes were altered in surprising ways, namely oysters and balsamic vinegar. Oysters had a newly creamy texture, seeming to melt across your tongue, but still maintained their salty flavors; at the event, I likened them to creme fraiche with a whole lot of tasty caviar on top. Balsamic vinegar was also interesting because when it was in your mouth, the subtle, sweet undertones dominated while the bitterness of the vinegar vanished until it went down your throat and the vinegar taste came back to bight you. All told, the flavor tripping experience was pretty interesting, but the expectations set by the NYTimes article that I would suddenly be pouring Tabasco on my tongue as if it were maple syrup did not exactly hold up.

Grow your own edible landscape

2008-08-03T05:43:00.000-07:00

Daniela, who sent me the initial NY Times article that spurned the "Farming at your Back Doorstep" posting, sent me the link to the New York Times' By Design blog that I also thought was worth sharing. This blog entry, in comparison with the article posted earlier, introduces the idea of urban agriculture not as a bourgeois fad but rather as a piece of a larger movement towards locally produced food. Allison Arieff, the blog writer, hired Trevor Paque of My Farm to build a garden in her San Francisco backyard, replacing her "water dependent grass patch" with an edible landscape. Arieef also responds to those who see this as a "lazy locovore" trend by pointing towards the "collaboration, community, and connections to food, neighbors, and land" that has been created by this movement that is "slowly loosing it's elitist associations".

Arieff then goes onto to describe a few other related projects both locally, in her home town of San Francisco, and nationally. The two projects she talks about that I really got excited about are the San Francisco Victory Garden at Civic Center and P.F.1, this summer's PS1/MOMA Young Architect Program winner. The San Francisco Victory Garden is sponsored by Slow Food Nation, a nonprofit organization that is part of the slow food movement, which will be producing a three day celebration of American food over Labor Day weekend. Both are really interesting projects, which I will talk about in later postings. What I like about Arieff's posting is that she places urban agriculture in the context of a greater movement and shows the increasing urban consciousness about where our food comes from.

Pizza three tasty ways and one not so tasty block mildly resembling pizza

2008-07-28T19:46:00.000-07:00

Last week, I had some friends over for a pizza dinner. One friend brought over two large balls of dough, which we split into four to make four pizzas. I had three strong ideas for toppings based on ingredients I had gotten at the Farmer's Market the previous Saturday and was hoping the fourth idea would come to me while cooking (as you might be able to guess from the title of this post, it didn't really succeed).I started off with the ingredient about which I was most excited: the squash blossoms. I wanted to experiment a little with the blooms before the following weekend where I was going to be frying them for a dish (to be written about in the next post). I have had the truffled squash blossom flatbread from COCO 500 twice now, and I really like the rich truffle taste coupled with the delicate squash blossoms, and wanted to play with that a little. I had some leftover white truffle oil, which I mixed with the four cheese cheese mix before spreading it on top of the pizza (a suggestion of my friend Rebecca whose father used to make pizzas every Sunday while she was growing up), which serves to moisten the cheese and blend the flavors together. I spread this cheese across the pizza the place the squash blossoms on the pizza, with petals facing in, and then added lines of ricotta in between. While the dough was sort of on odd shape, I really like the ingredient layout.I then went on to make a pizza with some prosciutto I had bought at Bocallone. I wanted to play off the idea of eggs and bacon, so my idea was to have a pizza with prosciutto and fry an egg on top of the pizza in the middle of its being in the oven. I really do love fried eggs on pizza as it is not only a totally interesting and unusual presentation, but the taste of warm egg yolk as it freshly bursts across the pizza is quite detectable.The third pizza idea I had was a basic marguerite, which I made with fresh basil with roots (a week and a half after buying the basil, it's still fresh!) and some heirloom tomatoes.By the time, I had finished these three pizzas I had hoped a flash of brilliance would have come to me, which unfortunately it didn't. The best I could think of was five cheese pizza. The basic cheese I had been using was already using was a three cheese mix to which I then added parm and a hard goat cheese. At this point, the dough had gotten quite warm, and the pizza had been hard to role out completely, so I knew it was going to be a little thick. The result, however, was a block like pizza that look horribly unappetizing to me and all but one of the people there.He took it home.

