my pocket choice for thai, Suriya Thai Restaurant
Suriya Thai Restaurant on Howard, in SOMA, San Francisco, CA
Tonight, dinner was about not just food but celebrating my friend Ll’s great accomplishment, acing a critical exam needed for his profession. (He’s so good. ) We chose Suriya Thai Restaurant, a place we’ve known for years, back in the days when it anchored the south end of the Valencia foodie corridor. (In fact, before Valencia was the foodie street that it is today.) Still, the new location on Howard has all the familiar trappings of the old. Gorgeous antique carvings are placed throughout the dining room including a striking display of centuries-old carved coconut shellers.
coconut shellers at Suriya Thai
And the food is special. One can find a lot of thai in the City but somehow Suriya manages to set itself apart. Many of the dishes are drawn from family recipes so you’ll find some things here that you’ve not seen on menus before. The helpings are generous, the price reasonable. The casual-dining-feel in turn reflects the casual nature of the food. The descriptions on the menus are well worth reading, too…
Suriya menu
Our server was Ahn, always flawlessly kind. A special treat was meeting Suriya’s owner, who came by to check on us, and I met one of the lovely women behind the scenes responsible for the exciting flavors on the menu.
A meal in pictures:
scrumptuous, the chicken dumplings at Suriya.
perennial favorite, the sausage-stuffed eggplant with basil
bursting with flavour: pineapple, tomato and duck curry
special menu item tonight, and so good!, the bbq pork ribs with shredded new coconut
(between 11th St & Lafayette St)
San Francisco, CA 94103
Neighborhood: SOMA
(415) 355-9999
SF Street Food Festival Is This Saturday! Heres a Handy Guide – Street Food – Eater SF
SF Street Food Festival Is This Saturday! Heres a Handy Guide – Street Food – Eater SF.
MUS•e•YUM will be on the ground and reporting from the event. Check it out, not only will it bring together good people and amazing food, the proceeds go to charity, thanks to the San Francsico non-profit La Cocina.
San Francisco’s Favorite Burger, 4505 Meats
As if hearing our call here at MUS•e•YUM for the Best Burger in San Francisco, the fine fellows over at SF Eater have mobilized the entire city (and their fancy-shmancy number crunching servers) to scientifically determine just that! The winner? -no surprise here: celebrity chef and food concept innovator Ryann Starr and his 4505 Meats. Starr is a busy guy, running 4505 Meats at the Ferry Building on Thursdays as well as other pop up venues (like his fabulous turkey lunch right before Thanksgiving in Hayes Valley, link here) and the scrumptious 3-SUM Food Truck which you can find at various Off the Grid venues around town.
http://sf.eater.com/archives/2011/04/29/4505_meats_new_school_burger_wins_big.php
4505 Meats “New School” Burger Wins Big!
Friday, April 29, 2011, by Laura Beck
4505 Meats won the Best Burger in the SF Bay Area Burger Brackets showdown! You go, girl. Congrats to 4505 Meats team and congrats to all of our restaurants and voters. You’re all the real winners here. I think.4505 Meats Burger [Photo: HamBlogger]
april 1st, where food goes to die, the lucky penny diner, san francisco
Overheard: “if the United States had lost the war and become a Soviet Block country, this is the kind of food we’d be eating in the diners.”
And it’s true. This is horrible stuff. It’s where food goes to die. (Twice.)
As the door to the kitchen swings open, one can see the rows of plus-sized generic-label cans of vegetables that supply the diner. The lone waitress for the whole dining room comes and goes from the kitchen with her arms full of plates of bad food moving one way, and dirty dishes with half-eaten food the other. Your wait for her attention is time best spent deciding whether or not you’ll stay a minute longer.
For my main, I ordered a hot turkey sandwich because, well, I used to like those growing up. The one presented to me here was a nightmare. The slices of deli turkey were dried out. There was a greenish tinge to some of the edges. The slices of white bread were a little stale, too. The gravy was bland with a sort of film on the top, covering the sandwich and the mashed potatoes in a gelatinous goo. They were instant mashed, but by now that was expected. Ok, you can’t really mess those up; I added salt and butter margarine. And pepper. Yes, you certainly do have a choice of sides here, and all of them have shelf-lives in the dozens of years. Copper penny carrots, grey-ish kernels of corn, mushy green beans- you might remember any or all of these from the school lunch program with which you grew up. Yuck. There’s a memory I didn’t want.
The service was awful. Not that the waitress was mean. She wasn’t. The part of her psyche that could get angry, sad, or be pluckily ironic, or ironically plucky, was probably long dead. She was just. . . blank.
Some restaurants harken back to the past with sort of nod to nostalgia. Not this place. No whimsical memorobilia on the shelves here. There’s nothing joyous in this dusty place. It’s just that old, and hasn’t been renovated in that long. The furniture has aged. The vinyl booths have torn and discolored. Try not to touch that vinyl with any exposed skin. And, don’t buy the open-faced hot turkey sandwich.
