NOVEMBER 4, 2008 | SAN FRANCISCO Freelancers,
mid-week flakes, and folks with weird work hours will be pleased
to know ~MISSION
BEACH CAFE~ is now offering its weekend brunch menu
on weekdays. The menu includes pastry chef Alan Carter’s
quiche, and executive chef Ryan Scott’s soufflé pancakes
with orange cranberry compote; the MBC egg sandwich with a house-made
English muffin, fried egg, oven-roasted tomato, caramelized onion,
white cheddar, and potatoes; or the Prather Ranch beef brisket
hash and eggs. Breakfast is now available Mon–Fri from 8am–2pm,
and of course weekend brunch continues as is. Mission Beach Café is
also launching a new community outreach program, hosting quarterly
dinners benefiting a Mission district nonprofit organization.
This month’s dinner, on Wednesday November 19th, honors Creativity
Explored, a nonprofit visual arts center that gives artists
with developmental disabilities a place to create, exhibit, and
sell art. Original works of art will be on display at the restaurant
at the event on the 19th, and 25% of food sales will go to the
charity (the dinner is $75 per person, exclusive of alcohol, tax,
and gratuity). For those that can’t make it that evening,
the Café is donating 15% of food sales every Wednesday from
5:30pm–7pm to Creativity Explored. 198 Guerrero St. at 14th
St., 415-861-0198.
Another restaurant that is expanding its hours: ~BARAKA~ in
Potrero Hill has started serving lunch Tue–Sat from 11:30am–2pm,
offering a casual and approachable lunch menu. Executive chef Chad Newton will
be cooking lunch, so take advantage of the easy parking over there, and enjoy!
The menu includes: a daily soup, a variety of salads, either grilled cheese or
ahi tuna salad sandwiches (they come with your choice of soup, mixed baby lettuces
or Spanish fries, all for only $9–$10), or there are flatbreads, too, like
four cheese or chicken, with the same deal regarding the side of soup, salad,
or fries ($8–$9). A few mains include roast chicken, skate wing, or bavette
steak. 288 Connecticut St. at 18th St., 415-255-0370.
I
was so bummed I couldn’t make it to the ~AMUSE
COCHON/COCHON 555~ event this weekend (birthday
dinner with my cute family trumps everything), but here are
some highlights
from the Bunrabs for those who wondered how it went down.
More
pig patrol: the Thursday night ~MISSION
STREET FOOD~ truck is finito, and the renegade
solution was to move indoors into Lung Shan, a Chinese restaurant
that has agreed to share their kitchen. The PB&J (Kurobuta
Berkshire pork belly and jicama flatbread, $5.50) will remain,
but look for some rock-the-wok action, including this week’s
dish of Burmese coconut-curry soup (a recipe from chef Anthony
Myint’s grandmother, $6) and either vegetable or MSF
rice (Meated-Smoked-Fried rice, $6–$7). Hours will be
Thursdays, 6pm–midnight, and they will now offer beer
and wine. Cooks: they are still looking for guest cooks, whatcha
waiting for, apply
here. 2234 Mission St. at 18th St.
Things continue to percolate over at ~ORSON~,
including the launch of Monday Night Pizza starting
at 5pm (usual dinner hours start at 6pm), with about six kinds
to choose from, like braised broccoli rabe, chili, egg, and guanciale.
Man, last night they had a Philly cheesesteak pizza with flank
steak, provolone, peppers, onions, steak sauce, and love. Uh huh,
I want some of that! The monthly cocktail pairing dinner (Gin & Game) is coming up on Thursday November 13th (check out the menu
here, which includes cassoulet with pheasant, boar, and pork
belly, plus cippolini, turnips, and Wild Turkey sauce). 508 4th
St. at Bryant St., 415-777-1508.
Chef Arnold Eric Wong,
known for his past chef-owner history with Eos Restaurant & Wine
Bar and Bacar, is the new executive chef of ~E&O
TRADING COMPANY RESTAURANTS~. His new modern Asian
menu will be implemented in March.
Chef ~RUSSELL RUMMER~ has left Roots,
and has joined the team at Sellers
Markets.
~THE
CARNELIAN ROOM~ has a new executive chef, sous
chef, and pastry chef. The new executive chef is Rick Huking,
who is going to integrate a more seasonal and organic menu
(his history includes Le Mouton Noir in Saratoga), the executive
sous chef is Charles Hechinger, and Cassandra Struss is the
pastry chef. The Carnelian Room is also launching a special
prix-fixe Sunday menu, Sunday Supper Club 52, for $39 plus
tax and tip, running from 6pm–9:30pm, in case you’ve
always wanted to check out that view without paying too much
for it. There will also be live smooooooth jazz with the
Black Pearl Project. 555 California St., 52nd Floor, at Montgomery,
415-433-7500.