Farming at your back doorstep...

2008-07-22T23:51:00.000-07:00

On Monday, my friend Daniela (of Citytropic fame) emailed me an NY Times article (A Locally Grown Diet with Fuss but no Muss) and asked me what I thought, commenting that it was possibly a little bougie. The article discusses a new phenomena where urban professionals are hiring gardeners to cultivate organic, edible gardens in their backyards. On some levels, especially with way the NY Times presents the concept, having someone farm vegetables in your backyard and placing a weekly box of these "locally grown" produce on your back doorstep, so that you can proudly call yourself a "locavore," is a bit privileged; I would argue, however, the the concept has its heart in the right place.

For one, having someone garden for you is not a new concept, especially for us less green-thumbed. The idea of having someone plant a mini farm in your backyard, on the other hand, seems a little removed from the romantic idea of the local farm where the farmer still gets his or her hands dirty in protest of the newest farming equipment. Still, if we are okay with gardeners help us grow flowering plants, I think having a gardener helping us grow produce in our backyard is a better use of the space and is certainly an affective way to free oneself from eating Chilean avocados while in San Francisco during avocado season.

Summer Feast: A Gastronomically Gluttonous Meating

2008-07-21T13:19:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday night, I had the gastronomic pleasure of attending the Summer Feast, co hosted by Meatpaper and Gastronomica. And what a bloody feast it was! Bloody in two senses: when I first arrived, around 6:30 pm, at Perbacco, the restaurant was packed and buzzing with food consuming activity; my instinct to compete for food against my fellow humans kicked in and the four of us that came together strategically divided in order to help the rest of the pack get the the most diverse food and drink samplings. And bloody in that some of the dishes incorporated blood in a way I had not tasted: pig's blood sausage and pig's blood chocolate pudding with pistachio mascarpone topping.

After much glutenous consumption, my three most favorite tastes were the bacon, pistachio marshmallows, the blood pudding--both prepared by Perbacco--and the chopped liver from Serpentine. The bacon/pistachio marshmallow had a sweet and fluffy initial bite that was quickly follow up by the crunch and salt of the bacon and the fatty sweetness of the nuts. The blood pudding was just cool to me because it had been made from, well, blood and it's nice to know that you are using the most of the animal as you can. And I also just love liver. It's the anemic in me, really.

Anyways, here are some photographs from the event; the first is an image of the marshmallows, the second and third are images of the chocolate blood pudding, and the final a picture of three bites from Perbacco, the upper right of which is the blood sausage:

Boccalone's $9 Sandwich, so worth every penny...

2008-07-18T16:17:00.000-07:00

I had heard from a few friends about Boccalone's $9 sandwich, and how amazing it was. I had even come close to buying it a few times, but hesitated twice, not wanting to fork over the cash. On the third time, however, I obliged my desire to spend too much money on a gourmet sandwich. And boy, was it worth it. The sandwich consists of peach slices, delicious Boccolone prosciutto, salt, pepper, olive oil, and fresh mint leaves on top of some very fresh, tasty bread. The prosciutto was especially smooth and deliciously salty, which brought out the sweet acidity of the peaches. The final taste of the sandwich was the sweet mint, which added a great complexity to each bight in which mint made its way. I had this sandwich for dinner, and while it was probably one of the best sandwiches I've ever had, I was a little hungry at the end and probably would say was best as a hearty lunch sandwich.

Boccalone just opened a new stall in the Ferry Terminal Market, replacing Capay Bay I believe, and has a mission of combining sustainable raised, heritage-breed pork with the freshest of ingredients to make the tastiest of meat products. In 2005, Boccalone started producing salumi, fresh sausages, and cooked products such as pate out of an Oakland facility that was once home to Moniz, a Portuguese sausage factory originally founded in 1900. In any case, their new store in the Ferry Terminal sells a host of delicious products, so you should visit, if not for the prosciutto and peach sandwich, at least to see what Lardo, cured pig fat, looks like.

Michael Pollen and Grass Fed Beef

2008-07-16T16:53:00.001-07:00

After yesterday's posting describing the new ingredients of non-grass fed beef's feed, I thought I should write a little more about why feeding cows grass is such an important thing to champion.