San Francisco Travel Guide: In the Magazine : bonappetit.com
Here’s a great list of San Francisco restaurants to experience. We can vouch for Commonwealth, and we’re eager to try more on the list! Click here :
San Francisco Travel Guide: In the Magazine : bonappetit.com.
Snap Good Photos in Restaurants
link to norecipes.com post
Here’s a great article from one of our favorite food blogs, [No Recipes]. Marc Matsumoto is not only a photographer but an artist when it comes to preparing food. You can’t ask for food photography tips from a more knowledgeable source! LOVE the tip about balancing your point and shoot camera on a water glass in low light conditions. Check it out:
Snap Good Photos in Restaurants.
(disclaimer: it’s unabashedly a commercial for Sony products too, and we make no endorsement of them here…never used them. Delfina Restaurant on the other hand, we LOVE. You should go there;-)
Marc also happens to be a gifted writer. He cooks improvisationally, hence the name of the blog, and the narrative of his posts is as much about his day, his inspiration and his process as it is about the food. We love the way he weaves food, socializing and a moment in time together, reminding us why we love to cook and . . . celebrate food.
But darn, he shot this video mere blocks from MUS•e•YUM H.Q. So bummed to have missed out on meeting him in person. Marc, come back! We’ll take you to Starstream on the company expense account!
we love this hot new foodie website, Deep Dishing by the gorgeous Marcia G.
:^)
There’s a hot new foodie website on the interwebs, and it just launched today. It’s called Deep Dishing and it’s the brainchild of Marcia Gagliardi of Tablehopper fame (((our OTHER favorite foodie website 
))
What do we love about the site? It provides the reader a fast way to find out which restaurants are trending right now, and an easy way to look up the ‘fan-favorite’ dishes on each of those menus. Need a recommendation for a…? There’s an active forum that delves into such consequential questions as “Where’s the best croissant?” and apropos a previous post on this blog, “Where’s the best burger???” Now, we know.
And thankfully on Deep Dishing, there are lots, and lots of pictures of those menu items and, as everyone knows, we here at MUS•e•YUM do love our food porn;-)
Best of luck Marcia! It’s lookin’ hot!
PS: if you look carefully enough through the image galleries on DeepDishing, you just might find some familiar photos . . .
lunching at my favorite cafe, starstream
Roasted fig, fresh basil and stracciatella cheese sandwich with salad of arugula, red onion and fingerling potatoes
Given the choice of trying a new restaurant or going back to one that is tried-and-true, I’ll usually opt for the former rather than the latter. So if a place does manage to keep me coming-back on a fairly regular basis why, that’s an endorsement in and of itself. Starstream certainly is that kind of place, and it certainly has a hold on me. I keep going back. And without fail, every time I do there’s at least one new thing waiting to be tried, something that blurs the line between sweet and savory (a distinguishing factor for which Starstream is known, check out my previous review here). As much as I try to resist that bit of sweet at the end of the meal, I can’t. (It is the best cookie in San Francisco, after all) And then there’s Remi, the owner and chef, who is a true gem.
The following is a lunch in pictures. Joining me on this latest visit was MUS•e•YUM Trustee, L., a former advertising exec. who’s eaten at some of the top restaurants in town and beyond, so he has a refined palate and holds the bar high. L. always presents a neutral and unbiased review. . . it was his first time eating here, in fact. (Not his last, he really liked it!)
On my plate were the roasted fig, basil & stracciatella cheese sandwich and the salad of arugula, pickled red onion and sliced fingerling potatoes . Both of these dishes reflect Chef Remi’s signature approach of bringing savory and sweet together, in a deftly-balanced way. L. also loved his meal, the Pork Conserva sandwich and Citrus Salad. He appreciated how well-balanced all the flavors were on his plate, as well. The brightness of the citrus fennel salad was a real highlight, as well as the iced Bergamot tea he ordered with his meal, very aromatic and rich. We both agree the rolls on which the sandwiches are served are pretty great and well worth mentioning; they’re beautiful, they’re flavorful, and they’re made in-house by Remi, as well. We also agreed the portion size is exactly right. We left completely satisfied, but not stuffed. In fact, as always, I had room for a little dessert, the dark chocolate and red chile pepper scone, dusted with gorgeous crystaline turbinado sugar. The flavor of the scone was nothing short of amazing, the richness of the chocolate totally satisfies your sweet tooth, and it’s accompanied by a real nice “kick” on the back-end, thanks to the chiles. Awesomeness.
And this visit we found out about a bit of exciting news from Chef Remi- . . . so stay tuned for a big story mid-February!