Sorry
hot dog lovers, I lagged announcing this one: ~WHAT'S
UP DOG!~ has opened a SoMa location, in the former
Tamal space. What's Up Dog! “The Diner” is serving
breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and has 40 seats. And beer! Open
daily 7am–9pm. 1599 Howard at 12th St., 415-861-5366.
~CHILL~ dessert
café opened up in the Financial District, so now you can
get soft-serve vanilla custard or black sesame frozen yogurt, drizzle
it with exotic syrup flavors like açai or dulce de leche,
and toppings like crystallized ginger. Also on the menu are shaved
ice concoctions, blended drinks, cupcakes, Vietnamese-style coffee,
rooibos red tea drinks, floats, and “frozen
hot chocolate.” This week, from Wednesday November 5th–Friday
November 7th, there will be “1-2-3 CHILL OUT” grand
opening specials, with $1 organic Americano coffee, $2 frozen yogurt
and soft serve custard with gourmet toppings, and $3 crispy filled
sugar or coconut crepe cones. Hours
are Mon–Fri 11am–7pm, and Sat noon–5pm. 125 Kearny
St. at Post, 415-433-1233.
More
café news: things are picking
up for Café du
Nord’s café project, which they are simply calling ~THE
CAFÉ~, which is slated to open on November
17th. The 49-seat café will offer Ritual coffee, plus
sandwiches, salads, and pizzas, and free WiFi. There will also
be rotating musically themed art shows (the first show will
feature paintings by famous musicians). Hours will be 7am–8pm.
2168 Market St. at Church, 415-861-5016.
It
is most definitely chili/chilly weather, and so almost on cue, ~BALBOA
CAFE SAN FRANCISCO~ is hosting its fifth annual
Chili Challenge. Jack Falstaff executive chef Jonnatan Leiva, PlumpJack
Cafe executive chef Rick Edge, Balboa Cafe executive chef Jose
Lemus, and the San Francisco firemen from Marina station #16 will
serve their secret chili recipes during lunch at Balboa Cafe San
Francisco this week of November 3rd. Throughout the week, lunch-goers
who order the chili from 11:30am–5pm will be presented with
small portions of the four competing chilis, and will be given
ballots to manually vote on their favorite contender. The votes
will be tallied on the final day of the competition, November 7th,
and the winning recipe will be offered on the menu from November
10th–November 14th. All guests who voted can enjoy a complimentary
bowl of the winning recipe during the week of November 10th, from
11:30am–5pm. Guests who wish to donate a toy to the San Francisco
Firefighter Toy Program can bring in an unwrapped new toy or unused
book to Balboa Cafe San Francisco. 3199 Fillmore St. at Greenwich,
415-921-3944.
Let’s
hope the weather plays nice, because Sunday November 9th is
the second ~IN
SEARCH OF GOOD FOOD~ bike ride. The ride, led by ISoGF
director and food justice activist Antonio Roman-Alcalá and
co-sponsored by CAFF, will cover
mostly flat ground around the Mission and southeast portions of
the city. There will be guest speakers along the route, including: Mission
Pie, local purveyors of sustainable pie and farm education
for youth from Mission High School; The
Free Farm Stand, a project that gives away food grown in San
Francisco; Veritable Vegetable,
one of the West Coast's oldest organic food distributors; the site
of the People's Food System warehouse, where parts of the sustainable
food system were born in the 70s; and SF General Hospital, where
you'll hear from Aliza Wasserman from Community Alliance with Family
Farmers about the challenges and emerging opportunities for bringing
local and sustainable food to an institutional scale. The ride
will be approximately four hours long, with snacks and bathroom
breaks planned in. This event is a benefit for the In Search of
Good Food movie project, so please reserve your space (limited
to 40) by buying
a ticket here. 11am–3pm.
Due to last weekend’s soggy weather, Piccino postponed
the ~HOG ISLAND OYSTER DAY~ extravaganza until
this coming Sunday November 9th. To recap: “The Hog Island
crew will be set-up on our sidewalk, busily shucking their gorgeous
oysters for consumption either raw or grilled. For the barbecued
orders, they’ll be serving a trio of sauces: classic red,
butter, beer and garlic, and one made from Point Reyes Farmstead
blue cheese. We’ll be pouring crisp whites, rosés,
and microbrews, while firing up our thin-crust pizzas and tossing
a few seasonal salads. No reservations are required for this all
afternoon event.” 801 22nd St. at Tennessee, 415-824-4224.