First of all, cows' ruminant digestive systems are well evolved to digest grass; the cow's digestive system has two stomachs, in which the food is softened first before being fully digested in the second stomach. In this manner, feeding cows food other than grass messes with their natural digestive process; one of the reasons why cows are given so many antibiotics now is because feeding them corn and other food that their stomachs aren't meant to digest causes an upset in their bodies natural chemistry, thus opening them up to infection.

Another important thing to note is that humans, among most other species without rumens, cannot digest grass. I am currently reading Michael Pollen's Omnivore's Dilemma and am reading the section where he visits Polyface Farm, which raises grass fed beef along with a whole slew of other livestock raised on their natural food. Without going into a long description of the merits of Polyface Farm, Pollen's discussion of the advantages of feeding cows grass, from the perspective of energy consumption, is one of the strongest arguments for eating meat. At Polyface farm, the cows are rotationally grazed, which means that the cows are allowed to eat in one area of the pasture before being moved to another area of the farm to eat the following day. In this manner, the cows partially eat the grass stem, but not the whole stalk. As a result, the grass grows back much faster than it would if the cows were allowed to stay on one plot of land for an extended period of time and ate the grass stalks to the ground. Because of this constant trimming and growth cycle, the pastures at Polyface Farm, and at other farms that rotationally graze their livestock, produce more biomass than the same plot of land would if corn were raised in its place. One of the strong arguments against eating meat is that great amount of food energy wasted every time an animal eats another animal (a 9 to 1 ratio), but in the case of cows that are grass fed, they are eating biomass from which we cannot glean food calories. In addition, the energy to grow grass comes from the sun, which means cows are, in essence, converting the sun's energy, through the venue of grass, into food energy that we can consume. And, importantly, grass fed beefy is mighty tasty.

Cows are now eating chocolate for feed!

2008-07-15T14:56:00.000-07:00

My dad sent me this video today from the Wall Street Journal about the effects of the rising costs of corn fed cattle. The most alarming bit of information I found to be the fact that some farmers are substituting chocolate (yes, chocolate, as in Mars) for corn feed. Chocolate (as a major part of one's diet) isn't healthy for humans who have omnivorous digestive systems suitable for the consumption of a much great variety of foods; why do cattle farmers think that cows, whose digestive system has evolved to digest grass, should be eating chocolate? Sort of an argument for grass fed beef, yes?

Meatpaper Issue 4 and Summer Feast

2008-07-14T16:02:00.000-07:00

So I really like this new(ish) journal called Meatpaper. Meatpaper is a "journal of meat culture" detailing meat,s many cultural implications. The fourth issue of Meatpaper was just published, and my friend Will Payne has an article in this most recent issue where he talks about landscapes made of meat, specifically comparing the National Cattleman's Beef Association's (NCBA)most recent add campaign with the collage art of Nicolas Lampert.

Meatpaper is thought provoking, visually engaging, and informative. They also have fun fun food-related celebrations; specifically, they are having a gathering this coming Sunday at Perbacco Restaurant in conjunction with Gastronomica, The Journal of Food and Culture. Both vegetarian and carnivorous selections will be served. Come and embrace the omnivorous consumption!

The Alarming Cleaning of Soft Shell Crabs

2008-07-11T15:56:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, Mark Bittman published, in his weekly New York Times food column, an article about Pasta with Soft Shell Crab. I got really excited when I saw this recipe as I had just seen soft shall crabs at the San Francisco Fish Company in the Ferry Terminal Market and had wanted to figure out a way to cook them; thanks Mark Bittman!

The next week, I went ahead and bought the little guys, four as the recipe suggested. I was told at the fish counter that I shouldn't clean them until right before I cooked them as they would loose water and was then demonstrated how to clean the crabbies. The process involves cutting off their eyes, pulling out their lungs (really gills, but they were referenced as lungs at the time), and then snapping off their tails (called an apron, technically). Right as I was leaving, the guy at the fish counter proudly showed me that the four crabs I had just purchased were still alive, as demonstrated by the foaming liquid near their mouths. At first glance, this fact illustrated the crab's freshness, it was, in fact, foreboding of the upcoming crab cleaning.