Pork Conserva sandwich and arugula/fingerling potato salad at Starstream Cafe
figarella sandwich at Starstream with the delicious iced bergamot tea
dark chocolate and red chile pepper scones at Starstream
Starstream Cafe, on Harrison Street, SF
Starstream
1830 Harrison at 14th St (near the Best Buy)
San Francisco, CA 94103
Neighborhood: Mission
(415) 864-6370
Hours: Mon-Fri 8 am – 4 pm
Links to articles in the Press:
https://sites.google.com/site/mattegrayinsf/journals/journal-2010
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/foodie/2010/10/star_stream_belgian_waffles.php
http://www.rundown.com/article.php?article_id=1445
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/foodie/2010/09/best_chocolate_chip_cookies_san_francisco.php
lunching series, the Green Chile Kitchen review
Green Chile Kitchen, NOPA, San Francisco
Lunch with my friend D. always is a treat. In this review I shall refer to him only as D. in order to protect his privacy, because he is quite famous. And not only is D. a world-renowned author and a pillar of the community but also, he just happens to be a foodie of the first order. (Suffice to say, he is simply fabulous.) So for all these reasons and more, it was a joy to try out a new restaurant with him, the Green Chile Kitchen, a Western Addition/NOPA restaurant that serves dishes inspired by the food of New Mexico.
my friend D., his identity intentionally concealed, arriving to join me for lunch at the Green Chile Kitchen
Before getting to a review of the food, I feel a hiccup must be pointed out. The restaurant is not that new so I was surprised that upon entering there was a bit of confusion with regard to the service. No one greeted us and as it was a big restaurant. . . what to do? Where was the menu? Oh, there’s a basket of them near the door. Should we seat ourselves or order at the counter? We managed to flag down a server (it was 12.30pm) and we were instructed to proceed first to the register to place our orders. Scanning the paper menu at the register took some time, given how extensive it is and how unusual some of the dishes are. . . they merit a good read (this could definitely create a bottleneck at rush hour) We made our selections and paid, and then we got our flags with numbers to take with us back to our table.
The decor was austere, with lots of heavy wooden furniture and catholic iconography. The room almost had the feel of a Spanish mission. . . some of the pieces were gorgeous. . .
As for the food, we ordered the following:
the vegetarian quesadilla was delicious: jack & cheddar cheese, potatoes, sautéed mushrooms, red onions & calabacitas
the vegetarian burrito, "so-so" : organic pinto, refried or black beans organic rice, lettuce, pico de gallo & red or green chile
The food was good, but not great. While the ingredients themselves clearly were of top quality, and while the food was beautifully plated, the end result still felt a bit disappointing. The burrito was unremarkable, bland. The quesadilla though was much better; while mild, it was rich and had a deep savory richness that we both loved. The drink, what was it called??, was horrible. Bottled vinegar. Yuck!
Given the uneven nature of our experience, I think the reason to go to this restaurant is the following: it provides solid, good food (and sometimes really good) but moreover, provides a convenient venue for the people of the neighborhood to connect. In terms of menu and decor, it’s one of the coolest spaces on the block. It is spacious enough for the ladies who lunch, it is friendly to parents with babies in tow, to the laptop warriors who want plenty of space to stretch out while they work over lunch, and for the singles that want to linger over a book and people watch. The restaurant provides a fine stage for all these things but to be fair, can also get fairly loud, too, during prime time.
the verdict?
I’d definitely go back to try some of the other menu items, as there were many things that looked appealing, but I’m not in a hurry.
The Green Chile Kitchen,
1801 McAllister StSan Francisco, CA 94117
Neighborhood: Western Addition/NOPA
(415) 440-9411
PS:
After lunch, however, we discovered a real gem, one block to the south. Green Chile Kitchen has a partner bakery, Chile Pie and Ice Cream. We decided to ‘peak-in’, despite being full from lunch. We both decided we’d have to make a point to come back for this one. The pies are gorgeous, made of organic ingredients and every bit as gorgeous as the ones you’d find at a church bake-sale. Perhaps more so. They also serve Three Twins ice cream which is another star on the local ice cream scene and again, all organic. Stay tuned for a review as we’ll be going back to Chile Pie and Ice Cream, most definitely!
amazing pies at "Chile Pie and Ice Cream", NOPA, San Francisco
Lemon Buttercream Pies at Chile Pie and Ice Cream, SF
Best of 2010, a great meal at Commonwealth
A meal in pictures: happy birthday MUS•e•YUM, October 2010
Commonwealth Restaurant, the Mission, San Francisco
to start, house-made potato chips with vinegar 'foam'
potato chips and vinegar foam at Commonwealth
porcini churros, thyme, huckleberry jam: unbelievably good
...those were so good!
albacore tuna sushi with crushed hazlenut and wasabi
potato gnocchi, corn, maitake mushrooms, sage, parmesan reggiano, truffle oil
summer squash, chilled soup, fried squash blossoms, shaved salad, vadouvan
coconut milk poached halibut, sea beans, grapes, little gem lettuce, thai spices
perfectly-cooked marrow stuffed squid, tamarind pork, shelling beans, black gardlic, cilantro
dessert: cinnamon mille-fuille, caramom marshmallow, chocolate ganache, burnt honey ice cream
We cannot wait to go back.