It’s
totally movie weather, so here is a little something something
for you: on Tuesday November 11th is a ~SLOW
FOOD MOVIE SCREENING~ at 6:30pm of Strawberry Fields and Queen
Of The Sun trailer, and 8:30pm is McLibel and In
Good Heart (a short film). Here’s more from the press
release: "Strawberry Fields is a documentary by an
Israeli filmmaker about a day in the life of Palestinian farmers
in Gaza. It's a moving documentary portrait about the courage of
ordinary people caught in a war zone. Ayelet Heller, a sensitive
Israeli filmmaker, was curious about life in Gaza and set out to
tell the story of Palestinian farmers. McLibel is the
story of two ordinary people who humiliated McDonald's in the biggest
corporate PR disaster in history. Filmed over ten years by
Director Franny Armstrong, McLibel is the David and Goliath story
of two people who refused to say sorry. And in doing so, changed
the world.” Tickets: $10 each screening—you can buy
tickets here. Roxie Theatre, 3117 16th St. at Valencia.
Did you miss Sugar
Rush last week? Next Saturday November 15th, you can celebrate
the publication of Anita Chu’s first cookbook, the mouthwatering
(and charmingly petite) ~A FIELD GUIDE TO COOKIES~ at
a special event at Chu’s alma mater, Tante
Marie's Cooking School. (Some of you might know Chu from
her blog, Dessert
First.) Tante Marie’s current professional pastry class
will be making some cookies from her book, and there will be
limited copies of the book available for purchase. If you want
to attend, there is space for up to 30 tablehopper readers: just
email Anita at pastrygirl.dessertfirst@gmail.com and
she will add you to the guest list. Parking is quite limited
around the school, especially on the weekends. Please see the
Tante Marie website for
directions on how to get to the school and suggested parking
garages around the area. The event begins at 2pm. 271 Francisco
St. at Stockton.
~DELFINA~ is
turning 10, and from Monday November 17th through Wednesday November
19th, they will be celebrating with a “killer, truffle-centric
menu, entertainment, and special surprises each night! We will
also feature a special selection of 1998 (our opening year) vintage
wines.” Buon compleanno! 3621 18th St. at Guerrero, 415-552-4055.
This looks like a fun one: on Tuesday November 18th there will
be a ~BEER & BISON GROWER’S DINNER~ at Jack
Falstaff, with executive chef Jonnatan Leiva cooking with guest
chefs Laurence Jossel (Nopa) and Ravi Kapur (Boulevard). Here’s
the menu: bison carpaccio and fried oysters (chef de cuisine Ravi
Kapur, Boulevard); butternut squash ravioli and beer-braised bison
(executive chef Laurence Jossel, Nopa); and slow-roasted bison
short ribs, smoked fingerlings and kale (executive chef Jonnatan
Leiva, Jack Falstaff). Moonlight
Brewing Company, based in Santa Rosa, is going to provide the
beer pairings—founder Brian Hunt will be on hand at the event
to explain the pairings. 6pm reception on the patio, and the communal
dinner seating begins at 7pm. $85 per person, excluding tax and
gratuity. 598 Second St. at Brannan, 415-836-9239.
826
Valencia,
the non-profit writing and tutoring center in the Mission, is holding
a ~FOOD WRITING SEMINAR AND EVENT~ on
Thursday November 20th as a benefit for their free student program.
The event will feature Mollie Katzen (author of The
Moosewood Cookbook and The
Enchanted Broccoli Forest); Scott
Youkilis (co-owner of Maverick restaurant and editor of Out
Of The Kitchen Magazine); Lessley Anderson (senior editor
at CHOW.com); and Joe Jarrell (contributor for the San Francisco
Bay Guardian and WHERE San Francisco); moderated
by Erin Archuleta (tablehopper.com intern and writer of the
hardhat section). Guests will be sampling and talking
about the food on offer during the evening, plus discussing topics
like restaurant reviewing, recipe-composing, contacting agents,
working with publishing houses and newspaper editors, and running
a successful blog. Tickets: $100, limited to 50 people. 6pm–9pm.
Buy tickets and learn more here.
826 Valencia St. at 19th St.
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