Show Dogs Field Roast Vegetarian
Heinz ketchup and Grey Poupon work in a pinch. But to really jazz up your backyard burgers and dogs, pick up some housemade condiments from Show Dogs, the gourmet sausage emporium on Market Street, just a stroll from the Holiday Inn Civic Center San Francisco.
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Chicken liver at Frances restaurant, San Francisco
It may be only a year old, but Frances restaurant in San Francisco, has garnered just about every accolade around, including being a finalist for “Best New Restaurant” in the nation by the James Beard Foundation. It’s easy to see why.
Chef Melissa Perello’s compact restaurant on the edge of the Castro district, a short drive from the Holiday Inn Civic Center in San Francisco, is like your favorite pair of jeans. When you step into it, you feel comfortable and relaxed immediately. You want to return to it often because it’s reliable and just fits so well.
The snug, 45-seat restaurant is named for Perello’s beloved grandma. Perello’s mom sewed the pillows with the big buttons that grace the long, wood banquette that her father helped build.
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Foot-long hot dog and beer at One Market
San Francisco’s One Market restaurant, located steps from the Hyatt Regency at the Embarcadero, is a fancy-shmancy place that has hosted celebs such as David and Victoria Beckham, and features high-brow fare (think: prix fixe dinners centered entirely around a particular artisan-raised animal).
But it also knows how to have fun.
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Minamoto Kitchoan
Cupcakes, cookies, French macarons.
So yesterday.
For unique sweet treats that will truly surprise and tantalize, step inside Minamoto Kitchoan, a Japanese confectionery store in downtown San Francisco.
The stores specialize in wagashi, which are handmade, intricate sweets made with mochi, azuki red bean paste and fruit. Traditionally, they were designed to be served during Japanese tea ceremonies. With their sweet flavor, they are the ideal accompaniment to a cup of hot, fragrant green tea. Minamoto Kitchoan receives one to two shipments each month from Japan. The wagashi are shipped frozen in a state-of-the-art process that renders them much colder than they’d get in any home freezer, yet doesn’t impair their delicacy.
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Chicken and waffles at Little Skillet, 360 Ritch St.
Psst…I can hook you up with a fix at a good price. Primo stuff, too, bro. This way. Come on. Come on. Down this alley.
In San Francisco, if someone beckons you down an alley like that, don’t be afraid. They’re just leading the way to Little Skillet, a lunchtime walk-up window serving tasty Southern-style fried chicken and waffles, as well as BBQ pork sandwiches, Cobb salads, and red velvet cupcakes. Located at 360 Ritch St. (at Townsend between 3rd and 4th streets, and a short drive from the W San Francisco), this offshoot of Farmer Brown restaurant is open Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
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Art's Tapas & Sushi Lounge
Will it be sushi, Spanish, Mexican or California cuisine tonight? Whatever your craving, here’s where to satisfy it.
1) Art’s Tapas & Sushi Lounge
When you’re hanging with a group of friends with varying cravings, it’s sometimes hard to settle on one eatery to satisfy everyone. The new Art’s Tapas & Sushi Lounge in San Francisco’s Marina district, a short drive from the Fairmont Heritage Place at Ghirardelli Square, makes it easy.
At this hip lounge, consulting Executive Chef Taka Yamaguchi, formerly of the Bay Area’s Blowfish Sushi restaurants, serves up a mix of small plates and libations that run the gamut from Spanish to Japanese and beyond. Enjoy grilled tofu ($7.50); Japanese-rice paella with vegatables and squid ink ($14); carpaccio with wasabi aioli on a bed of arugula and capers ($9); sushi, including “build-your-own” rolls; and crema catalana ($6). There’s also a full bar with draft beers, wine, sake, sangria and signature cocktails. Indulge in 99-cent oysters during weekday happy hours (5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. to closing).
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Pastries at Arlequin's farmers market booth
The offerings at the Saturday farmers market at the San Francisco Ferry Building just got a whole lot sweeter.
The Arlequin booth, manned by Luis Villavelazquez, executive pastry chef of Absinthe restaurant in San Francisco, will now be a regular fixture at that Saturday market, just steps from the Hyatt Regency San Francisco, beginning May 1.
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Samples set out for guests to last year's Dungeness Crab Festival in San Fran
[Flickr/vipnyc]
Through February, the Bay Area’s Lark Creek Restaurant Group spotlights the sweet, fluffy, delicate deliciousness of crab in its 21st annual “Dungeness Crab Festival.” Get your fill of this irresistible and sustainable seafood as chefs at each restaurant showcase distinctive and creative dishes all about crab.
At LarkCreekSteak in San Francisco, steps from the Hotel Palomar, Chef John Ledbetter is offering the likes of Dungeness crab and chorizo gumbo.
At Yankee Pier in Santana Row in San Jose, Chef Gary Rust is turning out Dungeness crab tacos with tomatillo salsa, cumin sour cream and handmade tortillas.
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Rack of goat, cooked sous vide and then seared
Carrot cake with goat's milk frosting
Every Friday and Saturday night at One Market restaurant in San Francisco, a different animal stars in a very special menu.
At the restaurant, near the Hyatt Regency San Francisco, the “Weekly Beast” dinner is a $49 five-course prix fixe that showcases the versatility and deliciousness of a particular farm-raised animal from head to hoof or foot. It’s a chance to understand exactly how different parts of one animal — be it Duroc pig or Muscovy duck — can have such different flavors and textures. For those who aren’t quite ready to make that much of a commitment, the dishes also are available à la carte.
Recently, Chef Mark Dommen invited me in as his guest to try his “Weekly Beast” dinner featuring goat from Marin Sun Farms in Point Reyes Station.
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© 2012