Commonwealth
(between 18th St & 19th St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
Neighborhood: Mission
(415) 355-1500
- Hours: Tue-Thu, Sun 5:30 pm – 10 pm + Fri-Sat 5:30 pm – 11 pm
Press:
2010′s top new Bay Area restaurants
Restaurant Experts Name the Top Newcomers of 2010
Best New Restaurants, Top Eats of 2010
New San Francisco restaurants that redefine fine dining
People’s perk, Affordable, innovative Commonwealth gives inventive cooking mass appeal.
Yes, We Can: Choose This Year’s Greatest Empire Builder
This Just In: The Top 5 New Restaurants in San Francisco
Commonwealth offers exciting, unusual dining
Umami Burger making the leap up to San Francisco – Paolo Lucchesi
-could this be the burger for which we’ve been waiting? We have a reverence for the umami here at MUS•e•YUM (probably why we were so entranced by the huitlacoche and mushroom quesadilla so much at Papito) so when we read that the concept behind this burger is the amplification of the umami of it, right down to the umamification of the ketchup, Umami Burger had our attention. The Japanese were the ones that identified the umami flavor, a fifth to add to the four for which we have receptors on our tongues: sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Think of it as “savoury”. By focusing on umami, owner Adam Fleischman just might have hit upon a way to make a good burger great, by scientifically focusing on the component of the taste that burger lovers crave. Hot. He’s certainly been able to create a following in LA. Look for the Umami Burger outpost to open on Scott Street in the Marina, details to follow next week.
Check out the following article on SF Gate’s Inside Scoop, by Paolo Lucchesi:
Umami Burger making the leap up to San Francisco – Paolo Lucchesi.
And a review of the burger, named Best in America 2010 by GQ Magazine:
http://www.gq.com/food-travel/alan-richman/201012/umami-burger-los-angeles-best-burger-alan-richman
Umami Burger, coming to the Marina, SF
best restaurant series, mexican with a french accent at Papito
trio of salsas, Papito, Potrero Hill, SF
Could this be my new favorite mexican food place? I mean, if you’re greeted in French, by a Frenchman, does it still qualify?? Duck confit tacos??? Really???
• • •
Yes. Yes. Yes. YES.
I cannot think of a better word to describe this experience than enchanting. Picture it, two gay guys, positively wrapped around the finger of our gorgeous french waitress who guided us through our meal. She spun a web around us with her cursed chile-lime parmesan dust, having sprinkled it on buttery grilled cobs of corn. I think we ate more because of her. Or maybe it was the Huitlacoche (have you tried it? it’s a blue fungus that grows on corn. Also known by the names, ‘corn smut‘ and ‘raven’s excrement‘, it’s fabulous!) that she put in the mushroom quesadillas. We did whatever she wanted us to do. Duck confit tacos. Witch! We were willingly enchanted though, smiling, laughing and purring through the whole thing. (Churros and chocolate!)
elote, the cursed chile/lime/cheese dusted ears of corn at Papito
duck confit tacos at Papito
quesadillas of mushroom and huitlacoche at Papito
Leaving the restaurant left me a little turned-around though. Having interacted with a greeter, the owner and the waitress, I left saying an ‘au revoir‘, which the owner promptly returned, but then quickly switched, to an ‘adios’ (delivered in a french accent), which I quickly returned and then switched to a ‘see ya later‘. Oh, yes. They will!
The space. Charming Enchanting cafe, small(ish) and sunny. Parisian in look and feel.
The food. Purr-inducing. Unmistakably Mexican with a presentation, technique and quality that impresses. While accent is french, this is unmistakably mexican fare.
The verdict. I can’t wait to go back.
Papito
317 Connecticut(between 18th St & 19th St)
San Francisco, CA 94107
Neighborhood: Potrero Hill
(415) 695-0147
Papito in the Press:
http://www.7×7.com/eat-drink/first-bite-french-take-tacos-papito
http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/paololucchesi/2010/08/19/nightcaps-evening-headlines-68/
http://blog.zagat.com/papito-plow-spice-up-potrero-hill#more-77870
http://jaslinscravings.blogspot.com/2010/10/papito-in-san-francisco.html
http://www.nileguide.com/destination/san-francisco/restaurants/papito/1066875
churros and chocolate at Pepito
best restaurant series, starstream
exquisite pizzas and sandwiches of Starstream
I first met Remi at Goody Goodie Cream and Sugar, home of the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie in San Francisco. (Evidence here. and here.) Frankly, Remi had me at the chocolate chip cookie but upon ordering that, she offered me a sample of a product in development: the cocoa nib wafer. This thing blew me away, chocolate made savory. Earthy. Magic. Combining notes of chocolate (without the sweetness), and oil-cured olives, Remi had just taken me to a new place! And how great would this be with a strong cheese and a bold Italian red?! What followed was a conversation about food that only happens between folks that are in love with it. . . wine pairings for cookies, cheese pairings for fruit (and prosciutto), favorite producers at local farmer’s markets. I was hooked.