Later that day, when I brought the crabs out of the refrigerator to prepare for cooking, I placed them on a plate for about twenty minutes. During this time, the crabs warmed up and began to wake up, so to speak. When I picked the first one up, the claws and legs began to move around. Oh god. I then brought my scissors to the eyes of the crab, as instructed earlier at the Fish Market, avoiding the now moving appendages. After I snipped the eyes, however, the crabs claws and legs continued to move. At this point I, embarrassingly, shrieked. I was now going to have to pull out the lungs of a moving creature. And so I did, after some squeamish moments and thoughts of calling off dinner.

I eventually got through the cleaning of all four crabs and cooked one my most favorite meals ever. The soft, creamy texture of the crab meat coupled with the crunch of the shell is pretty darn sexy while the pasta brilliantly absorbs the excess olive oil and garlic infused juices of the soft shell crab. Beyond the tastiness of the final product, however, I found the experience of cleaning the crabs to be a significant one; understanding where your meat comes from is important knowledge but also being accountable for killing your proteins feels, well, responsible.

Here's a not so great picture of the final product:

Community-Supported Agriculture in the NYT

2008-07-10T11:41:00.000-07:00

My friend Peter sent me an article in the New York Times published today about community sponsored (or supported) agriculture (CSA). The concept of CSA originated in Japan and Switzerland in the 1960s and was brought to the United States in the 1980s. The basic premise is that consumers buy shares in a local farm with other local consumers; each person then gets a portion of the farm's crops for the seasons they buy shares. In this manner, local people share the financial responsibility of their local farms and agree to support their local farms, the farms becoming, in some ways, the community's farm. The CSA movement has been gaining a lot of moment in recent years, mostly in areas with a lot of farms, such as New York, the Great Lakes regions, and, more recently, California.

I looked up some of the places where one can find such farms and found that a lot of the farms local to San Francisco had merged with spud!, North America's largest natural foods delivery service. While the idea behind spud! is a good one, using economics of scale to market but purchasing locally, it sort of takes the community/getting your hands dirty feel out of CSA farming. I found another website, however, that I thought was really useful, Local Harvest, which has a database searchable by zip and state that allows you to found local CSA farms. For SF, I found 11 CSA farms; sort of cool, yes? I think so...

4th of July=Grilling fun time!

2008-07-09T17:10:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I went down to Los Angeles to visit my friend Ethan; as it was the 4th of July weekend, and Ethan lives in a home with a great backyard equipped with a grill, I had fun 'q-ing my way through my dinner...

Saturday morning (Ethan's bbq was on on the 5th), Ethan and I went to the Silver Lake farmer's market; while slightly smaller than the Saturday Ferry Terminal market, I was vastly impressed with the quality of the foods I was able to find. Most notably, the peaches, golden raspberries, and shrimpies I bought were especially encouraging of the salivary glands.

So, early in the afternoon, it was grilling time. First up, I grilled the peaches, both white and yellow--make sure they are free stone!--that I had bought at the farmer's market. Grilled peaches have a wonderful smoky flavor coupled with a caramelized exterior. I then added the grilled peaches (still warm) to sliced buffalo mozzarella. The combination of the slightly acidic peaches with the creamy mozzarella is amazing; the cheese cutting through the slight bite of the fruit. I then sprinkled the peaches and mozzarella with crushed walnut pieces, salt, pepper, and olive oil.
I then went on to grill the amazing shrimp I bought. Having cleaned a lot of shrimp lately, and been slightly grossed out about how dirty the animals I was about to eat actually are, these shrimp were a rare treat. Apparently fished (if that's the right word) the day before I bought them and never frozen, they were easy to clean and the meat seemed crisp, if that word can even be applied to shrimp. Anyways, I marinated the little guys in olive oil, cilantro, basil, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, garlic, and ginger, and let them sit for a while. They were pretty tasty, although the red pepper flakes I used (from Trader Joe's) were not as potent as I had hoped...Still, fresh shrimp is pretty awesome. I would recommend.

I think Mark Bittman has a crush on Michael Pollen...

2008-07-09T14:55:00.000-07:00