On a subsequent visit, Remi offered me a sample of a “bun-in-development”. She’d been offering featured sandwiches at Goody Goodie made with bounty from the day’s farmer’s markets (example here) and now had some tantalizing information for me- she’d finalized plans to open a restaurant. Not surprisingly this would be the place she’d been wanting to open for a long time, a full-service restaurant that would afford her the space and tools to showcase her unique talent, her ability to bridge pastry and savory (and, a place with seating!) Owing to the relationship Goody Goodie has with scooter-loving Blue Bottle coffee-making Vega next door on Folsom, the two entrepreneurs envisioned a palate-pushing Roman-styled industrial-chic café and the name would be Starstream.
Yesterday I had a great lunch there with my gorgeous friend, one who happens to be a foodie of the first order! Between us we (naturally) tried a little of everything, from a great citrus salad, to the ‘squashed’ pizza Schiacciata to a flight of sandwich sliders and the famous cookies. The salad: greens dressed in a light citrus vinaigrette with pieces of citrus fruit and notes of fennel, was served on the aforementioned cocoa nib wafer. My pal was blown away by the combination of flavor profiles, from earthy to bright, which really worked. This salad was one of the highlights of the meal, for sure.
citrus fennel salad at Starstream, San Francisco
The pizza: thin and light, the house-made crust is stuffed not with tomato but rather Bellweather Crescenza cheese, arugula & Prosciutto de San Daniel. The flavor is at once bold and light. The sandwiches themselves were wee works of art, each unique in terms of shape and bread kind and style. These included a mortadella with fried quail egg, an egg salad on focaccia (the standout) and the Robiola Di Langa- creamy cheese made from goat, sheep & cow’s milk, micro greens & Fuji apples.
sliders at Starstream, with an assortment of pickled vegetables
The styling details of the meal are part of the fun, right down to the fried quail egg and mini pickle stabbed on top of the mortadella slider. The sandwiches came with an assortment of pickled vegetables that were a gorgeous array of pinks, arty in their presentation and tangy delicious. The lemonade was special, too, made with honey and infused herbs, not overly sweet. (Teaser, Remi told us she’s working on a line of different lemonade concepts for next year, so stay tuned! I thought this was an awesome idea since one of my favorite beverages to make at home is rosemary-infused lemonade, using herbs cut from the garden. Here’s the recipe in case you want to try it, too: Recipe link here.)
The meal ended with Goody Goodie cookies, all of which are available at Starstream as well as the G.G. Folsom location.
From the pastry side, I’ve previously sampled not only the cookies but also the brioche bomb (cinnamon, sugar and orange in a brioche bun) and a spice cake with citrus glaze. Next up, I plan to try the famous Belgian Waffle.
brioche bomb from Starstream
The space itself reflects the materials of the neighborhood, industrial concrete and metal, but somehow it does not seem cold or austere here. The lines are clean and the space is chic. There’s ample seating inside but on a nice day, grab a table on the east-facing sidewalk to capitalize on that morning light while you enjoy your coffee.
Looking ahead, I know Remi has some new menu ideas planned not only for the morning coffee and pastry crowd but also for the lunch-time crowd so do expect more great things to come at Starstream and if you’re lucky, you’ll be one of the first to get a sample, too;-)
Starstream
1830 Harrison at 14th St (near the Best Buy)San Francisco, CA 94103
Neighborhood: Mission
(415) 864-6370
- Hours: Mon-Fri 8 am – 4 pm
Links to articles in the Press:
https://sites.google.com/site/mattegrayinsf/journals/journal-2010
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/foodie/2010/10/star_stream_belgian_waffles.php
http://www.rundown.com/article.php?article_id=1445
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/foodie/2010/09/best_chocolate_chip_cookies_san_francisco.php
Chinese Takeout Artist – Feature – Top Stories – CHOW
just some of what you can expect at Mission Chinese Food, the Mission
>> LINK HERE: Chinese Takeout Artist – Feature – Top Stories – CHOW.
Follow the link above for a great article on local celeb chef, Danny Bowein. What you’ll find is a colorful profile of the guy, and the food, that we love so much. Here’s a link to my review of Mission Chinese Food, and the venture that preceded it, Mission Burger.
My only regret is not having checked out Mission Street Food while I had the chance. This was Bowein’s weekly “pop-up” restaurant (a restaurant within a restaurant) in the Mission, which featured a different menu every night, inspired by the fantasies of Bowein, his partner Anthony Myint, and other guest chefs. Then as now, a portion of the profits has always gone to charity, reinforcing the belief of the owners that success can benefit not only the business itself but also the broader community around it, as well.
As you can see, within the last year the guys have worked on three different restaurant concepts (not to mention Myint’s Commonwealth, near Mission Chinese Food) so it comes as little surprise that towards the end of the article, a tantalizing hint suggests that Mission Chinese Food too may soon give way to another concept. While I’ll miss Mission Chinese, I have no doubt the greatness of the next venture will make me feel ‘a little less bad’.
best restaurant series; venezuelan is the new salvadoran, and Mr. Pollo becomes my favorite spot in the Mission
I’m afraid this is another case in which I have to weigh sharing the good news about this fabulous restaurant, with the possibility that with every bit of press owner Chef Manny Torres Gimenez gets, it will be that much harder to get in. “Mr. Pollo” is not a big restaurant. No matter, it’s worth the wait for Manny’s food. Everything is made to order, just for you, mere steps from the kitchen. It’s like eating IN his kitchen and he’s going to treat you with that kind of respect.
arepas rellenos con jugo de lulo at Mr. Pollo, in the Mission, SF
A dish popular in Venezuela, Mr. Pollo is known in particular for the arepas, thick fluffy cornmeal ‘pancakes’ in which you’ll find melted cheese, pulled meats, veg and melted butter. On my first visit I had the good fortune to have a good friend who is Venezuelan as my dining companion. I can assure you, he was impressed. He loved it. We’re already planning a return visit.
The tasting menu caught our eye, too. Though we didn’t order it, next time I will. The menu changes daily, at the whim of the chef. Four dishes for $15. . . a steal! The table next to us ordered this and the parade of dishes they received was elegant and sculptural.
So go check out Mr. Pollo as soon as you can. Tell Manny MUS-e-YUM sent you but don’t go on the same day that I do, please!
favorite restaurants of san francisco, heart restaurant and wine bar
Heart, in pictures. . .
"Spaghetti Sundays" night at Heart Wine Bar and Restaurant on Valencia St, SF
delicious & simple: romaine salad with anchovie/olive oil dressing, radishes at Heart Restaurant, SF
among the best I've ever had; spaghetti and meatballs at Heart Restaurant
beautiful scooter ride home to Hancock Street, the sunset a brilliant orange and pink
THE VERDICT: I’ll definitely go back.
Heart
1270 Valencia St
(between 23rd St & 24th St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
Neighborhood: Mission
(415) 285-1200
www.heartsf.com
Hours: Mon, Wed 4 pm – 10 pm
in search of the best burger in San Francisco. . .
R.I.P. the cheeseburger at Mission Burger, SF
I’m really missing Mission Burger today. There are lots of decent burgers out there but there was a certain “something” that set the Mission Burger apart from the pack. It tasted a little more like the ones my dad used to make on the grill (except this one had sautéed onions and a garlic/caper aoli sauce!). Local celebrity chef Danny Bowein used to make these burgers for the take-away lunchtime crowd, in a non-traditional place: he was a pop-up sensation working out of the Duc-Loi supermarket butcher/deli section. Taking inspiration from the burgers of U.K. chef Heston Blumenthal, Bowein prepped his meat in a particular way which ensured a better-than-average burger. (Read more about this unique process here. ) Lamentably, he stopped making burgers however to start Mission Chinese Food (see my review of MCF here) and my burger hook-up was no more.
Where is your favorite burger in San Francisco? Tell me. I want to know.
PS, I do however know my favorite hamburger in the East Bay, and that is True Burger in Oakland. And you’ll be happy to know they have the best fries around, too!
favorite restaurants in san francisco series, mission chinese food
Mission Chinese Food, the Mission, SF
I’ll say right up front I’ve never been a fan of chinese food, generally speaking. On the whole, the chinese (buffet) food that I’ve had in the past has been heavy: fried, oil-soaked, and drenched in brightly colored syrups that makes everything sort of taste the same. Mission Chinese Food is the opposite of that, and I had a wonderful experience with it!
An article could be written about how this concept even came to be. Responsible for two of the first popular pop-up restaurants in San Francisco, Mission Street Food and Mission Burger, Anthony Myint and Danny Bowein actually operate Mission Chinese Food out of an existing Chinese restaurant, Lung Shan, at specified hours 7 nights a week. MCF shares the dining space and kitchen, and offers its own companion menu to the items Lun Shan already provides. So, if you’re interested in trying MCF, first ensure you’re looking at the Mission Chinese Food menu, and here’s a link to it: (MENU) NOTE: You can order from both menus, of course, but Bowein is the one doing the cooking on the MCF side.
You’ll find novel foods on the menu. Myint says that MCF not only highlights dishes from many regions of China but also incorporates other asian influences as well to create something unique, a kind of “Americanized Oriental Food”. Someone known for his inventive interpretation of foods he loves, Danny Bowein has become a celebrity chef over the last couple years in his own right, and there’s a lot of press about his approach to cooking (beginning with Mission Street Food days and what was my favorite burger in town, the defunct Mission Burger). Bowein’s philosophy not only includes a focus on quality food but providing it at an affordable price, and contributing back to the community through charity, as well.
The Restaurant space: Lung Shan has been around awhile and if you like kitsch by all means, eat here. It’s cheesy. Definitely reflective of the eclectic neighborhood, it’s full of workers’ revolution posters and christmas lights and other items collected over the years. If your Tea Party friends from out-of-town haven’t imploded on their trip to San Francisco by this point, they certainly will here. On my visit, I called ahead and picked up my order rather than eating there, although I think that would have been fun!
The FOOD:
shitake and oyster musroom dumplings in miso soup: delicate noodles, full-bodied deep umami flavor of the miso and mushrooms deeply satisfying. Strong notes of chives/spring onion, but not spicy. Nice balance to other dishes.
cumin lamb ribs; very hot and spicy, bright and flavorful. Served on the bone, with lots of peppers. Tender, perfectly cooked meat.
and
Taiwanese Eggplant (three types of gardlic and hot basil)- again, very spicy and perfectly cooked. A beautiful dish in terms of color and presentation, very bright in terms of flavor.
The Verdict: This is Chinese food I would go back for. Overall the servings were generous and the diversity of flavors and textures made the meal truly interesting from start to finish. No limp, nondescript vegetables with magenta colored sweet and sour sauce here!
INTERESTING FACT: Incidentally, my interaction was with Bowein himself, and I got the impression he’s a hard-working guy– greeting the customer, taking the order and cooking, all himself. And one more thing about Bowein, this guy in his twenties: did you know he took first-place in a world-wide pesto competition, in Genoa, Italy? From burgers, to pesto, to chinese, this is a chef to watch.
MISSION CHINESE FOOD Lung Shan Chinese Restaurant2234 Mission St
San Francisco, CA 94110
Neighborhood: Mission
(415) 863-2800
lunching in san francisco, chicken and waffles at Farmerbrown’s Little Skillet (and bratwurst. for reals.)
best fried chicken, chicken and waffles at Little Skillet, SOMA, SF
The best fried chicken I’ve found in San Francisco is at Farmerbrown’s Little Skillet, bar none. The skin is so perfectly seasoned, with lots of black pepper and a nice spice blend as a base. Crisp without being dry, the skin comes of cleanly and easily, releasing a plume of steam as you peel it away. Next you’ll start to pull the meat. It is succulent and juicy. The waffle is thick and dense, Belgian-style with deep pockets for your syrup but frankly, it’s so good you might not even need to use it. . . did I mention the dusting of powdered sugar?
best fried chicken, chicken and waffles at farmerbrown's Little Skillet, SOMA, SF
I’ve also tried another combination on their tempting menu, bratwurst and sauerkraut on a waffle. It works. Trust me.
bratwurst, sauerkraut, waffle at Little Skillet, San Francisco
For a chicken and waffle place, Little Skillet makes a mean bratwurst. I dare say it is among the best you can get in the City. The sauerkraut is fresh and light- they didn’t go cheap. The waffle, unsweetened, makes an excellent bread, and serves as the roll for your sandwich. Don’t knock it ’til you tried it!
The verdict, I’ll be going back A LOT.
Seating, not inside. You place your order at a window, in an alley. There are some benches in the alley on which to sit. If it’s not raining, or super cold. It’s still worth it. Go.
Little Skillet (link to website and menu)
360 Ritch St(at Brannan St)
San Francisco, CA 94107
Neighborhood: SOMA
(415) 777-2777
Interesting factoid: do you know why chicken and waffles were thrown together in the first place? In an era in which jazz musicians were leaving their gigs in the wee hours of the morning (or night, depending on your point of view) it was too late for dinner service and too early for breakfast service so. . . they sort of combined them. The pairing was born!
dinner at Sheba, an ethiopian restaurant on Fillmore Street, SF
Here are some photo memories of a wonderful dinner at Sheba, an Ethiopian restaurant in the Fillmore district of San Francisco.
the meal starts with a cappuccino martini
vegetarian sampler includes cabbage, lentils, collard greens and split peas. Sheba, the Fillmore, SF
The food was superb- much variety and copious amounts of each dish. We tried a large cross-section of the menu; the four of us shared a vegetarian appetizer sampler as the ‘first course’, and followed this with three of the meat dishes. Typical of the Ethiopian style of eating, the presentation was such that a (large) platter was placed in the center of the table, lined with a thin layer of bread that is soft, thin and spongy. The taste of the bread is slightly acidic, much like sour dough. The server ladled each of the dishes onto this platter, and the presentation was complete. One then digs in; everyone eats with their hands from the center of the table using pieces of this soft bread as utensils, dipping and grabbing the food from the center. There was a lot of variety but on the whole I found the food spicy without being too hot, saucy, and heavy on the garlic, which I love. This style of eating allows for trying lots of different things in a communal way, which my little group of food lovers thought was fun!
Ethiopian food of Sheba Piano Lounge, Fillmore, SF
finishing our meal with a just 'ok' chocolate layer cake for dessert
Lucky us, this restaurant is in the neighborhood known for Jazz, and live entertainment starts at about 8pm.
live entertainment nightly at Sheba Piano Lounge, the Fillmore, SF
All in all a fun night out and the verdict: I’ll definitely be going back.
1419 Fillmore St
(between Byington St & Ellis St)
San Francisco, CA 94115
Neighborhood: Western Addition/NOPA
(415) 440-7414
chairman bao hits folsom street, wednesdays
Very happy to learn today that mobile food truck Chairman Bao parks outside Sightglass Coffee (7th at Folsom) on Wednesdays around lunchtime, 11.30-1.30pm-
and moves to Folsom, between 8th and 7th at 5pm for the dinner crowd, ’til 9pm.
Today, they had a new bun for sale. . . lucky me! It was called the Dragon Bun and consisted of grilled eel, avocado and grapefruit relish. The marriage of flavors was heaven- you should definitely try this one next time you spot the truck! (And Folsom is a great place to do it- no lines! I still remember the super long line at Off the Grid. . . shudder.)
I love Chairman Bao buns!
dragon bun from Chairman Bao Bun truck, SF
breaking news: new Bakesale Betty sandwich revealed.
Sloppy Joe! there’s even a YouTube video as announcement, check it out here:
HOLY SMOKES: prather ranch organic beef, housemade tomato sauce, cayenne, onions, cilantro (naturally), pickled jalapeño peppers on a soft bun (I heart soft buns!) and yes, a side of Frito’s© Chips or coleslaw.
Available in both locations August 10th. Yeah, you already know there’s going to be a long line for that now don’t you!
we love Bakesale betty sandwiches
breaking news: Ike’s Place Sandwiches has been served an eviction notice
ike's place sandwiches
This is my favorite sandwich destination in San Francisco and I’m not alone. In just a little over two short years of business, Ike’s has managed to achieve national recognition, which you wouldn’t think would be all that easy to achieve when your dealing with a food so ubiquitous in the American diet as the sandwich. He’s made one that is that good. Rolls are fresh-baked at the time of the order, meats are prepped on the premises, and a special sauce of mayo, garlic and around twenty other secret ingredients is baked right into the roll. A foodie culture has risen around Ike’s and the line is always present outside that shop (tip, avoid it by calling ahead;-). Of course, that also contributed to the problem, despite Ike’s efforts to accommodate the litigious neighbors who, by many accounts, were uncompromising and mean.
Ike’s was a positive force for the neighborhood. The Castro prides itself on fostering small local business to the exclusion (for the most part) of national chains. We actively preserve and maintain that quality of life, the unique character of the neighborhood in which we live, by keeping them out. But times are tough, rents are high (too high) and it’s hard for all those businesses to remain open. There are more and more empty store fronts and the neighborhood has to work to make opening a business viable again. In this playing field, Ike’s was not only a success story but a magnet for the neighborhood, drawing customers not only from other parts of the city to the Castro but, thanks to national media publicity, he made the neighborhood not only a gay tourist destination but also a sort of foodie tourist destination. Ike’s personality was also a great fit, reflecting the easy going and friendly nature of the community. As popular as his business got, I often saw him still working the line himself, always smiling and concerned about the customer experience and quality of the food.
All the more sad that he’s going to have to close his doors by August 26th. MUS•e•YUM only hopes Ike’s will find another location in the city and in the Castro, especially. We need our Ike’s!
breaking news: bakesale betty to announce new sandwich item on the menu
Bakesale Betty of Oakland, CA
Hot off the presses, Bakesale Betty has just posted to Facebook and she has ignited a firestorm of comment. There’s going to be a big announcement tomorrow- a new sandwich. Early guesses are pouring in via her Facebook fan page. Much of the speculation revolves around a bbq pulled pork option. Owing to Betty’s Down-Under roots, MUSE•e•YUM is making its own prediction, a Cheese and Vegemite Sandwich. Logic here.
Stay tuned!
Here are two of the sandwiches that have made Bakesale Betty’s famous, the fried chicken sandwich and the beef brisket~ and check out the recipe for the fried chicken sandwich here.
>UPDATE: news revealed here, after the jump!
world famous Bakesale Betty fried chicken sandwich
beef brisket sandwich from Bakesale Betty's
